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Meeting The State FAFSA Deadline

For those of you still working on the FAFSA, keep in mind that February 15th is the state deadline for filing here in Connecticut. Not to be confused with the federal deadline which is June 30th of 2013 (yes, that’s 2013 – the federal timeline for filing spans 18 months beginning in January of the student’s senior year in high school ), the state deadline is much earlier. If you want to be considered for any state grants, your FAFSA must be filed by the 15th. State grants are typically formulaic based on the student’s academic record. So, if you’re a good student, you don’t want to miss this deadline!

If you are putting off your FAFSA filing because you haven’t done your taxes yet – don’t. Plug in some estimations and then, when your taxes are done, you can go back in and make adjustments later. If you are putting off the FAFSA because you just don’t want to tackle it – arm yourself with resources, resources and more resources.

If you are a current junior, check with your school counselor about when your school might be hosting a financial aid night. Also, look for programs like the College Goal Sunday Program which was held at twelve different locations around the state today. The program’s goal is to help students and their families learn about financial planning for college while obtaining on-site assistance in filling out the FAFSA. It’s a free program and funded by the Lumina Foundation for Education and co-sponsored by the Connecticut Association of Professional Financial Aid Administrators (CAPFAA) and the Connecticut Association for Educational Opportunity Programs (CAEOP).

If all these attempts to get answers to your questions fail, you can always call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4FED-AID (1.800.433.3243). You don’t want to miss out on any type of assistance just because you missed a deadline.

Good luck with the FAFSA and if you have any questions you would like to ask or stories you would like to share, please use the comment section below.

You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com.

Eric Dobler is the president and founder of Dobler College Consulting. Follow him on Twitter.

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Eric Jan 29, 2012 No Comments
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Keeping It Simple

On Friday, Jay Matthews of the Washington Post wrote a blog titled, “5 wrong ideas about college admission.”  I just wanted to bring some attention to the piece because of its simple effectiveness.

One of the reasons I created Dobler College Consulting was because I see the frustration families and their college-bound students experience trying to navigate the application process. With an unlimited number of blogs, articles, publications, books, and media coverage touting lists and rankings, what to do and what not to do and tips on how to write the perfect essay, sometimes the best thing you can do is take a step back and try to simplify things.

You want to demonstrate to a college that you are a strong student by taking AP courses? Great! Choose subject areas where you excel and where you have strong interests. Think about your brand rather than signing up for every AP course possible.

You want to show that you have been involved in something that matters to you? Great! Get involved, but make it count. Eight days a week, it is better for you to show a depth of involvement in one or two activities rather than lining up your resume with twenty clubs and organizations as you head into your senior year.

Your application and supporting materials should reflect who you are as a student and, more importantly, as a person. Be true to you, invest your time wisely and, when in doubt, think about quality versus quantity.

Jay’s blog takes this approach while offering some helpful and simple advice.  I hope you take a minute to read it.

If someone has given you a tip that was extremely helpful, please use the comment section below. You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com.

Eric Dobler is the president and founder of Dobler College Consulting. Follow him on Twitter.

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Eric Jan 22, 2012 No Comments
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The Benefits Of A Gap Year Experience

Gap YearI’ve been asked if there are real benefits to completing a gap year experience and while I can talk about the changes a student may undergo, I decided to ask someone who had done a gap year about what it had done for them. My wife’s sister, Audra, is a recent television-radio-film grad from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and her life is such a constant adventure that we often joke about where her next postcard will come from. She has spent a gap year in Australia, studied abroad for a semester in Italy and also spent two months in India working in Bollywood right after graduation. She is currently living in Brooklyn pursuing a career in television but I know her next adventure is lurking right around the corner. She is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting people I know.

Over the holidays, we had some time to catch up and I asked her about what she learned from her gap year experience that changed her as a student and a person. I loved her response so much I wanted to share it here:

I’ve learned that the best experiences have always been the ones that have initially scared me. I take more risks now because going away for a year and succeeding has made me feel like I can do anything. Therefore, taking a semester abroad in Italy felt like no big deal. Spending two months in India working in Bollywood felt like a mini-vacation. Moving to New York City to pursue a career in television right after felt like just the next step. Yes, these subsequent endeavors frightened me a little, but mostly they felt like adventures. You start saying to yourself, “If I can spend a year in Australia, I can definitely do…” If an experience scares me because it’s new, different, or far from home, I know that it will push my limits and make me a stronger and more interesting person overall.

Because of my Gap Year, I started college knowing that the world was so much bigger than Syracuse University. For four years I never let college become the only world I knew, or what some people called a “bubble.” I took more risks. I took classes that people questioned me for. I was a TV, Radio, Film student taking two languages because I wanted to travel more. I became interested in geography because it had a global skew. I took environmental classes, graphic design classes, and learned SCUBA diving, all because I knew that an array of knowledge and skills would make me more well-rounded going into a television-related career. Sometimes college students pigeonhole themselves into the requirements of one major. They don’t think about the possibilities that exist beyond college until it’s too late, and instead they go to class because they have to and they party because they think that’s what it’s all about.

Having a gap year behind me made me a more curious and risk-taking student right from the beginning. I went into college having seen how enormous the world is and how many opportunities there are. College became not something I had to do, but a collection of experiences that would make me a smarter, more versatile, and more capable person. In other words, I made myself into a person that someone would want to hire, and most importantly, I became a person that I was proud of.

We’re very proud of her too.

If you would like some assistance with your college search or financial aid process, contact me today for a free 60-minute consultation.

Here’s what other families like yours are saying about how Dobler College Consulting made a difference for them.

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Eric Jan 15, 2012 No Comments
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It’s January And For Seniors, That Means FAFSA Time

In a world of acronyms, FAFSA may be the one that families dread the most. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. If you want to be considered for any federal assistance at a college or university, you must go online and fill out the FAFSA. For nearly 250 private schools, you will also need to fill out the CSS Profile if you have not done so already. While the Profile can be filled out as soon as you’ve identified the schools you are applying to, the FAFSA cannot be filled out until January 1st of senior year.

Prior to filling out the FAFSA, both the student applying for aid and his or her parents will need to secure a PIN from the federal student aid website. Once you have your PIN, you’re ready to go!

The FAFSA has long been considered a beast of an application. But, don’t fear, it has been simplified over the years and as long as you have set aside the information you will need and have completed a worksheet, you really should be in good shape. Oh yeah, set aside some time to do it. Don’t expect to just blow through it in ten minutes. Like any other financial application that requires you to enter personal information, you want to take your time and enter everything correctly. In other words, double-check everything you enter. One wrong entry can skew your results significantly. While you are working on your FAFSA, if you run into a problem and realize you need some help, you can always call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4FED-AID (1.800.433.3243).

If you want to read through some great tips on how to avoid mistakes on the FAFSA, check out a recent blog entry on The College Solution by Lynn O’Shaughnessy. I love Lynn’s blog – it’s informative, easy to read and always has references to other web-related resources that will help you feel more confident about working your way through college financing issues.

Good luck with the FAFSA and if you have any questions you would like to ask or stories you would like to share, please use the comment section below.

You can also email me directly ateric@doblercollegeconsulting.com.

Eric Dobler is the president and founder of Dobler College Consulting. Follow him on Twitter.

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Eric Jan 08, 2012 No Comments
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Making The Most of New Year’s Resolutions!

Happy New Year! And, what comes with the New Year? Resolutions, of course! You know, those promises we all tend to make and hardly ever keep. I don’t make them anymore because I find that I hardly ever follow through.  For me, the essential problem with resolutions is I tend to make them too big, too gray, and too immeasurable. I’m going to work out more, or read more, or call more – good intentions all around, but very hard to follow through with once the day-to-day craziness of life takes over again on January 2nd. Now, if I were to say my resolution is to lose 15 pounds, then I can at least measure that. I can set the goal, work out a couple times a week, make better food choices and celebrate my progress when I step on the scale each morning. Of course, that celebration only comes if I follow through.

I want you to think about your college process in the same way. Think about measurable goals that you can follow through on. Instead of saying, “I’m going to visit all the schools on my college list in the spring,” say, “I’m going to visit four schools from my college list in March.” Instead of saying, “I’m going to get better grades in the second half of the school year,” say, “I’m going to invest four hours every week in studying, working on homework and school-related projects”. Instead of saying, “I’m going to spend a lot of time preparing for the SAT,” say, “I’m going to take four practice tests to prepare for the SAT.” Each of these is measurable and doable if you follow through.

So, go ahead and make your resolutions. Celebrate the arrival of the New Year and look forward to what good things may come your way. Just take a moment to think about what it is you want to accomplish first. Then, set the bar high and go out and work your tail off to reach it. You will be so glad you did.

Happy New Year to you and yours! May the New Year bring health, happiness and good news to you and your families!

I invite you to post any comments or questions below. You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com.

Eric Dobler is the president and founder of Dobler College Consulting. Follow him on Twitter.

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Eric Dec 29, 2011 No Comments