Category Archives: admissions

admissions, college costs, college guidance, college planning, financial aid

University of savings: financial aid tips

February 1, 2013 Suzanne Shaffer

Big college dreams have a big price tag. Most students use some form of aid to pay for college. According to CollegeBoard, more than $207 billion in aid is available. From federal loans to scholarship contests, opportunities to knock down college costs appear to those who search. Leave no stone unturned and look into these college aid resources to cover the costs.

FAFSA

With the potential for grants, loans and work-study incentives, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is square one when it comes to paying for college. The FAFSA analyzes family financial information through the federal-need formula. Among other things, FAFSA takes tax information into account, so Collegeboard.org recommends filing tax returns before starting the application. However, if your taxes aren’t ready, file with estimated amounts from last year and update with correct amounts after filing.

Aimed at providing a path to college for any student, the FAFSA is particularly advantageous for disadvantaged students, who have a better chance to receive free grants and scholarships.

Students can fill out this lengthy application at Fafsa.ed.gov.

Scholarship Contests

Students with 4.0 GPAs and high SAT scores aren’t the only ones who can take advantage of scholarship money. Scholarship contests offer students an equal playing field to show their stuff. Whether it’s an essay, video or presentation, these performance-based contests highlight talent in any field.

Scholarships.com lists news opportunities in various categories, including minority scholarships, corporate scholarships and even non-academic scholarships. A quick Google News search for “scholarship contests” will return the latest contents and deadlines.

Ask your guidance counselor for additional local opportunities, and explore the internet for the latest scholarship offers.

Student Loans

Free money is preferable, but loans enable students to have a classic college experience even if they can’t pay for it up front. This growing trend in financial aid is putting thousands of students through college and collecting payments from millions. In early January, student loan debt in the U.S. surpassed $1 trillion, according to Foxbusiness.com, and that number is expected to grow even more.

The FAFSA provides opportunities for federal student loans. Sallie Mae bank offers a private option to compete with these government offerings.

Loans can provide a worry-free college experience, but don’t over-borrow and saddle yourself with too much debt. Once graduation comes, failing to make payments can compromise your financial stability. The rule of thumb with student loans–borrow wisely.

Unconventional Aid

Some scholarship opportunities don’t fit into traditional molds. Unique scholarships give students that may not otherwise stand out a chance at college aid. The vertically-challenged student, for example, can take advantage of the Little People of America Association’s scholarship for students 4’10” or shorter. Left-handed students that have had to deal with awkward desks and sloppy writing are in luck, too. The Frederick and Mary F. Beckley Scholarship Program offers money for southpaws who demonstrate leadership skills.

Every student has something unique about him or her. Search for the scholarships that separate you from the crowd.

Work and pay as you go

Many students are choosing to work and pay as they go. High school students work during the summers and save for textbooks and other essentials not covered in tuition. Some students choose the community college route, attending classes as they can afford to pay for them. Other students opt to use the work study program at their college to supplement tuition expenses.

Colleges are recognizing that tuition costs are rising the average family cannot afford to chunk down tens of thousands of dollars at the beginning of the school term. They offer payment plans which spread the tuition out over the school year to help parents budget and pay as they go.

College is in reach if you take the time to research the many opportunities available and use that information to make a college choice that best fits into your available budget. Don’t let financial barriers keep you from achieving your dreams; and don’t let financial barriers lure you into overwhelming debt just to pay for a high-priced college.

admissions, college guidance, college planning, tutoring

Alleyoop connects with Naviance to maximize student success

September 18, 2012 Suzanne Shaffer

Earlier this year, I wrote a post about Alleyoop, a program designed to help students prepare for college by improving their math skills.

Today Alleyoop is partnering with Hobsons to create even more customized recommendations to keep students on track to reach their college and career goals through Naviance. With more than 5 million students in 5,500 schools around the globe, Naviance is the world’s largest college and career readiness platform. Through this partnership, students can use their Naviance Family Connection accounts to benefit from the collective intelligence of the Alleyoop Super Brain to improve their math and science skills.

“Alleyoop is about so much more than getting immediate math and science help — it’s about letting students take control of their education,” said Patrick Supanc, president of Alleyoop. “With this new partnership, Alleyoop becomes a destination for students and families on Naviance to get personalized academic resources that help make their dreams a reality.”

Alleyoop helps students succeed by connecting them with the right resources at the right time. Students will now get customized, tailored math and science help from Alleyoop based on the goals they set within the Naviance Family Connection portal.

According to The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, every year in the United States, nearly 60 percent of first-year college students discover that, despite being fully eligible to attend college, they are not academically ready for postsecondary studies. Alleyoop and Naviance are helping to bridge the gap between college eligibility and college readiness by providing a way for students to set academic and career goals, and map out a plan of action to achieve them.

“The combination of Naviance and Alleyoop makes it easier than ever for students to tie learning to life,” said Stephen M. Smith, President, Hobsons K-12. “At Hobsons, we strive to connect everything a student learns to a real-world objective. Our partnership with Alleyoop helps students tie their interests and skills to real college majors and careers, and preparing them academically and personally for a bright future.”

admissions, college guidance, college planning, Guest Posts

An interview with the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at UNC-Ashville

September 17, 2012 Suzanne Shaffer

A special thanks to Dr. Patrice Mitchell for participating in The Parliament Tutors Admission Spotlight Series. Dr. Mitchell is the Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid at UNC – Asheville.

As the Dean of Admissions, what are your day-to-day responsibilities?
I can definitely say that no two days are ever the same, which is also what I love about working with students to help them navigate through what can often be a nerve-wracking experience. Depending on the time of the year, I spend a lot of time reviewing enrollment reports to ensure that admissions decisions are being made on a daily basis to ensure we will enroll the desired quality and quantity of new students. I also spend a lot of time responding to questions from prospective students and their families about the application process and requirements.

What do you consider the most significant parts of an application, the parts which applicants should prepare the most carefully?
In regards to UNC Asheville, the most significant component of the application is the high school record. Specifically, rigor of course work, grade point average, and class rank.

Is there anything you frequently see on an application that you hope to never see again?
There is nothing that jumps out at me. However, the one thing that I would caution students on is the tendency to reveal such personal and sometimes tragic information, but do not necessarily correlate those experiences to how they have prepared them to be successful at the institution.

What common pitfalls should applicants be careful to avoid?
I can not emphasis enough the importance of proofreading all of your supporting documentation that you submit as a part of the application – including having the correct name of the institution on the essay. (Yes, I have had read “It has been my dream to attend X college all of my life” when the college that I am reading the application for is actually college Y!
Students should also avoid missing deadlines or assuming they have plenty of time to submit information prior to the deadline. Time for technology glitches and mail delivery problems should always be accounted for when submitting application materials. Students should also follow up with their counselors and/or individuals submitting recommendations to give them friendly reminders regarding the deadlines.

Are there any myths about the application process which you would like to dispel?
One thing that I would share about the process is that Admissions Offices really do want to make an admissions decision based upon whether or not the individual student will be a good fit and for the institution. Therefore, it is important for you to take the time to write a good essay that gives some insight into who you really are that SAT and gpa averages won’t tell us. It is also important to have an individual that truly knows them and the institution the student is applying. These are the reasons that you sometimes here of a student with a stronger SAT and gpa not getting into a specific college when there classmate does.

What advice would you give to an applicant with below-average test scores but significant extra-curricular experience?
Please remember that there are literally thousands of college options available to you. You just have to be open to exploring a handful that you may not have initially had on the top of your list. The reality is that at some schools the admissions process is selective and not having all of the components may keep you from getting an offer. However, at those schools where the SAT is optional or the SAT being below average many not be as big of a problem, that may be the school where you end up deciding to attend and find yourself having a wonderful experience. However, you may still want to contact the prospective college and ask to speak to the admissions counselor responsible for your high school. Establishing a relationship with that individual can sometimes be helpful.

Do you frequently have to turn away applicants whom you wish you could admit? If so, what could those applicants do to be admitted?
Unfortunately, we are not in a positive to offer admission to every applicant. In that case, the transfer option is discussed. This option is also being used by students who are admissible but want to get started at a two-year college and transfer in. There are several universities with articulation agreements with two-year colleges. Therefore, the idea of transferring in as an upper-classmen has become more of a positive alternative for students who are not competitive for freshmen admission. The important thing to remember is that sometimes there are different paths to get to the same destination.

How much faith do you have in the ability of the SAT to predict success at in college?
Here at UNC Asheville we take a holistic approach to the admissions process in order to reduce the importance that one variable has on the application decision. This is particular important to us since the high school rank and grade point average has been shown to be more of a predictor of success here than the SAT. Having said that, we do have a selective process in place, and we are a part of the UNC system, which requires us to report the average SAT, so it is a factor.

What do you look for in a recommendation letter?
Students should ensure that the recommendation letter is from someone who knows them well enough to speak to the attributes and strengths that make the student a good fit with the college. It also helps if the letter is written to the specific college. Not everyone is going to be able provide such detailed information, or even has the time to do so if they wanted to, but I enjoy reading letters from teachers and/or counselors who have some type of story or anecdote to share about the student that I otherwise would not know about them.

Joseph Fernandez conducted this interview. Joseph is a Tutor with Parliament Tutors. He specializes in SAT Tutoring.

admissions, college guidance, college planning, financial aid

Preparing your student for college graduation

August 2, 2012 Suzanne Shaffer

Last night in the #CampusChat discussion we were talking about moving into college and what to pack. One participant stated she took her whole life with her to college because she never planned to move back home after college graduation; and to her credit she did not.

Most parents believe (or hope) that once their student goes off to college they will only be temporary visitors at home. We often talk about getting into college, but rarely discuss what happens after graduation. Unfortunately, in today’s economy, many students are forced to move back in with their parents after they graduate. For those boomerang students, the top two reasons are no job or job prospects and too many student loans exceeding their expected income.

These reasons alone make it important for parents to be involved in the financial decisions that their students make related to the college they choose and the loans they choose to incur while attending. Of course your student may WANT to go to an expensive private college, but can you, as a family, afford it? Is your student prepared for the ramifications of taking out massive student loans and not being able to repay them?

Three scenarios

After the student returns home three scenarios usually play out.

Scenario One

Your student returns home and still can’t find a job with their college degree. After weeks of depression and frustration, they make the decision to attend graduate school. Since it’s expensive, they opt to take out graduate student loans to supplement the financial aid and provide living expenses. After they complete their graduate degree, they are able to gain employment and begin paying back their loans.

Scenario Two

Your student finds a minimum wage job, defers their student loans and still can’t find a job related to their college degree and major. They end up working in a field that is completely unrelated to their area of interest, in a job they do not like, and are still unable to pay back their student loans. They borrowed too much and will probably never crawl out of the hole they dug for themselves.

Scenario Three

Your student returns home, finds a minimum wage job, defers their student loans and saves every penny they make while living at home. They are able to begin paying back their student loans with their savings and continue the job hunt while working full time. Many times, those temporary jobs end up being avenues to find college degree employment either through networking or company advancement.

With scenario one, if your son or daughter opts to pursue the graduate degree path, it’s critical they do their homework, research interest and payback rates, and degrees that are worth their investment. If they don’t, they could end up as the student in the second scenario with too much debt and no job prospects.

Summing it up (my opinion)

Advise your student wisely about debt, college value, and degree prospects after graduation. It’s not just a decision on which school they “like”. It’s a decision that affects the rest of their life and could have overwhelming negative consequences. Parents are key role players in this decision. It’s our job to point out the possible ramifications of their decisions and allow them to have input. But (and this is is hard) if they won’t listen to reason, you might have to be a parent. I know because I had to take that role with my daughter and her college choice. I had to be the “bad guy” and kept her from attending her first choice college. Today she thanks me. At the time, she wasn’t very happy with me–but she fell in love with her second choice college and graduated with minimal debt.

Being a parent can be extremely hard; we have to balance guidance with “helicoptering” and know when to take a stand for the well-being of our kids. It’s a difficult job on the best of days and downright frustrating on the worst of them. Helping them with the college choice as it relates to financial consequences is one of those “take a stand” moments.

admissions, college guidance, college planning, financial aid

Do you need help with the college process?

August 1, 2012 Suzanne Shaffer

I’m hearing more and more from parents that they are desperate for help and answers. It seems they are drowning in the sea of college information out there. They don’t know who to listen to, where to go for help, and how to make the best use of the help they find.

There are two tools that will answer every question you ever had about how to handle the multitude of questions related to the college admissions process: my Parents Countdown to College Toolkit AND Paul Hemphill’s Plan for College Videos. Both resources will help you help your student navigate the college maze. If you own both you can finally sleep at night!

For a limited time only (until September 30th), Paul and I are offering parents a 2 for 1 special–buy my Parents Countdown to College Toolkit and you receive a FREE subscription to Paul’s Plan for College Video Series. These tools can save your family hundreds or even thousands in college costs and help you help your student market themselves to the colleges, thus receiving multiple scholarships.

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If you’re a parent of a college-bound teen, you can’t afford to pass up this opportunity. You and your student will have the peace of mind, knowing that all your questions are answered and you have done everything you can to help them get into their first choice college (with scholarships and merit-aid, of course!).

Click this link to learn more about the Toolkit,

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admissions, infographics

College Admissions–What’s Important?

July 20, 2012 Suzanne Shaffer 6 Comments

Parents are always asking me what admissions officers look for in a well-rounded college application. This infographic gives you a visual of what’s important to them and where your student should put their focus.

From: OnlineCollegeCourses.com

admissions, college guidance, college planning

WeGotIn.net–Editorial Opinion

June 26, 2012 Suzanne Shaffer 6 Comments

From a parent’s perspective, when I come across a college application “help” I look at it differently than most. I have several criteria I use to judge it’s effectiveness, but I came across a site the other day that made me question something more–is it ethically appropriate? My mind is always open to new ways to ease the complicated college admissions process, so I spent a few days reading about the site (on the site itself) to form my own opinion. I haven’t viewed any biased coverage from the colleges, or the College Board. I just spent some time thinking about whether or not, I, as a parent, would encourage my student to use the service.

According to the website, WeGotIn.net, their concept is simple:

Welcome to WeGotIn.Net where you will find copies of actual, accepted applications to Harvard, Yale, Penn, Cornell, Columbia and Brown. These applications contain the entire response to each question. They contain the college application essay as well as the answers to the often difficult short questions that are asked. They are NOT edited in any way (other than the removal of names, addresses, birth dates and social security numbers). Each of them was given to us in 2010 or 2011 directly by the student who submitted it, was accepted and is now a student at the college.

At first look it seems like a beneficial service. It provides students with “samples” of other college applications (helping them see what is expected of them when they complete their own applications). It targets highly selective colleges that are often on students “dream” list.

But is this ethical, or even fair? Is this another form of cheating? Do students really have to resort to this to get into these Ivy League colleges?

Here’s another more obvious question–with all the other colleges available to choose from, why would students even need to resort to this tactic? If competition is so fierce that you have to look at other accepted student’s applications to obtain admission why would you want to attend?

There are thousands of colleges in the United States, not to mention Canada and overseas that offer admission to students without having to stack the deck by viewing other accepted applications. And here’s another question: what are you teaching your student if you encourage them to use this service? It is so much more than a tool; it’s like cheating on a test. It’s like paying to see other tests in a class instead of studying for yourself.

What are we teaching our students if they use this service?

Take shortcuts and you’ll be successful.
If your own work isn’t good enough, use someone else’s work instead.
Achieving success sometimes means that you have to use any method possible to get it.
It’s not cheating if it gives you added insight into something you can’t do for yourself.

In an effort to defer the criticism they have received, WeGotIn.net is giving all their profits to the scholarship funds of the Ivy League colleges. Good for them. They also say their method is more effective than admissions coaching:

…instead of listening to someone else’s opinion, however well informed they may be, of what they think the committee is looking for. There are a lot of opinions as to what makes a good application – the only thing that really matters is what actually results in an acceptance letter.

I especially love that last line: the only thing that really matters is what actually results in an acceptance letter. I disagree. The only thing that really matters is that your student finds the school that “wants” them and that they completed the admissions process with integrity and honesty. Getting accepted to an Ivy League college isn’t the be all and end all of success.

As always, I welcome any comments, discussion or debate about this topic. I would love to hear from other parents and students.

admissions, college guidance, college planning, Guest Posts

Inside the mind of an admissions officer

May 2, 2012 Suzanne Shaffer

When your student is applying to college, we tend to want to be mind readers and wonder what are those admissions officers using to weigh your student’s college application. Parliament Tutors has been interviewing admissions officers at various colleges across the country and is happy to share one of these interviews with my readers.

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A special thanks to Robert Barkley for participating our Admissions Spotlight Series. Mr. Barkley is the director of undergraduate admissions at Clemson University. Joseph Fernandez from ParliamentTutors conducted this interview.

What do you consider the most significant parts of an application, the parts which applicants should prepare the most carefully?

The most important part of a student’s application file is the high school record/transcript. The preparation there begins at the beginning of the high school career. As to the application form itself, it is important that all information be as accurate and complete as possible. Especially in these days of online applications, the student is doing the initial data entry efforts for what could be their collegiate academic record. Something as simple as one single digit in a zip code can affect the receipt of an admissions decision.

What advice can you offer students in regards to their personal statements? Perhaps you can offer some shining examples that you have seen in the past.

I read a lot of appeal statements from students who’ve been denied admission. Many of them focus on grades and the circumstances that affected the grades. Rarely do they focus on what they learned (despite the grades), which is what you’re really trying to determine when evaluating an application.

Is there anything you frequently see on an application that you hope to never see again?

On the section for international students…where we ask for visa information…I hope I never see a student provide us with credit card numbers and other personal information.

What common pitfalls should applicants be careful to avoid?

Applicants need to remember that the application is the beginning of a dialogue with the college/university. The information provided is going to be read by adults. Students need to be careful not to be over-casual in their approach, presenting information as might be shared with their friends.

Are there any myths about the application process which you would like to dispel?

College Admissions is NOT “The Great SAT Contest”, nor is it “Rush Week” where we sit around and select our friends and people that we like.

What advice would you give to an applicant with below-average test scores but significant extracurricular experience?

Let’s hope that the information on the transcript shows exceptional performance in the classroom. Otherwise, the test scores would appear to verify the grades, and show an over-emphasis on out-of-class activities.

Do you frequently have to turn away applicants whom you wish you could admit? If so, what could those applicants do to be admitted?

They need to realize that many students graduate annually as transfer students. If they are set on GRADUATING from a specific college or university, they need to explore transfer options that can put them on track towards a degree.

How much faith do you have in the ability of the SAT to predict success at in college?

The SAT and ACT are excellent tools for helping to predict college success, but should not be used as the sole indicator. Other factors (most importantly the high school transcript, grades, GPA, strength of curriculum, etc) must be figured into the decision as well.

What do you look for in a recommendation letter?

Honesty and a true sense of perspective.

Joseph Fernandez is an SAT Tutor with Parliament Tutors, a New York tutoring and test preparation service.

Parenting for College

Category Archives: admissions