Words of Wisdom

Do you ever think to yourself "if only I could do it over again?" Students who are freshmen in college give some insight in to what they would redo in high school if they could--

http://www.contracostatimes.com/columns/ci_10917507?nclick_check=1

College Costs

With the declining economy, many students will have to make adjustments to their colleges of choice. This article gives tips on how to adjust to these trying economic times--

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/college-cash-101/2008/12/15/the-4-rules-of-paying-for-college-in-a-recession.html

Standout Essays

This article gives tips on how to make your essay stand out from the thousands that are in the admissions heap--

http://www.examiner.com/x-766-College-Admissions-Examiner~y2008m11d17-Killer-Application-Essays-Lesson-Two

College Interviews

Some colleges still have an interview as part of their admissions process. Read on to find out the do's and don'ts of surviving the interview successfully--

http://www.examiner.com/x-472-Baltimore-College-Prep-Examiner~y2008m11d14-Ace-the-College-Admissions-Interview

The Value of the PSAT

Taking the PSAT test has several benefits to students. Read on to find out how--

http://waldo.villagesoup.com/education/story.cfm?storyID=136896

Plan During Junior Year

This article gives you tips on what to do during junior year of high school to jumpstart your college admissions activities.

Senior year should be when you are pulling it all together, not just beginning.

http://www.examiner.com/x-472-Baltimore-College-Prep-Examiner~y2008m11d23-Attention-High-School-Juniors-The-College-Admissions-Process-is-About-to-Heat-Up

College Affordability

California is the only state that received a passing grade for affodability of college. Even at that the grade was a C. So what about the other 49 states?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkBGMsvJKRKaL67qxkOCaDByDJFAD94R70G02

The SAT Essay

This article gives you hints on how you can prep yourself for the essay component of the SAT---

http://www.examiner.com/x-766-College-Admissions-Examiner~y2008m12d4-SAT-Bootcamp-strategy-Ace-the-essay

Score Choice and the SAT

Just when you thought you might have control over what scores colleges would see, think again. Colleges, and some will, can demand to see all of your SAT test scores--not just the ones that you select.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/172585

Planning for College

Is middle school too early to plan for college? Read this article and see how important planning for college is --

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-eighth-grade-study_11dec11,0,4875258.story

Admissions and Online Information

Some colleges do look at Facebook and MySpace type sites to gain further information about applicants to their schools.

Be aware that adults do not always think that something on your site is appropriate.

http://www.minnpost.com/from_our_partners/2008/12/09/5100/three-sixty_journalism_uh-oh_some_college_admissions_staffs_check_facebook

Technology and Interviews

Wake Forest is the first university to use Webcam to conduct interviews. For students who cannot go to the campus for an interview, this is the next best thing.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-to.college09dec09,0,373871.story

Massachusetts, New Hampshire Tours Fall 08

Recently I returned from 12 days of visiting schools in New England. What a beautiful time of the year to enjoy the colorful display of leaves.

In Massachusetts I visited Simon's Rock and Williams College. I also visited Miss Hall's and The Buxton School, two wonderful boarding schools. All of these institutions offer some very unique learning environments.

In New Hampshire I saw 12 state and private colleges and universities. I will give a very brief description of each. For more detailed information visit the New Hampshire College andUniversity Council website www.visitnewhampshirecolleges.org.

Chester College offers the unique combination of art plus writing. They do not require the SAT, but they do require an interview and portfolio.

Plymouth State University has a meteorology major. Originally a teachers' college, they still have a strong education program.

University of New Hampshire only accepts the Common Application. They have 100 majors to select from.

Southern New Hampshire University is a private school. Their culinary/hospitality school offers an award-winning restaurant.

Rivier College has a strong nursing program. They also have an early childhood center that usually has a waiting list.

Daniel Webster College is the place to go if you are interested in being a pilot or air traffic controller. They also offer a major in homeland security.

Saint Anselm College requires all graduates to take a foreign language component. They house the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.

New England College is a good choice for a B student. Home schooled students also do well at this school.

Colby-Sawyer has a Progressive Scholar Program for underserved populations. No foreign language is required for graduation.

Dartmouth College has its unique Dartmouth Plan, which gives students a great amount of flexibility in completing their academic requirements in conjunction with travel abroad, internships, and other life experiences. Only the high academics need apply. Over 20% of the freshmen class are high school valedictorians.

Franklin Peirce University is a lovely campus set near Mt. Monadnock. There are wonderful opportunities for those interested in physical therapy. They offer strong programs in theater arts, music and the sciences.

Keene State College originally was a teachers' college. Their campus houses the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Their dorms have a number of living/learning communities.

New Hampshire offers a wide variety of higher education institutes of learning.

Time Sensitive--November 12, 2008 Event

Register to participate in the largest online college fair. Be sure to register in time to take advantage of this new, innovative resource.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/CollegeWeekLive/RatingsPanel/prweb1543854.htm

College Essays

This article provides a list of hints regarding what to do and what not to do when creating your college essay.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/225/story/275581.html

The New Paperless Application

More and more colleges prefer paperless applications. There are resources on the internet that will help make this process smoother. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/225/story/233565.html

What to Ask College Representatives

When college representatives visit your high school, take advantage of this opportunity. This article gives suggestions on what types of questions to ask. http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/502431.html

College Visits

Oftentimes college visits are the glue which can make a family come undone. Parents and students are not always looking for the same thing when visiting a college campus.

http://www.centredaily.com/living/story/870946.html

Financial Aid Advice for Parents

This link reinforces the idea that it is never too early for parents to start doing their financial aid homework.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/381045_consumer30.html

College Fair Series

There are three articles with this link that will give you valuable tips on college fairs.

http://www.examiner.com/x-472-Baltimore-College-Prep-Examiner~y2008m9d30-Making-the-Most-of-a-College-Fair-Part-1

College Fair

Is it ever too early to attend a college fair?

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=31&a=364079

College Resources

In the midst of the college search process? This article recommends several resources that are relevant to various parts of this process.

http://www.examiner.com/x-766-College-Admissions-Examiner~y2008m10d1-Best-Resources-for-College-Admissions-Information

The SAT Controversy

Here is another article related to the question of the relevance of the SAT.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/education/22admissions.html?_r=4&ref=3D=&oref=slogin#

Scholarship Search

Are you looking for scholarships? Here is a list of time-proven techniques for that search.

http://www.theolympian.com/education/story/594384.html

Colleges for Students with Special Needs

This article will give you a good introduction of what colleges are offering for students with special learning needs.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/college/bal-college0922,0,1889295.story

The Green College Fair

Want to know more about a school, but you can't go to a college fair? Check out the information for the virtual college fair that will be happening in November. The list of schools continues to grow.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/collegeweeklive/NACAC/prweb1385784.htm

A New College Tool

Monster has launched a site that will assist in the college admissions process. Included in this article is a list of important web site related to the college search.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/monster-launches-admissionscom-help-students/story.aspx?guid=%7B4E30226D-9A93-4221-9702-2B58BB9ADB46%7D&dist=hppr

To SAT Or Not

With the recent meeting of NACAC, the importance of the SAT in the admissions process, once again has become a question as to its importance.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2008/09/22/about-that-nacac-report-on-the-sat.html

Personal Statment

Many college essays are now called a personal statement. This link will give you some hints as to what you might want to include in your personal statement. http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/09/14/college_application_essay_should_reveal_your_character/

How Many Activities Should You Participate In?

The college admissions officers are now creating a well-rounded class. A well-rounded student does not necessarily fit in with this concept. http://www.examiner.com/x-766-College-Admissions-Examiner~y2008m9d15-The-Myth-of-the-WellRounded-Student

Your Personal Information May Be Read

Beware what you post to your MySpace or Facebook. Some college admissions officers do look at them. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122170459104151023.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

College Applications

Read this link to get some good information regarding the do's and don't of completing your college applications--http://www.collegeview.com/articles/CV/counselors/polish-your-application.html

SAT/ACT Tests

Just how important are the test scores when it comes to college admission? Read the following to get some insight into their importance--http://www.collegeview.com/articles/CV/application/sat_act_scores.html

High School Time Line

Stumped as to what to do in high school to help prepare yourself for college? Read the following and it should give you a good idea what to do to help yourself.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08244/908437-298.stm

College Success

What are the odds that the majority of students who enter college will graduate? The statistics are surprising. Read the information presented in the following article.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08244/908437-298.stm

The College Search

The following link will help you to create your short list of colleges. Helpful advice and hints on how to do this can be found here http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/08/28/vedder

College Rankings

When looking at schools, go beyond the traditional published rankings. There are other viewpoints to be considered when searching for the best colleges for your child.

http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/08/28/vedder

Financial Aid Advice for Parents

Many families find that they have two children enrolled in college at the same time. Financial aid guidelines may be different when dealing with multiples versus one child in school. Read the following: http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-colleges/2008/08/21/financial-aid-advice-for-parents.html?PageNr=2

Teen Finances

Here is a small introduction to a website that will assist high school students to learn to manage finances. Often when students enter college they do not know how to manage money. Many graduate from college with large credit card balances. A little planning and financial education might help. http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/08/26/online_money_giveme20_aims_at_teen_budgeting/

JUNIOR TIMELINE

You are now about to move from junior year to senior year. Now is the time that you need to begin to compile information about yourself. You are about to market something very important to the colleges of your choice--YOU!!

http://waldo.villagesoup.com/education/story.cfm?storyID=118552

SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH TIME

Summer is the prime time to spend searching for and applying for scholarships. Once school starts up in the fall, spare time is sometimes hard to find. Use the summer before your senior year to your financial advantage.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080611/OPINION01/806110416/1008

SAT/ACT TESTS

The list continues to grow of the colleges that are becoming SAT/ACT optional. It's worth investing time in researching those institutions that no longer requre the test. If you do not test well, there are now more options for you. Take advantage of it!

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080611/OPINION01/806110416/1008

Gap Year Options

Gap Year is something that many students should consider before moving on to their undergraduate studies. Giving oneself some time to grow and mature intellectually and socially is often worth it. There are greater chances of success in college when one has accomplished a successful Gap Year.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/1413572/creating_a_gap_between_high_school_college/

Creative Financial Aid

With the state of the economy, financial aid availability has also been affected. Students are now looking to resources for financial assistance that they may not have considered before.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-06-04-student-loans_N.htm

Women's Colleges

I love women's colleges. They offer so much in the way of education, contacts for life, and avenues to career success. Yet, getting a young lady to look at or even consider a women's institution is a hard sell.

This article discusses what is happening with the popularity of women's colleges in the world versus the United States.

http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-womens-colleges,0,3828109.story

College Visit List

This link contains many of the essential factors that should be considered when visiting and scoping out those colleges that might be on your list of top picks.

http://mappingyourfuture.org/downloads/06-2008EAENews.html#article2

Books

The Launching Years is reviewed in this article. There is also an extensive list of other publications that might be helpful to students and/or parents.

Happy Reading!

http://collegeadvisor.blogspot.com/

Gap Year as an Option

Not everyone is ready to move on to college upon high school graduation. Gap year is becoming something that is done more frequently in the United States. The following link discusses more about this option.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/relationships/ci_9367710?nclick_check=1

The Decline in Required Tests

The list continues to grow for the colleges that are becoming SAT optional. Wake Forest recently added its name to the list. Read on.

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=88052

Plan College Visits

In order to make the most of a college visit, be certain that you plan for it in advance. Read this link to find our some of the things that should be done.

http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=273904&pub=1&div=News

College Visits

Do college visits really matter. This article poses some reasons to pursue the sometimes expensive, time-consuming activity.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/23/LVQN10P2ID.DTL

Letters of Recommendation

Do you think a letter of recommendation can tip the scale in favor of a college admission decision? Read the following article and see if you agree.


http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/1406543/stellar_recommendation_can_tip_delicate_balance/

Articles by Dr. S. J. Trachtenberg

Here are links to three articles written by the former president of George Washington University.

http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/trachtenberg/admissions-part-i

http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/index.php?id=473

http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/index.php?id=473

NPR News College Stories

NPR News has several stories that you can listen to on the subjec of college admissions. One of the stories discusses how difficult it is to gain admission to an Ivy League college.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90824271

Does the Name of the College Guarantee Success?

Why do you make more money and become more successful if you attend Harvard? Read the linked article to find out.

http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/105175/The-Billionaire-Universities

Negotiating the Cost of College

This article discusses ways to negotiate with a college regarding the cost of attending. Do you really have to pay the full cost?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121226807017435553.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

College Visits

Here is a short article with information on planning and participating in college visits.

http://www.acorn-online.com/news/publish/redding/32613.shtml

Decisions, Decisions

Once the application process is over and the acceptance letters arrive, a choice has to be made. Follow this link to consider many of the factors that should be a part of your final decision.

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/apr2008/bs20080427_994582.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_business+schools

SAT Testing

Follow the link to read a perspective on the SAT.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135076

College Rankings

Here is link to a Forbes article which gives a different perspective on college rankings. Check out the list of schools.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0519/030.html?partner=email

AP Tests

-->
AP exams test college-level knowledge
It's exam week for AP courses. Potentially grueling, a mark of achievement, perhaps a chance to start college a little ahead of the game.

Advanced Placement courses are college-level courses taken by high school students. An estimated 1.5 million students in 100 countries will take an estimated 2.75 million exams this month in 37 subjects.

Jennifer Topiel of the College Board -- which administers the AP exams -- says that's the most since AP courses were introduced in 1955. You can read the AP Report to the Nation 2007 here.
And if you, or your children, are taking this year's exams, there are still some important dates ahead. Read the College Board bulletin here.

Most students who take AP exams -- more than 80% -- take one or two exams. Just 4.7% took four, and 1.7% took five.

And then there are 26 students who last year took a mind-boggling 10 exams, Topiel says. That's more than a full schedule for most schools.

-- Mary MacVeanere is some information regarding AP tests.

Common mistakes can cost families thousands in college aid - USATODAY.com

For some important and pertinent information related to financial aid read the following article.



Common mistakes can cost families thousands in college aid - USATODAY.com

Admissions Tips from the Experts

Two admissions directors recently appeared on television to provide information regarding the college admissions process. Click on the link below to see what they had to say on The Today Show.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24239776#24239776

Information for the Potential College Athlete

This article discusses important information regarding the life of a college athlete. If you think you are interested in pursuing athletic team participation in college, be sure to read this article.

http://www.theacorn.com/news/2008/0403/Schools/060.html

College Visits for Juniors

This article discusses the importance and value of visiting colleges. Read it over and pick up some tips that might help make your visit more meaningful.


http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/education/x1564572090

Myths and College Admissions

Issues related to college admissions and scholarships are discussed in the following article. See if you agree with the author's answers.

http://cjonline.com/stories/040108/loc_263817305.shtml

The Economy May Influence Financial Aid

The following article discusss how the credit crunch in the economy may limit the amount of financial aid that students and their parents may be able to acquire.

More information is available at http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/college/2008-04-06-student-loans-credit-crunch_N.htm

Another Good Website

Review the information provided on this website. Any schools of interest? It's worth beginning your research here.

http://www.colleges.com/index.html

Good Website

Go to this website to see one of the places where you will be able to view 2008 a ranking of colleges. There are many other good tools connected to this website. It is worth a look.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

Number Might Work in Your Favor

There is a decline in the number of potential college students in the future. It still may prove to be difficult to get in to some of the most competitve schools. However, chances could be improving for many other highly qualified colleges.

Math Suggests College Frenzy Will Soon Ease
By ALAN FINDER
Published: March 9, 2008
High school seniors nationwide are anxiously awaiting the verdicts from the colleges of their choice later this month. But though it may not be of much solace to them, in just a few years the admissions frenzy is likely to ease. It’s simply a matter of demographics.
Projections show that by next year or the year after, the annual number of high school graduates in the United States will peak at about 2.9 million after a 15-year climb. The number is then expected to decline until about 2015. Most universities expect this to translate into fewer applications and less selectivity, with most students probably finding it easier to get into college.
“For the high school graduate, this becomes a buyers’ market,” said Daniel M. Fogel, president of the University of Vermont.
That won’t help Charlie Cotton, a senior at Madison High School in New Jersey. He has the grades and scores to aim for the nation’s elite universities, yet in the hyper-competitive world of college admissions, his chances of winning a spot at his top picks — like Middlebury, Dartmouth and Oberlin — are highly uncertain. When his sister, Emma, who is in eighth grade, applies to college, she is expected to face a less frantic landscape with fewer rivals.
The demographic changes include sharp geographic, social and economic variations. Experts anticipate, for example, a decline in affluent high school graduates, and an increase in poor and working-class ones. In response, colleges and universities are already increasing their recruitment of students in high-growth states and expanding their financial-aid offerings to low-income students with academic potential.
Still, some admissions deans and independent consultants say the struggle to win entry to the most prestigious universities is likely to continue.
“The ones that have the strongest brand identification are still going to be awash in applications, but 99 percent of us are going to see declines,” said Robert J. Massa, vice president for enrollment at Dickinson College.
But other admissions officials have a different view. Lee A. Coffin, dean of undergraduate admissions at Tufts University, thinks top students might well find less competition. “We could see something resembling the admissions environment of the early 1990s, in which the most talented students might have an easier time,” he said.
While many admissions deans expect to look nostalgically on what has become, for them at least, a golden era in college admissions, some say that a letup in the admissions craze might not be so bad.
“I actually think it’s kind of good,” said Monica C. Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton College. “We need a shakeup. I think the anxiety families are feeling right now is not the way we planned it.”
The extent to which admissions become less selective may depend, many admissions deans say, on whether they can successfully alter their recruiting — by reaching out to a broader range of students, with a more national and even international approach.
“I think that those institutions that decide to run the model as it’s been so successfully run over the last decade and a half will see their admission rates go up,” said Kurt M. Thiede, vice president for enrollment management at Bucknell.
Nationally, the population decline is projected to be relatively gentle, with the number of high school graduates expected to fall in the Northeast and Midwest, while continuing to increase in the South and Southwest.
The number of white high school graduates will go down nationally, and the number of African-American graduates will remain relatively steady. But the number of Hispanic and Asian-American graduates will increase sharply, according to projections by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, whose demographic estimates are highly regarded by admissions officials.
And so admissions officials are scrambling to attract Hispanic and low-income students, who have been underrepresented at the most prestigious private and public universities. Colleges in the Northeast and Midwest have particularly intensified their efforts to strengthen alumni networks and make themselves better known at high schools in fast-growing states like Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Colorado. Cornell sent an admissions officer to live full-time in Los Angeles.
“It’s kind of a demographic perfect storm in some ways,” said Robert S. Clagett, dean of admissions at Middlebury College. “Because where the increases are going to come are in states where the college-going rate is lower and where those who do go to college primarily stay in the state.
Colby College and a number of others in the North have also begun to offer airplane tickets for low-income high school students and their parents from Sun Belt states to visit their campuses. Last summer, Middlebury and Williams flew in 27 college counselors from states where the colleges are not well known.
“It was nice for me to see the campuses and say to our kids, This is what they are like,” said Sharmon Goodman, director of college counseling at One Voice, a nonprofit group in the Los Angeles area that identifies and prepares low-income students with the academic potential for elite colleges.
Many colleges anticipate having to dig deeper to attract more low-income students. This is among the prime reasons why many of the most selective institutions have been in a race to significantly expand their financial aid to poor and working-class students.
When Harvard recently increased financial aid packages, it wanted “to send a really clear message out there to people who would not ordinarily apply to college, much less apply to a school like this,” said William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard College.
“Our theory is if we’re really going to succeed, and not just Harvard, at increasing the college-going rates of people in the bottom quarter and bottom half of the economic ladder, then you’re going to have to be really aggressive in your outreach,” Mr. Fitzsimmons said.
The new recruiting strategies take many forms. Bucknell, Cornell, Amherst and the University of Michigan are among eight colleges and universities to receive grants from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to create partnerships with community colleges; the goal is for some of the most promising graduates of two-year schools to transfer to the elite universities for their last two years of college.
Concern about the coming demographic shifts is also partly behind a surge in recruiting international students. At Colby College, for example, more than 20 percent of the 4,800 applicants this year were from outside the United States.
Back in New Jersey, Mr. Cotton, 17, checks the mailbox every day to see which colleges will offer him admission. “There’s a lot of pressure,” he said. “Even if you’re qualified, you’re not always going to get a chance to get into these schools, which is the scary part.”
Mr. Cotton, who has applied to 10 colleges, said he was pleased to learn that the competitive frenzy is expected to calm down. “It’s good for my sister,” he said. “Definitely I’m a little jealous.”

Athletic Scholarships

Do you think that at athletic scholarship is in your future. Read the following article to get some factual information on this topic. This article was found in The New York Times.

March 10, 2008
The Scholarship Divide
Expectations Lose to Reality of Sports Scholarships
By BILL PENNINGTON
Correction Appended
At youth sporting events, the sidelines have become the ritual community meeting place, where families sit in rows of folding chairs aligned like church pews. These congregations are diverse in spirit but unified by one gospel: heaven is your child receiving a college athletic scholarship.

Parents sacrifice weekends and vacations to tournaments and specialty camps, spending thousands each year in this quest for the holy grail.

But the expectations of parents and athletes can differ sharply from the financial and cultural realities of college athletics, according to an analysis by The New York Times of previously undisclosed data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association and interviews with dozens of college officials.

Excluding the glamour sports of football and basketball, the average N.C.A.A. athletic scholarship is nowhere near a full ride, amounting to $8,707. In sports like baseball or track and field, the number is routinely as low as $2,000. Even when football and basketball are included, the average is $10,409. Tuition and room and board for N.C.A.A. institutions often cost between $20,000 and $50,000 a year.

“People run themselves ragged to play on three teams at once so they could always reach the next level,” said Margaret Barry of Laurel, Md., whose daughter is a scholarship swimmer at the University of Delaware. “They’re going to be disappointed when they learn that if they’re very lucky, they will get a scholarship worth 15 percent of the $40,000 college bill. What’s that? $6,000?”

Within the N.C.A.A. data, last collected in 2003-4 and based on N.C.A.A. calculations from an internal study, are other statistical insights about the distribution of money for the 138,216 athletes who received athletic aid in Division I and Division II.

¶Men received 57 percent of all scholarship money, but in 11 of the 14 sports with men’s and women’s teams, the women’s teams averaged higher amounts per athlete.

¶On average, the best-paying sport was neither football nor men’s or women’s basketball. It was men’s ice hockey, at $21,755. Next was women’s ice hockey ($20,540).

¶The lowest overall average scholarship total was in men’s riflery ($3,608), and the lowest for women was in bowling ($4,899). Baseball was the second-lowest men’s sport ($5,806).

Many students and their parents think of playing a sport not because of scholarship money, but because it is stimulating and might even give them a leg up in the increasingly competitive process of applying to college. But coaches and administrators, the gatekeepers of the recruiting system, said in interviews that parents and athletes who hoped for such money were much too optimistic and that they were unprepared to effectively navigate the system. The athletes, they added, were the ones who ultimately suffered.

Coaches surveyed at two representative N.C.A.A. Division I institutions — Villanova University outside Philadelphia and the University of Delaware — told tales of rejecting top prospects because their parents were obstinate in scholarship negotiations.

“I dropped a good player because her dad was a jerk — all he ever talked to me about was scholarship money,” said Joanie Milhous, the field hockey coach at Villanova. “I don’t need that in my program. I recruit good, ethical parents as much as good, talented kids because, in the end, there’s a connection between the two.”

The best-laid plans of coaches do not always bring harmony on teams, however, and scholarships can be at the heart of the unrest. Who is getting how much tends to get around like the salaries in a workplace. The result — scholarship envy — can divide teams.

The chase for a scholarship has another side that is rarely discussed. Although those athletes who receive athletic aid are viewed as the ultimate winners, they typically find the demands on their time, minds and bodies in college even more taxing than the long journey to get there.
There are 6 a.m. weight-lifting sessions, exhausting practices, team meetings, study halls and long trips to games. Their varsity commitments often limit the courses they can take. Athletes also share a frustrating feeling of estrangement from the rest of the student body, which views them as the privileged ones. In this setting, it is not uncommon for first- and second-year athletes to relinquish their scholarships.

“Kids who have worked their whole life trying to get a scholarship think the hard part is over when they get the college money,” said Tim Poydenis, a senior at Villanova receiving $3,000 a year to play baseball. “They don’t know that it’s a whole new monster when you get here. Yes, all the hard work paid off. And now you have to work harder.”

Lack of Knowledge

Parents often look back on the many years spent shuttling sons and daughters to practices, camps and games with a changed eye. Swept up in the dizzying pursuit of sports achievement, they realize how little they knew of the process.

Mrs. Barry remembers how her daughter Cortney rose at 4 a.m. for years so she could attend a private swim practice before school. A second practice followed in the afternoon. Weekends were for competitions. Cortney is now a standout freshman at Delaware after receiving a $10,000 annual athletic scholarship.

“I’m very proud of her and it was worth it on many levels, but not necessarily the ones everybody talks about,” Mrs. Barry said. “It can take over your life. Getting up at 4 a.m. was like having another baby again. And the expenses are significant; I know I didn’t buy new clothes for a while.

“But the hardest part is that nobody educates the parents on what’s really going on or what’s going to happen.”

When they received the letter from Delaware informing them of Cortney’s scholarship, she and her husband, Bob, were thrilled. Later, they shared a quiet laugh, noting that the scholarship might just defray the cost of the last couple of years of Cortney’s youth sports swim career.

The paradox has caught the attention of Myles Brand, the president of the N.C.A.A.
“The youth sports culture is overly aggressive, and while the opportunity for an athletic scholarship is not trivial, it’s easy for the opportunity to be overexaggerated by parents and advisers,” Mr. Brand said in a telephone interview. “That can skew behavior and, based on the numbers, lead to unrealistic expectations.”

Instead, Mr. Brand said, families should focus on academics.
“The real opportunity is taking advantage of how eager institutions are to reward good students,” he said. “In America’s colleges, there is a system of discounting for academic achievement. Most people with good academic records aren’t paying full sticker price. We don’t want people to stop playing sports; it’s good for them. But the best opportunity available is to try to improve one’s academic qualifications.” The math of athletic scholarships is complicated and widely misunderstood.

Despite common references in news media reports, there is no such thing as a four-year scholarship. All N.C.A.A. athletic scholarships must be renewed and are not guaranteed year to year, something stated in bold letters on the organization’s Web site for student-athletes. Nearly every scholarship can be canceled for almost any reason in any year, although it is unclear how often that happens.

In 2003-4, N.C.A.A. institutions gave athletic scholarships amounting to about 2 percent of the 6.4 million athletes playing those sports in high school four years earlier. Despite the considerable attention paid to sports, the select group of athletes barely registers statistically among the 5.3 million students at N.C.A.A. colleges and universities.

Scholarships are typically split and distributed to a handful, or even, say, 20, athletes because most institutions do not fully finance the so-called nonrevenue sports like soccer, baseball, golf, lacrosse, volleyball, softball, swimming, and track and field. Colleges offering these sports often pay for only five or six full scholarships, which are often sliced up to cover an entire team. Some sports have one or two full scholarships, or none at all.

The N.C.A.A. also restricts by sport the number of scholarships a college is allowed to distribute, and the numbers for most teams are tiny when compared with Division I football and its 85-scholarship limit.

A fully financed men’s Division I soccer team is restricted to 9.9 full scholarships, for freshmen to seniors. These are typically divvied up among as many as 25 or 30 players. A majority of N.C.A.A. members do not reach those limits and are not fully financed in most of their sports.
Ms. Milhous, whose Villanova field hockey team plays in the competitive Big East Conference, must make tough choices in recruiting. The N.C.A.A. permits Division I field hockey teams to have 12 full scholarships, but her team has fewer.

“I tell parents of recruits I have eight scholarships, and they say: ‘Wow, eight a year? That’s great,’ ” she said. “And I say: ‘No, eight over four or five years of recruits. And I’ve got 22 girls on our team.’ ”

That can mean a $2,000 scholarship, which surprises parents.

“They might argue with me,” Ms. Milhous said. “But the fact is I’ve got girls getting from $2,000 to $20,000, and it all has to add up to eight scholarships. It’s very subjective, and remember, what I get to give out is also determined by how many seniors I’ve got leaving.”

Two Brothers, Two Stories

Joe Taylor, a soccer player at Villanova, received a scholarship worth half his roughly $40,000 in college costs when he graduated from a suburban Philadelphia high school three years ago. He had spent years on one of the top travel soccer teams in the country, F.C. Delco, and had several college aid offers.

“It was still a huge dogfight to get whatever you can get,” Mr. Taylor said. “Everyone is scrambling. There are so many good players, and nobody understands how few get to keep playing after high school.”

In 2003-4, there was the equivalent of one full N.C.A.A. men’s soccer scholarship available for about every 145 boys who were playing high school soccer four years earlier.

“There’s a lot of luck involved really,” Mr. Taylor said. “I can pinpoint a time when I was suddenly heavily recruited. It was after a tournament in Long Island the summer after my junior year. I scored a few goals. The Villanova coach was there, and so were some other college coaches. Within a couple of days, my in-box was full of e-mails. I’ve wondered, What would have happened if didn’t play well that day?”

Mr. Taylor has a younger brother, Pat, who followed in his footsteps, playing on the same national-level travel team and for the same Olympic developmental program.

“He did everything I did, and in some ways I think he’s a better player than me,” Joe said. “But you know, I think he didn’t have the big game when the right college coaches were there. He didn’t get the money offers I did.”

Pat Taylor is a freshman at Loyola College in Baltimore. Though recruited, he did not make the soccer team during tryouts last fall.

“I feel terrible for him — he worked as hard as I did for all those years,” Joe Taylor said.

Their father, Chris Taylor, said he once calculated what he spent on the boys’ soccer careers.
“Ten thousand per kid per year is not an unreasonable estimate,” he said. “But we never looked at it as a financial transaction. You are misguided if you do it for that reason. You cannot recoup what you put in if you think of it that way. It was their passion — still is — and we wanted to indulge that.

“So what if we didn’t take vacations for a few years.”

Pat Taylor, who started playing soccer at 4, said it took him about a month to accept that his dream of playing varsity soccer on scholarship in college would not happen. He looks back fondly on his youth career but also wishes he knew at the start what he knows now about the process.
“The whole thing really is a crapshoot, but no one ever says that out loud,” he said. “On every team I played on, every single person there thought for sure that they would play in college. I thought so, too. Just by the numbers, it’s completely unrealistic.

“And if I had it to do over, I would have skipped a practice every now and then to go to a concert or a movie with my friends. I missed out on a lot of things for soccer. I wish I could have some of that time back.”

Griffin Palmer contributed reporting to this article.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: March 11, 2008 A front-page article on Monday about the unrealistic expectations of families in the pursuit of college athletic scholarships omitted a reporting credit. Griffin Palmer analyzed college and high school statistics for the article.