Kirby College Consulting

Kirby College Consulting Professional college counseling service for anyone looking at higher education, wanting some kind of insight and expert evaluation.

05/18/2022

You've often heard me talk about fit for colleges. I see the benefits of taking the time and maybe not picking the perceived best school, but instead, the best one for your child.

I can give you dozens of examples, but I'd like to share one about my own kid. She picked her college early because of sports. Everything about that University screamed her name and she knew the minute she walked on campus it was for her.

School has never been her strong suit. Teachers love her because she's chatty and engaging and in fact I once had a teacher say she loves that my daughter participates every day, but had to admit my kid had no idea what was going on most of the time.

We prayed that her grades would get her into the college she committed to. She took the ACT. Multiple times and she went to very pricey tutors. They made her feel dumb. She bombed it every time.

There came a point where we closed our eyes, crossed our fingers, and sent in the application. Thankfully she was accepted and surprisingly direct admitted to the competitive business school. Of course No Merit aid. We appealed to financial aid, and they indicated she was lucky to get in and quite honestly, lucky if she survived..... it was not a positive conversation. I couldn't let one crappy employee taint our view on the overall fit.

I had to trust she knew where she belonged and that she was going to be able to produce. We have never asked for her grades. Not once. Not in high school, and not in college. I wasn't sure she would be able to keep up, but I do know she picked the perfect school for her and it's where she belonged. Small classes, personal teachers, and close to the beach!

She's four semesters in and had the most difficult classes this year. She just shared her report card with us from this past semester.

She earned straight As.

I'm not one to brag about my own kid's grades because I think we put way too much meaning on them, but considering where she came from and knowing that getting the right fit is what helped produce my now incredibly confident student, I wanted you to know there's something to this.

04/27/2022

One last tip before decision day. Take everything I say, you read, what their counselor tells your student, simply as advice. only YOU know your complete situation.

If you choose the most expensive school and pass up the scholarship opportunity at another college, that may be what works for you and your family. Going to a community college before a four-year may be the choice. There might be other plans than higher education. You may have extenuating circumstances that aren't anyone's business.

Once the final decision is made, make sure you're child knows you support it and are proud of it.

04/26/2022

I'm a member of dozens of college groups and read a lot of posts. Now that decisions are due, the latest thing I'm hearing is "I know it's my child's decision, but I don't think it's right", or "we can't afford it and have 3 more kids after him, but it's what they want", or "I guess we'll have to figure it out because it's what they want"

You may be surprised by my response given my desire for parents to really listen to their children. Yes, the students need to guide the process and have an enormous amount of input regarding their future, but college choice should not solely be in the hands of the rising freshman.

Your years of experience, the ability for a financial contribution, the ability to see the bigger picture, and practicality come into play here. This should be a group decision if financial assistance is needed. I'm not talking about crushing dreams, I'm just saying that it's a group decision. There needs to be a clear plan and everyone should be on board.

None of my own kids went to their "dream" schools (I still have another to go, but we've had some long and hard conversations about college already - even though he's only a freshman in high school.) We had clear rules about college (feel free to PM me if you want the details) and they all figured out how to make college happen within the parameters. I think if you talk with any of them, they will tell you they've had/are still having a great college experience and they turned their selection into the best fit possible and couldn't imagine being anywhere else. That's not to say there weren't bumps along the way, but overall, nobody is in debt, we kept the costs reasonable, they became incredibly resourceful (including asking for more athletic money, working at a vodka bar, being an RA, joining ROTC, taking every odd job on and around campus, etc.), and the two that have graduated have amazing careers.

I'm not saying "YAY me", I'm saying if college decisions were left up solely to my kids, their paths would have been much different and filled with stress regarding the debt they took on before they really knew what that meant long-term.

Best of luck to all of you in this decision stage. It's not always easy, but once it's made, you all need to jump in and own it!

And for those that think you need an Ivy to make connections, I like to bring a few different articles out but this is t...
04/22/2022

And for those that think you need an Ivy to make connections, I like to bring a few different articles out but this is the gist of it. Please don't get me wrong, I think the Ivy League is phenomenal. In fact, one of my favorite humans goes to Harvard and I'd be hard-pressed to find someone better than him that embodies everything that's good in people. I just want to put the name-brand schools in perspective and make sure you're choosing them for the right reasons.

04/21/2022

With decision day right around the corner, and with some of the interactions I've had with adults lately, I'm compelled to get some things off my chest.

* I was at a gathering with a number of parents from a very elite high school. They were talking college and as I like to do in those situations, I just listened. One of the parents thought the valedictorian of the school is one we should admire. She said, "He could go to any school he chooses. I can't believe he's snubbing all the Ivy's to go to Bowdoin. He's so admirable to choose such a podunk college." I almost choked. Admirable? All I added was, "You know that's a great school with a single-digit acceptance rate, right?" She kind of brushed me off and just said, good for him not to give in to the pressure of going to the best name out there. She winked and elbowed the woman next to her and said, "of course, my kid will only go Ivy. hahahaha...."

I don't even know how to begin to unpack that. However, that's the crap that is driving me out of being a college consultant. While highly ranked colleges are excellent choices for some, they are NOT always what is best. Please, start listening to your children, and don't get caught up in the name game. Choose what is best for your student and your family, not where you'd necessarily get ooohs and aaahhs for wearing that name on a sweatshirt.

* Attending a perceived highly ranked school is cool. However, so is being happy, finding your place, and achieving goals. It's fun to have reach schools, but I'm against dream schools. Dream schools indicate that it's somewhat of a fantasy. What happens when they realize college is freakin hard even at the best fit school. Have schools that you'd like to attend and work hard to be a great candidate but save your dreams for your future, not a campus you'd like to walk on for four years.

* Sometimes I wonder if parents push their kids towards certain schools because they wish they went there, or maybe it's so they can tell their friends and family where their kid is going.

* I'm not saying don't be prideful. Not at all. I'm so incredibly proud of my own kids and the things they've achieved, but I really hope they've made most of their choices based on their own decisions, not on how society or even I would see them.

Just don't get caught up in the circus.

04/20/2022

It's that time of year again. Just a reminder (if you're on here, you already know and do this), when you hear a graduating senior talk about the school they'll be attending, just say CONGRATULATIONS!
Don't care if it's the worst school ever. It might be the best fit ever for them. The decision has been made. Bringing up any negative points doesn't do anything for anyone. It's just a simple - congratulations.

For those of you getting piles together for a college move-in this fall, you’ll realize that space is at a premium! Try ...
03/24/2022

For those of you getting piles together for a college move-in this fall, you’ll realize that space is at a premium! Try these laundry detergent sheets. Work great - don’t explode unevenly like a pod (and probably no-risk of a TikTok daring them to eat one), not heavy and no huge plastic jug!

03/17/2022

When looking at the final decision for choosing a college, name recognition doesn't always make a big impact. Can it play a part? Of course, but it's just one small facet. Parents will even say, "Choose the bigger school because you'll have the most alumni to choose from for connections" - not always true. Some of those small schools have the most loyal alumni and are fierce in connecting current students with opportunities.

Also, coming from a name-brand school sometimes allows students to rely on that instead of their own hard work and individual reputation. My daughter went to a college that had 2,200 students. Crazy small. Her high school was over 4,000. She definitely thinks she made the best choice and got the most out of her education.

She went to a college that didn't have a business school (too small) but they created a major that encompassed many things called Global Commerce. When she first went to work for Amazon (AWS) she was a little intimidated by all the business school grads and was afraid of the things she might not have learned. A few months on the job and she realized working in a business environment was SO MUCH MORE than learning concepts and terminology. Coming from a liberal arts background, she said she had tools none of them had and could approach problems in a unique way.

She's now with a tech company and doesn't think twice about not being prepared - she's crushing it. In fact, in only her first year there, she's earned a spot at their sales club and has a free trip coming up. She still gets comments about her school, but she's incredibly proud of what she's gotten out of it.

Don't listen to others' opinions. If they're saying something against your choice, they're a jackass. The world is filled with them. My daughter had a customer ask her what school she went to and when she told him, he simply said, "Oh, I'm so sorry" - she repeated the school thinking he said "I'm sorry" in an I-couldn't-hear-you kind of way. He then said, "I heard you. And I'm still sorry that's where you went to school."

Jackass. Some people will just never get it.

03/14/2022

HELLO STRANGERS!
As I'm sure some of you have noticed, I haven't posted in a VERY long time. Quite a bit has changed in my life and I've really transitioned out of being a formal college consultant. There are a number of reasons why, and I won't go into details, but I've found volunteering my time to families that really need the direction and can't afford it to be much more fulfilling.

Along with limiting my financial benefits, I thought of shutting this page down as well, but I was out the other night, overheard a conversation and realized I still have some things to say! And since I've decided to not worry about marketing myself, I also don't have to censor myself as carefully when sharing stories.

I do have more of a corporate job now, so I can't post daily, but I'm still keeping up with current college trends and information you might need to know so feel free to ask any questions and enjoy the random rantings that I frequently like to share.

04/28/2021

I need to preface this by saying I'm about as far from being a perfect parent as you can get. HOWEVER, I feel like I got something right by letting my children be responsible for their own grades and putting very little pressure on them.

In the middle of the night, I got a text from one of my kids in college saying 'I'm going to get a C in English' This kid is an incredibly hard worker, school doesn't always click easily and clearly she struggled to tell me and was worried about it since she was up in the middle of the night.

I answered, "C's get degrees!"

It's not the best answer for every poor grade, but I really feel like students often put enough pressure on themselves, and sometimes we need to just be a soft place to land.

My oldest is three years out of college and although her GPA was terrible (I have no idea what it was, that's what she told me), it was good enough to keep her merit scholarship. She's told me on more than one occasion that there's nothing she appreciated more than my not asking about her grades. She had roommates whose parents would ask about specific test grades. That terrible GPA kid just earned her second promotion and makes significantly more money than I do.

04/15/2021

I started watching a new series called 'The College Tour' - it's basically just a 30-minute sales pitch on different colleges. There are only four episodes so far, but they do a really nice job, so I'm pretty sure this is something that will become a lot more common.

Most of my students are in decision-mode right now and a couple of them are even a little disappointed that they might not have gotten into a really highly-ranked school. While they're a good guide, I can't stand rankings. Oftentimes they aren't representative of the education you'll get. I urge you to look beyond the rankings.

None of my students have considered Florida Tech. Ever. Watching their 30-minute "college-tour", you'll be sold! These tours will show you what I've shared with my students all along. Many of these under-publicized campuses offer amazing opportunities and it truly is more about what you do than where you go.

04/01/2021

I've been a bit perplexed this year with admissions. I have regular conference calls with counselors and they're reporting a record number of waitlist students across the board.

The conclusion is that with the drop of standardized test scores at so many schools, the applicants have tripled in some cases. It's difficult to analyze that many applications. Decisions are being made in split seconds and so many great kids are either falling through the cracks or being placed on the waitlist so the schools could determine interest level.

Just a few things I've discovered this year:
* Grades are more important than ever - especially Junior and Senior year
* Taking classes that relate to your intended major and doing well in them in high school matters
* Extra-curriculars/jobs should also line up with the intended area of study
* Demonstrated interest was a big factor for schools - more so than any other year. They're aware that many kids applied to 10 or more colleges and they only like to admit those that they think will choose them
* Ties to colleges had some influence this year. This one surprised me because of the whole "Varsity Blues" scandal, I didn't think that would play much of a factor

There are so many other things that I took note of, but these were just some of the points I found interesting. It's a crazy year in so many ways, but I really think all my students have been accepted into their best fit school. For those of you still awaiting decisions, hang in there, we're close!

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