Insider tips for the week of May 31, 2021

college magic

  College magic – Forbes has an excellent article on how college, if done right, can be a life-altering experience with lifelong benefits. Not enough students experience the most important elements of college, what researchers call the “Big Six.” The elements fall into two categories of relationship-rich and work-integrated. This is an important read as…

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Insider Tips for the week of May 3, 2021

student at internship

  3 things to do now for strong HS recommendation letters – Students have experienced online learning and cancelled or shortened extracurricular activities as a function of the pandemic.  Many report that they hardly know the teachers who have taught them this year, and worry that their core teachers don’t know enough about them to…

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CIT’s Cozy Wittman Talks Scholarships with The Weekly Wealth Podcast

College Inside Track’s  Manager of Education and Partnerships, Cozy Wittman, was featured recently on The Weekly Wealth Podcast.  Cozy discussed planning for financial aid and scholarships with David Chudyk, Financial Advisor at Parallel Financial. Topics include: misperceptions around scholarships (including best and worse strategies for good money), the biggest providers of strong scholarships, how colleges…

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College Inside Track Alumni Newsletter – Spring 2021

college student lying on couch

  Scholarships for current undergrad students – If your college student is looking for additional scholarship money, start by exploring opportunities specific to his or her school and program of study, and then share this handy list of outside private scholarships from scholarships.com   Essential advice for early career success – Check out this Forbes…

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1 MIN VIDEO: Strategic Thinking About Loans, Beyond the Federal Loan

What if the Federal Loan isn’t enough for your student?  Strategic thinking about loan options beyond the federal loan — with important cautions for parents — from College Inside Track Manager of Education and Partnerships Cozy Wittman. An additional resource from CIT President Chris Wills:   Four Last Chance Financial Aid Strategies For Parents  

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U of Minnesota To Offer Free Tuition to Lower Income Residents

University of Minnesota regents in February approved a free tuition plan for students of families learning less that 50k per year.   The offer applies to student who will study at the flagship campus in Minneapolis (where tuition will run approximately 15k per year), along with the University’s campuses in Crookston, Duluth, Morris, and Rochester.  …

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College Inside Track Alumni Newsletter – Winter 2021

figure giving heart

  FAFSA changes – The COVID relief bill passed at the end of 2020 also included some significant changes to the FAFSA. While the changes do not go into effect until the 2023-24 school year, that year’s FAFSA will use tax information from 2021, so there are current day considerations. And because the FAFSA is…

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Insider tips for the week of December 7, 2020

student navigating college map

  Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire – In our new “Liar Liar Pants on Fire” series, College Inside Track consultants debunk some of the claims we’re hearing about college admissions. We would love to address some that YOU’RE hearing, too!  Tell us yours in the Comments section.  We will respond with specific and factual info,…

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Insider tips for the week of November 2, 2020

parent talking to child about college

  A simple way to start the college conversation with your teen – Bestselling author Jacques Steinberg and Eric Furda, dean of admissions at UPenn, have developed a practical exercise for parents and students to undertake together. They recommend using simple index cards to begin the process of looking inward at the specific attributes of…

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