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5 last chance strategies for parents of juniors
With the recent change in the FAFSA, this year’s junior class will be the first to use tax information from 2 years prior to their year of HS graduation, as opposed to the current 1 year. In other words, starting with 2017 HS grads, a family’s tax information from 2015 — or the spring of…
Read MoreVisiting Colleges Checklist
The folks at collegetrends.org have put together a nice and detailed checklist to use when visiting colleges; we suggest filling this out for each of your visits and then using it as a basis for comparison: Visiting_Colleges_Checklist
Read MoreTough College Visit Questions to Ask
Article By Making It Count and FastWeb About Academics What academic elements are considered in the admissions process, for example: courses, grades, test scores, rank, interests, institutional needs, essays, recommendations, and interviews? How important are each of these factors? Is the college/university accredited? How many students return after their freshman year? What percentage of students…
Read MoreStrategies for Maximizing Aid Eligibility
These strategies will have the largest impact on need-based aid eligibility. By implementing these strategies, you will be able to maximize your aid eligibility and therefore have a chance of receiving more financial aid. None of these strategies are guaranteed, but they do offer the best chance. Save money in the parent’s name, not the child’s name.…
Read MoreScholarship Search Secrets
The Student Loan Network has delivered their Sixth Edition of Scholarship Search Secrets and it’s definitely worth a download and used as a fundamental resource. Topics include ones such as, “A Brief Overview of Financial Aid”; Basic Scholarship Tips; Avoiding Scholarship Scams; and fifteen Scholarship Search Secrets that covers a wealth of information.
Read MoreGraduation Rates
Knowing the graduation rates of the schools you are considering might mean the difference between paying 4 or 5 years worth of tuition. When combined with the lost opportunity of earning an income while your son or daughter is in school the extra year, that adds up to quite a bit of money. The Chronicle…
Read MoreScholarship Search Sites
There are plenty of good, free scholarship search sites on the web that you should never pay to search for scholarships. Most of these sites, however, require you to create a profile and provide an email, which usually means you end up getting hundreds of unwanted emails from colleges or other places trying to sell…
Read MoreHow the College Class of 2019 Sees the World. A Must Read!
Each August since 1998, Beloit College in Beloit, WI., has released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural touchstones and experiences that have shaped the worldview of students entering colleges and universities in the fall. Click here to read the list for the class of 2019. The list is a real…
Read MoreStudent Debt Takes a Bite Out of Paychecks
It’ seems like everywhere you turn there is a story about student debt. While every study and report indicates that going to college is still crucial for a successful career it is also true that the debt some families take on to send a student to college can be a crushing burden. Read this…
Read MoreVideos on the College Search and Selection Process
I recently came across a series of videos from Kahn Academy in which a variety of college search perspectives are presented. One on visiting colleges is embedded below. For the entire series of videos, click here. Visiting campus: Campus Visit Alternative: Online Tour
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