February College Planning Newsletter

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