Cost of Attendance and Other Confusing College Admission Terms
It is absolutely essential that parents understand confusing college admission terms before allowing their student to commit to a college
The Simplified FAFSA Changes – The Good and The Bad
Changes are coming! The simplified FAFSA will be significantly shorter, and the Expected Family Contribution number will be a thing of the past.
What Does My EFC Number Mean, Really?
When your oldest child begins high school, you may never have heard of the acronym, “EFC” before. But by November of their senior year, most families of college-bound teens are not only familiar with the term, they likely know what their EFC number IS. In general, most families feel that it’s too high. But what…
Important Financial Aid Questions You Didn’t Know to Ask
If you have been reading about college admissions for a while, you may already know some of the financial aid basics like what an EFC is. And if you’ve been following me for a while, you likely know what an NPC is too. However, the list below also includes financial aid questions you may not…
Academic Merit Aid – What You Need to Know
An academic scholarship. If you have a good student, you may have always assumed that this will be their free ticket to college. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. The good news is that there IS merit aid available to academically-talented students. The bad news is that the most highly selective schools in the country…
FAFSA vs. the CSS Profile Financial Aid Forms
The FAFSA and CSS Profile open up on October 1st. If you have a student planning to attend college next year, now is the time to get familiar with these financial aid forms. Before completing the forms, you will need to compile some of your financial information (okay, just about all of it!), as well…
Organization is Key to the College Application Process (Especially with Multiples)
So you’re undertaking the college search and admissions process with multiples? With the average student applying to seven different colleges, organizing the college search process will be the key for you, since you may be dealing with fourteen (or more) schools! Knowing your kids’ personalities is as important as organization in the early stages too. …
How Much Does College Really Cost?
When I started working with my older kids to find a good college fit for each of them, I was also very motivated by money…and how to not go into debt paying tuition. I’m sorry to say we had not saved nearly enough in our 529 account. We are not all that different from the…
Things I Have Learned Along the Way
As we do the college search for the third time, I’ve been thinking about all of the things I have learned after going through this launching process twice already. In some cases, I find I am less worried about certain things as compared to when I was preparing with my first two kids because I…