The college money talk you wish someone had with you

Kelly Hanson, host 0:12
Applying for college can feel overwhelming, and it’s important to know that a successful application starts long before senior year. College admissions consultant Crystal Tate is here to share how families can build a smart college strategy and make affordability part of the plan from day one. Welcome to the show. So let’s start with timing. How early should students be thinking about this?

Crystal Tate 0:36
I would say that honestly, the earlier the better. Usually, sophomore year is, I know, and most kids aren’t even ready to start thinking about it yet. So, but starting to sprinkle in just like what are you interested in? How could this play out? What do you think is the best fit? And start to get on some of those college campuses earlier will help when you start to get to senior year crunch time.

Kelly Hanson, host 0:57
Absolutely, because you don’t want it to be crunch time. You want to be able to make a decision that you feel good about, and what’s the best way to start building a list of potential schools?

Crystal Tate 1:07
Oftentimes, we talk about it as three pillars: what is a good academic, social, and financial fit? And I think that that’s often what is going to make everybody happy in the process. Usually, there’s one that’s left out there, and it’s usually the financial component, or people are afraid or just don’t want to talk about it. Don’t know how to start that conversation with their kids and are afraid. Like, hey, I’m going to hinder where they can go if we talk about what is affordability and how does that work for our family, which isn’t true.

Kelly Hanson, host 1:33
Right. Just have the conversation. And what do families often get wrong when it comes to list making? And at what point is it really important, like you said, is it sophomore year to start having the conversation of cost? Like we need to talk about this. What makes sense?

Crystal Tate 1:49
Yeah. So when it comes to the affordability component, I think that it’s really nice to be able to say, hey, you know, this is our budget. This is like truly having that honest conversation. What’s sad is when it doesn’t happen until senior year, or like they’ve already picked a list of schools and now they’ve made a decision and they have their heart set on X Y Z school, and it’s 70 or 80,000 a year, right? And the family is actually like, well, we can’t really afford that, and then that becomes a really heartbreaking conversation. So, at the latest, like junior year, as you’re really developing your list, I think, is a really solid time to dive deep into what do I really want and how much am I willing and capable of paying for that in order to have that experience. Because really, that’s what it comes down to.

Kelly Hanson, host 2:32
Definitely. And what should families know too about financial aid?

Crystal Tate 2:36
I think that what’s interesting is that people don’t realize that they have. We don’t use this word with colleges, but you have the ability to negotiate, right? So when it comes to schools, a lot of people will focus on prestige, and that’s part of the problem. Like, hey, I really want to get into this school. That’s the hardest possible school to get into, rather than what is that best fit, and actually thinking about what is the best fit based on academic, social, and financial, right? So when you think about it, like I want to have a school that has all of these characteristics, but if it doesn’t meet the financial component, you’re not going to be able to go there. You’re going to come out with too much debt that’s going to be a hindrance to you when you start your life. So we want to make sure we’re making smart choices sooner rather than later as we build that list. And you have the ability to do that as long as you understand your student’s academics meets the financial picture and what is that college looking for, so it’s really a strategy game and understanding how all of that goes together, which is part of what we work on.

Kelly Hanson, host 3:26
Makes perfect sense. And should students approach every college application the same way? I feel like this is a trick question.

Crystal Tate 3:33
Right? Especially since how we’re entering into the world of college application deadline time. I think that as we talk about deadlines, the early decision tends to be like this thing that some families start to consider more and more. If they really do have a single choice school that they’re really interested in, and they are willing and able to pay the price of those schools, and that’s really the big thing there. But I think that early action, as well as understanding whether I should or should not submit test scores also becomes a big factor, and there are so many different components that go into it. Like you went to Missoula, and that’s different than somebody who’s looking at Gonzaga versus somebody who’s looking at University of Southern California in terms of how you apply, when you apply, and the components that go into it in order to make sure that you’re putting your best foot forward in order to maximize acceptance as well as opportunity for scholarship, which yet again most people forget about that piece.

Kelly Hanson, host 4:28
And I want to end on just the bigger picture that families should know before they start this college planning process.

Crystal Tate 4:34
There is a lot more to it than when you went to school, right? Like there are so many of these moving pieces, and because the financial piece is so scary, oftentimes what’s interesting is people will look at the cost and say oh well that’s not even possible, without thinking about how could I look at strategy in terms of picking the best fit schools for my kid based on their academics or based on my financial picture, and what is that outcome going to be ahead of time. Right, like you can strategize that to make sure that you are putting the best list together from day one.

Kelly Hanson, host 5:05
Amazing, Crystal! Thank you so much for your time. This is very important. I hope it helped everyone at home too. And we’ll be right back with more New Day Northwest.