A few weeks ago, back when students were still in school, I gave a talk to around 100 local juniors about three myths of the college admissions process. I only had time to take about two questions from the audience before they had to run off to class, so they compiled a list of follow-up questions. Since they won’t be back in class for at least three more weeks to get my responses, I thought I’d put them up here.

Is legacy a factor in getting into institutions? At some schools it’s a small factor. At some schools it’s not a factor. At a handful of schools it’s a small factor, but the candidate pool is so large and accomplished that any small factor can have an outsized effect. So, as with so many of these questions, the answer is “it depends on the school.” But for any individual, there are only about four schools at most where it might make a difference—the schools your immediate family members graduated from. So start there. Look at the colleges your parents, grandparents, and any aunts and uncles went to school. If you’re interested in any of those schools, then look up if they take legacy into account and how they define legacy status. If you’re not interested in the school, then it really doesn’t matter if they consider legacy or not. [Related: Rethinking Legacy]

If you’re going to attend graduate school, would it be best to choose an undergrad program that leads into a great grad program, staying on one campus for multiple degrees? Generally speaking, no. In the big picture, doing well in any undergrad program can lead into any great grad program. Most people who have graduate degrees get their later degree(s) from different schools than their Bachelor’s degree. There are several reasons for this. One is that graduate schools are looking for a diverse pool of applicants, not just people from their own program. Another is that many people change their goals, and majors, while in college and go in a different direction for graduate school than they initially planned. Plus, when it comes to graduate programs, the reputation of the program often matters a lot more than it does for undergraduate programs, so many students are looking to “trade up” to a more prestigious graduate program. I wouldn’t advise many students to make grad school plans a major factor in their choice for undergrad program, if at all. That being said, there are plenty of exceptions. There are a number of colleges who offer combined Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs, where you can be automatically admitted to their graduate program by performing well in their undergraduate program. It sometimes means less time to more degrees, and that’s a good deal—but only if you don’t change your mind and decide on a different path. For a specialized degree in a field without a lot of options for graduate school, then going to one school for multiple degrees may be a more common path.

Does the percentage of students who graduate in four years matter much? First, I have to say that most graduation stats are six-year graduate rates, not four-year. But looking at six-year graduation rates, the question is the same: how important is that number? Not super-important. The national six-year graduation rate is around 60%. Graduation rates are highest at colleges that are more selective in their admissions, which makes sense. They can decline students who are less likely to graduate. Graduation rates are dismal (in the 21% range) for for-profit colleges—you should avoid these. So if you’re interested in a college, then it may be interesting to look at their graduation rate and ask why it’s higher or lower than average. But it’s probably one of those facts that is both true and useless. It says very little about your own chances of graduation. A major life emergency can come along and derail your plans no matter what college you attend. You can mess up your own success with poor time management or too much partying anywhere. The slightly—but only slightly—better indicator of institutional quality is their rate of sophomore return—how many students finish their first year and show up for a second. A low sophomore retention rate might indicate the school has difficulty supporting the students it accepts.

What is Early Decision? And what if I don’t know how much money they’ll offer me until after I choose Early Decision? I’ve written about these in the past. The Glossary: Early Decision. And Should you apply Early Decision? [Related: The Glossary: Early Action]

If you know your path (Psychology, for example), do you choose a great program where you might do worse overall, or a less great program where you can stand out? That’s a great question with no easy answer. There are two schools of thought. One says that you should always go for the most challenging, high-quality program you can. The benefits—especially since college is a relatively short and finite amount of your time—of being in the higher-quality program where you’re surrounded by bright and accomplished people outweigh the problems of feeling like just one of the pack, or even at the bottom of the pack. The other school of thought is the “big fish in a smaller pond” approach: that it’s beneficial to be somewhere you can be most successful and not face the “relative deprivation” of always feeling like you’re less talented than you really are. You can find longer explanations, related to college, in Malcom Gladwell’s David and Goliath and Frank Bruni’s Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be. There’s no objectively better answer to this question. It depends a lot on your past experiences and what you hope to get from college. Think of it another way, outside of college: would you rather be a bench-warmer who rarely gets to play for the championship team, or an integral part of a team that doesn’t make it to the playoffs? Approach this question the same way.

What’s your input on college essays? Do you have any memorable examples? I’ve got a page on “how do I write a great essay?” It’s a good starting point. I’d also ask you to remember Cal Newport’s statement that “accomplishments that are hard to explain are better than accomplishments that are hard to do.” The struggle in finishing your essay should be the work it takes to explain yourself well, not to add “punchy” language to something that’s easy to understand. The most memorable essays I’ve read had a few things in common: they started much longer and were pared down over many revisions; they used simple sentences instead of flashy description; they use verbs other than “to be.”

How important are internships and summer programs? If you are able to get involved with an internship or high-quality summer program, that’s great. But most high school students are not…and they get into college anyway. You should choose your summer activities based on your own interests, strengths, and opportunities—for yourself. Not because “it looks good to colleges.” Exactly what you do over the summer isn’t all that important, it’s just really important to do something. Don’t waste that time! [Related: What to do this summer, 11th grade, 10th grade, 9th grade.]

How many colleges should you apply to? At least one, but please no more than 20. I try to get my clients to apply to six to ten. Here’s what I’ve written about that before.

What is “priority”? A lot of schools have a “priority” application deadline—some even call it “VIP.” It can mean a few different things, and you should be careful to look into what it means exactly at any school you’re thinking about. You’ll usually see it associated with schools that have rolling admissions. So while there may not be an actual deadline for applying, they want to encourage you to apply by a certain date…and call it Priority. You may also see Priority used for the deadline to also apply to scholarships from the school. I encourage everyone to apply within the earliest no-strings-attached deadline. So if you’re looking at a school with a Priority deadline, that is the deadline for you to aim for.

Where in the world should I start? Man, that’s tough. I understand. There are thousands of choices for school, and we have limited information and time. I’ll tell you where I, as a consultant, begin with clients. First, I want to try to get to know the student. My first meeting is pretty much an hour-long interview. What are you good at? What do you choose to do with your time, and why is it important to you? What do other people praise you for? What are your personal limitations and weaknesses? Whether or not you even go to college, what do you need to happen in the next five years for you to feel independent and productive? I don’t just want to know what your future plans are right now, but I want you to walk me through everything you’ve ever wanted to be when you grow up, as far back as you can remember. These sorts of things, more than grades or accomplishments, guide me to helping them choose a college list and narrow it down.

And here’s an exercise I do once I get a hunch of what sorts of colleges the client will be interested in. I pick four to seven schools, and I present a big chart with all kinds of data about the colleges: size, geography, acceptance rate, student:faculty ratio, cost and financial aid, popular majors, special programs, anything I think may be relevant to the student. And I give them the chart without the names of the colleges. They don’t get to fall back on reputation or prestige. We then walk through the list together, and they talk me through what appeals to them, what scares them, what they’re really not sure about. This exercise is really useful. It would take a little bit of work, but you could do this with a friend or classmates. Once you’ve narrowed down some of the qualities that are really important to you, then you can use those parameters to really begin your own search.

Whatever you do, don’t begin with rankings or looking up “best colleges for _____.”

And what about finding scholarships? For most people figuring out how to pay for college is just as complicated as figuring out where to go to college. There’s no easy rule or set of steps for everyone. I will say a few general things, though. First is that the big money usually comes through the school. You choose a school, and they help you make it affordable. So don’t spend a lot of time separate from your school search on scholarships. Instead, make sure your college list includes choices that have lower overall cost (usually in-state public universities), are good at meeting full need, or both. The other thing is that you need an accurate, realistic idea of what you can afford. Talk to your family about money, soon. I’d also point you to some other tings I’ve written about scholarships and affordability: Thinking about scholarships, parts one and two; Why you don’t deserve a scholarship; Three things parents should stop saying to their children.

What happens with a meeting with a private college counselor? For a private college counselor to be really helpful, you’ll need more than a single meeting. And how the process works along the way will look different with different counselors. But think of it this way: when you work with a private counselor, you’ll have someone with knowledge and experience with you every step of the process.

With or without a consultant, there are three main phases of the process: understanding the student, putting together a good list of schools to apply, and making it through the application/decision process. Depending on the consultant, the client, and the budget, each of these steps may involve more or less from the consultant. Understanding the student can range anywhere from discussions and reviewing transcripts all the way to giving the student special diagnostic tests and surveys. Making it through the process can be as hands-on as arranging campus visits, having access to your application files to look through everything, and contacting colleges. It may be as hands-off as checking in to answer questions and reminding you of deadlines. There’s a lot of variety out there. Some consultants specialize in helping students with large financial need navigate the affordability factors, while some only deal with families for whom affordability isn’t a problem.

Beware any counselor who promises things that are too good to be true. In the end, it’s actually really important to feel like your private consultant didn’t “get you” anything. They don’t get you into a better college than you could on your own. They don’t get you special access. They don’t get you money that wasn’t already available. What they do is use their knowledge and experience to help you make your college search and admissions process more efficient and more effective. And remember, most of the people who go to college never had a private consultant. And they’re doing fine.

Do all colleges provide full-ride opportunities? It’s hard for me to answer that without knowing what you mean by “full ride.” Let’s say that a full ride means you attend the school full time without paying tuition and fees, and without taking out student loans. I can probably find a way to answer yes to your question. Do most, if not all, colleges have at least one student who pays no tuition and fees and doesn’t have any student loans? Probably. But the more useful answer, really, is to tell you no. True full-ride opportunities are much more rare than many believe. Fewer than 2% of students get a full ride each year, and yes that includes athletes. So it’s best to assume you won’t be getting a full scholarship. But please, please remember that college can still be affordable, even if it’s not free. While 98% of students pay something for college, less than 20% pay full price. And I know I said this already, but let me say it again because it’s so important: never decide not to apply to a school just because you think it won’t be affordable. [Related: Don’t pass up a full ride, Asking for more financial aid.]

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