Category Archives: Application Process

A Tale of Two Acceptances

Application Process, Financial Aid, Merit-based Aid

(Or: Why You Should Talk to Your Kids About Money Before Applying)

My son applied to two schools: In-State-U and an Out-Of-State-U-With-A-Scholarship. I’m fairly certain that a big reason for applying to OOSU was that his sister is applying to a number of schools and he felt like maybe he’d be doing something wrong if he didn’t. He wants to attend a big school; he loves sports and wants a D-1 sports program to be part of his college experience. His GPA isn’t fabulous but he did really well on the ACT, so he did some research and discovered that OOSU has a big scholarship for out of state students that’s based solely on test scores. Continue reading A Tale of Two Acceptances →

Does it Matter Where You Go to College?

Application Process

In 2002, a paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics by economists Stacy Dale and Alan Krueger showed that for most students, the incremental value of attending an elite college was virtually nil. Instead, the paper showed that similar students– especially those with similar test scores– fared similarly in life regardless of where they attended college. Happy news for the majority of us who did not and will not attend elite schools.

A new paper shows a slight twist to this story: while individual characteristics may be more determinate for many students, particularly upper middle class white males, for others, especially women, minorities and students whose parents did not attend college, school choice can make a big difference. Here is a great article summarizing the findings.

College Prep by Grade

529 Plans, Application Process, Cost saving strategies, CSS PROFILE, FAFSA, Financial Aid, Merit-based Aid, Need-based Aid, Student Loans

I gave a financial aid talk to college and career center volunteers at our high school recently. One question stood out: “This is a lot of information to absorb at once. Can you break it down into some specific suggestions by grade?” Two ideas are important here: College planning is a process that should start well before senior year, and there are things that can be done at any point to make things go more smoothly when the time comes to start applying. So here goes. Continue reading College Prep by Grade →

Honors Colleges, Dual Enrollment and Majors

Application Process, Cost saving strategies

Apologies for my recent absentee-ism. Between our (hopefully) last college visit and my nephew’s wedding, it’s been a busy couple of weeks here!

Our hopefully last college visit was with both kids at our in-state flagship school. My son loved it; it’s where he was already intending to go and the visit really confirmed that, as well as increasing his excitement about being there next fall. Looking at it from his perspective, the visit increased my happiness about the circus-free nature of attending Continue reading Honors Colleges, Dual Enrollment and Majors →

EFC vs Net Cost

Application Process, Cost saving strategies, CSS PROFILE, FAFSA, Financial Aid, Merit-based Aid, Need-based Aid, Student Loans

Families who are a few years out from college should calculate their EFC, but as college approaches and students start identifying schools they’re interested in, net price calculators become far more valuable. There can be vast differences between EFC and net price, and even significant school-to-school differences in net price due to different aid policies. Continue reading EFC vs Net Cost →