<p>Family-friendly tips on college visits, adjusting to campus, ways to understand the strength of a Hillel, and more. Data on enrolment percentages of Jewish students at some universities and colleges. Financials, and more. </p>
<p>Pleasantly written with plenty of good info for all. Happy reading!</p>
<p>I thought the financial aid article was a bit bizarre; it implies your chances for increasing your award are zapped if the parent calls the FA office instead of the kid…very often the parent is in the best position to explain and answer questions about family finances. And way too optimistic about FA for the average student at an average college. And encourages double depositing so you can play FA at 2 schools against each other; I understand most guidance counselors and admissions offices think double depositing is unethical…should kids risk losing $200 deposit so they can fight about extra aid that may never come.</p>
<p>I actually posted this on the Jewish B student thread a few weeks ago - it was available on-line in early August. </p>
<p>Muffy - I agree with you - that FA article is ridiculous and really gives bad advice. Appealing a FA award only makes sense if there has been a change in circumstances - job loss, etc. From everything that I have read and heard, FA officers do not view this process as a negotiation and do not appreciate being asked to match another school’s award. The idea of double depositing while trying to negotiate a better award is particularly distasteful - this is considered very unethical and it really turns my stomach that Reform Judaism magazine would publish an article recommending such a strategy.</p>
<p>Oh, and the article recommends hiring an experienced financial aid counselor to guide you through the process (um…like the author?) Any kid smart enough to go to college and willing to spend the time can understand the guides online or at the library. </p>
<p>For me that detracted from what is a valuable resource for kids who are trying to choose a college Jewishly.</p>
<p>The FA article also says not to do ED if FA is an issue “because the student is contractually obligated to attend the college that accepts him/her regardless of the financial aid offered.” Not so; if the school can’t meet full need, the student can be excused from the ED agreement. </p>
<p>That business about double depositing is really slimy. Students who are trying to negotiate a better FA package with School A, but will otherwise attend School B, can ask for an extension on submitting an SIR for both schools. </p>
<p>I love that Wesleyan sukkah, and the article on post-college employment plans was a good read. I was writing in the dates for the 2011 holidays on next year’s secular calendar, and realizing that by the time those holidays roll around, D1 will be…somewhere else. Shoot, that means only three of us to help build the sukkah next year! ;)</p>
I’d also add that families who truly need more money to pay for college can’t afford to throw money away on nonrefundable deposits for schools their kids won’t attend.</p>
<p>I also thought that this “advice” was naive: *Don’t accept a school’s initial financial aid offer, unless the school has met the financial need 100%, with most aid being scholarships and grants. * </p>
<p>First of all, almost all colleges that promise to meet 100% of “need” also use their own formula to determine “need”, based on the CSS profile or their own supplemental forms… whereas the article tells reader that they can determine “need” from the FAFSA SAR. </p>
<p>Second, every single “100% need” college I dealt with along the way had very firm policies in place as to how to calculate their awards. Once they make that commitment, they will stick with their rules and policies, because there is no better package to “negotiate” – there are only financial circumstances to explore or reconsider. </p>
<p>And to refuse to accept a financial aid offer that does NOT meet 100% need is simply going to knock a whole lot of colleges off the table – given the fact that the vast majority of colleges can’t meet that promise, and given the reality that the FAFSA SAR number is usually going to be lower than the college’s determined need for middle class families who have assets such as home equity. Occasionally the CSS Profile numbers come out better, and the elite colleges (Ivies, Stanford) do offer packages that are particularly generous for most families – but that isn’t the real world for the vast majority of students.</p>
<p>I recommended the issue because of a wide range of articles on unusual topics, relevant to Jewish students which come up over the years on CC. </p>
<p>I share several above posters’ objection to the the FA author who wrote among his six points to “consider” double depositing. I agree and it’s been written often: double depositing IS unethical for reasons of economic injustice, jamming up other students eager to attend. Plus it;s not effective according to FA officers who write everywhere saying they do not take well to being treated like a "horse auction. " Point taken.</p>
<p>That said, there are other worthy articles here, on topics mentioned for years on CC by Jewish students with a very wide range of GPA’s. “Just Out” in that the hardcopy magazine came to my mailbox this week; I missed it online.</p>
<p>“From everything that I have read and heard, FA officers do not view this process as a negotiation and do not appreciate being asked to match another school’s award.”</p>
<p>HYPS are an exception. Their policies and philosophies are very similar, and they are all very rich. They also never want to lose a student for financial reasons to another need-only school. I’ve known of a number of students for whom Harvard matched Yale or Princeton (a difference of a few thousand dollars a year).</p>