It will be very interesting to see what happens if the stock market continues to slide (or just stall) and we have a recession, how that affects college applications next year.
Will less students apply ED? Will more families look for merit?
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Will more students attend their in-state publics or community colleges?
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More families may unfortunately require need based aid. I know if we lose either of our jobs - our SAI will drop substantially. ETA: On a rough basis our SAI would drop by HALF.
Unfortunately, for many families, I believe theyâll look at this yearâs tax returns to determine financial need. But I could be mistaken.
Hopefully people with students nearing college had already started to shift 529 funds out of the market⊠but, I can imagine there are families counting on college savings that might now be less than planned.
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Good point. Since weâre only a year away, I imagine a heavy shift to bonds away from stocks wouldve already taken place.
Could have kind of a barbell effect - more families trying their luck at the top private schools which are more generous with aid plus their instate schools - leaving a middle part whose popularity may fall as their affordability does.
Hoping some of this insanity is reversed and the stock market gets back on track, though.
So another question, I see some people send SAT scores to colleges months before they actually apply to take advantage of the free window for doing so - has anyone here done this with their older kids? Advantages or disadvantages?
Ugh, I just checked our 529 balance. Not happy.
At this rate, I might just let it sit, hope it corrects and roll it over to a Roth IRA. My savings account seems to be more stable.
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By âfree window,â do you mean the up-to-4-free score reports for the SAT that you can request within up to 9 days after the test date?
Or are you talking about a âfree windowâ where some colleges sometimes have a period early on in the application cycle where thereâs a âno application fee if you apply between Date X and Date Yâ?
Free from the college board. Iâm not sure what the window after the test is but the account currently says we can send free reports until May 12. Other than the âfreeâ part wondering whether there is any particular advantage or disadvantage. It seems most schools these days allow you to self report and only need an official report when you enroll so itâs likely to only be one cost anyway, but wondering if there is any other reason to send early. Sounds like they hold the scores until you apply and match with the application.
Edit: it may be saying May 12 because I havenât deregistered C26 from the May 3 SAT yet, so that tallies with the 9-day window, but it allows past scores to be sent under that too.
Edit again : nope, it says free but wants to charge per score when I walk through the process. So change question to: cost aside, is there any advantage or disadvantage to sending scores long before you apply?
I donât think it matters. We did that with D24 for a couple of schools that she had to submit test scores for in order to get auto merit scholarships. For schools that were test optional, she did NOT submit SAT/ACT.
In D26âs case, we want to see what the test score is before sending it anywhere.
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Unless a specific college requires otherwise, I would not send âofficialâ scores through College Board or ACT at all until you need to send the one official report to the college that the student will attend. The vast majority of schools allow self-reporting, and I donât see any benefit to allowing colleges see a score before you even know what the score will be. It frustrates me that test proctors and some HS teachers and counselors seem to talk up this test-day score-sending option to unsuspecting students because it is free, as opposed to $12 or whatever it costs later. But in the vast majority of cases, you only need to spend $12 once, and the upside to waiting is that the student gets to see the score(s) before deciding how to use them.
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Wow, D26 got into SIMR!!! 
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What is SIMR?
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Stanford summer program for medical research: Program Information | Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program | Stanford Medicine
She was admitted to bioengineering, and she canât wipe the giant smile off her face right now 
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Wow thatâs big!! Congratulations !!
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how exciting! thatâs awesome!
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We know the score.
Amazing! Congrats!
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