Deciding where to go to college, and how to pay for it, are a couple of of the most important decisions students can make within their lifetime.
A great college experience can launch them into an incredible career with a support system of friends that sets them up for achievement in life, while a subpar one may cause them to regard it as being just a costly way to spend 4 years.
A smart college financial plan might help a student establish credit, find a high-paying field, and build a good financial platform, but deficiencies in foresight can cripple a student's financial future.
We get it-that's a lot to think about. Luckily, we're here to help!
Drawing on years of experience, as well as two top names attending college admissions planning and educational funding advising, here is a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about college admissions and financial aid-but were too afraid to inquire about.
The College Choice
Before we are able to really dig into how you can get ready for affording university, a smaller amount attending, odds are you have some questions regarding how you can decide on a college. If your little one is absolutely determined to go to a community college, or you happen to be a major donor in an institution where your entire family attended, you can skip this section.
Otherwise, meet Rebecca Chabrow, the Director of school Consulting at Linden Hall School. Rebecca practical knowledge on sides from the admissions table, with stints attending college counseling in the U.S. and abroad at international schools.
Your Child's High School Resume
According to Rebecca, the only most important facet of academics, in high school, is that students focus more about quality and fewer on quantity. In the end, “colleges often recalculate GPA (Grade Point Average) based on their very own formula,” states Rebecca, and also the recalculations reward people who challenge themselves.
But so how exactly does a student challenge themself? Based on Rebecca, it’s twofold. First, students must ensure to consider a minimum of three credits each in English, math, social studies, sciences, and foreign languages throughout their senior high school career. She also recommends that students who wish to compete take at least four credits in each of those subjects over four years.
After all, the American educational experience is fundamentally in line with the liberal arts. “Even at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), students are required to take courses that fill the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) requirement,” says Rebecca.
Moreover, it's not just the breadth from the studies, but the depth. Students should challenge themselves, particularly with Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and honors classes.
Not sure if your son or daughter is ready for any higher level class? Rebecca provides a simple solution: If they have an A, make next year's course more difficult. However, a C is a sign they've overshot the mark. So consider a class where your son or daughter is much more prone to perform well.
Finally, if their senior high school doesn't offer more complex classes, make the most of universities offering MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) to enhance the offerings. Colleges receive reports around the offerings of every senior high school, so this is a great way to demonstrate passion and an appetite for academic rigor.
Don't Forget Extracurriculars
For a while, students and fogeys have often believed that schools wanted well-rounded students. This isn't necessarily true. Instead, Rebecca says, “colleges desire a well-rounded student body.” Rather than dabbling inside a little bit of everything, encourage your child to pay attention to where their passions are. A student who wants to study business shouldn't feel instructed to pursue a membership in a classics club, unless there’s something about the organization that’s meaningful towards the student.
Researching Schools
With all that in mind, it's time to start considering schools. If your little one has taken a standardized test and opted to get promotions from colleges, then odds are their inbox is full every single day. Note that while helpful, this isn't the very best starting place.
Rebecca instead recommends taking into consideration the select-ability of schools with respect to your child. She points out that top-tier selective colleges (individuals with admissions rates of around 20% or lower) will need mostly As for grades. Those that are merely selective (with around a 50% admissions rate) will think about a mixture of As and Bs. Also, if your little one has a lot of As but took easy courses, realize that some colleges may consider them as having taken the easy way out, says Rebecca.
Once you've determined where your son or daughter includes a shot of gaining admission, it's time to think of a list. Your child should have a solid mixture of reach, match, and safety schools-ideally all choices that would meet their demands.
In researching schools, let's assume that your child's resume is a good match, two broad factors matter. One is the general 'fit,' which includes aspects like urban/rural, small/large, along with other requirements. This is best determined by your son or daughter, along with college tours where possible.
The other factor is a that might require a bit more help: spending money for it all.
Paying for College
Our expert on affording university, Luanne Lee, a university Financial Planning Specialist and who owns Your College Planning Coach, is quick to indicate that college is the second priciest purchase many people make in their lives. Luanne knows; for the last 17 years, she's been focused exclusively on helping families understand the financial aid process. Before that, she worked in financial services, so she's an excellent person to inquire about.
Start Early
There are three general categories of money which help students purchase college. First, there are grants. Then there are loans. And finally, there’s money the household has saved to assist the child. Around everybody wants to maximise that first category, namely because your child do not possess to pay it back, it is a mix of the 2nd two that will be crucial for many families.
Additionally, not all savings plans are created equally. Saving for school via a 529 plan offers your family numerous tax advantages, but the money saved are only able to be utilized for specific expenses. Buying a computer is okay, but purchasing a plane ticket to fly to and from campus isn't. Being conscious of these differences early can help down the road.
Therefore, families should start finding ways to save money early, in hopes of minimizing loans. Luanne is quick to point out that she is aware of this wasn't the way things used to be (she states that just like the price of milk and gas has increased, also have college educations!), so starting earlier is better.
In fact, Luanne suggests families start to discuss college costs and just what they are able to afford as early as the eighth grade. Parents should “set expectations using their students on 'this is exactly what we as your parents can afford, your job like a student is to buy good grades, SAT scores, volunteer, write essays for scholarships,'” which makes it clear that this is really a team effort. Doing this will also provide incentives for college students to operate harder, seeing that they have an important part to play along the way.
The FAFSA and Other Aid
If you've probably heard anything about college financial aid, then odds are you're acquainted with the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a minimum of in passing.
It is the best form you’ll fill out to help your son or daughter purchase college.
As Luanne says, “the FAFSA is the most misunderstood document in planning college.” Students don’t get something only for filing the FAFSA, she adds (other than the opportunity to take out an unsubsidized direct loan).
However, it is crucial for 2 other types of educational funding.
College Financial Aid
Almost certainly, your son or daughter's college will require a FAFSA to be able to calculate student financial aid. Other forms may or may not be expected, depending on the school. There's two kinds of financial aid administered by universities: merit aid and need-based aid. Need-based aid, which can consist of scholarships, grants, work-study, or loans, is set by the FAFSA, so it's imperative to file it.
Merit aid does not typically require the FAFSA, and for many families, it’s the most attractive to find. Luanne stresses the importance of examining the merit aid policies of colleges; most of all, “the student ought to be the driver in asking for additional merit awards.”
Private Educational funding, Also Known as Private Scholarships
Finally, there’s a considerable amount of third-party aid available in private scholarships, but students shouldn’t assume private scholarships will cover all of their costs. These scholarships can be a mix of both need-based and merit-based aid, so students as well as their families shouldn’t be amazed when bring in more business request a copy of their FAFSA.
Many large corporations sponsor rather flashy scholarship programs, but thousands of students prosper in asking local and regional groups. Faith-based organizations, fraternal groups, and small businesses all have a tendency to hand out money for scholarships, and a simple telephone call or email can begin the procedure.
What About Appealing?
Even if everything goes right, there’s still always an opportunity the college's selling price has run out of reach. In this case, Luanne strongly advises students to appeal the choice. Luanne provides a formula that is not so difficult, but can help your son or daughter through the process:
- First, ask them to call the financial aid representative and thank them for his or her initial award.
- Explain the circumstances, in addition to why they'd enjoy to attend the school in question.
- Have hard numbers, as educational funding representatives will need to know exactly how your family needs.
- If applicable, produce other educational funding offers ready. Colleges worry about yield protection, and while there is a fine line here, there's nothing wrong together with your child knowing their worth.
- If it is offered, be prepared for them to accept admission at that moment and withdraw offers from other colleges.
- Check out our Help guide to Everything You Need To Learn about Financial Aid Appeals.
These appeals don't always work, so your family should be prepared for that outcome. However, colleges enjoy being wanted, and if you're already accepted, educational funding officers are reasonable people, after all.
The Need for Planning Ahead
Through both Rebecca's and Luanne's advice, one common thread emerges-begin planning early. While 529 plans could be started prior to the child is even born, for a lot of families, starting college planning and research after junior high school, or the beginning of high school, can help them make sure that expectations are reasonable and preparations are created to help your son or daughter do their very best both in applying and paying for college.
The basic principles of starting the school process include:
- Know your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which schools use to calculate how much financial aid your child is eligible to receive.
- Know your child's stats vs. the stats of the schools they're signing up to using the College Insights Tool.
- Research whether or not the schools your child is utilizing to typically give merit aid or not-and if that's the case, how much.
- Calculate how much your family can reasonably manage to contribute toward your child's education expenses to check out schools that suit your budget.
- Keep track of college application deadlines so when colleges start accepting applications. It's good to submit some applications early, whether early action, early decision, or simply at the outset of a college's rolling admissions process. There are also separate deadlines for financial aid forms and often separate applications and deadlines for merit scholarships.
A little behind the eight ball? Check out our list for juniors and seniors!