2010.04.09 16:19:11

Patrick OConnor

Money for College Comes from Nowhere!

It was mid-April, and Maura was just about to send in her enrollment deposit at the college of her choice.  It hadn’t been the first choice on her list, but the financial aid package was considerably better than the offer that was made at her top choice school.  This would leave more money for graduate school—and besides, a second trip to campus convinced her she could be happy and successful there.

Maura took her deposit check to her mailbox, only to discover the mail had come early that day.  She flipped through the mail on her way up the driveway and discovered a letter from the financial aid office at her top choice school.  “We’re glad you’re still considering us” the letter read, “and we wanted to let you know we found another $3000 in annual grant money for you.  Please let us know if you have any questions, and we look forward to seeing you in the fall.”

Maura ran back to the mailbox and texted her father to tell him the good news.

While this may sound like the best dream you could have that doesn’t involve front row seats at a Lady Gaga concert, students had experiences similar to this one last year with their eyes wide open.  For reasons that can’t be explained, many colleges sent out letters in the midst of decision month to admitted students who hadn’t sent in their deposits that said “hey, we just ripped open the mattress, and look what we found!”  The economy was tough, there were more than enough students to go around, yet Santa came early to these seniors, and proved to be a game changer.

Since it happened last year, is it likely to happen this year?  It’s hard to say—and that’s the problem.  On the one hand, seniors are getting phone calls every night from well-meaning students saying “Hope you’ll join us”; on the other hand, families who know about last year’s mystery money are telling students to hold on and see what happens, thinking colleges will court them like presidential candidates schmooze undecided voters on Halloween—except of course, the students get cash, while the voters don’t.

Since we can’t tell which colleges might be offering incentives to which students, families should consider two things.  First, if you’re in Maura’s shoes, call your first choice college and tell them they’re it, but the money situation is tight—this isn’t bargaining as much as it’s being honest.  While last year’s bonus bucks came to students out of the blue, many more students got increased aid by simply asking for it—so that might be worth a try.

 

Second, read your admission information carefully.  It’s true you have until May 1 to deposit at 1—and only one—college, but some colleges engage in the shady practice of giving better housing and top dibs for class registration to students who deposit before then.  That’s violating the spirit of the May 1 deadline, but it’s still being done, and that could leave you with five 8 AM classes next fall, and having Mr. Ed as your roommate. If your college is offering these “bonuses”, call them to see if they have more aid for you, and go from there.  If another college calls with more money before May 1, you can always cancel your deposit at School A, but you might not get it back.  

The windfall for last year’s undecided students makes this April an even crueler month—take a close look at your options, then make your best call.

 

 

choosing a college | applying to college | college admissions | paying for college

2010.01.23 01:25:50

Patrick OConnor

Financial Aid and Final Exams-- Waiting? Wondering? Why?

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.

college applications | college counseling | paying for college | scholarships | financial aid

2009.11.12 19:09:08

Patrick OConnor

Applying to Colleges a Bear? Time to Regroup!

This is the hardest three weeks of applying to college.  You've already submitted a couple of applications, and now you're up to your Uggs in essays and deadlines for more colleges.  You're starting to wonder if this is all really worth it, when along comes a thick envelope from one of the colleges you applied to in September-- congratulations, you're in!

You have now entered the Goldilocks zone.

(Forgot about her?  Go to http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/goldilocks_story.htm --DON'T ask your English teacher, who will tell you the story is a metaphor of global consumption by Western civilization.)

Why Goldilocks? Right now, you think your college list is:

Too hard  With 5 class papers to do and the fall play, you're sure you are applying to too many colleges.  You only visited half of them, the time you spend on essays would be much better spent on keeping your grades up, and you're already admitted to one college-- do you really need more?

Too soft  Sure, you're in at one college-- but that was a safety school.  In fact, every school you're applying to looks like a sure thing.  Maybe it's time to ramp things up-- and if that means more essays, you can take your laptop to Grandma's on Thanksgiving.

These may seem to be opposites, but they are signs of the same thing-- you are stressed about the application process.  Pull up a bowl of porridge, and let's sort this out with three simple questions:

How did you feel about your college list in September?   If you put a lot of thought into your choices, visited some campuses and researched the others, chances are you'd be cutting out some options by cutting down on the list; the busy-ness of school is blocking your view of the big picture, and it's time to take a breath.

However, if you threw the list together to get Mom and Dad off your back, you may now have a better idea of what you want-- or don't want.  If that's the case, there's time to re-visit the list, and a good reason to do so.

How many essays do you really have left?  Count up the college essays you have to answer.  Now, divide that number by six.  That's the number you have to complete each weekend to finish the apps by mid-December.  If you mix and match short and long essays, you're probably OK if you have to do three each weekend, maybe four.  (Remember, no writing during the week.  That's time for school work, which is the way you keep your grades up.)

Then again, if you have to write something like one-sixth of an essay each weekend, you have room to apply to more colleges.  Write down what you're looking for in a college, and spend this weekend looking around for more; it sounds like you can skip the essays for a while.

Have your college goals changed since September?  If you have new college plans, a review of your list is the right thing to do.  If you really know all of the colleges are keepers, it's time to pull up your socks and do the heavy lifting of the essays.  Persisting now will be good practice for college, when you have to choose between turning a paper in on time, and the Euchre tournament.

Goldilocks made bad choices-- trespassing, destruction of private property, and napping after a big meal.  Don't let this happen to you; step back, think about what matters most to you, and you'll make a decision about college apps that's just right.

college applications | applying to college | college entrance | college stress | paying for college

2009.11.09 22:03:18

Patrick OConnor

Applying to College is a Changing Game!

October seemed to be the month of surprises for college-bound students, at least as far as the state of Michigan was concerned.  The first surprise came on October 16th, when the University of Michigan announced they were going to change the way they recomputed the GPAs of their applicants.  For years and years, U-M only counted grades in the five academic areas (English math, science social studies, and foreign language) earned in 10th and 11th grade.  Right—they didn’t use any grades used in 9th grade at all.  Now, U-M is not going to recompute GPA — they will use whatever GPA appears on the high school transcript.

While this is a huge surprise—admission reps at U-M were still talking about recomputing GPA as late as October 14th—the bigger surprise is that this change will go into effect immediately, including applicants for the Fall of 2010.  It’s uncertain if this change will impact admissions decisions—U-M says it studied GPAs for two years and concluded this change had little impact on applications—but the news that the change would begin this year was most unexpected.

The second surprise came two weeks later, when the budget for the State of Michigan was passed.  One of the programs axed by the state was the Michigan Promise Scholarship, where students who scored well on a state exam could receive up to $4,000 to attend a Michigan college.  The test is given in junior year, meaning this year’s seniors took the test last March, thinking they were aiming to get some college cash.  It turns out their labors were literally for nothing…

…but it gets worse, I’m afraid.  The Promise Scholarship has been in existence for three years, and the entire program was cut.  As a result, students in some Michigan colleges have been sent letters saying “So, the state was supposed to pay $1000 of your tuition this semester, but they really aren’t.  Here’s your bill.”

U-M’s decision on the Ides of October and the Devil’s Night Diss from the state legislature emphasize three important points when it comes to applying to colleges:

paying for college | applying to college | college applications