All posts by Suzanne Shaffer

admissions, college planning

Deadline: That AWFUL word in college admissions

1 Comment

I pride myself in saying, “I work best under pressure”. That might be true, but it causes havoc in my household when I’m scrambling to complete a project right up to the last second. Here’s one of those instances where I will say, “do as I say and not as I do”. You can’t use this philosophy in the college admissions process. Every aspect of the process revolves around deadlines.

Here is the list of deadline-specific tasks:

  • Testing registration
  • Early action / early decision application submission
  • Regular decision application submission
  • FAFSA submission
  • PROFILE submission
  • Scholarships submissions
  • College acceptance deposit
  • Final transcript submission

College admission is ONE task in life that won’t allow “do-overs” or “extensions”. It is an unforgiving process that will cost you hundreds and even thousands of dollars for procrastinating and not filing on the appropriate deadline. So here is my ONE PIECE OF SAGE ADVICE:

DO EVERYTHING EARLY!

  • Register early for the SAT/ACT tests.
  • Complete the application EARLY and get it in to the colleges before the deluge of “wait until the last minute” applications arrive.
  • Complete the FAFSA the minute it becomes available (even if you have to estimate).
  • Submit all scholarship applications EARLY.
  • Followup on all the parts of your application to verify that the colleges received them.

Remember that EVERY college is different; do your homework and stay abreast of any college-specific deadlines.

For a list of deadlines, check them out at the College Board’s website:

 

financial aid, infographics

Financial Aid Myths

4 Comments

Here’s a great infographic that applies to the recent student loan news. The only “myth” that I might question is #5-Student Loans aren’t worth it. While the statistics show that college graduates do earn enough more over their lifetime than high school graduates, you have to be savvy about the amount of money you borrow and your ability to repay it.

Financial Aid Myths
Created by: Online Graduate Programs

financial aid, in the news

Obama’s solution to help student loan borrowers

I received this email from the Institute for College Access and Success. It was a press release issued on President Obama’s speech yesterday.

__________________________

Yesterday the Obama Administration announced important and timely new steps to help struggling student loan borrowers.  We applaud the Administration’s steps to make more federal loan borrowers aware of Income-Based Repayment and to provide additional repayment relief for up to 1.6 million current students, including a lower monthly payment cap and loan forgiveness after 20 rather than 25 years of responsible payments.

IBR has already helped nearly half a million borrowers lower their payments and avoid default, but many more borrowers are struggling to keep up with their payments in these tough economic times and could benefit from IBR and the proposed Pay-as-You-Earn option.

By encouraging more borrowers to convert their bank-based federal student loans to more cost-effective Direct Loans, the changes announced today will also help more people qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Those working for a public or nonprofit employer could see their remaining debt forgiven after just 10 years of payments. Borrowers with bank-based federal loans must already convert them to Direct Loans for their payments to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

The Administration took two additional steps to help students and families decide where to go to college and how to pay for it.  The new model financial aid disclosure form, or draft “shopping sheet,” is designed to make it easier to compare the real cost of different college options.  The new Student Debt Repayment Assistant will help current borrowers with both federal and private student loans, as well as those about to enter repayment, better understand their options.

With these changes on the way, it’s more important than ever to make sure that the millions of borrowers who could benefit from IBR know it’s out there. With the class of 2011 about to face their first student loan payments, there’s no time to waste.

IBR has been available to borrowers since July 2009. For more about how IBR and Public Service Loan Forgiveness work and how to apply, see our consumer website:www.IBRinfo.org.

For more on the Obama Administration announcement, please visit the White House website.

college planning, Guest Posts

Beyond the Rankings: In Search of the Perfect College

Last week during #CampusChat we talked about college search engines and their effectiveness in helping parents and students narrow down their college choices. There are many comparison tools out there, and today’s guest post from FindTheBest, offers parents and students some tips on how to conducting an in-depth side-by-side comparison search.

_______________________________________________________

Every fall the hype around college rankings consumes parents worried about whether their high school senior gets into a “Top 10 School.”  Parents should remember, in the heat of admissions season, there are several factors that make a school right for your teen; there are also plenty of great schools out there, whether or not they’ve been recognized in top ten lists.

From school size to tuition, there are dozens of important things to consider when helping your child apply to college. Fortunately, a new college comparison tool helps you search for and compare colleges and universities by location, acceptance rate, tuition and more.

How to Search Beyond

The free tool, provided by the comparison engine FindTheBest, includes every College institution recognized by the Department of Education.

Looking for a small school on the West Coast with tuition under $25,000? Specify that criterion in the school filter and see what comes up in the search results. Can’t decide between a few schools? Conduct an in depth side-by-side comparison of up to ten choices, so you can review details about potential universities and see how they stack up against one another.

Because rankings are not the only consideration when it comes to choosing a college, helping your college-bound teen understand this alleviates concerns about not making it into a “top school”, by providing them with alternative choices.

This application season, do your homework; research various schools and what they offer and you’re sure to be happy with the outcome.

in the news, parenting

Parenting responsible students

11 Comments

If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the news coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement. I know it’s a very volatile subject, but I came across this post on Facebook this morning by an anonymous student. I have to say, his or her parents must be VERY proud:

If you don’t want to reach for the glasses, here is the text of his statement:

I am a college senior, about to graduate completely debt free. I pay for all of my living expenses by working 30+ hours a week making barely above minimum wage. I chose a moderately priced in-state, public university. I started saving money for school at age 17. I got decent grades in high school and received two scholarships which cover 90% of my tuition. I currently have a 3.8 GPA. I live comfortably in a cheap apartment, knowing I can’t have everything I want. I don’t eat out every day, or even once a month. I have no credit card, new car, iPad or smart phone–and I’m perfect OK with that. If I did have debt, I would NOT blame Wall Street or the government for my own bad decisions. I live below my means to continue saving for the future. I expect nothing to be handed to me, and will continue to work my a** off for everything I have. That’s how it’s supposed to work. I am NOT the 99% and whether or not you are is YOUR decision.

At some point, we ALL have to claim responsibility for our actions. If you want your student to become an independent responsible adult, teach him that all actions have consequences and that he always has a choice. That is how to succeed in parenting responsible students.

 

admissions

A game changer for college recruiting

Last week, I wrote a short post about how colleges are using social media to connect with students. It’s a game-changer in college recruiting. Small colleges can level the playing field and stand out from the crowd by using social media. Unknown colleges can establish a presence and draw in students who might never have even known they existed.

US News-Education published an article today listing 5 ways that colleges are reaching high school students. Here’s a short summary:

  1. QR Codes–Hamilton College created a fall admissions poster featuring only a giant QR code, which led visitors to a custom welcome page. Students on high school campuses responded positively to this “cool” recruiting technique.
  2. Video chats–Ohio Wesleyan University hosts four or five group video chats during the academic year for parents and students, with each chat having a theme.
  3. Facebook Contests–Misericordia University used university bookstore gift certificates as prizes to incoming freshmen who replaced their Facebook picture with the college logo. It was a way to expand their reach and monitor the conversations that “friends” were having about the picture.
  4. Tweeting behind the scenes–Texas Tech used Twitter to cover a photo shoot story included in their annual recruiting material. They actually created a hashtag and made the photo shoot an event as opposed to just a piece of mail.
  5. YouTube video series–New School in NYC has created a series of recruiting videos entitled, “Are You New School?” These videos feature students discussing uncommon topics like the dating scene or being overwhelmed by the size of the city.

If you have a college-bound teen, look for these innovative ways that colleges will be connecting with your student. An innovative, forward-thinking college might be a perfect fit for your student and a great place to educate an innovative, forward-thinking student.

 

admissions, parenting, social networks

Colleges and Social Media

2 Comments

I just read a great post by a parent who is going through the college admissions process talking about College Admissions Secrets. Take a few minutes to read it because it addresses an important issue with parents: What can I do to assure my student will get accepted to college? Is there a secret?

One admissions officer was asked this question and responded using social media (Twitter). Do you think this was from one of those “helicopter” parents?

I would bet that some admissions representatives regret the day that parents found them on Twitter and Facebook. Now they can ask the questions they have been dying to ask, even at the dismay of some of the college representatives.

For colleges and students, social media can be a two-edged sword in many respects. It gives colleges the opportunity to connect with a larger applicant pool and share their message to a vast number of prospective students. But it also allows the parents of those applicants to interact and insert their questions into the process. Social media allows students to connect directly one-on-one with college representatives and current students. But it also means that students need to be more vigilant about their online persona because the colleges are watching.

If you would like to see how two colleges are using social media to reach students, follow the links below:

Hofstra University

Cornell College

If your student is applying to one of these colleges or any other colleges with a social media presence, let them make the connections themselves. Don’t be one of those parents who make admissions officers run for cover. Encourage your student to search for each college’s social media page and pursue those connections on their own. Let them, as one admissions representative once told me, “drive the car”.

college guidance, college planning, parenting

5 Tips to help your student prepare for college

As a parent, it’s always a wonderful thing to see your child growing up. The years can pass by so swiftly that before you realize it, it’s already time for him or her to prepare for the college admission tests.

But the bigger question is—are you prepared to shoulder the expenses that a college diploma entails? If you already have a plan and a separate fund ready for action, then there’s nothing for you to worry about. However, if you’re the kind of parent who has put off college planning until the last minute, you have to decide on a plan as quickly as possible so you can discuss it with your child.

College is a major decision that you and your child will have to tackle seriously. It entails great financial resources, the tenacity to stay on despite the rigorous academic requirements and emotional support from one another.

It is never bad to aim for high goals, but make sure that you and your child have realistic expectations given the scarcity of financial aid programs and the difficulties of being admitted to the top educational institutions in the country. He can’t study at an expensive school if you can’t afford it and scholarships don’t always fill in the gaps. You can’t force him to take a particular course if he doesn’t have even an ounce of interest in the subject matter.

Deciding about what to do for college is something that you and your child should mutually make. Here is some food for thought as you sit down and talk about college with your child:

  1. Consider your child’s career: the course that your child wants to take will be the single biggest factor in determining where he will go for college, how much you will have to spend for it and how he will prepare for the admission exams. There are courses that will allow him to graduate and get a job in three years’ time, but there are also other career paths that can take as long as a decade to finish. Be sure that you both understand the complexities and difficulties of getting into the school and applying for financial aid, provided you are qualified for it.
  2. Talk about your financial resources. Your child has to know if he will need to look for work to earn extra cash to augment your financial contribution even before he is packed off to the dormitory. Learning financial independence is certainly a good thing, but not at the expense of his academic standing. Some students need time to adjust to their new environment before they can take additional responsibilities like a job, so don’t expect your child to be able to work and study at the same time immediately. Be realistic about what you can and cannot do for your child in terms of financial support so that he can also make plans and contributions on his own.
  3. Help your child to prepare for the admission exams. Be generous with your words of encouragement and advice as your child reviews for the college entrance tests. Nothing prepares your child better for college than a solid educational foundation. Help him brush up on the most critical subjects that will impact his chances of getting into his college of choice the most, such as English, Math, Science, History and Computer Science. Let him know that you are with him every step of the way.
  4. Do your homework. If your child already knows what course he wants to take, it’s up to you now to help him choose the best college or university. This will help you prepare not just for the admission exams but also for the actual costs that you will incur once he is accepted for enrolment. Your expenses will vary from institution to institution, so you should be careful to note the differences and the options that are available to you. After all, you will have to pay not just tuition fees but also dormitory fees, living allowance, medical costs, etc. Learning about the different colleges and universities that offer the best programs for your child can help you plan ahead and structure your finances accordingly.
  5. Check out financial aid options. Knowing about the various colleges that your child can attend will help you gather important information about financial aid and scholarship requirements that can help ease the burden of sending your child to college. There are different types of programs that can look into, such as work-study plans, merit-based financial aid, need-based financial aid and federal financial assistance. Go over each option with your child and solicit his ideas on the matter so you can both come up with a mutually sound decision.

 **********

When not out building relationships with other bloggers, Krisca Te can be found reading blogs that tackle how to save money. She is also a personal finance freak who is currently working with CCF, a personal finance blog that writes about financial literacy.