Already thinking about college...

mom2collegekids
Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:56:35 +0000

Seems like you have a lot of reaches in there. Schools that are free like Macaulay honors and schools that meet need w/o big loans are difficult to get accepted to.

Remember, many of these schools are CSS Profile schools. They may look at your income/assets and declare that your family has to contribute a LOT more than you can afford.

Schools like URoch can be “hit or miss” when it comes to FA. I’ve seen kids with fab stats get really good aid. I’ve seen kids with high stats get lousy aid. They must not only look at “need,” they must also look at stats, maybe URM status, and if you’re from a state where they don’t get many applicants.

You need to include some solid financial safeties where you think your child’s future stats might get some assured merit.

Right now, you can’t really know what your child’s stats are going to be. She may have a strong GPA, but just a good SAT/ACT score…not enough to get merit money or to give great aid. (Yes, many schools give better FA packages to those with the highest stats - it’s called “preferential packaging.”)

The BEST thing you can do right now is to make sure her GPA stays HIGH and that she prepares well for PSAT/SAT/ACT exams. Have her learn SAT vocab words (there’s a shower curtain with the 500 most common SAT words. LOL)

Having high stats will likely help the most financially.

Keep the following in mind…

There is a large pool of students with high GPAs.

There is a small pool of students with very high ACT/SAT scores.

There is an even smaller pool of students who have both high GPAs and high test scores. The ones with both have the best chances of getting into the schools with great FA and/or great merit scholarships.

AUTO $$$ CC Important links to Auto Scholarships…