College Admissions Help Blog

Happy Wednesday everyone. I hope most of you are enjoying some time off this week and gearing up for 2010!

This week I want to talk about reach schools. We are all in the process of making goals and resolutions for the new year and if you are in the college application process of applying to college maybe one of your goals is to get into your first choice school. However, for many high school students their first choice is a far reach. Some students wonder if they should even bother applying to these reach schools. My advice to them is apply because otherwise you will never know if you could have been accepted.

Did you hear about the Connecticut quadruplets who all got accepted to Yale recently? These four sibilings all applied for early admission to the ivy league school and were all welcomed to the class of 2014 right before Christmas. They all had outstanding grades and SAT scores, but I am sure they all had other unique characteristics and talents that helped them get in as well.

When you apply to college admissions counselors primarily look at your grades and SAT scores, but they also look at what else you have done throughout your four years of high school. Community service, excellence in sports or music, student council involvement and other activities are all taken into account. I am not saying that everyone has an equal chance of getting in to Harvard or Yale, but if you have done all the right things and worked really hard you might have a chance of getting into a school that is stretch for you.

Happy New Years everyone! I hope 2010 brings lots of college acceptance letters, scholarships and financial aid to all of you!

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Another recent addition to our portfolio of services is a college admissions discussion board. The site is available to all college bound high school students looking to attend college anywhere in the United States. HowToGetIn.com has been around for 10 years, although the forum and blogs hosted on the site are relatively new.

Join in the discussions at: http://forum.howtogetin.com/

We just created a new section of our private student loan site offering students and parents the ability to review private student loan lenders and compare private student loan products, see:

http://www.privatestudentloans.com/compare/

Please provide your feedback and suggestions for improving the website. What would you like to see that is not there? What do you like?

Ok, so this week I am taking a break from answering questions for the high school senior set and moving down to the juniors. Many juniors wonder when they should start thinking about the college application process. My answer; it is never too early!

As a junior, if you are not already thinking about college you should be! Exactly one year from now you will be sending  applications out and starting to see acceptance letters roll in. Crazy, huh? If you have not thought about college at all here is what you should be doing:

School list: February and April vacation are great times to visit schools so you should start to put together a list of colleges that you think might interest you. Most schools ramp up their tour and information session schedules during these times.  If you want to look at colleges that are far away you should talk to your parents about possibly arranging small trips.  How To Get In’s College and University Search Engine can help you create a school list and narrow down your choices based on your interests.

Testing: If you have not taken the PSATs yet you should do so as soon as possible. This test will allow you to determine what you need to work on for the SATs next year. You will also get a feel for how the test is arranged and how you should alter your test taking techniques.

Get involved: If you realize that your resume is lacking in a certain area now is your chance to get involved! You have plenty of time to join a new club, organization or sports team. You can also take on a new community service project if that is what you think you need. The sooner you get involved the better because you definitely do not want it to look like you are only doing these things to satisfy your college application.

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If you applied to your first choice school Early Decision you should be getting some mail this week! I am sure you have already been stalking the mail man every day anticipating an acceptance letter. I remember getting my early decision acceptance right before Christmas my senior year of high school. I could not have been more excited!

When you apply early decision three things can happen: you can be accepted, you can be rejected, and you can be deferred.

If you are accepted, congratulations! You deserve it! You have worked really hard for four years and not you can celebrate all of your hard work. You can go through the rest of your senior year without having to worry about any more college applications.

If you are rejected, keep your head held high and carry on! It really is not the end of the world even though it might seem like it right now. Make sure you send out the rest of your applications immediately, and remember that there is another school for you out there.

If you are deferred, all hope is not lost! There is still a very good chance that you will get in. Right now it is important for you to send out the rest of your applications and  finish out your senior year on a strong foot. Your first choice school will want to see that you have maintained your good grades and followed through with all of your commitments.

Whatever the outcome ends up being trust that your college search has served you well and remember that you will eventually end up at the right college or university.

Hi all! Sorry I am a few days late with my post this week, but to make up for it I have a very important topic to talk about. With it being harder than ever to pay for college many students are wondering if they should attend a community college for two years to save money and then transfer. This is  a very personal decision however, there are some definite pros and cons.

Pros of going to a community college for two years:

• You will save a significant amount of money. Community colleges cost a lot less than private colleges and even state schools. You will also save money by living at home rather than on a campus or in an apartment near campus.
• Most of the courses for your major are completed during junior and senior years so you will be able to take them at the college that you transfer to.
• Many community colleges have a plan in place that helps  ensure that you take the best classes for a smooth transition.
• You will have more time to complete your college search and decide on a degree program.

Cons of going to a community college for two years:

• You will miss out on a lot of the experiences that come with the first couple years of living on a campus.
• Since you might not know which school you will end up at you will not necessarily be able to complete all of the freshman and sophomore prerequisites that you will need to graduate after you transfer.
• You will have less interaction with your fellow students. It is typically harder to get to know people at community colleges.

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ScholarshipPoints.com Announces $12,000 in Scholarships to be Awarded for December

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It is that time of year again! A time for holiday parties, trimming the tree, wrapping presents, and financial aid. The 2010-2011 FAFSA will be available after January 1^st. Call me Scrooge, but if you are a high school senior, the parent of a high school senior, or anyone attending college for the first time it is important to take a little bit of time away from all of the holiday cheer to learn about the FAFSA and how to properly fill it out.

Mistakes on the FAFSA can cost you thousands of dollars in financial aid, so if you have lingering questions about how it works make sure you talk to people who have been through it or financial aid experts. Luckily, this is also the time of year when high schools and communities hold financial aid workshops to help families of prospective college students understand the process better. Contact your school’s guidance department to find out when they are holding a workshop. After you attend you can finish all or your last minute shopping and Christmas cookie baking feeling relaxed and ready to conquer the FAFSA in January!

Happy Wednesday everyone! This week we are talking about everyone’s favorite way to pay for college: scholarships.  Every student turns to scholarships before considering loans because scholarships do not need to be paid back. Some students think that scholarships are very hard to find, but in reality they are everywhere. Looking for scholarships that you qualify for can take a little bit of time however there are a ton of resources that can help you.

The first place to turn to when looking for scholarships is your high school’s guidance department. They usually have scholarship resources from your local community.  They will be able to provide you will applications for scholarships given out by churches, the local rotary club, chamber of commerce and various scholarship foundations.

Another place to look for scholarships is online. StudentScholarshipSearch.com is a website that aggregates scholarships from a variety of different sources. Every student can find scholarships that they qualify for on this site.  New scholarships are posted every day so make sure you check back often!

ScholarshipPoints.com is a website that gives away free scholarships every month. On the site you can earn points for reading blogs, listening to podcasts and doing various other activities. You can then use these points to enter $500, $1,000 and $10,000 scholarship drawings.

So there you have it; three great ways to get free money for college. Even if you are not attending college until next fall a lot of scholarship deadlines are early in the year so definitely make sure you star exploring these options now.

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Happy December! It certainly is the most wonderful time of the year; unless of course you are a high school senior applying to college. Now it is officially crunch time.

Applications: Ideally all of your applications should be done as of the first of the month. If you applications are not done you probably still have time, but you might want to get everything done soon so you can enjoy the holidays.

Financial Aid: You should also start to think about the FAFSA this month. Although you cannot submit the FAFSA until after January 1^st, there are things you can do now to prepare for the filing process. Check out FAFSA4cater.com. This will help you determine if you will be eligible for any federal financial aid and what you estimated family contribution might be. You can also apply for a FAFSA pin number. This pin number will be your password to access all of your federal financial aid information in the future.

SATS: Take the SATs if you are registered for them this month. It will probably be your last opportunity so make it count!

If you are a junior in high school your college search activities should also ramp up this month. If you took the PSATs this fall you should review the results with your parents and guidance counselors and decide what you should do to prepare for the SATs. It is also a great time to talk to friends who are home from college on winter break to find out about their experiences so far!