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You’re probably studying for finals for your seventh semester—the grades colleges just love to see—or you’ve completed them, and are waiting for the grades to come in. Either way, you’re convinced the best thing you can do is stand in front of a mirror and see how quickly you can say “Do you want fries with that?”, just in case this college thing doesn’t work out.
The rock of your support, your parents, aren’t much help either. If they are working on financial aid forms at a normal clip, they’re shocked at all the paperwork they need to complete the FAFSA. If they filed on January 2nd, they may have heard back from the Federal government already, and all they can seem to say is “Congress really thinks I can pay this much for college?”
With Conan on his way out, and a Republican senator from Massachusetts on his way in, there seems to be no relief to the madness— just what can you do?
Friends, I am a professional—please attempt to do this at home:
- Help your parents calm down. The FAFSA asks for material most families need to fill out tax forms—they just need the information sooner. Tell your parents to “think taxes,” and be amazed by how happy that idea makes them. If the forms aren’t around, they can use last year’s tax information as an estimate, and update with the actual numbers later.
- Get them to phase two. A large number of families don’t get grants from FAFSA, but you have to apply anyway before a college will give you need-based aid. Once you’re done with FAFSA, get your parents to fill out the forms the college needs completed—Profile, their own form, whatever—so you can be considered for institutional-based aid. If you don’t know what they need, call and ask; in this case, the only stupid question really IS the one that doesn’t get asked.
- Hit the Web yourself. With college essays and final exams as warm-ups, your writing skills are at their peek—hit www.finaid.org or other scholarship search sites to find cash you could earn with an essay everyone else is too tired to write. I once won a trophy in a 10K race for my age group, and I run about as well as an 8-track player. What did I do to earn the gold? I was the only one in my age group to finish. Get it?
- Man up and move on. You may think you have nothing better to do but freak while you wait on your grades, but the world begs to differ--good students don’t wait for anything. Now is the time to DO—focus on your studies, because colleges have many more qualified applicants than seats. If your last semester in high school is a let-down, it won’t take much for the college of your dreams to change their mind, and you want to avoid that nightmare. Also, go teach something to someone. The best college students know what it means to learn AND to teach, and with college applications done, you have some free time. Go coach a basketball clinic at the Y, tutor at the library, show your mom how to Skype— believe me, you’ll want her to have that skill in a couple of months.
You want to know if you’ll have a great life in college—believe me, I understand. The best way to make sure that happens is to practice having a great life now—so senior, spread your little wings and fly…
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Weekly Column 
