College Admission Help

Bredesen: Sliding lottery sales won't hurt College Scholarships

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen says sliding lottery sales shouldn't affect college scholarships.
The Democratic governor told reporters in Nashville recently that the lottery has ample reserves to protect against any students losing their scholarships.
But Senate Finance Committee Chairman Randy McNally says he worries about how much of the lottery reserves would be available because much of the money is tied up in investments.
The Oak Ridge Republican says the state should be able to overcome a shortfall of about $1 million in the short run, but that lawmakers need to consider the long-term implications.
High school graduates need either a B average or a 21 on the ACT college admissions test to qualify for the $4,000 per year scholarship.
Lawmakers last year loosened the requirements for keeping the scholarships in college.


Bredesen: Sliding lottery sales won't hurt College Scholarships

College Scholarship Tips
Story By: John Romero
Source: KOAAHigh college costs and a down economy are making things difficult for parents and students alike.
As a mother of a high school student, Dee Staggs wondered how her son could go to college. “A few years ago I started to think how am I going to afford this?" She says your best bet is to start early. “There are scholarships available for students in junior high,” says Staggs. “I really recommend starting at that time. They'll let you save that money until you start college."

For seniors getting ready to graduate, there are a huge number of scholarship and grant options. Staggs says many are awarded to certain ethnic groups or to those looking at a specific career. “What I’ve found very recently is there are sponsors’ looking for African-American’s who want to go into journalism. For those going into the medical field, there’s so many opportunities for scholarships and grants too.”

But these scholarships aren’t only geared towards teens who are entering college for the first time. For adult students looking to go back to school there’s plenty of money to be found too. “There are scholarships for women, like those who haven't been in the workforce for quite some time, like a displaced homemaker. And if you're a single mom there are scholarships for that."

The most important thing is to just be patient. The money is out there, it just takes time to find it all.


College Scholarship Tips

College Counselor Advise: Recession is the right time to put college in reach
BY NICOLAUS MILLS
Newsday.com
Opinion
This month, colleges across the country have been hosting the high school seniors they've admitted for next fall. The students visit classes, talk with faculty and check out the dorms. It's the last stage in an admission process that's been going since September or earlier, and it ought to be a happy time for the admitted students, who traditionally have until May 1 to make their final decisions on what college they'll attend.

But this year, with the economy the way it is, there's a lot of worry for the class of 2013 and their parents. At the college where I teach, we've started an "Angel Fund" to meet what we are sure will be greater financial need among both new and old students - and even with this fund, we're still fearful that the shaky economy may cause parents who'd like to send their sons and daughters to us to choose a less expensive school or one nearer to home.

We're not alone. Most college and university endowments are down between 20 and 30 percent, and school administrators are taking measures they wouldn't have considered years ago.

Harvard, for example, has frozen salaries and slowed expansion. At my school, our president has voluntarily taken a 10 percent cut in her salary, and the faculty have voted to take their sabbatical leaves a year later than normal.

These are important steps. But I also hope Congress and the Obama administration will now become more involved in higher education.

They have already increased Pell Grants, which go to low-income students, to $5,350 in 2009. And federal spending on higher education, helped by the use of stimulus money, will reach $17.5 billion this year.

But it would be a shame if Washington limited its response to the crisis in higher education just to throwing more money at it. It needs a more thorough rethinking.

Higher education has been going in the wrong financial direction for a number of years. Between 1980 and 1999, tuition at private, four-year institutions rose 136 percent; at public, four-year institutions, by 114 percent. Nationwide, the average college senior graduates with student-loan debt nearing $20,000.

Structural, not just incremental, change is needed now, and the most important step the government can take is to make it possible for students who take out loans for college to pay them back in a way that won't burden them for the rest of their lives.

The most practical solution to this problem was recently proposed by professors Theda Skocpol of Harvard and Suzanne Mettler of Cornell. Their plan would make federally guaranteed loans the key to all student borrowing for college. In the system they envision, the loans would be repaid through annual tax returns, and repayment rates would be set at a fixed percentage of income over a period of years after college.

That means that students who went into lucrative professions would have no trouble paying back the amount of money they borrowed (and the government would even make a small profit on them), while students who chose to be teachers or social workers could do so without fearing they couldn't meet their loan payments.

For the country, the result would be a win-win. More students from poor and middle-class would be able to enter the "helping" professions, and there would be an overall tax benefit to the government as well, since the lifetime incomes of college grads average nearly $300,000 more than those of high school graduates over a 40-year career.

Given the demands that the current recession have placed on the government, it's understandable that higher education reform hasn't dominated the headlines.

But we shouldn't feel that we have to wait for our current recession to end in order to change how we help students pay for college. History reminds us that our two greatest federal aid programs in higher education occurred in the midst of crises. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act, establishing land-grant colleges in 1862 while the Civil War was raging, and President Franklin Roosevelt signed the GI Bill into law in 1944, during World War II.

These are precedents we should build on. A recession is exactly the right time to make college more affordable and accessible.

Nicolaus Mills, a professor of American Studies at Sarah Lawrence College, is the author of "Winning the Peace: The Marshall Plan and America's Coming of Age as a Superpower."

Copyright © 2009, Newsday Inc.


College Counselor Advise: Recession is the right time to put college in reach

St. Philip’s dean recognized nationwide for ideas on College Admissions
By Catherine Dominguez
San Antonio Business Journal
A dean with Alamo Colleges may soon find his ideas as part of a college-wide
decision-making tool.
Christopher Pate, an administrator with St. Philip’s College, was the winner of the 2009 Best Paper Award from the members of the Clute Institute for Academic Research.
Pate wrote “Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to Improve the Admissions Process in Health Sciences Education: Formative and Substantive Aspects of a Structured Decision-Making Methodology.” Pate’s award was presented during the international organization’s annual academic conference in San Antonio, where Pate was Session Chair. The paper will change the way St. Philip’s conducts its health sciences admissions process. However, the paper could have influence on admissions standards nationwide.
“The ideas in Dr. Pate’s paper can apply to many things in life,” says St. Philip’s College Radiography Technology program director Donna Laird. “Dr. Pate provides tools his Health Sciences team can use to more subjectively promote one out of several great candidates. In our MRI program, we recently selected 15 of 32 applicants. We can also use Dr. Pate’s principles to conduct our admissions process even more subjectively.”
The Clute Institute for Academic Research is a 24-year-old organization founded to disseminate fresh scientific research on topics related to business, economics, college-level teaching and administration. Pate’s research may be published in one of the institute’s 11 annual academic journals.
St. Philip’s College is a multi-campus institution of the Alamo Colleges and serves nearly 10,000 credit and more than 6,000 continuing education students.


St. Philip’s dean recognized nationwide for ideas on College Admissions

The Envelope, Please: Defending a College Admission Decision -- and Himself
By Nicholas Geiser
The Choice
The New York Times
Now that my decision process is effectively over, I (like some of my fellow bloggers in this series) would like to address some of the comments and themes that have come up over the course of my last few posts.
“Why are students like you unwilling to quietly own up that you’re a top-notch applicant, and you want the school you choose to reflect that? Why do you need to coyly tell the world that you’re seriously studying the merits of attending a school not ranked in the top three of the Master Colleges of America when–plain and simple–you’re not?”
I’m sorry if you’ve misunderstood what I’m trying to do here. Chapel Hill was very much in the running for me, especially after my visit there for the Morehead-Cain scholarship’s final selection weekend. What I’ve tried to communicate through my posts is that the program at U.N.C. represents a qualitatively different vision of the collegiate experience from that of the other schools I seriously considered in these last few months (Harvard and Yale).
My central dilemma involved my not knowing what kind of experience over the next four years would best suit my own temperament. It is a mistake to conclude merely from my list of schools that U.N.C. was a “safety” school — if anything, the list of schools I applied to should represent my indecision. The Morehead-Cain Scholarship has a 3.4 percent acceptance rate, meaning that anyone who applies has seriously considered it. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.
“Maybe Nicholas has a more expansive definition of diversity than some are imagining.”Some comments have asked me whether my assessment of the “lack of diversity” at Chapel Hill was truly on the mark. The comment above, however, hit the proverbial nail on the head. I do not dispute that Chapel Hill is certainly more socio-economically diverse than Yale. In this process, however, I simply saw a diversity of ideas as more important than a diversity of origin. One of the things that became very clear to me was that the Morehead-Cain scholarship puts you in contact with a far more materially diverse group of people, whether at Chapel Hill or through your summer experiences. I concluded, though, that this kind of diversity is ultimately less important than a wide variety of thinking.
If you go out into the street and meet 20 people from material backgrounds far different than yours, great. But if you lack the capacity to understand what that diversity means, how our views of it have developed through history, and such, it’s meaningless. I think Yale offers more of the latter just because it draws the best and brightest through its gates. I didn’t think Chapel Hill could match that.
“I don’t think that we ‘haters’ actually hate Mr. Geiser; it’s just that his pretentiousness is a bit much to take.”
My last post was written in the late hours of the night, and there is an inverse relationship between fatigue and quality of writing. I humbly suggest you assess the entirety of my published work here before concluding that I am a pompous and self-indulgent writer.
“You state that you will be paying for your time at Yale. I’m interested as to how you will be doing that - your own savings, student loans?”I will be working this summer, likely either as a lifeguard and/or as an intern for the UC Berkeley’s student newspaper. I will also probably take out student loans.
“Since you state that you’ve received many things freely in your life, why do you think you wouldn’t want college to come freely to you? I don’t understand that rationale.”
Getting things for free begets a sense of entitlement. As I have tried to stress throughout these posts, I don’t want to come out of my undergraduate years with that sense. Having to work for my education would be a positive change for me.
“You obviously knew that you would be accepted at an exceptional school so why did you have to apply to 12 of them? I feel bad for the kids you put on all those wait-lists.”
Prediction is a risky business. I would never take for granted that I would be accepted at the most selective schools to which I applied or a program like the Morehead-Cain scholarship.
The number of schools I applied to, nevertheless, is something I now regret. To all the juniors reading this, I would advise to not follow my example in this case. I did so because, as of last fall, I still had no idea what I wanted and applied with excessive caution. It’s O.K. to be unsure when you apply, but a general idea is best. In retrospect, I probably would have forgone the UC system and Johns Hopkins last November.


The Envelope, Please: Defending a College Admission Decision -- and Himself

College crunch: students, parents watch costs during College Admission process
By Catherine Buday
Gatehouse News Service
MARLBOROUGH - As the May 1 deadline nears for committing to a college, guidance counselors in Marlborough and Hudson say many high school seniors and their parents are looking at costs more closely than they would have in the past – a reflection of uncertain economic times.
“A few years ago when we encouraged seniors to apply to the state colleges, many kids would say, ‘No way am I going to UMass,” said Marlborough High School Guidance Counselor Joanne Hanson. “Now they are just thrilled to get into UMass, and even more thrilled about the price.”
Marlborough Guidance Coordinator Steve Bishop said that while students at the top of the class have more options and are getting adequate merit aid, many average students are deciding that the cost of a private college is just too high.
“The highly academic students are getting the benefit of the doubt,” Bishop said. “Kids are making wiser financial choices…when a middle-of-the-road students gets into Northeastern and U.Mass, it’s U.Mass that is coming up more often as the choice.”
“A lot of kids can also use the state program that waives tuition (for students who achieve “advanced” on both MCAS language arts and math), and use it to their benefit when they attend a state school. That’s pretty good money,” Bishop added.
Parents, he said, are putting their foot down if they feel the school isn’t worth the difference. “They are saying that with an unsure economy, their child should go to a state school, at least for now,” he said. “They are playing a bigger role in the choice.”
The local trends mirror those across Massachusetts and the country. Applications to University of Massachusetts’ flagship campus in Amherst have risen more than 61 percent in the past five years, spiking nearly 30 percent in the past two. The U.Mass-Boston campus has seen a 22 percent increase in applications over last fall. North Shore Community College has seen an 8 percent increase in enrollment for the Spring term, and Salem State college’s applicants were up by 700 students over two years ago.
Around the U.S., many students are also taking a fresh look at state schools. A survey by MeritAid.com, a scholarship web site, found that more than half of prospective college students say they are “now considering a less prestigious college due to affordability.” About 16 percent of the 2,500 students surveyed said they are putting college on hold because of concerns about the cost.
Angie Wilcox, a guidance counselor at Hudson High School, is seeing a similar trend.
Students are applying to financial safety schools as well as academic safety schools,” said Wilcox. “The kids at the top are still applying to the very competitive private schools and hoping to get a good financial package.” But she adds that she is hearing about more students attending community colleges, such as Quinsigamond in Worcester.
“More parents are talking to their kids about U.Mass-Amherst,” added Wilcox. “There’s a reputation out there that Massachusetts state colleges are not strong, but they really are.”
While parents fret more, Wilcox said that students are only starting to understand how the economy is affecting their college choices. But the kids do understand one thing: “They worry about paying off huge loans,” she said.



College crunch: students, parents watch costs during College Admission process

High school seniors anxiously await word about their college admission futures
By MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS
The Kansas City Star
March madness is over. Now it’s April anxiety for high school seniors waiting to hear from colleges — whether they are in and how much money they will get.
In this economy, even more than in years past, how much money a student gets in federal grants or scholarships, or from an institution, can be the deciding factor in choosing a school.
Beyond waiting on financial aid, the situation is complicated further for students hoping to attend a Missouri or Kansas university.
Schools in both states have promised that tuition increases will be small — or, in some cases, nonexistent — if legislators limit state funding cuts.
Chris Kimberling, 18, a senior at Oak Park High School, has been accepted at Pepperdine University, Texas Christian University and the University of Missouri. He has a 4.0 grade-point average and has gotten some scholarship money. But he is still waiting to hear how much assistance he will get from his top schools.
“He’s gotten in, but now he’s waiting to find out — can he go?” said Lori Dameron, an Oak Park teacher who works with students and their parents on college acceptance and financial assistance.
“There is a lot of money at stake,” she said.
Some of the top schools, especially the private ones, can cost more than $50,000 a year to attend. And like a lot of students, Kimberling “can’t go without financial aid.”
Kimberling said he did get financial offers from Pepperdine and TCU, but “it really wasn’t enough, so I had to appeal to them for special circumstances. Now I’m waiting to hear back. It is really very stressful. I’ve been working toward this the last four years and now it’s down to the wire whether we can afford it or not.”
Kimberling’s classmate Andrea Pope, a Merit Scholar, is breathing a sigh of relief this week. She had been waiting and hoping for money from the universities of Southern California, Miami and North Carolina.
USC has offered her a scholarship to cover half the tuition there. But North Carolina has offered her a full four-year ride. She’s leaning toward North Carolina.
But what about students who don’t get the money they’re hoping for or into the school they’ve always dreamed about?
Not getting into your top-choice school is very likely this year, even if your grades are top-notch, said Kristen Campbell, a spokeswoman for Kaplan’s division of college test preparation and admissions service.
“All the reports out now say that rejection rates are higher than ever because schools are getting record applications,” she said. “The 2009 high school graduating class is one of the largest in history, so colleges and universities are inundated with applications for admissions and for financial assistance.
“The more competition for limited slots, the more rejections.”
And because of job loss and the market’s fall, more families have applied for federal financial aid, making competition for those dollars tough as well.
________________________________________
Here’s help
Here are a few tips to help students and parents figure out their next steps when it appears that all the options for college admissions and paying the tuition have been exhausted.
What if you get rejected?
•Don’t despair. See your high school counselor about why you were not successful.
•If it’s a dream school and you plan to reapply in another semester, follow up with the college. Find out why you were rejected. Fix it before making a second application.
•Take a hard look at the schools that accepted you. They may be better fits, or they may offer financial help.
•In early May, the National Association for College Admission Counseling maintains a list of colleges that still have openings on its Web site, at www.nacacnet.org.
•Check out community colleges. They can be a good steppingstone to a four-year school. Most have open admissions and are less expensive.
•If you go the community or two-year college route, look for a school that routinely sends students to the four-year college you ultimately want to attend.
What if the financial aid package isn’t enough?
•Check with the school’s financial aid office. Most schools will try to help with any extra money or work-study programs they might have, or suggest other alternatives.
•Ask about government-subsidized loans first. Unlike many regular loans from private lenders, subsidized student loans allow the borrower to wait until after college to pay it back.
•Sometimes, borrowers must rely on private loans in addition to their federal loans. Private student loans should be considered only after all other options have been exhausted. Some school financial aid offices keep lists of possible lenders.


High school seniors anxiously await word about their college admission futures

College Admission Help: Students hope to beat college waiting list
Applicants get creative, trying to turn admissions 'maybe' into 'yes'

By Tracy Jan
Boston Globe Staff

Landing on a college waiting list used to mean that all an applicant could do is, well, wait - and hope.
But in the elbows-out world of college admissions, savvy hopefuls, often with the help of private advisors and aggressive high school counselors, are launching full-scale campaigns to spring themselves from the list.
In-the-know seniors are writing letters assuring admission deans that if admitted, they will go. They're e-mailing updates on their second-semester senior grades, spring awards, and other academic breakthroughs. (There's no room for senioritis if you're on a waiting list.)
And they are placing one, just one, well-timed phone call, a step that can spur an admission officer to pull the student's file and disclose whether there is something else he or she can do to boost the chance of admission.
"It's too bad if students don't know to follow up," said Tom Parker, dean of admission and financial aid at Amherst College, which expects to take about 35 students from its list of 1,000. "If you're going to get off the wait list, you're really going to have to demonstrate a significant interest."
Not that this is something many colleges publicize when they inform applicants that they have landed in admissions limbo. While admission deans admit they can be lobbied, they insist that, technically, they do not require any additional information. And schools are quick to say that they do not penalize students who fail to follow up, especially if they come from low-income communities where high school counselors are often overwhelmed.
"We wouldn't want to overlook a student who doesn't know she can even do that," said Jennifer Desjarlais, dean of admission at Wellesley College.
But all things being equal, especially as the swooning economy has added a new volatility to the admissions process, students can vault to the top of the pack by writing a letter about why a college is their number one choice and promising to attend if accepted, said deans at numerous colleges.
Cecilia Brown, a senior at Brookline High, has been waitlisted at three schools including her top choice, the University of Rochester. She said she would not have followed up if her aunt, a private college admission coach in Newton, had not advised her to send a letter to the admission dean and an e-mail to the person who interviewed her, to "try to make myself sound as appealing as possible."
"Luckily, I had a lot to say because I've been really busy," said Brown, who is acting in a student-directed play, interning at a youth organization to discourage tobacco use, and volunteering at a teen suicide hot line. "I don't feel like I can just let go and stop working."
But Brown said many of her classmates in similar positions balk at having to sell themselves all over again.
"Tons of people say: 'Oh, I just sit around and wait. That's why it's called the wait list,"' she said. "A lot of people, as a result of laziness or ignorance, don't do anything about it."
Colleges build waiting lists so that they have a reservoir of qualified students to draw from to replace successful applicants who choose to go elsewhere. This year, with finances making it more difficult to predict which students will be able to attend, many colleges are giving themselves a bigger safety net by expanding waiting lists, according to the National Association of College Admission Counseling.
The deadline for regularly admitted students to notify colleges of their intentions is May 1, after which admission officers reconvene to determine who makes it through the ivy-covered gates.
While demonstrating interest and presenting updates often helps in the final rounds of evaluations, tread carefully. Go too far, admission deans warn, and you will snuff out your chances.
Do not stalk admission officers, camp out in front of their office, or flood their inboxes with daily e-mails. ("That's like the kiss of death," said Richard Nesbitt, director of admission at Williams College.)
Bribery is also a no-no, though that didn't stop one wannabee Williams mother from sending Nesbitt a $2,500 check this month along with a rambling letter about her son's talents. (He voided the check; her son's fate has yet to be decided.)
And do not waste money or time flying to campus and expecting an interview this late in the admissions process.
"That is usually driven by the parent, who thinks, 'As soon as they see you, they'll be convinced how wonderful you are,' " Parker said. "It's terribly, terribly awkward for everybody involved."
Colleges see their fair share of creative, albeit desperate, efforts of waitlisted students trying to stand out. One Harvard hopeful taped a pen between his toes and wrote an essay with his foot. Another sent a life-size plaster statue of herself. And several have submitted photos of their bedrooms, painted Crimson red, the school color.
"We keep them and file them under supplementary material," said William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard, which admitted more than 200 students from the waiting list last year and hopes to do the same again.
"They can send in any additional information they want," he said. "But there's no magic bullet here, honestly."


College Admission Help: Students hope to beat college waiting list
Applicants get creative, trying to turn admissions 'maybe' into 'yes'

College Admission Help: Two Creative Solutions to One Tough Decision

By Dr. Patrick O'Connor

It’s not uncommon for students to think a college made a mistake in an admissions decision, but something happened recently that took that feeling to a brand new level. The University of California San Diego (UCSD), which meant to send out a “you’re in” e-mail to the 8,000 or so students they admitted, sent out a “you’re in” e-mail to everyone who applied—all 29,000 of them! The mistake was corrected within two hours (I wonder how they found out), but this is a small sign of what an energetic week it’s been.

While UCSD didn’t admit all 29,000 applicants, the number of admits and students on waitlists is at an all-time high at most colleges. Part of this has to do with the great quality of the largest high school graduating class in US history, but it also has to do with the economic tug-of-war that’s putting both families and colleges in a bind. Ordinarily, colleges need 4 months to set their budgets, so students are supposed to commit to one—and only one—college on May 1st. Changes in the economy mean families won’t really know what college they can afford until August (if then)— so how should a family choose on May 1st, if it’s between an affordable college that’s OK, or a dream college that’s just a little out of reach?

The choice to keep the dream alive is understandable, but it could come with a hefty price. Saying yes to Dream School U on May 1st gives you a few more months to find those precious extra dollars, but if August comes and you’re still short, the college has an empty seat, and you have no college to go to. The college might solve their problem by keeping a very big waiting list active through the summer—but what are you supposed to do?
Of course, taking the more sure bet has its down sides too. Taking the affordable route means there’s not much you can do if the economy picks up (hey, it could happen) and there’s more money for your perfect college—either from your parents or from the financial aid office. In addition, saying no to Dream School U gives them a freshmen class where nearly everyone can afford to pay for college on their own—which makes the college more a cookie cutter country club than a richly diverse center for creative and critical thinking.

What’s a student to do? Demonstrate honesty by doing this:

 Call the financial aid office of your dream school, and ask about the possibility of extra funds—especially on-campus jobs. In addition, ask them if more funds would be available if you started college this summer; you may have to give up some vacation time, but if the cash is there, it’s one more way to stretch your education budget.
 Ask to be put on the wait list. OK, this sounds crazy—a college you love wants you, and you’re going to ask them to want you a little less? If you start by explaining your situation, the college may be setting up a list of admitted students who just need more time to get more money—and this year, they might be handling that by putting their names on a “Call First” list. It may be the case, or it may not—but you won’t know what they have to offer until you ask.

Armed with this information, you can make the best decision come May 1st—and either way, you won’t be bunking in with 29,000 tenacious Tritons.


College Counselor Help: Real College Decisions Don’t Come in Envelopes or E-mails

I knew what Janet had come for. She hadn’t heard anything from her college, and wondered if I might call to see if a decision had been made. The receptionist at the college asked for Janet’s Social Security number, and after a clatter of computer keys, I had the answer I had expected.

As I hung up the telephone, I pulled up Janet’s file out of a drawer. Over my shoulder, and in a voice that was too casual, I said “Congratulations, you’re in.” As I added some notes to her file, a quivering breath directed my attention to what truly mattered.

“R-really?”

I turned to find two wide tears rolling down Janet’s cheeks. For the first time in my young career, I knew what it looked like when a dream came true.

This scene will soon be repeated in counseling offices, classrooms, and mailboxes all over America. It’s one thing for students to think a college could be right for them, but when the admission letter says “you’re right,” it can be a bit of a surprise, and take some getting used to.

Of course, there will also be less wonderful surprises. A selective college is one where far more qualified students apply than the college could possibly admit— so students who would make the most out of everything that college has to offer won’t get the chance, simply because the college ran out of room well before they ran out of great applicants. This kind of surprise often brings tears of another kind, and understandably so.

My advice is the same to both those who are admitted to their dream schools and those who are not—do your very best to stay focused. If you are denied, remember that a college running out of room is a deficit of the college, not a deficit of your character. The wonderful talents you would have brought to one college will serve you just as well at another, and perhaps even better, if you are able to look past the disappointment and let the skills and qualities you have chiseled into your character shine brightly wherever September finds you.

Strangely enough, the caution to be alert may be more relevant to those whose dreams have come true. Getting admitted to a “hot” school can be a heady experience, and bring a feeling you have no choice but to go there; since you were one of the “lucky ones” to get admitted, you’d be a fool to say no. You’ve done enough research and visited enough campuses to know which one will give you the best blend of support and challenge, no matter what its name is or who else goes there— and the goal is to go the school that’s right for you, not to go to the “right” school. Until that clear sense shows up again, don’t do a thing.

Less informed sources who judge colleges by brand name may respond to your college news by saying “Anyone would jump at the chance” or “But nobody’s heard of that college.” This is the most crucial time to remember that you aren’t just anyone, that you certainly aren’t nobody, and that labels limit lives more than they enrich them. You’ve learned much about colleges in the past year, but you’ve learned even more about yourself and what you need to grow as a person. Listen to that voice, and the only thing on your face come May 1st will be a smile of sheer delight, knowing you have said yes to the one college that will be your best next home.




College Admission Help: Two Creative Solutions to One Tough Decision

College Counselors: More students seeking financial aid
By MARISSA AMONI
For The Beacon News
For Jane Colvin, the career center manager at Oswego High School, spring is a busy time -- especially this spring.
"I am swamped right now. A lot of (scholarship) deadlines are approaching," she said.
Colvin's not complaining. She said it's nice to be busy, but with so many students applying for college scholarships, she knows they won't all be awarded money.
In fact, the school already has received a couple of letters from foundations that are reducing the scholarship awards.
Both Colvin and Debra Quinn, director of guidance at West Aurora High School, said they have noticed more scholarship requests this year. But the larger trend, they say, is that more students are choosing two-year community colleges as opposed to a traditional four-year school.
Jennifer Regnier, director of guidance at East Aurora High School, said parents won't be able to help pay for their child's tuition like in the past.
"There is a higher need for students to fund their education the way the economy is," she said.
She said many scholarship programs still have the necessary funds to assist students, but that could change over the next few years.
She added that several scholarships are funded through trust accounts that rely on the interest that the trust earns to divvy out money.
"It hasn't caught up to us yet," she said.
Reason to worry?
The volume of students wanting a little extra financial help with college has increased. But are scholarships actually decreasing?
Cindy Kovach, counselor at Geneva High School, said, "All of us in the office have noticed an increase in student interest (in scholarships). Most of it is economy-driven." But the school actually added some scholarships this year, she added,
Kovach said the local philanthropic community recognizes the financial burden that college tuition places on families.
At this point, Heather Mc¬Kane, dean of student financial services at Aurora University, has not noticed a difference in scholarship availability, although she is noticing more inquiries from students and parents.
She said no scholarship programs have called and said that they can't do it this year, which is a good thing, because the money helps struggling families.
Jeff Noblitt, director of marketing and communications for Waubonsee Community College, said, "We are seeing an increased volume (of scholarship applications). We have been able to meet demand." He said FAFSA applications are up 40 percent from last year.
Easing the workload
Landing a scholarship usually falls in the lap of the student.
"We provide the information to students and a lot of the students do it on their own," East Aurora's Regnier said.
Scholarship applications can be tedious, but students often get $500 to $1,000 and sometimes a full paid tuition through college. So the extra work can be worth it.
McKane said that students should at least try. She recommends creating a scholarship folder and keeping an eye out for those that are a good fit. Keep examples of applications and essays in the folder. Students can easily take bits and pieces from essays that they used previously so they don't have to write a new essay for each application.
"There's a lot of work that goes into a scholarship application," Colvin said. "I have two kids in college. I know."


College Counselors: More students seeking financial aid

Prepping for College Admission 101
By Linda Conner Lambeck
FAIRFIELD -- Everyone knows kids applying to college need a safety school or two -- places they could get into without question.
In today's economy, parents need financial safeties, too, a leading college search consultant recently told a standing-room-only crowd of parents squeezed into the main reading room of the Pequot Library.
"Given the economy right now, I absolutely say look at state universities," said consultant Gay Pepper, who has worked both in the admissions office at the University of Pennsylvania and as a counselor at Greens Farms Academy in Westport.
Pepper assured the crowd of 60 parents and a handful of high school juniors she was absolutely amazed with the University of Connecticut campus on recent visits.
"If you have a strong student, the University of Connecticut will try to woo you there with lots of money and who can turn that down?" said Pepper as the audience scribbled notes.
She recommended they check out the so-called "Public Ivies" like Michigan or Berkeley, where professors are comparable to Yale, but the tuitions are not as lofty.
A program devoted to weathering the entire college admission process, the subject of cost kept popping to the surface.
Pepper said college fees are rising and financial aid packages are becoming more uncertain. Endowments that fuel financial aid budgets are also on shaky ground. The financial aid stimulus plan promised from Washington remains a question mark. Some colleges can no longer afford to assess students just on their talents, she said.
"There is still a huge effort to keep up the level of financial aid for bright kids with high levels of need, but they may not be able to meet the needs of many other families," she said.
Some arrived at the session with a New York Times article in hand that suggested, for those who could afford it, not applying for financial aid might increase students' chances of getting into the school of their choice.
On the common application that many schools now use for admissions, there is a box to check if financial aid is requested. "Can we check it for some and not for others?" asked Wendy Christian, who has a sophomore and freshman at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.
Christian said her sophomore, Brian, is interested in engineering, and has already started looking at colleges. "You can't do it all in one year," Christian said. UConn, she added, will definitely be on the list.
In addition to filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, parents can now submit profile applications in the fall of their senior year to individual colleges to see the kind of financial aid their child is qualified to receive.
Pepper told parents not to be afraid of sticker prices of colleges, and also be willing to work to find out where the best deals are offered.
Pam Toner, of Fairfield, has been slowly saving for college, but is concerned.
"I just feel we're in the income bracket where we don't feel we make enough, but colleges will think we do," she said. Toner's daughter, Carolyn, a junior at Covenant of Sacred Heart in Greenwich, wants to study theater or creative writing and has already visited colleges in Boston and New York.
Things to know ... Visit big and small college campuses so the student will get a feel for the difference, and what they like best. Instead of college-ranking reports, focus on colleges strong in the area, on colleges your student wants to pursue and on those that have good record of alumni getting jobs and into graduate school. One of the best ways to evaluate the quality of the undergraduate experience at a college is to talk to its juniors and seniors on campus. They won't lie to you. Investigate financial aid. Don't be afraid to appeal financial aid decisions by talking to financial aid officers. Try not to micromanage the process and be a good listener. Attend any college program arranged by your child's high school.


Prepping for College Admission 101

Women's Club in Coconut Creek raises thousands for college scholarships
BY SHANNON PEASE
Special to The Miami Herald

The Women's Club of Coconut Creek recently raised more than $2,500 in an unconventional way for those entering college -- by selling second-hand goods.
Bargain-priced clothing, glassware, furniture and jewelry were just a few of the finds that were featured recently at the Women's Club of Coconut Creek's annual garage sale at the Coconut Creek Recreation Complex.
More than 50 tables were topped with donated items from housewares and seasonal decorations to glassware and baskets.
A special boutique area featured some of the more expensive items.
''You name it, we've got it,'' said Women's Club Director Dot LaTorre days before the big sale.
A bulk of the items were donated by schools, the city and the community, LaTorre said. The women's club also displayed items they pulled from a storage space that accumulated goods throughout the year.
Organizers collected donations from the public the day before the event at the recreation complex.
Women's Club members sorted, arranged and tagged the items in preparation for the event. Things that weren't sold were donated to the Salvation Army.
The scholarship program started in 1972, but it wasn't until 2004 that the Women's Club came up with the idea of having a garage sale.
LaTorre said that at the time, members saw a need to raise more money for college students and needed to come up with a fresh idea.
This year's sale proceeds will be given to select Coconut Creek students who meet certain criteria for academic achievement, financial need and extracurricular activities. Since the inception of the scholarship program, the Women's Club has granted more than $141,000 in scholarship money to 238 students, mostly from Coconut Creek,
The group also supports local sports teams and cheerleaders.
The garage sale was staffed with about 35 volunteers from the Women's Club, which is about half the organization's members.
''They really donate a lot of their time,'' LaTorre said. ``It takes a lot of hands.''
For information about the Coconut Creek Women's Club or the scholarship program, visit www.geocities.comccwomensclub.




Women's Club in Coconut Creek raises thousands for college scholarships

College Counselor Advice: Changes Test the Observation Powers of Juniors


By Dr. Patrick O'Connor

As seniors continue to weigh their college options and colleges continue to look for the crystal ball that will tell them how many students are really coming to campus this fall, a small story broke recently that should be of great interest to juniors. Colby College is now giving applicants the choice of submitting either the SAT or the ACT OR three SAT Subject tests. The addition of the option of sending Subject tests adds a brand new option to test takers. Since Subject tests are designed to measure what students have learned in classes, students might decide these tests will better show what they know and require lest test prep.

Colby’s decision adds another test choice in a year that’s rich with new test choices. College Board is now offering students the option of choosing what scores to send to colleges—remember that College Board used to send all SAT results to a college, leaving the student no choice but to send low scores along with high ones. College Board feels this new option will take some of the stress out of test taking…
…but of course, it hasn’t. Some colleges have responded to this new option by announcing they are going to require students to send ALL test scores, even if College Board and ACT offers the choice of sending only some. Counselors have expressed concern that the new policy will put more pressure on students who may have a high Verbal score on one test and a high Math on the other—will sending both be an advantage, or will the low scores on both put them behind the 8 ball?
Finally, all of this test talk has led even more colleges to look at their testing policies and say “Ya know what? Forget it!” Connecticut College is the latest school to go test optional; you can send some, all, or none of your test scores, and it’s more than OK with them. CC joins hundreds of colleges who have made the same decision—since test prep courses can sometimes teach students to appear smarter than they are, the transcript is becoming a more reliable source of information, even though grading scales vary greatly from one high school to the next. http://www.fairtest.org/ has a list of test-optional schools; take a look, and be sure to go to the college’s Web site to confirm the policy.
What’s a junior to do in the midst of all this change? First, take a test. Unless you know all the colleges you want to apply to are test optional, there’s a good chance you’re going to need a set of scores come September—and since rolling admission colleges are first come first serve, you want to have a set of scores good to go. It’s not too late to sign up for the late spring tests, so get busy—go to www.collegeboard.com and www.act.org for SAT and ACT, respectively.
Second, watch the Web sites. Colby and Connecticut College announced their changes, but many other colleges are so focused on this year’s seniors, they might not get around to making their announcements until May. The changes may not impact your decisions about which tests to take and which scores to send, but you never know the opportunities new changes might bring. So bookmark the Web pages of your favorite colleges, sign up for a test or two, and buckle up—the ride may get pretty wild.

College Counselor Advice: Changes Test the Observation Powers of Juniors

College Essay Experts: High school juniors go to college

By Rob Rogers
Redding.com

The future is here, and juniors need to be prepared.
"You are not going to make it with a high school diploma," Buffy Tanner, assistant director of College OPTIONS, told the group.
Tanner was at Simpson University recently for Shasta County Junior Day, an annual event that brings area high school juniors to a college campus to acquaint them with post-secondary education options.
Nearly 350 juniors from 10 Shasta County high schools attended workshops on planning for financial aid, picking the right college or trade school, and deciding on the best career.
The idea is to get the juniors thinking about life after high school and to get them to plan accordingly, Tanner said.
"I learned there were a lot of options out there to receive money," said Blair Davis, a junior from Anderson New Technology High School.
Classmate Ariel Sewart agreed.
"I just didn't know what all there was," she said.
Both plan to attend college after they graduate, although they're still trying to decide where.
"There is a lot of pressure to go to college," Sewart said.
And she understands the need, given the current economic climate, she said. Sewart added that she just wants to make sure she finds the right place.
Davis said the push to do something after high school is real.
"I feel the pressure," Davis said. "But I want to be able to do what I want to do."
Davis said she wants to pursue a career in massage therapy, and Sewart said she hopes to become a writer and actor.
The juniors returned to their high schools after a lunch of pizza in Simpson's Heritage Center.
The event is sponsored by College OPTIONS, a nonprofit organization created five years ago to be a resource for families of high school-aged children and help them get to college.
Starting this year, Simpson will host the event annually. However, the emphasis of Junior Day will stay squarely on seeking out all post-secondary options, organizers said.
"You aren't going to hear, 'Come to Simpson,'" Tanner said. "It's very 'general college.'"

College Essay Experts: High school juniors go to college

Getting into college is less of a worry than financial aid and college grants
BY LORI YOUNT
The Wichita Eagle
The most anxious envelope-opening for some college-bound high school seniors this spring might not be of the acceptance-or-rejection letters, but of the ones containing financial aid offers.
Almost 7 out of 10 students nationwide said the recession has affected where they applied to college, according to a survey by the Princeton Review, a test-preparation company and developer of college guides.
And as the acceptance letters arrive this month, local college counselors said Wichita families are being more deliberate about deciding which school will give them the best education for their dwindling bucks.
"I'm hearing students and parents asking more questions," said Wichita guidance counselor Matt Gallagher. "WSU and KU offer excellent educations and in-state tuitions. Is it worth borrowing $10,000 to $20,000 a year to go somewhere else?"
About half the students he advises in East High School's International Baccalaureate program typically end up attending college out of state, and Gallagher said he doesn't expect to see the number change significantly this year.
But the University of Kansas admissions office is hearing more appeals of financial aid offers because more families have had changes in their ability to pay, such as a parent being laid off, Gallagher said.
"They need to tell financial aid about that," he said.
Financial aid offers are playing a larger role for students, said Amy Alvarez of Southeast High School's college career center.
"Now those scholarships are weighing a lot more in their choices and whether they stay close to home or live at home," she said.
A choir scholarship that covers tuition and books at Butler Community College was a deciding factor for South High School senior Monica Sosa to spend the first two years of college in El Dorado. After that, she said she hopes to transfer to a university that offers a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.
She said four years at a private university, such as Friends or Newman, were out of the question.
“(My parents) expect me to go out and do it myself," Sosa said.
With the scholarship, she decided she can afford to live on campus rather than with her parents.
"This will keep my options open," Sosa said.
Friends University officials said they're trying to show that the more than $19,000 a year in tuition and fees the university charges is about as affordable as some state schools if students win academic scholarships, which have been expanded this year.
"We've given more students the opportunity to receive scholarships," said Erin Haneberg, executive director of admissions at Friends. "We've seen an increase in interest."
She said most of that has come from local students who decided to explore options close to home.
Rising interest in scholarships is evidenced by incoming freshmen delaying turning in ACT scores so they can try to take the test again and qualify for a larger scholarship, Haneberg added.
South High senior Don Phillips Jr., who plans to major in aerospace engineering at Wichita State University, said he knew he wanted to stay near home, but not live at home. His scholarship earnings dictated other decisions.
"Honestly, I wanted to try living in the dorms... but it wasn't going to happen unless I had a full scholarship," he said.
A partial scholarship and a job will help pay his way, but Phillips said if he doesn't receive government aid, he will have to take out loans.
His grandparents set up a college fund for him. "But with the recent economic situation... it's not much of one now," Phillips said.
At the private Independent School, about 30 percent of college-bound students each year attend out-of-state institutions, director of college guidance Nancy Wheeler said. She expects the percentage to remain the same this year.
"It'll be a very typical year, but I don't know about the future," she said.
Colleges will feel the "big hits" to their endowment investments more next year, restricting their ability to offer financial aid, Wheeler said.
Students considering out-of-state schools are more conscious of the money that colleges offer them, she said.
The Wichita Collegiate School has noticed a similar pattern, said Kevin Mykel, dean of the Upper School.
"Some of those looking at Ivy League schools are looking at schools (that are) a step back but give merit scholarships," he said.
Those deciding to stay closer to home are finding it more difficult to get merit money, though. Wheeler said the University of Kansas Honors College received about four times as many applications this year as in a typical year.


Getting into college is less of a worry than financial aid and college grants

De-emphasis on SATs, ACTs Could Increase College Admission Diversity
By Kyra Shishko
From The Badger Herald

Removing the requirement that SAT or ACT scores be submitted with student college applications may result in an increase in diversity on college campuses, according to a study conducted at Princeton University.
The study — conducted by Princeton sociology professor Thomas Espenshade and statistical programmer Chang Young Chun — was based on models from admissions data for a variety of institutions that chose to remain anonymous.
According to Espenshade, the study showed only 9.3 percent of students at public universities are black or Hispanic, while 6.6 percent are from a lower socioeconomic background.
Making SAT or ACT scores optional would increase the percentage of black or Hispanic students admitted to public universities from about 11.9 percent to 13.5 percent, Espenshade said.
The percent of students admitted into public universities in the lowest two socioeconomic classes would rise to between 8.8 percent and 10.4 percent.
The percents vary on the amount of additional applicants who would be attracted to apply if the option not to submit scores was available.
In many cases, Espenshade said the number of applicants would increase dramatically if students with a strong academic record felt confident more than just test scores were taken into consideration when applying to schools.
“This removing of consideration of SAT scores altogether is what we call the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy,” Espenshade said. “What that means is that schools would not ask students for their SAT scores, and if they did tell schools, they would just disregard them.”
According to Espenshade, the policy would result in lower average SAT scores within the college or university’s applicant pool by about 10 points. In addition, a higher percentage of applicants would have scored below 650 on the SAT II subject tests.
In contrast, the proportion of students with high GPAs — especially among students with an A- or higher average — would increase, Espenshade said.
Robert Schaeffer, public education director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, voiced support for the movement to eliminate the importance of SAT scores in the college admission process.
“We support colleges that do not require them to submit SAT/ACT scores,” Schaeffer said. “We think that colleges should choose the admission policy that best matches their own mission and the type of the students they want to attract.”
With the majority of colleges and universities in the United States on the look out for methods to increase racial and socioeconomic diversity among their freshman classes, Espenshade also said he encourages colleges to pursue removing SAT requirements.
Currently, several colleges — such as Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., — have adopted the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Completely eliminating the SAT or ACT portion of the application, however, is still a subject for debate. According to Espenshade, the only college that has completely eliminated the SAT and ACT portion of their application is Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, N.Y.


De-emphasis on SATs, ACTs Could Increase College Admission Diversity

College Admission Help: Recession forces changes on prospective collegians
BY KARLA SCHUSTER AND JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
Newsday.com

As college acceptance letters land in mailboxes across Long Island, the economic crisis is forcing families and students to seek financial aid in larger numbers and forgo things they took for granted only a year ago - like living on campus, attending a far-flung private institution or even getting into increasingly popular, and competitive, state schools.

Perhaps the strongest indicator that families are scrambling for new ways to pay for college: Nearly 3 million federal financial aid forms had been processed by the end of February, a jump of more than 20 percent over the same time last year, according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Local schools also report increases in aid requests.

Meanwhile, applications to more affordable state schools and community colleges are skyrocketing, making already competitive institutions like Stony Brook University even tougher to crack. The school's waiting list is expected to grow by 20 percent this year, because the number and strength of the applicant pool is so much higher.

And around kitchen tables, parents who no longer qualify for home equity loans, who have seen 529 college savings plans plummet or watched colleagues get laid off, are telling their children that their dream schools are now out of reach.

"You're going to have to go local," Amityville's Maereatha Davis recalls telling her daughter Yasmine, a senior at Roosevelt High School, as the economy began to sputter last September. "She didn't take it too well. I do understand the disappointment. All Yasmine has ever talked about is Howard or Temple."

Instead, she's been accepted to Nassau Community College and is waiting to hear from several other local schools.

Jacquelyn Nealon, vice president of enrollment services at New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, has heard similar stories - from wealthy enclaves to middle-class subdivisions - as she crisscrosses Long Island school districts, conducting financial aid workshops for parents.

"What's remarkable this year is that it's so pervasive - it touches every single family," Nealon said. "I think the biggest shock to many families is that they might have to make that tough decision and say, 'I can't afford to send you where you want to go,' " she said. "For many of them, it might be the first time they've ever had to say 'no' to their child for a financial reason."



Second thoughts. Among that group are students like Henry Kochhar, a Syosset High School senior who had his heart set on New York University or Boston University but is having second thoughts about the cost.

"Is this really worth $50,000?" he said. "I could go to a state school."

His father, Chandar Kochhar, owns an import-export garment business and insists he can afford private school. Nonetheless, he is encouraging Henry to consider a SUNY school.

"It's not a question of a bargain," Chandar Kochhar said, but of whether it makes sense to spend so much money on an undergraduate degree when Henry is still undecided about his career goals. So far, he's been accepted to several schools, including Villanova University, Stony Brook and Binghamton University. He didn't make NYU, and is still waiting to hear from BU.

"It's an uncertain time and families are struggling," said Jessica Eads, vice president for enrollment management at Hofstra University, where applications are running about the same as last year, but financial aid applications are up about 6 percent overall and 10 percent among freshmen.

The explosion of applications at public schools comes as families redefine "safety schools" based on their ability to pay, rather than their child's chances of getting accepted. A Princeton Review survey of prospective college freshmen and parents released last week found that more than a third said they were applying to more "financial aid safety" schools than they originally planned.

"The value of the institution is becoming more and more evident because of the economy," said Matthew Whelan, assistant provost for enrollment management at Stony Brook, where the average SAT score of the middle 50 percent of this fall's applicant pool is a whopping 20 points higher than last year. As of mid-March, freshman applications for this fall are pushing 27,000, compared with a total of just over 25,000 for fall 2008.

"There's been a dramatic increase in the quality of our applications," Whelan said, but it has come as the state slashes the state university system budget, leaving schools unable to increase the number of students they accept.

"There are students who likely would have been admitted last year that this year will find themselves on the waiting list," he said.

Farmingdale State College doesn't have a waiting list, but officials there have also seen an uptick in the quality and number of applications for this fall.

"We are getting transfer applications from students who wouldn't have given us the time of day a year ago," said Lucia Cepriano, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Farmingdale, where freshman applications for the fall are up about 15 percent over last year and transfer applications are up nearly 26 percent.

Out-of-state public schools popular with Long Island students, like the University of Delaware, also have seen increases in the number of applications from in-state students. While Delaware still expects to enroll most of its class from outside the state and has room to accept as many as 200 more freshmen than last year, Admissions Director Lou Hirsh said out-of-staters faced tougher competition.

"We do pledge to take in all state residents who are qualified so they'll take up more spots this year," Hirsh said. "There are simply so many more good kids to choose from."



Concern about taking on debt
Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FINAID.org, a nonprofit organization that provides information about college financial aid, said the uncertain job market has made more students leery of going into debt.

"Students are looking at low-cost institutions where they can be less reliant on private student loans," he said. "There's an increasing emphasis on picking schools that they can afford even if they don't get any financial aid."

Meanwhile, the tightening credit market has made home equity loans and private student loans tougher to get - 39 lenders have stopped making private student loans since July 2007, according to FINAID.org. As a result, the volume of borrowing in total dollars through more affordable federal student loan programs has increased 17 percent over the past year, according to the Project on Student Debt, a nonprofit independent research and policy organization.

"They are a lot more aware of tuition than they were previously," Malverne High School guidance counselor Nicole Beauford said of her students. "They are a lot more concerned about coming out of school with $100,000 in loans."

Still, the Ivies and other competitive private schools remain popular - and are hedging their bets against an exodus to comparable public schools by increasing their financial aid budgets.

Syracuse University, for example, logged about 21,000 applications for the fall - the second-highest number in the school's history. And while the school raised tuition by 4.5 percent, it increased its institutional financial aid budget by 11 percent, to about $167 million. Average institutional scholarships for middle-income families are expected to rise 15 percent, while those for low-income families will go up 29 percent, President Nancy Cantor said in a letter to the university community this month.

"We do think that there will be students with financial concerns that may choose a lower cost option [than Syracuse], but we have what we think are strong financial aid awards," said Don Saleh, vice president for enrollment management at Syracuse, where financial aid applications are up about 10 percent.

As families make decisions in the coming weeks, geography will be another new factor for many, according to guidance counselors and admissions experts.

"Kids are looking at distance more intently than they ever did," said Carolyn Cutter, guidance coordinator for the Long Beach school district, noting that many are asking: "Is it a plane ride out to a college?"

Michael Kresh, a financial planner in Islandia, said: "These are subtle things that people weren't looking at in detail a couple of years ago."



Commuting to save money. Still others are considering living at home and commuting to school for the first year or two, a trend that has led to a 10 percent increase in Long Island applicants to both the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and Adelphi University.

"We have many more inquiries than we've ever had from families locally asking, 'What are your costs, what are the differences between commuting and being a resident?' " said Gary Bergman, director of admissions at C.W. Post.

Amityville High School senior Shamelia Loiseau, who hopes to get into Columbia University, is making similar calculations. With a 4.0 grade point average and the expectation of being named valedictorian, Loiseau has the pedigree to go Ivy League.

But she isn't sure she can afford it.

Loiseau is not alone: the biggest worry about applying to college among this year's high school seniors, according to the Princeton Review survey, is that they will get into their first-choice college but won't have enough money or financial aid to attend.

"I'll still be happy I could get into such a prestigious school," Loiseau said. "They always say an education is an education no matter where you get it. I'm trying not to get caught up with the name."



College Admission Help: Recession forces changes on prospective collegians

College Admission Help: Two Creative Solutions to One Tough Decision
It’s not uncommon for students to think a college made a mistake in an admissions decision, but something happened this week that took that feeling to a brand new level. The University of
California-San Diego, which meant to send out a “you’re in” e-mail to the 8,000 or so students they admitted, sent out a “you’re in” e-mail to everyone who applied --all 29,000 of them! The mistake was corrected within two hours (I wonder how they found out), but this is a small sign of what an energetic week it’s been.

While UCSD didn’t admit all 29,000 applicants, the number of admits and students on waitlists is at an all-time high at most colleges. Part of this has to do with the great quality of the largest high school graduating class in US history, but it also has to do with the economic tug-of-war that’s putting both families and colleges in a bind. Ordinarily, colleges need 4 months to set their budgets, so students are supposed to commit to one—and only one—college on May 1st. Changes in the economy mean families won’t really know what college they can afford until August (if then)—so how should a family choose on May 1st, if it’s between an affordable college that’s OK, or a dream college that’s just a little out of reach?

The choice to keep the dream alive is understandable, but it could come with a hefty price. Saying yes to Dream School U on May 1st gives you a few more months to find those precious extra dollars, but if August comes and you’re still short, the college has an empty seat, and you have no college to go to. The college might solve their problem by keeping a very big waiting list active through the summer—but what are you supposed to do?

Of course, taking the more sure bet has its down sides too. Taking the affordable route means there’s not much you can do if the economy picks up (hey, it could happen) and there’s more money for your perfect college—either from your parents or from the financial aid office. In addition, saying no to Dream School U gives them a freshmen class where nearly everyone can afford to pay for college on their own, which makes the college more a cookie cutter country club than a richly diverse center for creative and critical thinking.

What’s a student to do? Demonstrate honesty by doing this:

 Call the financial aid office of your dream school, and ask about the possibility of extra funds—especially on-campus jobs. In addition, ask them if more funds would be available if you started college this summer; you may have to give up some vacation time, but if the cash is there, it’s one more way to stretch your education budget.
 Ask to be put on the wait list. OK, this sounds crazy—a college you love wants you, and you’re going to ask them to want you a little less? If you start by explaining your situation, the college may be setting up a list of admitted students who just need more time to get more money—and this year, they might be handling that by putting their names on a “Call First” list. It may be the case, or it may not—but you won’t know what they have to offer until you ask.

Armed with this information, you can make the best decision come May 1 -- and either way, you won’t be bunking in with 29,000 tenacious Tritons.

College Admission Help: Two Creative Solutions to One Tough Decision

College Grant funds Ohio’s Otterbein science scholarships
Business First of Columbus
Otterbein College is working with a nearly half-million-dollar National Science Foundation grant to launch a new scholarship program aimed at female and minority students in science and math disciplines.
The private liberal arts school in Westerville said it has received a grant for $482,992 from the foundation. The funds will be used to create a four-year program dubbed Cardinal Science Scholars and support 30 or more students who major in chemistry, biochemistry or physics.
Otterbein said it plans on recruiting a high percentage of women and minorities focusing on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. Students selected for the program must come from Ohio schools and demonstrate financial need, the school said.


College Grant funds Ohio’s Otterbein science scholarships

College Grants and Financial Aid - It's Out There

By MICHELLE GEORGE
The Eagle-Gazette Staff

LANCASTER — Felicia Ward knows she doesn’t need a 4.0 GPA or a lot of money to pay for college next year. She just needs to be a little aggressive.
So when the Lancaster High School senior set her sights on earning a degree in middle childhood education, she focused on the best way to reach that goal — financial aid and lots of scholarships.
Felicia has applied for financial assistance and close to 40 scholarships this year so she can attend the Ohio University Lancaster Campus in the fall — and she’s confident she’ll get the help she needs through one or both of those avenues.
“My grandfather once told me, ‘Even if you were homeless, there are still ways out there for you to go to college,’ ” Felicia said. “You just have to find them.”

Felicia is one of many college-bound students looking for financial assistance to pay for a college education.

Financial aid, grants and scholarships are readily available for students who need help paying for college, said Sharon Weaver, a Lancaster High School guidance counselor.

But it’s an option, Weaver said, that some students don’t always consider or know how to find.

“Students eliminate themselves because they think: ‘I’m not a valedictorian. I’m not involved in community activities. I don’t have a chance at winning a scholarship,’ ” Weaver said. “But that’s not always the case.”

And Pat Fox, enrollment director at OU-L has noticed some students don’t bother to apply for financial aid because they believe they won’t be eligible.

“I’ve noticed the volume of students looking for financial aid has increased, but I think some people may have the misconception that filling out the FAFSA is a lot more complicated than it is,” Fox said. “And I think that is one of the biggest mistakes students make, not filling out the FAFSA.”

Fox and Ward said the majority of incoming college students are more eligible for financial assistance then they think.
Finding the funds
Weaver, who counsels students daily on financial assistance, offers the same piece of advice to each student looking into scholarships: Go local.
Weaver said students who apply for scholarships through their schools or an agency, such as The Fairfield Foundation, have a better chance of obtaining those much-needed funds.

“Students are just competing against students in Lancaster and Fairfield County, rather than competing against students throughout the state or the country,” Weaver said about applying for local dollars.



Fairfield Foundation Executive Director Amy Eyeman said its foundation offers more than 80 individual scholarships.

The organization received 1,500 applications last year and gave out 343 scholarships totaling $878,000.

Eyeman said the majority of the scholarships she sees aren’t necessarily for the students who have the best grades or are the most involved in school.

“If you think about it, the kids with the great grades are already getting a ton of money because the colleges put that carrot out there of, ‘we’ll give you this much if you come to our school,’ ” Eyeman said. “The scholarships are looking at tuition need and family income.”

She said some of the specific scholarships the foundation offers are focused more on where the student will go to school or their selected major.

The Stori Raver Scholarship, named in honor of a Fairfield Union basketball coach who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in 2008, is one such example. The scholarship is for Fairfield Union graduates who are special education students.And the Richard Shannon Family Scholarship is for students who want to attend Ohio University Lancaster or Ohio University Athens.

Fox said the scholarships offered through OU-L, about 100 in all, are based more upon the student’s life circumstances or desired career than their report card.
But there also are plenty of scholarships that don’t require much more than a desire to go to college, Eyeman said.

“There was one scholarship where, basically if you breathe, you can apply for it,” Felicia said. “There are some scholarships where they draw your name, some that aren’t based on grades at all.”

And Eyeman said scholarship forms typically don’t take very long to complete and only require a copy of student transcripts and three letters of recommendation.

“Most people are turned off about having to write an essay, but usually they ask for just a one or two page personal statement, typed or printed, on why you are going to college, what your long-range plans are and why you’re applying for scholarship,” Eyeman said.
Figuring out the FAFSA
Cathy Pate, 40, never had a chance to finish her degree after she got married.
When OU-L offered a free class in January for nontraditional, returning college students, Pate decided now was the time to major in history and get her degree.
But in order to continue with college, Pate knew she would have to apply for financial assistance — and she was a bit uncertain about how difficult the application process would be.

“I didn’t know how long it would take to get it, and I was absolutely on edge until I got the notice,” Pate said. “But it was worth it, and I actually got enough to pay for my classes.”

Fox said 80 percent of the students at OU-L are on some sort of financial aid.
But she believes there still are students who aren’t applying for financial aid often because they think they do not qualify.

“I think one of the biggest mistakes a student can make is not filling out the FAFSA,” Fox said. “I tell every student to do it, regardless of whether they think they will qualify.”

Fox said there isn’t an income cut-off when it comes to who is eligible and who isn’t for financial aid. She said financial aid used to be primarily for low-income people but has since “loosened up” to help middle-income people, too.

Felicia Ward’s mother, Candice, agreed that the FAFSA is not as long and as complicated as many might assume.

“If you have all your stuff, if you have your W-2s, it’s not very hard,” Candice Ward said. “The FAFSA made it easy.”
Taking the initiative
Felicia Ward believes many of her peers are missing out on available money that comes through financial aid and scholarships because they aren’t motivated to look for them or apply.

“I knew my parents would be able to help very little financially, but I also knew for a long time I wanted to go to college,” Ward said. “I don’t come from wealthy family, but I wanted to go so I found a way to go.”

High school counselor Weaver has worked closely with Felicia to help the senior find funding for her college education. She said it’s rare she encounters students as motivated to find money for school as Felicia has been.

“There are some local scholarships out there that kids just aren’t applying for and the money is there,” Weaver said.

But Eyeman, the Fairfield Foundation’s director, believes more students are turning to scholarships and financial aid again, especially with the tough economy.

“We have been very busy with kids dropping off applications, far more then we ever had before,” Eyeman said.

Eyeman thinks, in addition to more students applying for financial assistance, more are opting to stay close to home for college this year.

And staying local is Felicia’s plan.

“I looked at the fact that I’ll get the same education whether I go to Ohio University Lancaster or a state college, where I’m going to have to pay for room and board,” Ward said. “I’ll save myself about $1,500 a year.”

College Grants and Financial Aid - It's Out There