Category Archives: Application Process

Waitlisted?

Application Process, Financial Aid, Merit-based Aid, Need-based Aid

Students who are waitlisted at their top-choice school should understand how waitlists work, because they can a little bit like Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber: “So you’re telling me there’s a chance!”

Here is a great article explaining how waitlists work. The key takeaway from a money perspective: Waitlists tend to be “need-aware” so waitlisted students who require financial aid to attend should instead focus on the schools at which they’re already accepted. Remember that in addition to the likely lower aid package, you will have to pay a nonrefundable deposit– typically in the $500-$1000 range– at your backup school to retain your spot there since waitlisted students typically are not notified of their acceptance until after May 1. 

Coalition App

Application Process, Need-based Aid

If you’ve never heard of the Coalition App, count yourself among the many. The Coalition App is similar to the Common App in many respects, including allowing students to create a single application for multiple colleges, but it has some key differences. First and foremost is that the Coalition Application was created by the Coalition for College Access, a group of 140+ (and growing) colleges that “is committed to making college a reality for all high school students through our set of free online college planning tools that helps Continue reading Coalition App →

Athletics and Admissions

Application Process, Merit-based Aid

David Leonhardt at the New York Times points out that the enrollment scandal all over the news this week would not happen but for the outsize role that athletics plays in college admissions. To summarize: admissions decisions give preferential treatment to excellence in a variety of areas beyond academics– music, art, social service, research activity, athletics. They also boost admissions chances for other groups including low-income, underrepresented minority, and legacy students. However, by far the biggest admissions boost went to recruited athletes, who were “30 percentage points more likely to be admitted than a nonathlete with the same academic record.” Continue reading Athletics and Admissions →

Planning for All Four (or More) Years

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

A friend whose son is my twins’ age was surprised recently when I told her some of the colleges my daughter was applying to. She thought they seemed unlikely choices given my constant messaging of finding affordable schools. Her son was interested in some of the same ones and the net prices they found were quite high. The answer: we have the benefit of two children in college all four years. That means our EFC gets divided between then and in many cases, this yielded lower likely net costs. Good news for my Continue reading Planning for All Four (or More) Years →

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 →