4. Past PFE Posts category archive

      One of the many acronyms that college bound students encounter is COA or cost of attendance. It constantly amazes me when media only talks about tuition costs” when they run stories about colleges. What they should do is include the fees, room and board and personal expenses to that figure. That will often bring the COA up another $18,000 or more.

Private colleges that use federal money in their financial aid packages are generally running about $55,000 to $65,000 per year soup to nuts. With the exception of about 50 so-called elite colleges, most offer merit money to highly qualified students or meet the criteria for those scholarships. Admittedly, a good 50% of private colleges and out of state public’s simply offer tuition discounts in the guise of scholarships simply to get students to commit.

Having said that, I have had many students graduate in four years from fine private colleges at less cost than they would have paid at a state university where the latter would be offering only student loans. For many middle income families state schools often create the largest financial burden to a family despite the lowest published cost.

In addition, due to the ever increasing strategy of financial aid leveraging and preferential packaging, an applicant’s academic profile will greatly effect how much grant or scholarship aid he or she will get. While not used by all colleges, these practices will negatively impact the aid a student who is in the lower quarter of the applicant pool. That is why I place a great deal of emphasis on researching the current class profile or common data set to measure where the student may fit in that demographic.

  In other words, if two colleges have similar costs of attendance, a student may be offered entirely different financial aid packages should one of the colleges be using leveraged analysis or preferential packaging. Unless, you do a money saving Dry Run with us or someone else who is familiar with the financial aid practices at many colleges, you will seldom know which college is offering the best value from a financial standpoint. Even now with the required Net Cost Calculator on college websites, you still won’t know the true bottom line cost of that college until one week following the student’s acceptance.

 The differences outlined above can be as large as $15,000 a year or more.  These differences are often masked by confusing itemized costs. That is why we encourage all families to include a realistic money-saving Dry Run step in their college planning. If you have not done that yet, then what are you waiting for? Do not repeat the experience that this parent had.

If you were to ask a random group of kids Name three competitive colleges, most would reel off Harvard, Yale and Princeton without any hesitation. In fact HYP has practically become an acronym for any brand name college. It is at this time of year that the mail box gets the most attention. Especially if the college bound senior has applied to the most competitive colleges in the country.

With all the attention given to magazine rankings, colleges that are on the top of the list are often the only ones bright high school students think of when developing his or her initial list. I smile inwardly when I realize (after a few minutes of conversation) that a family has what I call Brand Name Paralysis or BNP.

It is a neurological disorder, but not a serious one. However, not treated, it could result in unnecessary stress, abdominal pain and a depleted investment account. Of course, I am joking kind of.  Treatment is painless but does call for the patient to have an open mind and a modest ability to think outside the box. Review our college planning timeline to understand how we do this.

In our offices we have large maps showing the colleges in all 50 states and Canada. We have placed pins into the colleges so that families can see where other students we have guided have matriculated. It is great fun to place a pin on a college name that a student (or parent) has never heard of prior to meeting with us. Two such examples would be the college to the right and in the upper left of this page. Can you tell me the names of those colleges?

One is in Pennsylvania and the other is in California. In both instances students have received wonderful educations without any debt, yes ZERO! But there is more to it, much more. All of which we can cover in a complimentary get acquainted consultation. We look forward to sharing more with you.  Call (978) 820-1295.

Many high school seniors have heard back from some of the colleges to which they applied. The most competitive colleges will be sending out their letters no later than April 1. All students (and parents) will then have thirty days to make their final college decision.  

If you are a client be sure to FAX both your acceptance letters and subsequent financial aid letters to us as they come in. We will then help you make your decisions based on both academic and financial criteria.  If you have done a Dry Run earlier in the process, we will update the numbers.

Unfortunately, every year I hear about families who experienced something like this family did. There are many uncertainties in our world, but this does not have to be one of them. If you have college aspirations, take the time to discuss the options in paying for college as a family unit. In fact, call us to learn how thousands of families are paying for college from income alone, and not borrowing a nickel.  

Attention juniors and sophomores. Two other spring rites are for you. If you have a list of possible colleges (and you should) try to do some college visits while classes are still in session. If some of the colleges on your list are too far away, they may be coming to you!

March, April, and May is ‘College Fair’ time. Check the National Association of College Admission Counselor site here for the date, time and location near you! There are several college fairs coming up in many states.  For instance, Anaheim, CA is on April 22, 2018. 

Some of the so-called Elite colleges do not participate in such marketing efforts but check each college website for their travel plans. In addition, you should also check out the location for the group of 40 colleges that have been identified by the late Loren Pope in his popular tome, Colleges That Change Lives.  

The second spring rite is actually a four-season ritual. Yes, I am referring to the ubiquitous standardized tests. There are a plethora of ways to prepare including no preparation at all. But if you are looking at possible merit scholarships or very competitive colleges, then you should prepare. Would you compete in your favorite sport without practicing?  

But if you want to practice with unequivocally the best test prep yet, we can help. Take the demo here with 30 practice questions. For the PSAT, SAT, ACT and Math II tests, I believe there is NO better way to prepare outside of individual tutors like Kris Fox, Ann Turner or Jan LeClair. Each has been part of the PFE team for years. 

If you have any questions, I look forward to answering them for you.

Best wishes for college success and beyond.

Eric

We are told that March 20^th is the first day of spring. Can you smell the flowers yet?  Our students in California, particularly the ones who have never experienced snow beyond Big Bear or Yosemite may not understand why we live in New England. For myself, I love the history of the region and the beauty each season offers. Experiencing the changing seasons is like living in four places without moving. There is always something to look forward to and seeing things with a fresh perspective.

Speaking of looking forward, many highs school seniors are waiting to hear from the colleges to which they applied. If they have followed the steps we have laid out for them, they will hopefully get the news they are hoping for and will decide by May 1 which college they will attend. But if they are put on the dreaded waitlist at their first choice colleges they will need to adjust and consider their options.

Meanwhile, current juniors and sophomores should be looking at the steps they need to be taking if they too have college aspirations. One is to take advantage of college visits while students are still on campus and attending college fairs that will be at cities around the country starting in May and continuing through the fall of the year.

If you are a client with whom we have not had a winter/spring review as of yet, call us today to arrange a good time for your update review. If you are just beginning the process of preparing a realistic college list and would like some suggestions. Call us for a get acquainted, no obligation consultation; plan on 75 minutes for that conversation. It does not matter where you live. We are presently working with students in Shanghai, China and Stuttgart, Germany.

At the end of December, many students who applied to college Early Decision or Early Action are finding that they’ve been neither accepted nor rejected, but deferred. If you find yourself in this limbo, here are some guidelines for how to proceed.

1. Don’t Panic ~ Most likely, if you’ve been deferred your credentials are in the ballpark for getting accepted. If they weren’t, you’d be rejected. However, your application wasn’t so far above average that the college wanted to give up a spot in the entering class until they could compare you to the full applicant pool. The percentages vary from college to college, but many students do get accepted after being deferred.

 2. Find Out Why You Were Deferred ~ Unless the college asks you not to do so, give the admissions office a call and try to find out why you were deferred. Be polite and positive when making this call. Try to convey your enthusiasm for the college, and see if there were particular weaknesses in your application that you might be able to address. Some early applicants are deferred because they did not show enough interest in the college prior to submitting the application. Could this be you?

3. Update Your Information ~ Chances are the college will ask for your midyear grades. If you were deferred because of a marginal GPA, the college will want to see that your grades are on an upward trend. Also, think about other information that might be worth sending:

• New and improved SAT or ACT scores
• A new leadership position in a group or team
• A new honor or award

4. Send a New Letter of Recommendation ~ Is there someone who knows you well who can really promote you effectively? If so, an additional letter of recommendation might be a good idea. However, make sure the college allows extra letters. Ideally, this letter should talk about the specific personal qualities that make you an ideal match for the particular college that has deferred you. A generic letter won’t be nearly as effective as a letter that explains why you are a good match for your first-choice college.

5. Send Supplemental Materials ~ Many applications, including the Common Application, provide the opportunity for sending in supplemental materials. You don’t want to overwhelm the admissions office, but you should feel free to send in writing or other materials that will show the full breadth of what you can contribute to the campus community.

6. Be Polite ~ As you try to get out of deferral limbo, you’re likely to correspond with the admissions office several times. Try to keep your frustration, disappointment and anger in check. Be polite. Be positive. Admissions officers are remarkably busy this time of year, and their time is limited. Thank them for any time they give you. Also, make sure your correspondence doesn’t become pesky or harassing.

7. Have a Back-Up ~ While many deferred students do get accepted during regular admissions, many do not. You should do all you can to get into your top choice school, but you should also be realistic. Make sure you have applied to a range of reach, match and safety colleges so that you will have other options should you get a rejection letter from your first choice.

If you have been deferred but have new information to present to the college, you’ll want to write a letter presenting the updates.

The majority of college bound students do it the wrong way; is your student in the majority?  Fall is college application time for seniors. The Class of 2013 was the largest most competitive high school class in American history. High school seniors around the country are applying to their Dream Schools.

Every year the following scenarios are played out by countless ambitious students everywhere.

SCENARIO ONE: The first is when a student falls in love with a single college but his academic profile is in the lower 50% of the applicant pool. It could be a college that historically has less than a 10% acceptance rate or as high as 40%. He applies in one of the early application programs (ED or EA) thinking he will have a better chance of admittance. It is his “dream school” and, while he may grudgingly add a few more colleges to a list to satisfy a nervous parent, he never really looks beyond that “dream school”. Until, of course, the rejection letter arrives in December. Because his focus and enthusiasm was wrapped up in his dream school, he did not pay much attention to the requirements of his other colleges. Some of which had January regular application (RA) deadlines, none of which he is prepared to meet.

SCENARIO TWO: This is more common. As above, the student may have what I call brand name paralysis and builds a list solely of “BNP schools.” These are schools like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UC Berkeley and Pomona where the acceptance rate is so ridiculously low that no matter how good your grades and test scores are, getting in is never a sure bet. Unfortunately, like the “dream school” students, they too are often disappointed. Likely they have been told by parents, teachers, or a guidance counselor that they are excellent prospects for these schools because they are so unique and special. So, they never really look seriously beyond those “lottery schools”…until, of course, the rejection letters start coming in the mail in the spring.

Because of the huge increase in student applications, some of the top students are even being rejected by their safety schools .  (Colleges do not want to be thought of as safeties, so they are sending a message basically saying we want you only if you want us.) Talk about humble pie!

These two scenarios illustrate why I believe that college planning should start with an honest; realistic self-assessment. This means taking a critical look at the student’s academic statistics, interests, learning style and personality.

Obviously financial issues are important too. You can learn how to minimize student (and parent) debt here.

In other words, begin the college search by identifying several schools where the student has a good bet of acceptance and more importantly – where he/she would be happy to spend a few years. These are the schools where the student’s academic profile places him or her in the top 25% of the accepted student pool. Once students genuinely appreciate (if not love) at least one safety school, they can safely move on to more selective schools and, yes, even some of the aforementioned most competitive colleges. Ultimately applying to no less than 8 nor more than 12 colleges.

The popularity of the US News & World Report’s annual College Issue has spawned numerous copycats, each trying to offer its own spin on how it rates colleges. It’s all about selling magazines. The more they move off the newsstand, the higher the advertising rates they can charge.

It’s more about the money than the value of the content. What does it really mean when you read about six year graduation rates, the average financial aid a student receives, the reported professor student ratio, and average loan burden upon graduation and SAT scores?

It is interesting, more and more colleges are either eschewing such assessments or not returning the self-reported questionnaires sent to them by the publications. But when a college is recognized as in the top 10 or Best of in a particular category they are not shy about emblazoning that recognition proudly across their website.

And yes, I am one of those that buy those magazines. I buy them because you are, and I want to be ready for your questions when you ask.

Why do you recommend the 41^st ranked University of the South @ Sewanee for Carolyn instead of the well known 18^th ranked Colgate University?

I appreciate such questions. More often than not, the answer has to do with a combination of factors. The academic profile of the student and learning style, how a student expresses interest in different majors (however vague they may be early on), financial parameters of the parents, campus ethos and the nature of the academic and career advising.

All of which we take into account when suggesting the starter list of fifteen colleges for a junior. I invite you to arrange a FREE get acquainted conversation with us. We work with students all over the world thanks to the Internet. Please click here for more information.