Q: I am very close to my grandson, and now that he’s a junior in high school, I want to help him with his college search, but I don’t really know where to start. What should I do?

A: It can be a challenge for a loving grandparent or uncle or other extended family member to be truly involved in a young person’s college search process; the “team” is usually really the student, their immediate family, and whoever they’re working with in their school.

If I were an extended family member looking to be involved, I think I would first try to talk with the family about my desire to be involved, so that I could carve out some kind of helping niche for myself… grandma gets to take junior to college visits, grandma gets to proofread essays, grandma gets to research D II lacrosse programs, grandma gets to look for scholarships, grandma gets to pay for the student’s books, etc. etc. Establishing some agreed-upon guidelines and then keeping the lines of communication open amongst all the interested parties are important components of a successful search process.

Q: We’ve started the college visiting process and while visiting a college this past weekend the admissions person told us that the school only looks at the highest individual score for SAT’s – meaning the highest verbal, highest math etc. I’m wondering how widespread this policy is.

A: The vast majority of colleges and universities operate under a “best of all sittings” policy when it comes to considering standardized test scores. This is done both because it gives candidates the opportunity to put their best foot forward, and because it helps the schools when it comes time to “brag” about their incoming class.

In fact only exception that I’m aware of currently is Penn State; PSU’s process looks at the best individual “sitting,” and does not “mix and match” test scores for candidates.