<p>I have been asked to set up an "ask a parent" table at a local college night for students/parents 7-12 grades at our local public high school. I will basically be there to be the "equal" - not the professional perspective (they will have over 50 colleges represented, guidance counselors, etc.) but the parent-who-has-been-through-it-a-couple-of-times perspective. :)</p>
<p>I'd like to have a couple "tools"/handouts to offer. I plan to bring my laptop and do a demo of the excel spreadsheet I made to compare fees/costs vs. $$ offered to show "bottom line costs" of various schools. </p>
<p>What else do you think would be helpful? A survey you or your child took to help determine/narrow down colleges? A "top 10" what to look for? Special "do's or don'ts"???</p>
<p>Wanted to also mention that the audience will be students from public schools across the city - many of who will be first generation students and largely middle class students.</p>
<p>Did you ever use an application “management” spreadsheet? Many parents and students on this site do. There have been some good suggestions in the past if you don’t have one (although…it might be kind of awkward to suggest using one if you didn’t!)</p>
<p>Wondering exactly what that means…application “management” spreadsheet - you mean with dates of things due, etc.??? We didn’t use that - what do you include on one?</p>
<p>I would definitely recommend a “handout” with a list of useful sites. Perhaps separated by category</p>
<p>Financial Aid (FAFSA, a FASFA calulator link, Project on Student Debt - for FA pledges, links to specific school calculators for a CSS “estimate” - Williams, Princeton others?, calculator link for student loan repayment estimates)</p>
<p>Admission Stats (■■■■■■■■■■ gives a quick picture, there are many others)</p>
<p>Merit scholarships sites (with some caveats - one is meritaid.com)</p>
<p>Think of all the links you have used. Also links to the ACT and SAT/CollegeBoard sites.</p>
<p>Maybe a small paragraph on what the PSAT is and the related scholarships - maybe some school specific merit scholarship links? If more parents knew the possibilities for merit $ from the PSAT I think they would encourage their children early enough to study!</p>
<p>Maybe a paragraph on what FA consists of - PELL, student loans, Parent Plus loans, grants and GAPS!! I was surprised some schools consider a parent loan as "meeting need’. Perhaps you should define ‘meeting need’ as well as FA?</p>
<p>This is wonderful that you have volunteered to do this. It could seriously help a lot of students and parents. Good luck.</p>
<p>The school will have presentations every 20 minutes some of which will cover fin aid. I am trying to think of the practical “things you don’t learn until you do it once” things! That’s why I thought the cost spreadsheet would be helpful.</p>
<p>I am curious to see what questions parents might ask another parent rather than a counselor, etc.</p>
<p>A lot of the questions people asked me when I was doing the “college thing” with my 2nd child were specific to our hs - how does guidance handle recommendations, etc. If this is a city-wide college fair, that won’t be true for you though.</p>
<p>I’d have something on how to look at a college website - ie, looking at the “fast facts” page, the admissions page, finding the mid-50% range for test scores and GPA, etc. I’d also think parents might ask other parents about touring - do you need to do it before you apply, how do you tour/sign up (if these are first generation college applicants), what to wear, what to expect, etc. And what tests do you need to take and when (PSAT, SAT, ACT). </p>
<p>If you want a handout, maybe a timeline? Junior year: PSAT fall. Winter - begin using college search websites to come up with a list of schools. Spring begin touring, take SAT/ACT, think about who to ask for recommendations. Summer - begin thinking about essays/rough drafts, write up extra-curricular/activity resume . Fall - more tours, 2nd round of SAT/ACT, ask for recommendations EARLY, apply, be aware of deadlines. Late fall - FAFSA.</p>
<p>I think that non-clued in parents may not be aware of the college info available on the collegeboard.com site. Just type in the name of the college and all sorts of information appears…size, costs, deadlines, test scores, etc.</p>
<p>I ran a quick check on University of Miami:</p>
<p>I like the Peterson’s web site for showing college data in a consistent manor.</p>
<p>If the schools use Naviance, maybe demo that. (MyChances is helpful for showing scatterplots of SAT/GPA acceptance vs rejection), but it is a pain to set up and navigate).</p>
<p>Here are some of the items one of my children had on their spreadsheet. There was a tab for each school. Just seemed easier for kid to keep track of things this way Some “old fashioned” people keep a checklist on the outside of a folder for each school. Others have less info. Some have more. This sheet is just for applications. I know I’ve seen ones on this site for the search process as well . I’ll try to find a link…</p>
<p>Website
Username
Password
ACT Sent (date, conformation # or check # etc.)
Sat Sent (date, confirmation # or check #, etc.)
Application Fee Amount
Application Fee Sent (date, confirmation # or check # etc.)
Date Fee receipt Confirmed on Website
Application Deadline for Priority/Financial Aid (could list other dates…but this was the one that was important to us!)
Essay Topic/Info (copied essay topic[s] from website and pasted )
Date Essay Sent
Dates Essay receipt confirmed
Transcript - Date request Given to Guidance Office/entered in Naviance
Date transcript receipt confirmed on Website
Counselor’s Report - Date Given to Counselor
Date Counselor report receipt Confirmed on Website
Recommendations
Recommendation 1 - Date Given to Teacher
Recommendation 1 - Date Confirmed on Website
Recommendation 2 - Date Given to Teacher
Recommendation 2 - Date Confirmed on Website
Date Application Complete Confirmed
Additional Application Requirements
Transcript Address
Date FAFSA sent
Date PROFILE sent</p>
<p>FLMATHMOM posted this list of spreadsheet items on the HS2011/College 2015 thread:
"I put each school in its own column and then put Administrative info first such as USERNAME, PASSWORD, SAT CODE, ACT CODE, FAFSA CODE, etc, followed by ED deadline components, EA deadline components, RD deadline components, followed by the Requirements section which shows whether the Common App is accepted, # of recommendations needed, what tests are required, etc. The cells will show the actual date things were done/mailed/rec’d. "</p>
<p>(The following is just a suggestion and the first thing that popped into my head about the mechanics of such an event.) </p>
<p>Since this is an “all-comers” and “un-vetted” event, I would be prepared to vector my conversation any number of directions depending on the student/parent in front of me. IOW, a kid looking for a selective college admission might need much different information than a low/middling stats kid looking for money to go anywhere (and certainly vice versa).</p>
<p>Maybe have a couple of stock questions (not a quiz, not a credit history, not probing…more like “What are you shooting for?”-type questions) ready to help you find which way you need to head.</p>
One thing we learned - run the EFC estimators early in the game to get an idea where you stand. Colleges will all say “don’t let the sticker price scare you away” but for SOME families, their EFC alone will be much more than they can reasonably justify spending, and they have to adjust their choices accordingly.</p>
<p>Do you all have a favorite EFC estimator/calculator? I know of the College Board one, but is there another easier or more simplified???</p>
<p>I decided to put together a handout with actual pictures webpages that would be helpful (reduced in size) so I can point out where to “click” when they get there. Will def include an EFC calculator page…</p>
<p>The chart below is just an example using their defaults.<br>
<the screenshot=“” does=“” not=“” work=“” in=“” cc=“” -=“” you’ll=“” need=“” to=“” get=“” one=“” from=“” the=“” website=“”> </the></p>
<p>You can adjust the grid ranges and increments… It does over-simply things, but it;s a good “ballpark” tool. Guidance Counselors should mention this more. </p>
<p>Note that EFC (for Federal aid) will halve that number if 2 in college. I am thinking Axxx had an older brother too. The other student only needs to be enrolled 1/2 time, and Front Range counts. For Federal Methodoloy (FAFSA), I think home equity is omitted. </p>
<p>CSS Profile formulas factor in home equity but use different % for calculations. Use of the CSS Profile result varies from college to college. If low EFC, then students should concentrate on colleges that cover “full need” (ideally w/o loans). For example, Pomona in CA is very hard to get into… but they are know for generous FA. </p>
<h1>401K assets are I think omitted from both formulas. </h1>
<p>I would demonstrate googling a college’s Common Data Set and explaining all of the admissions and financial aid data that can be found within. Rigorous use of this would eliminate all of the “chance me” threads found here.</p>
</p>