Submitted by mctevis on Fri, 03/19/2010 - 11:32am.
I have spent the past 7 months developing the Career Center for my daughters high school, and this question comes up alot. I have 2 children, one that went through the IB program, one that did not. They both got into almost all of the colleges they applied to. I will say, your child will have a pretty good idea by his/her senior year, which schools they have a good chance of getting into. The rule of thumb is to apply to 2 "reaches" (hardest schools to get into and maybe their first choice), 2 "fits" (these are schools that most closely match your child's academic creditials) and 2 "safeties" (a school that may be less selective, but still has all the qualities you want from a college). Make sure with a safety school, it is still a college your child would want to attend.
There is so much information out there on colleges and univesities, and my advise is to take advantage of the websites. A few of the best links that do a good job of comparing colleges and matching a child's skill and interest are www.collegeview.com, www.collegeinfo.com, and www.knowhow2go.com. Once you narrow down your search, go to www.collegeprowler.com and see how it ranks among other colleges and what your chances are of getting in.
Getting into a good college
I have spent the past 7 months developing the Career Center for my daughters high school, and this question comes up alot. I have 2 children, one that went through the IB program, one that did not. They both got into almost all of the colleges they applied to. I will say, your child will have a pretty good idea by his/her senior year, which schools they have a good chance of getting into. The rule of thumb is to apply to 2 "reaches" (hardest schools to get into and maybe their first choice), 2 "fits" (these are schools that most closely match your child's academic creditials) and 2 "safeties" (a school that may be less selective, but still has all the qualities you want from a college). Make sure with a safety school, it is still a college your child would want to attend.
There is so much information out there on colleges and univesities, and my advise is to take advantage of the websites. A few of the best links that do a good job of comparing colleges and matching a child's skill and interest are www.collegeview.com, www.collegeinfo.com, and www.knowhow2go.com. Once you narrow down your search, go to www.collegeprowler.com and see how it ranks among other colleges and what your chances are of getting in.