<p>I know that recently the college board decided to send application fee waivers to approx 28k high scoring seniors. However, they were looking for high scores who were also low income. Perhaps they decided to cast a broader net</p>
<p>
</a></p>
<p>I myself received such a packet and finished reading the article above.</p>
<p>Pretty much this is College Board’s way of telling you to apply to higher and more select schools with your SAT score and your, which I’m sure we all have, compelling background of poverty (Note the requirement for your family to be in the lowest quarter of income distribution). It is quite a recent program, because you should note that the article sybbie719 linked was posted on September 25, 2013.</p>
<p>The only reason this program is here is because to combat the issue of students who are
quote on quote</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sooooo congratulations everyone and I hope you actually aim for high colleges with the free fee waivers, even if you didn’t use fee waivers for your SAT
Don’t just apply to some small time state colleges >_></p>
<p>(Good luck) :p</p>
<p>I’m really conflicted. I’m not 100% sure if I should still use these fee waivers. In the past I talked to my Guidance Counselor and asked if she will be able to verify my economic situation for the common app fee waiver agreement. My family income does fall within the USDA income eligibility guidelines so I am eligible for the fee waivers, but my GC told me that the county system in my school will only count students who either waived an sat/act fee or are on the Free Reduced Lunch Program as students meeting the fee waiver requirements. I really do not want to get in trouble for signing that I am eligible for the fee waiver when my GC would not verify it most likely</p>
<p>Also the “standard fee-waiver procedure” sheet that came with the packet that gave instruction on how to use the fee waiver on the common app is a bit vague</p>
<p>“There will be a question within the application that asks whether you feel your financial circumstances qualify you for a fee waiver. If you answer YES, you may apply to any of the Common App schools without a fee; you should still send a completed “Realize Your College Potential” fee waiver to each of the participating colleges listed here”</p>
<p>It seems to make an assumption that you can mark “NO” for the common app fee waiver agreement, and send in the “Realize Your Potential” (the fee waivers that came w/ the packet) to the colleges you are applying to for the fee waiver to waive your college application fee…</p>
<p>Here is a synopsis of the accompanying letter with the waivers:</p>
<p>"Dear Shayna,
Congratulations on your outstanding academic achievements!
Based on your strong academic record, …, this guide has everything you need to discover and apply to colleges that fit your academic qualifications.
IT WAS DEVELOPED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF COLLEGES to provide advice…</p>
<p>We’ve included 8 fee waivers … finding a good match…</p>
<p>Your website access code: …</p>
<p>Sincerely, David Coleman, President, The College Board"</p>
<p>There is not ONE WORD about needing to be low income to use the waivers.<br>
I have not problem accepting their gift!</p>
<p>@Neolucid Honestly comrade, if you’re still skeptical about it, the best thing about growing up and going to college is you learn it’s an adult world out there. If you still have concerns about its legitimacy, you’re an adult now and maybe you should contact Collegeboard via phone.</p>
<p>Plus they have a website <a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;
They have emails
They have (six?) offices. I mean, it doesn’t hurt to contact them, and it seems that it is a legitimate program hosted by Collegeboard (and I don’t think it wouldn’t hurt to sign up on the website provided in the letter of invitation now)</p>
<p>You can contact one of their offices here:
[Contact</a> Us](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.org/contact-us/]Contact”>Contact Us | College Board)</p>
<p>And look on the right column you have:</p>
<p>The College Board National Office</p>
<p>45 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023-6917
Phone: 212-713-8000</p>
<p>Sorry if I seem patronizing >_>
I’m still getting over the elation over this invitation (and boy do I need this break, especially for my family)</p>
<p>So I hoped you learned a lesson today. If you’re worried about any business practice’s validity, just call the number provided.</p>
<p>I too was ecstatic to receive my letters, and by no means am I challenging the legitimacy of these waivers. I’m just concerned that there would be problems w/ marking “YES” on the common app fee waiver agreement because it clearly states on the fee waiver agreement page that you have to meet the low-income requirements and have a counselor verify your statement. My counselor said she will not verify my statement b/c I am a somewhat special case that doesn’t fit into how the school deals with fee waivers (I am low-income though).</p>
<p>I called CollegeBoard about this program (Realize Your Potential) and they told me to mark “YES” on the common app agreement, but my counselor won’t verify my statement probably which will cause issues. The last thing I want college admissions think is that I am lying my way to get fee waivers since they will assume I’m lying about my financial situation if my counselor does not verify it.</p>
<p>I am going to call CB again today to ask about my situation and sort things out.</p>
<p>My daughter also received the package with the 8 fee waivers, and while it doesn’t say anything about being low-income, the wording IS vague enough to cause concern. (We would not qualify for the low-income waivers, despite being a one-income family who lives paycheck to paycheck… barely!) I also don’t want my daughter’s use of these waivers to raise any red flags, but at the same time - they WILL allow her to apply to a couple of schools that she had taken off her list due to the expense of applying to so many.</p>
<p>Will be following this thread with much interest!</p>
<p>Beth</p>
<p>@neolucid I’m in the same boat as you. I was so excited when I got these but then I saw the requirements listed on the common app and wasn’t sure what to do because I don’t think I fit them. I asked my counselor and he doesn’t think he can verify it because I don’t qualify for free lunch or sat waivers, and he told me checking “yes” would be ingenuous
:(</p>
<p>The suggestion above is the best course for those of you concerned - call College Board!</p>
<p>I for one am trusting they KNOW they sent these waivers to many students who are not low-income. </p>
<p>If anyone decides to call please post the results, I’m sure we’d all love to hear it “from the horses mouth.”</p>
<p>I will try to call Monday. I emailed and they just sent me a PDF of the vague instructions that came with it in the mail, so I tried to clarify my question again and they said:
“Please note that the College Board is NOT affiliated with the Common APP so we cannot provide information as to their procedures.
However, we do have an agreement with the Schools mentioned in your packet so may register with them directly instead of using the common app.”</p>
<p>That last sentence didn’t make much sense to me…</p>
<p>I do plan on calling Monday, and will post whatever info I get. I’m sure they’ll be inundated with calls as this seems to be of concern to a lot of people.</p>
<p>Beth</p>
<p>My GC called Collegeboard and asked what happens if you check “NO” on the common app and still use the fee waivers, since I am not low income. The collegeboard person told her that I shouldn’t use the fee waivers, because colleges might ask me to prove that I need a fee waiver and might question why I am using them in the first place.</p>
<p>None of this makes any sense - if they’re only for low income students, then why would they send them out without the proper requests proving financial need? I’m betting that we WILL be able to use them, but I’m telling my daughter to wait for a definitive answer… directly from College Board.</p>
<p>Beth</p>
<p>I’m confused about that too… people who meet the income requirements should be able to get waivers without college board, from school or GC approval. So why did they need to send these out?</p>
<p>As much as I’d like to report that I got a definitive answer this morning… I did not. They’ve apparently rolled out a program designed to work almost exclusively with Common App without knowing how Common App would work with it!</p>
<p>The guy I spoke to had no clue and didn’t even seem to understand the question I was asking him. He said several times that since they aren’t affiliated with Common App, they didn’t know Common App procedures and requirements. Then he said “By all means, USE the waivers! It’s what we want students to do!” He really seemed to miss the fact that checking “Yes” to use the waivers is also verifying you’re low income - which could be jeopardizing the whole application process.</p>
<p>So now I’ve sent an e-mail to my daughter’s GC, hoping that he’ll have some back door way to get in touch with Common App, since we mere parents (the ones with the credit card numbers…) are not given a phone number.</p>
<p>Am I over-thinking this whole program, or are these valid concerns? Would love to be able to use the waivers, obviously.</p>
<p>Beth</p>
<p>With all the issues the Common App presents this year, it’s highly unlikely they would have been able to integrate this subset of waiver applications into an acceptable “yes” answer. College Board has coordinated with the top schools in the accompanying booklet to offer the waivers to a specific group, irregardless of income. The Common App wilk have no knowledge of this; it is a separate “deal.”</p>
<p>I believe you are probably correct, Picktails - but I’ve e-mailed the Common App support team and had a response that said “response coming soon!” We shall see about that - LOL! Anyway, you did say your daughter used them, right? If it works the way that question is supposed to work, your daughter’s Guidance Counselor will be contacted (as I was told by College Board this morning) to verify. Can you just post to let us know if all goes through smoothly? I was told if the GC won’t verify fee waiver eligibility, then either the individual colleges or the Common App will come back to you for the fee - so hopefully, there’s no lost time in submitting the waiver to begin with.</p>
<p>Hi Beth,</p>
<p>I would recommend the following:</p>
<p>From the previous threads it seems that you can only use the fee waivers with certain schools. IF those are the schools that you/your child is applying to by all means use the fee waivers (I will admit that I have not seen the package and what is inside of the package)</p>
<p>Contact your school’s GC and let them know that you received the fee waivers from the college board.</p>
<p>Let your GC know that you did reach out to the college board about the fee waivers. Also let her know that the college board is now reaching out to high scoring students and are sending them fee waivers. Ask the GC to work with you and approve the waiver.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This should be the last of your worry because almost all schools are need blind to US citizens and permanent residents. Having a fee waiver will not absolve you from applying for financial aid should you need aid. For schools that are need aware/need sensitive will make a decision once they have your financial aid paperwork in hand and will make a determination based on how much of the school’s resources you will need. Even then, schools that are need/sensitive or need aware will use the practice when they come to the end of the budget. the practice will usually entail when it comes to choosing between 2 similarly qualified candidates, the student who needs less of the school’s resources will get the tip (or admission).</p>
<p>Absolutely agree! I emailed the GC over the weekend to fill her in, and offered to show her the packet and accompanying letter if she needs it.</p>
<p>I just called them, and a very helpful rep told me that they randomly- I repeat randomly- assigned these fee waivers. I sent t
he following email to my counselor:
I recently received a package in the mail from College Board containing 8 Official Fee Waivers for college applications. The package says that they were randomly given out to high achieving students. While I do not usually qualify for any assistance programs, I would very much like to use these fee waivers.
Now, I am using the Common App. It asks me if I “feel that [my] financial circumstances might qualify [me] for an application fee waiver?”
I would normally say no. However, if I got these fee waivers, can I answer yes and then send the fee waiver as instructed to the colleges?
END email
The common app worries me because it seems as if I will not get to use these things.</p>