Recognized for its academic excellence and college preparatory curriculum, the Savannah County Day School is dedicated to ensuring that each student graduates and is prepared to enter college. Mary Beth Fry, Director of College Counseling at Savannah County Day School, shares information to students and parents on how to navigate the complex college admissions process. 

Q: With more than two decades of college counseling experience, what do you consider some of the major changes in the college admissions process?

Fry: “The mid-90's saw the early stirrings of the Echo-Boom's sheer numbers of high school graduates applying to college, particularly in the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic, and the West coast.  Because population density is greater in these regions, and those students tended to want to attend college in those densely-populated areas, application numbers increased fairly quickly, which drove selectivity down.  I cut my teeth on those early years of newly-heightened selectivity, so it seemed just par-for-the-course for me; it was breathtaking for the old guard, though.  That said, things evened out from about 1998 to 2004 (or so); even if the Ivies were much more competitive, we could still anticipate trends fairly easily, and didn't imagine we'd have to think about the unthinkable (e.g., Harvard and/or Stanford dropping to 5% admit rates).   Now, with heightened enrollment goals, which include some fairly high-charged marketing strategies, the most competitive schools are able to attract huge numbers of applicants, irrespective of population trends.” 

Q:  It’s interesting that Ivy League schools remain popular, even though they are expensive and offer few academic scholarships. What continues to make them popular, especially today with the rising cost of a college education? 

Fry: “Right--for the most part. That selectivity is still driven in most ways by the myriad ranking systems out there, most notably U.S. News & World Report; prestige still plays a huge role in students’ and parents’ enthusiasm for those institutions. There are plenty of families able, or willing, to pay anything to send their kids to those schools and the most selective schools don’t have to attract students with scholarships.  Then you have the Ivy League (Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Yale, Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth, and Cornell) that do not, by policy, offer any merit (or athletic) scholarship at all.  At the same time, many of these schools are generally well-endowed enough to make tuition free for all of their students, if they’d choose to do so.  They don’t do this, obviously, but most do offer very nice financial aid (also known as need-based aid) for families who can’t afford the cost--and many of those financial aid packages come without any loans, so the student can graduate debt-free.  It’s a great thing for the kids who can be admitted.”

Q:  What is the difference in financial aid and merit scholarships? 

Fry: “Financial aid is awarded based upon the demonstrated need of the student and his/her family.  The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA:  www.fafsa.ed.gov) evaluates a student’s need (simply, how much the family can afford to pay for college), and reports this to the student’s chosen colleges.  Colleges can then meet all demonstrated needs (with loans, grants, work-study jobs, etc.), or meet those needs partially.  Merit scholarships (or merit aid) is awarded based upon a student’s demonstrated performance in high school, irrespective of need, and can be based on any number of factors:  e.g. grade point average; standardized tests; quality of curriculum; volunteer service; leadership, etc.  A student from an upper-middle-class family, with no demonstrated need, could be awarded a full-ride scholarship based on these qualifications.”

Q:  How does the Georgia HOPE Scholarship benefit college students? 

Fry: “The HOPE scholarship was instituted in 1993 to encourage strong Georgia students to remain in the state of Georgia for higher education.  Well over three-billion dollars (generated by GA State Lottery funds) has gone toward funding Georgia residents’ educations.  As the program exists today, students with a 3.0 GPA can attend a Georgia, public institution on a 90% tuition scholarship.  Students with a 3.7 GPA and at least 1200 (Critical Reading and Math) on the SAT, or a 26 on the ACT can attend a Georgia, public institution on a 100% scholarship.  The scholarships are a much lower percentage of total tuition at private institutions in the state, but they are nevertheless a nice reward for doing well in school!”

Q:  It sounds as if the HOPE Scholarship is the best hope out there for graduating debt-free.  Would you say that’s true?  

Fry: “Many students seem to think so.  I read recently that, of the 30 top schools to enroll the greatest percentage of their admitted students, UGA, Georgia State, and Georgia Southern were all on that list--with the rest of the list including a number of the Ivy League schools, West Point, and the Naval Academy!  That’s really saying something.  Coming from a state (Pennsylvania) with just about the most overall expensive state-school system in the country, and with the single most expensive school for in-state tuition in the country as well (University of Pittsburgh), my own perspective tells me that our in-state, public schools are some of the best values for dollar out there.  And these are great schools too.  Georgia State (in Atlanta) offers great business, education, fine arts, and fantastic integrated-degree programs.  Georgia Southern has one of the top nursing programs in the country, not to mention fantastic performing arts, and great business.  And UGA seems to have it all, from CURO (Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities), to a fantastic Honors Program, from the Terry College of Business, to the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, which was named one of the top three journalism schools in the country.   It’s just fantastic to think about what’s available to our state’s students.

“Saying all of that, not every student wants to stay close to home to go to college, or to go to a bigger school.  And, for the most part, they really don’t have to.  There are many, many schools out there that do offer those merit scholarship.  If a student is willing to look outside his or her comfort zone, or explore a list of colleges not everyone in our region has heard of, the chances are that the student will unearth a number of great colleges that can and do offer a lot of merit aid for qualified students.  Oftentimes, I see students going to private colleges on scholarship packages that are almost equivalent to staying in state here in Georgia—and are sometimes less expensive.”

Q:  How do high school students find more information about choosing the right college or university?

Fry:  “Ideally, a student will have access to someone in his or her high school’s guidance office who can help with research.  If not, there are lots of resources to point students in the right direction.”

Q:  What types of college-admission resources are useful and helpful? 

Fry: “There's a good bit that's great out there.  The Fiske Guide to Colleges has been around for over 25 years, and it's the gold standard.  Every student and parent can benefit from having it in their library of college resources.  Any book that encourages younger students (i.e. Ninth and Tenth Grades) to become reflective, to record their high school experiences, their interests, etc., those are very helpful (e.g. “21 To-Do Lists for College”).  And if a student goes to a large high school with large student-to-counselor ratios, an independent consultant can help to decode the process for the student if the family are feeling overwhelmed, or don’t know where to start.  It’s not that their guidance counselors aren’t concerned or helpful, it’s that they are often so busy, there is precious little time for that sort of intense conversation and planning.  It can often take help to get a student jump-started--or just to help him or her to figure out what questions to ask--and I’m all for that.  The more a student knows him or herself, the more interesting a student becomes through a process of self-discovery, the more likely a student is to be appealing to colleges, to gain admission, and to earn those scholarship dollars.”

Q:  Can you suggest some resources that students and parents can use to get started on the college search?

Fry:  “My pleasure. I’ll start with book titles and then move on to websites.”