Happy Now We're Through It All

Juniors are in the midst of the college search process, if they are doing it correctly!

Time To Talk About The Sophomores! Freshmen Too!

“If you are prepared, you will be confident, and will do the job.” ~ Tom Landry

Key Success Factors

1. Students who do well on standardized tests do a lot of reading. Read, read, and read some more!
2. If you don’t like to read, refer to # 1
3. Set your test strategy toward the end of sophomore year
4. Take PSAT in sophomore and junior year. Take PLAN at the end of sophomore year
5. Manage your time. Don’t cram for standardized tests
6. Engage yourself in a challenging high school curriculum
7. Establish a high level of classroom performance in Math, Science, Foreign Language, and History
8. Develop your writing skills over time and get constructive feedback on your writing as often as possible
9. Understand what your candidate colleges will require of you
10. Pay attention to the official record you create! Don’t practice by taking the real test. Use diagnostic tests for practicing

Don’t forget also: “A stitch in time saves nine.”

PS – For those who missed it and are still waiting for or struggling with award letters, here’s a helping hand:
Award Letter Evaluation Tool

“If it weren’t for the last minute, I wouldn’t get anything done.”
~Author Unknown

The admissions applications are submitted! Now what? Wait until April 1st. to see if you were accepted?

Not quite. The second round of applications (for Student Financial Aid) begins now. And now is the time to submit your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

The (In)Famous FAFSA

Typically, families are scrambling to gather their financial data for the 2009 tax year so that they can prepare the FAFSA for submission. While many of us would like to forget about the financial ups and downs of the last few years, colleges and universities are ready to use that information to the fullest extent of the law!

The FAFSA form for the 2010-2011 school year is now available online. It is with this form that students apply for need-based financial aid each and every year they plan to attend. Yes, EACH AND EVERY YEAR!

Procrastination Can Hurt You

“Procrastination is, hands down, our favorite form of self-sabotage.”
~Alyce P. Cornyn-Selby

I used to work in the financial aid office of a private university several years ago, and I cannot tell you how many shell shocked students I saw in the month of March, each and every year.

Why? They had simply forgotten to get their financial aid renewal forms in on time and then had to face some daunting money issues for the upcoming school year.

Many families end up waiting to file their financial aid applications forms until after their taxes are done.

Do Not Wait – Be An Early Bird!

In my experience, it is more important to get the forms (new or renewal) in on time, than to have them be filled out with completed tax information.

It is better to estimate the financial information based on the previous tax year (2008 in this case) and get the forms in on time, than it is to get all of the (2009) numbers verified before putting them on the forms.

Be Aware Of Your College’s Requirements

Also check with the schools you have applied to (or are enrolled at since the Financial Aid deadlines for new and returning students are usually different) to validate the deadlines and number and types of forms you need to file for consideration for financial aid.

Every school asks for the FAFSA (federal form required by all colleges) and several will ask that you file the CSS Profile (institutional form required by some colleges). Certain schools may even ask that their own institutional financial aid forms be completed.

The simple message is: Get your forms in ON TIME! Don’t be guilty of procrastination, or …

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.”
~Karen Lamb

Are you facing a mammoth tuition bill?

Massachusetts now has nine schools with a
“college cost/sticker price” above $50,000 per year (Chronicle of Higher Education).

As of last year, no school in Massachusetts surpassed that mark.

Last year only 5 schools in the nation had total fees exceeding $50,000. This year, nearly 60 schools charge that much per year! That’s a 1,060% increase! What will the increase look like next year?

This all makes for great headlines, and there is real cause for concern about the steady inflation of college costs.  But …

What better questions can be asked by families intimidated by the published college cost?

How important is a college’s sticker price?

The key to this question is the role of financial aid.

Sixty-six percent of all undergraduates received some financial aid in 2007-2008, according to the Department of Education. Full-time students approached a rate of nearly 80%.

While the average published private college cost last year was $37,390 (public, in-state was $18,326), that is not reflective of the actual fees each individual student may have paid based on the type and amount of grant, scholarship, loan, and work-study aid they may have received. (Note: college cost includes tuition, room and board, and allowances for items such as books, travel and fees).

Because of financial aid, there may often be a significant difference between the published “sticker” price versus the actual “net” price paid.

We hear so many stories of families insisting that their students could only apply to state schools last year because a private college education was going to be cost prohibitive.

If only they knew what the Wizard behind the curtain was really trying to hide!

By peeling back the layers of the onion and calculating their exposure (EFC) based on the Federal and Institutional Methodology, many families would discover that many private schools will end up with a net cost that may be very close, if not lower than the net cost of a public school.

Armed with this knowledge (what is the “true” college cost) before they begin the college search, rather than following the “guidance” received from the media, they’re much more likely to have a broader selection of schools that are a great fit, academically and financially.

Does the sticker price reflect superior quality?

There are some great cars out there with hefty price tags, and they certainly have quality. But let’s face it: the “snob” factor plays a pretty big role too.

There is a similar attitude towards colleges (college cost equals college quality). Yet many studies (including one by Princeton economist Alan Krueger) explain that where a bright student goes to college really doesn’t mean much in terms of finding the right career or more importantly, earning power.  The research indicates that what really matters is how well the student performs at whatever institution of higher learning they attend – not the number on the price tag.

What we can be sure of is that an informed college search is fertile ground for a savvy shopper.

* Tufts’ mascot is Jumbo, and has an interesting “tail”.

Parents entering the college admissions process are prone to “Four Fatal Errors.”

They are:

1. Choosing a college before understanding their financial options

The myth of “Choose first, pay later” is just that, a myth.

Too many families get themselves in situations where financial offers from some highly visible colleges, make attending their student’s “Dream School” a financial nightmare. It’s imperative for families to learn what their financial options are.

Make sure you have a sound financial strategy in place before beginning the college search.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

2. The delusion that billions of scholarships go unclaimed each year

This fiercely held belief is simply not true.

Many students spend hours needlessly searching for and applying for random scholarships.

However, once colleges find out that a student has an outside scholarship, it’s possible that the value of the scholarship could actually be deducted from the financial aid package, resulting in a zero net gain.

It’s best to check the policy on private scholarships and research specific campus-based scholarships at schools to which your student is applying. Those scholarships will actually reduce your total college costs.

The Arthur Holly Compton Scholarship at the College of Wooster is an example of this.

Also, academic merit scholarships, which many schools offer to strong, academically qualified students, can make a high tuition college affordable.

3. Suffering from “brand name paralysis”

Many students and their families suffer from the delusion that only highly visible (top U.S. News Ranked Colleges) offer the best educational opportunities.

Truth is, there is a staggering number of excellent colleges offering top-quality educations at a cost a family can manage.

The landscape has changed!

Colleges that were second and third tier schools when parents applied several years ago, are now first tier institutions.

What’s more important? A college’s name recognition or a school that is a great “fit “ for your child?

4. Grossly underestimating the work load/level of detail required

Many parents and students new to the college admissions process don’t believe their friends who tell them that it can be “overwhelming.”

In fact, college selection and admissions has become so complex that many families don’t start soon enough and end up having it be more stressful than necessary.

A thoughtful and deliberate undertaking starting at the beginning of a student’s junior year will make the process manageable and, hopefully, fun!

** This article was written by Howard Verman, Director of Strategies for College, and published in collaboration with Lauren Starkey of Examiner.com