Parents and students who understand and plan for the cost of college are wise consumers. Before applying to college, it makes sense to plan ahead and know your options before making a decision about college. The College Board and FinAid.org provide parents and students with several different college calculators to determine college costs, the expected family contribution for financial aid, and how much student loan payments will be upon repayment. Knowing these figures will help you better plan for the costs associated with college.
As student debt numbers continue to soar and the job market becomes increasingly competitive, prospective college students care now more than ever about being able to support themselves after graduation – and their parents want to help them avoid drowning in the $1.6 trillion national student loan debt.
GradReports, recently released new proprietary Salary Scores in an effort to empower students with the data necessary to compare schools and equip themselves for a successful future. GradReports compared the salaries of over 4.6 million college graduates to determine Salary Scores for 2,200+ colleges and 334 majors.
There are so many milestones in any parent’s life. Your baby’s first steps, their first words, the first day of school, and their first girlfriend. But there are few occasions more momentous than the day you send your adult child off to college.
You will probably be feeling very bittersweet about it. You are delighted that they are on track to succeed in life and learning to become an independent adult. They will make lifelong friends, learn about the world, and finally discover who they really are. But on the other hand, you may be feeling a great deal of sadness that they are leaving home. You will no longer be able to see them every day and cook them dinner each night. They may be living hundreds of miles across the country and can’t come to you if they need help. And with everything going on in the world right now, it may be harder than ever before. Student life in a pandemic can’t be easy, and you are understandably concerned for their wellbeing.
Many students neglect applying for scholarships with small awards. However, every small award your student receives means more free money to pay for college.
The RevenueZen Social Selling Scholarship is an award for any current or soon-to-be undergrad who is looking to innovate the hiring process. In an ideal world, what would hiring and applying for a job look like? How will you stand out? The RevenueZen Scholarship has a brief submission process, and applicants will be judged on their ability to convey their idea for an innovative social selling process focused on getting hired at a specific company.
Guiding your child to succeed in all areas of life is every parent’s wish. This guidance process is even more critical when your teen gains college admission and has to choose a college major. Did you know 50-80% of students in America change college majors at least once in their four-year study? For several parents, this process will be the first time teenagers make a life-altering decision. Therefore, offering direction should be a deliberate process.
Many families are aware of the aid the federal government provides to college students. But did you know that states also have financial aid available for college students?
In 2018-2019, states awarded an average of $930 per full-time-equivalent undergraduate student in the U.S., according to the College Board’s Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2020 report. This continues a seven-year trend of rising state grant aid. But as state budgets see significant cuts in response to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, experts say the trend may pause or reverse.
In the wake of the coronavirus crisis, many American families are under severe financial strain and parents of college-bound students are in need of financial aid. Many are facing a $40,000 college tuition bill.
Nearly 40% of parents who didn’t plan to apply for federal aid, now will as a result of the pandemic, according to a recent survey by Discover Student Loans.
Roughly half of parents lost income as a result of the pandemic and 44% said they can’t afford to pay for as much of their child’s education as they had originally planned, the survey found.
The Common Application has added an additional, special college essay prompt where students can share their COVID experiences if they feel the pandemic has slammed their world in under 250 words.
The Coalition Application (an alternative to The Common Application) has offered a similar COVID-19 prompt. To me, this implies colleges want students to save their main essay topic for anything but Covid.
Even though this new short COVID prompt is optional, essays experts encourage students to address it, since most students have been impacted by COVID. This is an additional opportunity in the application to share something about themselves.
Since it’s so short, The College Solution blog advises students to be direct in their answer. To give it focus and interest, try to think of one or two qualities or values used or developed in adapting to the new pandemic reality and related challenges. And brainstorm specific examples you can use to illustrate them. Then share a specific challenge faced due to COVID, and explain how the problem was managed or handled, and end with the lesson learned (related to a personal quality, characteristic or value).
A simple outline would look like this:
Share an example of a problem you faced related to COVID
Explain how it affected you
Describe how you dealt with it
Reflect on what you learned from handling it (about yourself, others and the world)
The main college essay
Since this topic is offered as supplemental prompt, many experts don’t think it would serve students to use COVID-19 as the topic of the main essay. COVID-19 is a problem shared by all of us, including all other students writing these essays. It’s simply too common.
When a topic is common or overdone, it is more difficult to make it interesting.
One of the main goals of these college application essays is to help differentiate students from the competition–other students. If your topic is one that many others will be writing about, you are already fading into the crowd.
If, however, your COVID experience has impacted you in a way that is far different than how it has affected almost all other people, this might be the only exception. It would need to be something extreme, or highly unexpected, or unusual. Even better, somehow bizarre, or shocking. (Remember, it probably feels as though it has hit you harder than others, but chances are your experience isn’t as radical as it feels. That’s just the nature of this nightmare–everyone feels as though their life has been turned upside down on some level.)
Tragically, those students hardest hit by this pandemic, with parents and loved ones losing jobs, losing homes or getting evicted, or even worse, falling ill, simply aren’t that unusual.
It’s also important to note the idea that finding the positive in your COVID-19 experience, or that you are actually enjoying this time, would not be enough of a “spin” to justify COVID as a topic.
Admissions officials are trying to discourage students from using this as their main college app essay (aka personal statement) topic as well.
Why college essays are more important during COVID-19
College essays should be more important during the 2021-2022 college admission season than in any other admission cycle in modern times.
Why would the college essay be so critical for this admission cycle?
It’s because most colleges – including the vast majority of the most elite and prestigious institutions – have gone test-optional due to the pandemic. Without standardized test scores, colleges will need to rely more heavily on the remaining admission factors. And the college essay is one of the bigger ones.
Covid-19 has certainly thrown a wrench into every aspect of our lives. If you have a college-bound teen, you know that the college admissions landscape has changed.
Before the pandemic, test scores were at the top of every college’s list—not true any longer. Before the pandemic, students freely visited colleges, meeting students and admissions officers—not true any longer. Before Covid, the financial aid landscape was simply held in information on the FAFSA—not true any longer. Before the pandemic, the college application and it’s components were set in stone for every college—not true any longer.
Since the college admissions landscape has changed, I’m going to spend a few days outlining the changes to help parents and students understand what’s happening in college admissions since the pandemic.
A quick look at several changes
Road 2 College, one of my favorite sites for college admission information, outlined some Covid-19 developments in a video that you should know about:
1. The vast majority of colleges and universities are now test-optional. That includes more than 90% of all highly selective and elite schools.
2. Because two-year-old tax returns are used when completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the CSS Profile, many a family’s financial information will be inaccurate when the financial aid forms need to be completed. More families will want to appeal their financial aid awards.
3. It’s not just need-based aid awards that can be appealed. At many schools, students can appeal the merit award they receive. In this environment, it’s likely that more students will be successful.
4. At least for high school seniors planning to start college in the fall of 2021, the merit awards that some schools offer will be greater. Institutions that are more likely to offer better deals include private colleges not located in major cities on the coasts and in areas where there is a shrinking pool of teenagers.
5. You don’t want to select a college that could close or experience severe financial issues. In the video, I talk about an easy way to determine if a school could be in trouble.
In addition to these, the college essay options have changed. Choosing a college has become more difficult based on the in-person visits being hindered at many colleges. Grades are being evaluated in a different way by colleges, due to the absence of test scores and the decision to become test-optional.
It doesn’t matter which side of the political aisle you are on, the 2020 Election can teach your teen some valuable lessons about life, responsibility and outcomes. Since you are their greatest teacher, take a moment to discern what they are indeed gleaning from your behavior during this election time. There are important lessons for them to learn from this election.
There will always be winners and losers–The sooner they learn this truth the happier they will be. You can’t always be on the winning team and you should always be a good sport about losing.
With freedom comes responsibility–Voting is a responsibility. Vote in EVERY election and take your teens with you. Let them experience this freedom right along side of you. Decisions are made by the people who show up.
Bashing someone else’s beliefs and opinions only makes you small–Don’t be one of those people that rub victory in other people’s face or bash the ones who won. Rise above the temptation and take the high road.
Even though you may not be happy with an outcome of a decision or path you take, you can still move forward–Teach your teens that there is always a road ahead. Mistakes have consequences but you deal with those, learn from them, and go in a positive direction.
Playing the blame game never benefits anyone–If you blame everyone for the way things turn out, you are teaching your teen to do the same. Explain to them that we are all responsible for our OWN actions, not those of others.
Support your leaders and if you don’t agree, take action toward effecting change–This is America and we have elected our leaders, so they should be respected. If you aren’t happy with the people who are in office, work toward the next election. Sitting around voicing hatred for them will only teach your teen to do the same.
We shouldn’t be defined by our political views but by our values–A famous person once said, “We’re not the red states or the blue states, but the UNITED States.” Teach your teens your values and they will carry them into the future.
Your behavior speaks volumes about the kind of person you are–Don’t be one of those that post hateful comments on social media sites. Be the one who focuses on the future and sees good in everyone.
Negative attitudes make you a very unhappy adult–Negativity breeds defeat, discouragement, and despair. You certainly don’t want your teen to live their life with these attitudes.
You live in the greatest country in the world–Say what you will, but we have FREE elections and every adult is given a vote to decide who governs us. Teach your teens to be proud of our country, our past, and our future.
I have watched all the negative campaign ads for a year. I’ve read Twitter and Facebook feeds for months. Many adults need to apply these 10 principles to their lives. Your college-bound teen is our future; teach them to respect one another and dream. Above all, VOTE!
