Date: February 2010
Dear Parents and Students,
This month we open with a word about the largest increase in college applications in history and the most competitive pool of students vying for slots at all level of institutions.
What’s Going On Out There?
With more qualified students applying than seats available, it’s truly a sellers market. That doesn’t bode well for students or parents. For students it’s meant rejections that don’t make any sense. Acceptance rates have come down by as much as 5% at the more selective colleges. Average SAT scores have increased too, from 1,206 last year to 1,323 this year (excluding the essay).
What About My Child’s Award (or lack of one)?
So far this award season we have seen college costs rise between 5 and 7% from 2008-09 levels. We won’t know all of the actual costs until August. We bring this to your attention for this reason: In most cases, scholarship money offered by the college or university will have a stipulation that the student maintain a minimum grade point average to keep the award each year. GPA’s at some colleges are easier to keep or exceed than others. Most students can manage a 2.5 while others may struggle to keep a 3.2.
It is highly recommended that you or your student call admissions and ask for the number or percentage of students who actually retain the award going into their sophomore year. If the number of students who keep their awards drops significantly after the first year (more than 10%), you need to be aware that if your student loses that award, it is not going to be reinstated. The financial significance of this is obvious.
If admissions won’t tell you or “doesn’t have that information handy,” ask them what their retention rate is from year to year. Retention rates tell you how many students return year after year. If the rate is above 85%, (look for rates of 90%+), then you can safely assume that most students can afford to come back.
How Does My EFC Figure Into This Process?
College financial aid offers are based on a number of factors and you would think that the Expected Family Contribution would be the most important. While it is part of the financial aid equation, there are other factors at work. The first is how much the college wants your student to attend. Suppose a small scholarship is included in your student’s financial aid award and little else? That means that your student is not on the “A” list. Colleges actually split up applicants into groups and the A’s get the most, the B’s get some and the C’s get next to nothing. When asked for more money, Boston University’s Executive Director of Student Financial Services said, “If the university really wanted the student, we would have made it known.” That says it all.
Merit scholarships are based on how much the college values a particular student and it isn’t a financial aid decision. Appealing to admissions probably won’t yield the result you’re looking for unless you have an offer from a competing school (approximate size, cost and type and perhaps same geographic region) that is better. In lieu of competing offers, miracles can happen if you actually go to the financial aid office and simply tell them you cannot afford the college without additional help. Bringing along a copy of your family budget can help and a having a figure that you can pay will give you a set goal.
Do Colleges Really Expect Me To Pay This?
To be blunt, colleges don’t care where the money comes from as long as they get paid. If loans are part of your college funding strategy then you will need to know how much you can afford to pay back in loans whether it be a home equity or PLUS loan. As you borrow more, the payments will increase each year. Call us today for a free analysis of your current plan.
The second is the amount of money that is available for financial aid awards. Not all colleges have a lot of money to give your student no matter how competitive they are. The award may be disappointing but you need to know that it isn’t because the school is slighting your son or daughter. That being said, some colleges have so many students applying that they just don’t have to offer much money to fill seats. Getting more out of these colleges can take months of appeals without much in the way of additional aid to show for all the effort.
Granted, there are a few highly selective or elite institutions that offer only need based financial aid. If your Expected Family Contribution or EFC is higher than the projected cost of attendance or COA, no scholarship money will be offered no matter how outstanding your student is. You may receive an award letter from such a school that includes an unsubsidized Stafford/Ford Direct Loan and we have seen colleges include Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students or PLUS.
Seniors
1. Follow-up with all of your colleges to confirm all required documentation has been received. Ask if there is anything else you can do to assist them with the admissions and financial assistance decision.
2. Have your student send thank-you notes to teachers and others who wrote recommendations.
3. Forward all college correspondence to us as received. We can advise you as to how to proceed from there.
4. As a courtesy, your student should let all colleges and universities know where they have decided to attend and thank them for the offers of admission and financial aid. This common courtesy will be appreciated. If for some reason your student isn’t happy with their final choice and want to transfer at a later time, perhaps to a college that had offered a generous award, your student will want to be remembered in a positive light.
5. If your student is “wait listed” (see article below from the Princeton Review below) by a college and the intent is to enroll if accepted, have your student call, visit, or write to the admissions office to state their intentions and ask how they can strengthen their application. Recent evidence of academic or other achievements could help. If financial aid will be needed to attend the college that placed them on its “wait list,” find out if funds will be available when they are accepted.
Juniors
· Now is the time to start identifying teachers, administrators, counselors, and other adults (e.g., minister, employer) who could write letters of recommendation for you this fall.
· Go ahead and create or update a résumé of your accomplishments, activities, and work experiences.
Also, if you and your student have not started college visitations yet, now is an excellent time to work up a calendar and spend some time exploring. Though spring semester classes are soon coming to an end, there is still much they can learn by a planned visit. If you are vacationing this summer and there are a few colleges in the area, call ahead or just drop by. You may not get the nickel tour, but you will get a sense of how your student might be treated if they were to attend that school.
We want to give students like yours the resources and tools to succeed. That's why when they register for the test online, they can get free practice materials including an official SAT practice test, The Official SAT Question of the Day™ and the SAT In Focus™ tools: Skills Insight™ and My SAT Online Score Report. It's a great site where you and your child can go together. You'll both find lots of useful information to help ensure your child's SAT experience is a positive one.
THE DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 10 for the March 13th exam. We've made the process fast and easy, so have your child sign up today. REMEMBER: When it comes to being awarded merit aid, standardized test scores are the most important element of your college application! The higher the score, the more free money you are likely to receive.
Also, the SAT II Subject Tests at the end of the school year measure mastery of a specific subject and many colleges recommend that they be included on the transcript. The most selective colleges require them.
Brad Asbury
Access College Foundation
basburycsa@yahoo.com
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
A New Year's Wish
A NEW YEAR’S WISH
May the New Year bring you more time with your family, greater understanding towards yourself and others, a gentler heart, fulfillment, a continued sense of purpose and most of all, peace. We wish you a most Happy New Year!
TAXES
First time financial aid applicants do not have to have their parent’s tax returns completed before the FAFSA or the CSS/Profile is filed. Best guesses based on end of year pay stubs and third quarter financial statements are absolutely fine and expected. Business owners may use estimates based on 2008 filings, with any 2009 peculiarities considered. Call us for help.
THOSE DARN FINANCIAL AID FORMS
FAFSA and CSS/PROFILE financial aid forms for high school seniors: Each year, the colleges, high schools and media find it necessary to put fear into people regarding filing financial aid forms. There is added pressure on financial aid applications this year, primarily due to electronic applications and a greater number of students applying.
Getting your forms in earlier than later is better, but as long as you meet the college’s deadlines, your student is in NO DANGER of losing eligibility for aid. We do ask that parents provide us their complete information as soon as possible as well, but we don’t want you to hit the panic button just yet.
As far as the FAFSA being filed, if your information is ready, it should be filed between the 15th and the 20th of January! This is more than enough time for 99.9 % for the majority of financial aid deadlines. Every year there are changes to the FAFSA that require programming changes.
Be prepared to submit signed copies of your completed tax returns to the financial aid office before your student’s award is finalized.
Parents of students that file the CSS/PROFILE: About thirty-five of the colleges and universities who use the CSS/Profile gather tax information via the Institutional Documentation Service (IDOC) for short. This is a free service the College Board has provided. When your taxes are complete, you will send a signed copy of your federal tax form with W-2s 1099s and requested schedules to the IDOC Center. From there your taxes will be scanned and digitally sent to the participating college(s).
SENIORS:
The colleges that request secondary reports from your school will be looking to see that you have kept your grades up. They will also be requesting your final transcript, so don’t slack off now as you head into the home stretch. Typically, the more selective colleges will let you know end of March/early April if you have been offered a seat in the Class of 2014. Be patient and make sure that you have applied to at least a couple of safety schools.
Colleges and universities that have rolling admissions policies can take up to six weeks before you hear back, so be patient.
Haven’t completed your college applications? What are you waiting for? Sharpen that pencil or get on your computer and get going! If you don’t do it now you will likely miss the boat. You don’t have to decide on which college to go to but you do need to have some in mind that you think might work out for you. And make your application shine with a résumé (complete with highlights of your achievements and put notes in the margins), include a flattering picture of yourself and a very compelling essay (if required).
Don’t be too proud to apply to a college that your parents or college planning specialist suggested. The reason they thought it wise to consider it was because they felt that the college would serve your major course of study, provide successful internships and maybe offer you a better than average financial aid package.
JUNIORS:
If you have already identified a college that you want to visit this year, call and set up the visit. At this point in the selection process, don’t offer any more information than asked for. Colleges tend to do a little homework of their own when they think a student has an above average interest. A visit definitely indicates interest.
Find out if they have an instant messenger program for you to IM current students. These students may answer questions that you may not want to ask of an admissions counselor. See if the college’s student newspaper is on-line and check out what the students write about.
If your PSAT scores didn’t meet with your expectations, now is a good time to visit with your guidance counselor and discuss your options to improve them. We’ve mentioned this before and with good reason, as it gets you thinking about getting better results. Sign up for the SAT Question of the Day . You’ll have a question a day emailed to your inbox. SAT practice tests, can be ordered directly from Eureka or the College Board if your guidance counselor is out of them, and private tutoring can be of great help. Call for referrals! The better you do on the standardized tests, the better your chances of reducing college bills through merit awards (free money).
If you like, call our office to ask which SAT prep course our students have had the most success with.
SATs may not be the deciding factor in the admission decision, but they can be the critical factor for your receiving a favorable financial aid package, e.g. merit award and grants (free money).
There is another test you can take instead of the SAT, and that is the ACT. The ACT is a knowledge-based standardized test that is popular in the Midwest . It measures what you know. Some students do better on the ACT than the SAT, and just about all colleges accept the ACT— so ask your counselor about taking this test.. Locate Where and When the Next ACT is Scheduled.
To get more information on the SAT or SAT Subject Tests, access useful tools, or register, visit the College Board's Web site (www.collegeboard.com) or call (866) 756-7346.
To get more information on the ACT, access useful tools, or register, visit the ACT Web site (www.act.org) or call (319) 337-1270.
Have a Happy & Safe New Year!
Brad Asbury
Access College Foundation
May the New Year bring you more time with your family, greater understanding towards yourself and others, a gentler heart, fulfillment, a continued sense of purpose and most of all, peace. We wish you a most Happy New Year!
TAXES
First time financial aid applicants do not have to have their parent’s tax returns completed before the FAFSA or the CSS/Profile is filed. Best guesses based on end of year pay stubs and third quarter financial statements are absolutely fine and expected. Business owners may use estimates based on 2008 filings, with any 2009 peculiarities considered. Call us for help.
THOSE DARN FINANCIAL AID FORMS
FAFSA and CSS/PROFILE financial aid forms for high school seniors: Each year, the colleges, high schools and media find it necessary to put fear into people regarding filing financial aid forms. There is added pressure on financial aid applications this year, primarily due to electronic applications and a greater number of students applying.
Getting your forms in earlier than later is better, but as long as you meet the college’s deadlines, your student is in NO DANGER of losing eligibility for aid. We do ask that parents provide us their complete information as soon as possible as well, but we don’t want you to hit the panic button just yet.
As far as the FAFSA being filed, if your information is ready, it should be filed between the 15th and the 20th of January! This is more than enough time for 99.9 % for the majority of financial aid deadlines. Every year there are changes to the FAFSA that require programming changes.
Be prepared to submit signed copies of your completed tax returns to the financial aid office before your student’s award is finalized.
Parents of students that file the CSS/PROFILE: About thirty-five of the colleges and universities who use the CSS/Profile gather tax information via the Institutional Documentation Service (IDOC) for short. This is a free service the College Board has provided. When your taxes are complete, you will send a signed copy of your federal tax form with W-2s 1099s and requested schedules to the IDOC Center. From there your taxes will be scanned and digitally sent to the participating college(s).
SENIORS:
The colleges that request secondary reports from your school will be looking to see that you have kept your grades up. They will also be requesting your final transcript, so don’t slack off now as you head into the home stretch. Typically, the more selective colleges will let you know end of March/early April if you have been offered a seat in the Class of 2014. Be patient and make sure that you have applied to at least a couple of safety schools.
Colleges and universities that have rolling admissions policies can take up to six weeks before you hear back, so be patient.
Haven’t completed your college applications? What are you waiting for? Sharpen that pencil or get on your computer and get going! If you don’t do it now you will likely miss the boat. You don’t have to decide on which college to go to but you do need to have some in mind that you think might work out for you. And make your application shine with a résumé (complete with highlights of your achievements and put notes in the margins), include a flattering picture of yourself and a very compelling essay (if required).
Don’t be too proud to apply to a college that your parents or college planning specialist suggested. The reason they thought it wise to consider it was because they felt that the college would serve your major course of study, provide successful internships and maybe offer you a better than average financial aid package.
JUNIORS:
If you have already identified a college that you want to visit this year, call and set up the visit. At this point in the selection process, don’t offer any more information than asked for. Colleges tend to do a little homework of their own when they think a student has an above average interest. A visit definitely indicates interest.
Find out if they have an instant messenger program for you to IM current students. These students may answer questions that you may not want to ask of an admissions counselor. See if the college’s student newspaper is on-line and check out what the students write about.
If your PSAT scores didn’t meet with your expectations, now is a good time to visit with your guidance counselor and discuss your options to improve them. We’ve mentioned this before and with good reason, as it gets you thinking about getting better results. Sign up for the SAT Question of the Day . You’ll have a question a day emailed to your inbox. SAT practice tests, can be ordered directly from Eureka or the College Board if your guidance counselor is out of them, and private tutoring can be of great help. Call for referrals! The better you do on the standardized tests, the better your chances of reducing college bills through merit awards (free money).
If you like, call our office to ask which SAT prep course our students have had the most success with.
SATs may not be the deciding factor in the admission decision, but they can be the critical factor for your receiving a favorable financial aid package, e.g. merit award and grants (free money).
There is another test you can take instead of the SAT, and that is the ACT. The ACT is a knowledge-based standardized test that is popular in the Midwest . It measures what you know. Some students do better on the ACT than the SAT, and just about all colleges accept the ACT— so ask your counselor about taking this test.. Locate Where and When the Next ACT is Scheduled.
To get more information on the SAT or SAT Subject Tests, access useful tools, or register, visit the College Board's Web site (www.collegeboard.com) or call (866) 756-7346.
To get more information on the ACT, access useful tools, or register, visit the ACT Web site (www.act.org) or call (319) 337-1270.
Have a Happy & Safe New Year!
Brad Asbury
Access College Foundation
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