The Compass

Jump to CommentsOur college & career newsletter, The Compass will be updated monthly with timely tips and links.   For the month of February, here are a few highlights students and parents should know.

1. Financial Aid

1. Scholarships

1. High School Juniors

1. High School Sophomores and Freshmen

Financial Aid– For college-bound seniors, financial aid is a “first come, first serve” proposition.    Check websites of schools for which you (or your student) has applied and follow the colleges’ requirements and deadlines.  There are two primary distinctions in financial aid:  need-based and merit-based.    Here are some tips:

• Forms – Know that forms and deadlines vary by college.  The most universal form is the “FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid”, which every family should complete.   Some colleges also require the CSS (College Scholarship Service) Profile.   Additional forms for state residency or financial aid may be required and will vary by school.   The FAFSA is available at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/.  The CSS Profile is available at  https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/index.jsp.

• Complete the FAFSA early –Complete the FAFSA, even if you believe your family doesn’t quality for need-based aid.    If your family has not filed your 2009 tax return, you should still submit the FAFSA, and if needed, update and resubmit the FAFSA later.

• Submit FAFSA – The FAFSA allows you to identify which colleges will receive your “Student Aid Report” (SAR) which is created for each student from their FAFSA form.  Be sure to include FAFSA codes for all colleges to which you’ve applied, even if you don’t know whether you have been accepted.

Scholarships – All high school students should be searching for scholarships.  If you are a high school senior, you should have completed your scholarship profile and should be submitting scholarship applications.    There are several scholarship search sites available.

• Seniors – Research scholarship programs at your selected colleges.  Colleges to which you’ve applied are one of the easiest places to find scholarships.  Check honors programs as well as other scholarships and submit applications on-time (preferably early).   Understand the requirements as some colleges do not require separate applications for merit-aid.

• Juniors (or earlier) – Take time now to complete your online scholarship profile and begin to see results.  You can update your profile(s) over time and create e-mail agents to receive notifications of deadlines or new scholarships.    Some initial sites for scholarship searches include www.fastweb.com and www.schoolsoup.com.

Juniors

• Campus Visits – During the winter and spring, you can be visiting campuses and form your “short-list” of schools to which you will apply next fall.  Be sure to create a “fit list” of what you’re looking for and write down pros/cons from your campus visits.   As you evaluate colleges of fit, both www.petersons.com and www.collegeboard.com provide online college searches based on your criteria.

• Testing – Create a “testing timeline” based on requirements (SAT I, II and ACT).  This will minimize stress during fall of your senior year by getting SAT’s / ACT’s “out of the way”.  If you took Algebra II before junior year, now is the time to “get scores up”.  One way is to use the College Board’s Question & Answer Service (QAS) to study what you missed before.  QAS is available for SAT’s taken in January, May and October as long as you order within five months at www.collegeboard.com

• Curriculum – Remember that transcripts are the number one factor in college admissions’ decisions.  You should continue to “stretch” yourself academically and keep up your grades.

Sophomores & Freshmen

• Curriculum planning – Plan your long-term curriculum based on honors and AP / IB courses available at your High School.   Ensure you are taking the right pre-requisites during the first 2 years for those advanced courses you will take later.

• Career assessment – Before you get into the rush of college applications and standardized tests, now is a great time to take career assessments and research colleges or majors that interest you.  The earlier you begin research, the more informed decisions you can make about campus visits and building a “short list” of schools to which you’ll apply senior year.

• Campus Visits – You can start visiting campuses now!  Here’s a comprehensive list of questions to consider as you visit colleges http://www.makingitcount.com/content/common/ToughQuestions.pdf

• Scholarships – It’s not too early to start searching for scholarships (see links under “scholarships).   Also, document your student resume to help remember your accomplishments and awards for applications you’ll complete later.