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Getting into college. One in three teens says that the age-old decision of where to go and how to pay for it causes stress. It’s not just teens—parents say that college puts undue pressure on them, too. We asked both groups what weighed heaviest on their minds and put their questions before a panel of admissions experts. Turns out, undeclared is better, connections matter, and out-of-state students do have an advantage.
OUR PANEL OF EXPERTS
Ted O’Neill is the outgoing dean of admissions at the University of Chicago, a position he has held for 20 years. He has two children, one who attended the University of Pennsylvania and the other who attended Yale.
Michael Mills is an associate provost at Northwestern University, where he oversees undergraduate admissions and financial aid. He has three children, ages 14, 11, and 8.
For the past 17 years, Gloria Mueller coordinated college counseling at Glenbrook South. She has two children—a son who attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and a daughter who attended Loyola.
Photography: Esther Kang