College Admissions

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Why Some Financial Aid Offers Will Underwhelm

Dobler College Consulting

Last week I talked about three things you need to know about the costs of college: your EFC, how admissible your son or daughter is and merit awards. If you missed the post, here it is:

What You Need To Know About The Costs Of College

Today I want to take that conversation a step further and give you an example of why it is so important for a student to know just how desirable he or she is.

When the conversation rolls around to how much aid a college is going to award, sometimes the more desirable a student is plays a significant role. According to NACAC’s 2012 State of College Admission report only 32% of publics and 18% of privates were able to meet 100% of each student’s demonstrated need.  The remaining colleges have to decide how to allocate their money and not everyone gets the same amount. If they did, every college would meet 100% of everyone’s need.

And we all know that doesn’t happen.

So what dos end up happening is that colleges have to choose which students get the most aid. To put it simply, the more desirable the student, the more aid they will be awarded. So what makes an applicant more desirable? It depends on the college and while you can’t know everything they are looking for in a given year, there are at least two things any applicant can easily figure out.

GPA and test scores.

Knowing what kind of grades and test scores you will need for admission is something you should seek out about every school you are interested in. You can find this information rather easily on the College Board’s Big Future website. As I talked about in a post I wrote in September called, College List Tip: What Are Your Chances, you will find a range of test scores, GPA’s and even class ranks. This is valuable information for any applicant to look at and understand. These figures are provided by the colleges themselves. They are real numbers and they will show you just who the college thinks is desirable and, therefore, who will receive the more generous aid awards.  Applicants should read them and understand them as they search for colleges.

There’s a big difference between a college A where SAT scores for Math and Critical Reading of 500 fall in the top 25th percentile and college B where those same scores fall in the lowest 25th percentile.

If an applicant has fallen in love with college B and is expecting a lot of aid, they are very likely going to be disappointed.

Have something to say? Use the comment box below or email me at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com. If you think this makes a lot of sense, consider sharing it with someone you know.

 

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Eric Feb 11, 2013 , , , , , , , , , No Comments
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What You Need To Know About The Costs Of College

College Costs

As you’re building your college list, there’s no limit to the things you will consider. Is your major a program at which the school is particularly strong? Is it a cool college town? Big time football on Saturdays? Is the campus safe? Is it clean?

Depending on your VIPS, what you are considering is specific to you.

But there is one aspect that you all think about.

And that’s cost.

Let’s be honest here, there’s nothing to like about college costs. They have risen at astronomical levels over the last few decades to the point where students are graduating, on average, with over $26,000 in debt.

And that’s an average.

Back in the late fall, I wrote a post about the difference between a college’s sticker price and the real price that families pay. I then followed it up with a post about understanding your EFC. If you haven’t read them already and don’t know what EFC is, take a minute and check them out and then come on back.

There’s a lot of things to cover in the college search, but if you don’t understand the costs of college and how to reduce them, you could be in for a big time let down next year when your financial aid award shows up. So, outside of figuring out your EFC, here are a few things you can do to help yourself:

1. Don’t pay attention to sticker price:

Look for net price and, specifically, the net price for families in your income bracket. If your family’s income is over $100,000 you don’t want to be looking at net price for families whose income is only $50,000.

2. Figure out just how admissible you are:

Based on grades and test scores, look at who the college admits. Then take a good, hard look at yours. Are they similar? Sort of? Not close? The easier it is for a college to admit you, the better (read BIGGER) your award will be.

3. Check out merit awards:

Some colleges publish the amounts and qualifications of their merit awards (free money) on online and the information is easy to find and understand. Your GPA and SAT score combination earn you X amount of dollars. Others, not so much. Look it up and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, call the admissions office.

I already spend a lot of time on cost issues with the families I work with and, moving forward, I will be dedicating more of my blog to these same issues as well. I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

Have something to say? Use the comment box below or email me at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com. If you think this makes a lot of sense, consider sharing it with someone you know.

 

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Eric Feb 03, 2013 , , , , , , , , , , No Comments
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5 Tips To Make Sure Your Senior Year Matters

If you’re a high school junior, you’re just starting the second half of your school year. You just wrapped up midterm exams and hopefully they went really well. Strong grades in competitive courses are one of the most important factors when admission counselors are reviewing your application. In fact, for the umpteenth year in a row, admission counselors around the country have identified them as THE most important factor according to NACAC’s State of College Admissions report.

Which leads me to my post for today.

Knowing that your courses and your grades really matter in the college admissions process, it is so important that you make the most of the courses your high school offers. As you prepare to work with your counselor on your senior year schedule, keep the following five tips in mind:

1. Continue taking courses in the five core subjects: English, mathematics, science, social studies and foreign languages. If you’ve already taken three years of a foreign language and would rather not go into a fourth, make sure you double up somewhere else

2. If you’re taking a couple honors courses this year, work on getting into an AP course. If you’re already in an AP course or two, keep that trend going. Now is not the time to take it easy.

3. Consider your eventual major and enroll in courses that compliment your brand. Graphic design major? Sign up for graphic arts. Nursing major? Sign up for AP biology or anatomy and physiology. Engineering major? You need to be in calculus. Pick courses that will get you started on the path towards your major.

4. Get the full credit for your courses. In other words, if you’re taking an AP class, sign up for the AP test and do your best to do well on it. A score of four or better can earn you transfer credit at most colleges. If you’re enrolled in an Early College Experience (ECE) course, make sure you sign up for the college credits. Strategies like this not only ensure you make the most of the academic opportunities available to you, but transfer credit can also help reduce the cost of college in the long run.

5. If you live close enough to a community college, check out the courses they offer which may be related to your major or even just your interests. Currently, one course at a Connecticut community college will cost you $482, or just over 1/3 of the cost of one course at a state university like UConn or 1/8 of the cost at a private school like Fairfield University.

However, none of this really matters if you don’t put in the time and effort to do well. Take good notes, ask questions in class, study the material and actually learn it.  Your grades will reflect the effort and you will be so much more prepared for college and your professional life that follows.

Have something to say? Use the comment box below or email me at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com. If you think this makes a lot of sense, consider sharing it with someone you know.

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Eric Jan 28, 2013 , , , , , 1 Comment
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10 Things You Need To Know About The FAFSA

As we head into the end of January, high school seniors and their parents are filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). While some of them might be done or just about done, ten things every family needs to know about filing the FAFSA:

1. It’s free. If you end up on a website that requires a fee to file the FAFSA, you’re in the wrong place.

2. It’s THE form required by ALL colleges which award federal aid. No FAFSA, no federal aid.

3. Both the parent and student need to obtain a PIN at www.pin.ed.gov before filling out the FAFSA.

4. For current seniors, the FAFSA has been available for filing since January 1st and the deadline is June 30, 2014. Yup, that’s right, 2014. Keep reading.

5. It runs on a July to June calendar where July 1st marks the “New Year.”  In other words, current high school seniors who intend on starting college this coming fall should be filing the 2013-2014 FAFSA.

6. To be considered for state grants, Connecticut residents must file by February 15th.

7. The FAFSA determines your EFC, your expected family contribution. This is the amount of money colleges will expect you to pay for one year of tuition, room, board and fees.

8. This EFC calculation is based on income and assets, not retirement money or home equity.

9. When parents are divorced or separated, the FAFSA is calculated on the parent who the student lives with for the majority of the year, the custodial parent.

10. When the custodial parent is remarried, the income and assets of the step-parent are included in the FAFSA calculation as well. It’s a federal law.

And the item I remind parents of all the time? You don’t need to have your taxes filed to fill out the FAFSA. Just enter an estimation based on the previous year. Then, when your taxes are filed, use the federal data retrieval tool to upload final information.

Have something to say? Use the comment box below or email me at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com. If you think this makes a lot of sense, consider sharing it with someone you know.

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Eric Jan 20, 2013 , , , , , , No Comments
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Why Your Application Needs To Stand Out

Each year the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) puts out a report called, The State Of College Admission. The report is free for NACAC members while non-members can purchase a copy for $25. The report talks about trends in college admission as reported by college admission officers and high school counselors from around the country. One of the statistics from this year’s report that I wanted to share with you today was the average number of applications that each admission counselor reads.

According to the report, the average college admission counselor in 2005 read 359 applications. By 2011 that number had nearly doubled to 662.

Think about that for a second. You are one of nearly several hundred applications that will cross an admission counselor’s desk in a very short period of time. Having reviewed thousands of applications in my old admission days, I can tell you that admission counselors do their best to give each application the time and attention it deserves. But when your application underwhelms or does not tell your story in full color, well, that review and the decision to say “no” can be painfully quick. Admission counselors want to connect with you as an applicant. They want to get excited about you. And they want to say “yes.” But sometimes it becomes very hard for them to do just that simply because you didn’t make the most of your application.

So, instead of putting off your college search to the last minute, start researching schools now and then visit some college campuses this spring. Think about what you might want to say in your personal statement and then record your ideas for when you get down to the writing process over the summer. Think about who you would want a recommendation from and plan on talking to them before the end of the school year. Create an account on the Common App and go through each section to familiarize yourself with how it works and what information is required. This will be great practice for when the new one launches on August 1st. Start a list of your activities, honors and accomplishments – great or small, so that you don’t forget anything when it comes time to completing applications in the fall.

At the end of the day, ask yourself what you want an admission counselor to know about you and why it should matter to them. Then, as you go through the next several months, spend time putting together an application and supporting materials that ensure your application will be one that motivates an admission counselor to say, “YES!”

Have something to say? Use the comment box below or email me at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com. If you think this makes a lot of sense, consider sharing it with someone you know.

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Eric Jan 13, 2013 , , , , , , , , , , No Comments