September Financial Aid Action Plan

Test Prep and Calculating Costs

This month will be a very busy time for you as you get to know new teachers, maintain your grades, and participate in extracurricular activities that seem to occupy every spare moment! Even so, make time to keep planning for college. Not only do you need to think about getting accepted into the school of your choice, you also need to begin planning for how you will pay for it. Financial aid is a crucial part of college planning. In the last issue, you did research to find out how much college will cost you. This month you will begin assessing how you can realistically cover that cost. We will also start reviewing registration for standardized testing, how to get an EFC, recommendation letters and essay writing.

Set aside some time to talk to your high school counselor. Your counselor is there to help prepare you for college and supply you with the information you need for applying. Inform your counselor of what your goals are for college. Your counselor can help you adjust your schedule to accommodate any classes/credits you may be lacking which the university requires. Many times, counselors set up college recruitment events at your high school. The counselors can let you know when the schools you are interested in are visiting your campus. Counselors are also the perfect people to go to when you need help to pay for testing. The College Board offers fee waivers (up to two for the SAT and one for the ACT) for those who qualify. Your counselor will be aware of fee waivers for testing and for college applications, too. All you need to do is ask!

Speaking of testing, September is the month to find out about standardized test dates and begin registering for them. Again, you can talk to your counselor or go to the College Board website to check dates and even register to take these tests. Use your calendar to record the dates you registered for testing. Before you decide whether to take the SAT or the ACT, find out which test the schools you are applying for prefer. If your finances allow, you should try to take both tests as often as possible. You will DEFINITELY want to take some practice tests.  You can buy books on this but we prefer the online tests. You can take a free SAT test at www.sat.financialaidtips.com.  We haven't found a good, free ACT test, but the ACT practice test at www.act.financialaidtips.com is worth the small fee. If you score higher on the SAT practice tests than the ACT, then perhaps you should take the SAT or vice versa. The earlier in the year you take them, the better prepared you will be. Taking the tests early allows you time to retake the tests if you want a higher score. The schools you are applying to will take your highest score into consideration. So, go ahead and take the exams as many as three times in order to get the score you need. For those that understand how much high test scores can end up saving you in tuition and don't mind spending some to save much more, we suggest a more comprehensive test prep plans like at www.testprep.financialaidtips.com.  They guarantee higher test scores which is critical for you getting accepted to your chosen school and getting financial aid.

If you qualify for College Board’s SAT and ACT fee waivers, you may also qualify for many college application waivers. Many colleges require a fee to be paid when turning in an application while others do not. However, not all colleges accept a fee waiver. Learn more about application fee waivers here.  Do not be embarrassed to ask your counselor about these waivers, they are only there to make the application process easier.

As mentioned before, it is important to include your parents in the planning process. Discuss with your family how you plan to take to pay for your education. A helpful tool is the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) calculator.  Find it by going to financailaidtips.com and following the Financial Aid Calculators link. In order to fill this out, you may need to have your parents’ most recent tax returns on hand. This information allows the calculator to determine your financial need and provides information on how much financial aid you should be eligible to receive. Utilize the EFC so that you and your parents can begin making plans for the amount left over that financial aid will not cover. Remember to keep this amount in mind when applying for scholarships and try to apply for one or several which could cover this gap in finances.

Throughout your high school career you have built relationships with your teachers, coaches, music directors, counselors, and principals. Start thinking about who would be the best choices to write a recommendation letter for you. Many schools require more than one, so it is always a good idea to have a letter from someone who has seen and interacted with you in the school environment. While the recommendation letter is not needed right away, it is always good to notify the person writing it ahead of time so they can put together the best possible representation of you. If your reference needs help on how to write a reference letter, you can point them to www.selfachievement.com and click on ‘Career Resources’ and review our “Letters of Recommendation Center”.  They can find example letters there.

By now, you should know which of your chosen schools require you to submit a written essay along with the application. Some schools allow the application and essay to be turned in separately as long as it is received by the deadline date. Look over the essay prompts and start thinking about what your topic will be. Make an outline of your thoughts and begin your rough draft. You will go through a few rough drafts before reaching a final draft to submit. This essay is your opportunity to explain why your grades were low at a certain point in time, or any other obstacles you have overcome in your high school career.  Highlight activities, jobs, awards & accomplishments. The school wants to see examples of why you will be an asset to their campus and that you can keep up with the curriculum.  We provide a free guide on writing admissions essays at www.financialaidtips.com.

One of the most important things you can do during your senior year is maintaining good grades. Just because you are at the end of your high school career doesn’t mean that the schools you are applying too will not notice a drop in your grades. Do not stop taking challenging courses as they will help prepare you for the college level courses. By the way, if you get confused by all the terminology in the Financial Aid process, you can visit the glossary at www.glossary.financialaidtips.com.

In summary, remember, this month you need to:

o   Consult with your counselor about your college goals

o   Develop your plan for acing the ACT or SAT.  Take practice tests and study

o   Register for and begin taking the ACT or SAT as required

o   See if you qualify for a fee waiver or application waiver

o   Calculate your estimated family contribution

o   Ask people you know to write a recommendation letter for you

o   Begin writing your essays

If you can complete all of these within the month of September, your application process will run smoothly. Next month’s article will be discussing filing out your college applications, PROFILE, and early admission.