Question: My daughter wants to become a dentist. I didnt go to college, how does she start this process? we live in GA, no one in our family has been to college. She is 17 and taking college prep classes at her high school. The counselors there are not very helpful. What can we do to find out what direction to go?

Answer: Good for you, for wanting to help her with this process!  Too many parents would just stand back and hope she could find a way to do this.  There are several ways you can approach this.  If you have a family dentist with whom she has a good relationship, she (or you) could ask her/him for help with the process.  There are many websites, like www.collegeboard.com, which give information - she needs to prepare for the SAT, if she hasn't already taken that exam, and she should get help with her essays and financial aid applications.  Be careful, by the way, about rip-off companies which take your money and promise financial aid; I've seen too many people taken in by these sleazy people.  Once she gets accepted at a college, they should be able to work with her to get financial aid that she (and you) doesn't have to pay for up front.  The suggestion about community college counselors was a good one, and if you have any money, there are professional independent college counselors you can get advice from.  I can tell you that I'm a college professor, and many of us love it when high school students who are interested in our fields come to us for advice.  I don't know enough about the sciences, or I'd volunteer to help her myself!
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