College application season is upon us and some of you may be wondering how to get started. The Boston Globe recently ran a great piece interviewing the Career Center Director at a Boston high school. Here are some of my favorite tidbits from that interview, which you can read here.  For traditional four-year degree applicants, you should apply to 8 colleges — with at least two of them being “safety” schools. The high number will help to ensure that you find the best fit for you academically — and financially. Since aid offers can vary from school to school, it’s a good idea to have as many financial aid award letters to compare as possible. The trend among college applications is to do away with the long, personal essay. In order to maximize your 250-500...

Last week, I mentioned that the summer is the perfect time to set up college campus visits. It’s a good idea to schedule your trips to a wide variety of campuses — large and small, urban and suburban, private liberal arts colleges and public research institutions. The more places you visit, the better you will be able to assess what you really want in a college or university. As you plan your college visit schedule, you may not be sure what to expect. Here are five tips for making the most out of your college visits. 1. Take the Guided Tour When you call the Admissions Office to set up your campus visit, be sure to schedule a guided tour of the campus. Typically, these tours are led by an undergraduate volunteer, who takes groups of students and parents through the main parts...

Are you about to start your senior year of high school? If so, you may be wondering whether you are on track for college next year. To make sure that you are organized, read through the following checklist — AKA the Summer Action Plan for high school seniors. (And, if you need even more help with getting organized, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the Fall Action Plan for High School Seniors coming in September!) 1. Take the ACT or SAT Hopefully you already did this last spring, but if not, there is still time. Sign up now, and start studying. The next SAT test is October 10, 2009, but you must register by September 9. The next ACT test is September 12, with a registration deadline of August 7.  If you’re not sure which test to take (or whether you need to take both of t...

Welcome to part 4 of the Financial Aid Finder’s five-part FAFSA Workshop. If you want to catch up on parts 1-3, follow these links: Essential FAFSA Documents FAFSA PIN Common FAFSA Mistakes And remember that next week, I will be answering your FAFSA questions, so send ‘em in to me on email or leave me a comment with your queries. Today, I am focusing on FAFSA deadlines. You would think that with something like a deadline, this post would be pretty short. But the reality is, when it comes to the FAFSA, deadlines are anything but cut and dry. Let’s start with the obvious. The federal deadline for FAFSA on the Web applications is midnight Central Daylight time, June 30, 2009. But June 30th is far from the end of the story and here’s why: Although the FAFSA is the for...

May 14, 2006 The First Rule of Financial Aid is to apply! It should be rule number two and three as well, it’s that important. Why is it so important? Because you will never know how much money you can receive until you apply, if you don’t apply you are guaranteed nothing. This may seem quite obvious but a recent article in the WTOP (Capital News) has shown that lower income earning families are not applying for federal aid. The FAFSA can be a pain to fill out but think of how much more of a pain trying to juggle all your debt will be down the road. Federal aid comprises the bulk of financial aid so filling out the FAFSA is a good idea. The form is now online and the FAFSA website can be read in both Spanish and English. In addition there is information that will help ...

May 4, 2006 Throughout most of the application process the potential student is courting the college but as a recent article in the New York Times points out, when decision making time approaches the roles are reversed. Some schools will lay on the charm extra thick to entice students to choose their acceptance. Personal e-mails, letters, phone calls from Professors, small receptions are all just a few examples of how the college will court their acceptees. According to some college admission staff high quality students have more options to choose from because they are applying to more schools, therefore to them it is increasingly important to lay it on thick. I don’t know about you but I missed the boat when it came to personal invites to sail on the dean of admissions yacht b...

April 26, 2006 It’s a tough time to be applying for college these days. Not only are college tuition rising but the number of applicants are increasing in droves while the number of spots for admittance are staying the same. This translates into lower admission rates and a sharp increase in competition. Enter the new college counselor or the Independent College Consultants. College Consultants are offering their services to parents and their high school students to help these kids get an edge over the competition. The consultants look at scores, admission rates, geographic representation, extra curriculum and diversity factors to determine which colleges need the kind of students their clients represent. The college consultants spend quality time with their clients but it come...

By now you have heard of “Ivy League” schools. Some people are not clear on which schools are actually considered “Ivy.” The Ivy League was created in 1954 and includes the eight most prestigious and selective universities in the United States. The eight Ivy League schools are: Brown University Columbia University Cornell University Dartmouth University Harvard University Princeton University University of Pennsylvania Yale University Don’t automatically rule these schools out by presuming they are out of your league. Many of these schools offer a great multitude of scholarships and are often very good at offering financial aid as a means to “diversify” their students. The rule of thumb is you never know until you apply! ...

The Alaska Travel Industry Association or ATIA Foundation is currently offering fourteen academic scholarships to individuals who wish to pursue a career in tourism. The awards total $25,000 for the selected students. The applications are due at the ATIA Foundation office by April 17th, 2006. You may contact David Lee (907) 646-3303, for more information or go the ATIA website by clicking here. ...

Februrary 20, 2006 The first thing to remember is that you are not alone. Students have been dealing with this reality for a long time. Do not assume that you won’t qualify for aid since your parents earn over the eligibility mark. Always fill out the FAFSA no matter what. You may qualify for a Stafford Loan. It will be more difficult to try to get a large loan as a student but federal loans like the Stafford will help. Try making your case to the financial aid office of your choice. This does not always help but it is worth a shot. At the very least they deal with students in your situation all the time and will have some helpful advice. Don’t forget to scour for scholarships and grants as they do not need to be paid back. Most importantly get your information in as...