College Fan Mail After Taking the SAT/ACT
Did you notice that after taking the SAT/ACT that your student has all of a sudden received a ton of fan mail from a variety of colleges and universities? Could it be that he scored so well on the test that schools across the country are courting him? I hate to burst your bubble, but no. The schools don’t all think your child is so incredibly bright they’ll move heaven and earth to count him as a future Alum. It’s marketing. What happened during the SAT/ACT is that your student indicated they wanted to receive information from schools and now you are inundated with college information.
Preparing for College- Guest Blog
Going to college now isn’t just about picking a major and then wait for a great paying career to fall in your lap. Too many students are graduating with debt waiting for them, the average being $26,000 after four years of school. The best way to secure your future is to plan now for future college success. You’ll need to carefully select a school, plan how you are going to pay for it, budget for what you need and be ready after graduation to begin paying back your loans.
First, you have to select the right school. This also means some determination on what you want to do after school as well. If you want to turn wrenches, then select a school with a great trade reputation in auto or marine mechanics. If you want to design the engines that others will work on, then you’ll want a school with a superb mechanical engineering program. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. The purpose of the NCES is to provide extensive information about educational institutions in the U.S. to government and private organizations and individuals. It is a division within the Department of Education and is an incredible source of data for students and parents looking for a college.
Now that you’ve picked a school, you’ll have to pay for it. The best way is scholarships of course. If your grades are good enough, you have thousands of options available to you. One of the best resources you can find online is CollegeScholarships.com. They have detailed scholarship information for over 2000 colleges in the U.S. If you are unable to qualify for scholarships, there are a number of things you can do to keep expenses down and your post-graduation debt low.
Tips to Avoid Student Debt
- Put money aside now. For parents reading this, it’s better to send your child to school in a used Toyota and have them graduate debt-free or as close as possible. They may complain for four years, but they’ll thank you when they see that first repayment notice.
- Work where you study. Many schools have internships and other positions that pay fairly well for part-time work. Other schools have positions that offer free or reduced class hours in the next semester for work. Besides the financial assistance, these jobs also show work experience on what would be a very short resume otherwise when it comes time to finding a job.
- Borrow only what you need. If you have to take out loans, don’t take on too much debt. Federal loans can be used only for tuition and fees, but many students and parents take out too much in private loans for other expenses. This is another reason why you have to carefully choose a school; it can mean the difference between as much as $5000 per school year depending on where a student attends classes.
OK, you’ve completed your four years, worked and saved everything you can. Six months later, it’s time to begin paying back those loans. There are four repayment plans that you should know about now. Two will apply when it’s time to begin paying them back immediately (Standard and Extended Plans) and two will be there to help you a few years down the road if you need assistance then (Income Based and Income Contingent Plans):
Standard Repayment – You will be placed in this category automatically unless you ask. The lender will determine your monthly amount by taking the total amount of your loan or loans and dividing it into 120 payments over a 10 year period or up to 30 years depending on the balance. You can pay off your loan early to reduce the amount of interest you’ll owe. If you do need to change it due to unemployment or underemployment, you should visit or call your lender as soon as possible. The paperwork is fairly simple and is set up to keep you on schedule and your credit score intact.
Graduated Repayment – If you need a smaller monthly payment and a longer period of time, this is your best option. Changing to a Graduated plan will mean a larger amount of interest you’ll owe over the new repayment schedule, but smaller initial payments. You start off by paying only interest on the loans and every two years your payment increases.
Income-Based Repayment – This plan is designed for graduates who have been working for several years and perhaps have even started a family. Financial hardship must be shown by comparing current monthly loan payment against discretionary income. This is the amount you have left after rent, groceries and utility payments are deducted from your monthly income. Once qualified, the monthly payment is capped at 15 percent of this discretionary income and there is no minimum payment. Some applicants even qualify for a monthly payment of $0 depending on their finances.
Payments are calculated every year to account for changes to your income and other factors such as new family members. After 300 eligible payments and 25 years, any remaining balance is written off or discharged. You can repay the loan before 25 years if you choose to and are able.
Income Contingent Repayment – This plan is similar to the Income-Based Repayment but is calculated differently. If this is you, your family size, income and the total amount owed (not monthly payment) are the primary considerations. Your monthly payment is recalculated every year just like the Income-Based Repayment plan. The total schedule is also 25 years or 300 payments. If there is any amount left of that original loan after that time, it is discharged just like the Income-Based plan.
A college degree is still worth the money when it comes to increasing lifetime earnings. That said, students and parents must pay attention to the school they choose and the debt they’ll incur upon graduation. It’s the best way to make sure they can build on a bright future rather than have to spend their early years paying for their past.
*Guest blog by Student Debt Relief http://www.studentdebtrelief.us/knowledge-base/
Completion of Professor’s Road Trip – New Beginnings 2018
It’s been a whirlwind of a college trip for the professor; and he’s happy to be back home decorating his nest for the holidays. Over this past year, The Professor has introduced us to many different institutions of higher learning across the country. The schools the owl visited this year have one goal in mind – to graduate students in four years.
He’s shown us many schools that have seen the need for a more evolved curriculum. These schools understand that learning isn’t all about atten
ding lectures and reading textbooks. The best learning often happens by doing. Or, oftentimes students aren’t always sure of their major their first year of school. By being able to take classes in specific areas of study, they get the chance to make an educated choice to narrow down their area of focus and ultimately graduate in four years.
The Professor has also shown us that learning in college is not just focused on scholastics. At college, students learn how to relate to a variety of different people and to make their own choices. Students are exposed to a variety of traditions and experiences that make up the larger community. Ultimately, college helps you grow into the adult you want to be.
Like most of us in life, The Professor got lost a few times and took a few wrong turns, but eventually, he got back on track. By putting forth the planning now you’ll make fewer wrong turns in your collegiate life. Take the time to explore a variety of schools across the country – don’t just focus on the large schools nearby. Broaden your horizons so you find the best-fit school for you, odds are you’ll be surprised how easily it fits into your budget.
The Professor visited twelve different private schools throughout the country. One thing they all had in common was the high sticker price, commonly associated with private schools. But they also all have great scholarship and financial aid (need, merit and enrollment management based) available so few students actually pay full price. Once you start looking deeper into the cost of these schools, you’ll often find it costs less to earn a degree from them than from the local state schools. Don’t let the sticker price of the school deter you – focus on finding the right fit school that will enable you to receive your degree in four years.
The Professor enjoyed his flight across the country so much he decided to do it again. For 2018, the Professor is going to focus on schools with a particular area of interest. For example, given The Professor’s intimate interest in ornithology, he might just check out a few environmental studies or biology programs. But he won’t stop there. The Professor understands that there is a whole world to explore so being introduced to other areas of study will open his eyes further to incredible opportunities. Stay tuned!
The Professor’s Road Trip – Reed College
The Professor has landed at his last stop on his road trip at Reed College. This small school of about 1,500 students is located in Portland, Oregon, halfway between Mt. Hood and the Pacific Ocean. Life at Reed includes either a residence hall or living off campus; they do not have a formal Greek System. Student activities and organizations are plentiful and determined by the student body themselves.
Reed offers a vast range of majors, from chemistry and engineering to creative writing and theater. http://www.reed.edu/academics.html When it comes to academics, Reed believes in hands on. They are the only college in the country with a research nuclear reactor that is staffed primarily by undergraduates and said reactor has more female operators than all other research reactors combined.
Traditions http://www.reed.edu/apply/student_life/favorite_traditions.html are a large part of the Reed Culture.
Students at Reed recently celebrated Harvest Ball. This is a Halloween social dance known for its witty costumes and great music.
In January, Reed’s curriculum is thrown out and replaced by Paideia. For about one week, students can attend random classes that are purely for their own interest with no academic pressure. These classes are general interest and are not sanctioned by the college. In fact, instructors don’t even have to be an expert in their field of study. Past classes include History of Lego, Scottish Country Dancing, Smokery and Meatcraft. Recently though Paideaia has been garnering a lot of controversy http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/sallyportal/posts/2013/paideia-pandemonium.html on some of its offerings.
During spring semester, students participate in Renn Fayre. Originally, started as a one day Renaissance Fair the tradition has evolved to a campus-wide end-of-the-year festival. On the last day of classes the seniors kick off the festival with a parade from the steps of the library to the registrar’s office to celebrate turning in their theses. A weekend-long celebration with music, food and drink, sports, arts and crafts, and fireworks, follows.
To learn more about Reed College’s application process and deadlines, please check out their website at http://www.reed.edu/.
SAT or ACT?
It’s not a secret that the SAT and/or the ACT are important. However, most people don’t understand why it is so important to focus on these tests. Your SAT/ACT score is the only thing that is still completely in your control. By the time you are a junior in high school, raising your GPA significantly is mathematically impossible, and improving class ranking has you relying on other people’s failures. With the right amount of studying though, you can see a tangible increase in your SAT/ACT test score. As a high school student trying to help pay for college the number one way to make money for college is by improving your SAT/ACT scores. This can generate thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars in savings.
It all goes back to the rankings, such as those done by US News and World Report or the Princeton Review. A large part of the rankings is the academic profile of the incoming freshman classes. The logic is simple, if a lot of smart kids are attending a certain school, it must be a good school! And though there are a lot of problems with standardized tests, it is still the one thing that is a level playing field across the nation. A GPA of 4.0 might be the equivalent of a 3.8 at a school across town, a 2100 on the SAT is the same from Hawaii to Maine. As a result colleges are continually trying to get kids with better SAT/ACT scores in order to move up the rankings.
Increasing your test score does more then increase your chances of getting scholarships at the schools on your list; it increases the number of schools where you would be a good fit. Applying to schools where you are a good fit is absolutely critical. So how do you improve your test score?
Determine which test is right for you. The two tests require two different test-taking strategies; the way you study for the SATs will not equate to the ACTs. If you end up taking both tests two times you’ll invest a lot of extra studying time. To make the most of your study time and thus improve test scores, take a diagnostic test. We have a diagnostic test at our office and this is how it works: it is a 3 ½ hour test that will determine at which test you are stronger and breaks down each section to show you where you need to improve. You can then focus all of your efforts studying for just that one test – SAT or ACT!
If you are a sophomore or junior, now is the perfect time to take the Diagnostic Test, schedule your test date and start studying. If you are a senior it’s not to late, you still need to know which test you are strongest at and study! Once you’ve determined which test is your strength, and you are a junior, we suggest you schedule your SAT/ACT test the first time in early spring/winter (Dec/Jan) and then again in late spring (March/May) to improve your score if you are not happy with the first one. If you are a sophomore, once you’ve determined your test strength start studying for that specific test and schedule your testing dates as early as the Fall of your junior year. When the award letters start rolling in, you’ll be happy you put forth the effort!
If you would like to learn more about how you can have your student take the Diagnostic Test give us a call at (425) 329-2609.
