Helping your child through the College Admissions process when you didn't go to college in the US

College works differently in the US than it does almost anywhere else. From classes to dorms to relationships with professors, we here do things differently. And if you did your schooling elsewhere, or you didn't go to college, the process can be especially opaque.

As a first generation immigrant myself, I know this because I had to do it. My parents had no idea what a major was, how a college differed from a university, or what you needed to do to actually apply to college.

I learned about some of those things in college, not before. I went to the matriculation ceremony not knowing what that was. And it kept happening -- in college, then in graduate school, and even once I was teaching as a professor. The system is large and complex, and it's hard to get a grasp on it all if you're looking at it from the outside. I got very, very lucky when I ended up at Dartmouth.

Now that I've been through college, graduate school, have taught at the university level -- I know that having all that information can really change the application process.

When I hear parents my age who didn't go through the system talk about it, I hear confusion, and overly broad or downright erroneous assumptions. And I hear confusion about how their expectations for a college education map onto the US system.

Having been on all sides of the higher education system, I can explain how the system differs from what you expect. I can explain the differences -- both its pluses and its pitfalls -- and give you the power to make smart, thoughtful decisions. Together, we can figure out the best way to guide your child through the application process -- and through the transition to college.