<p>Here is the message we received this morning from College Board:</p>
<p>"Good Morning, </p>
<p>Thank you for contacting The College Board. </p>
<p>Our objective is to reach students and families for whom the cost of applying to 5-8 colleges is likely to be a financial barrier. We have developed an approach to identify such students, but we know that a small number of students who receive the packet and fee waivers will not be under-resourced. In those cases, we believe that the guidance information will be helpful, but we ask that students only use the waivers if they meet college application fee waiver eligibility criteria (e.g., are eligible to receive or have received an SAT or ACT fee waiver, participate in the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch program, or receive other forms of public assistance). </p>
<p>If you have additional questions, please call us at 866-630-9305. Representatives are available from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm M-F. </p>
<p>Thank you, </p>
<p>Pat
The College Board Call Center"</p>
<p>It is very, very frustrating that they would send out a huge mailing that does not state this anywhere in the packet. I shared our opinion with them. What a colossal waste of money on their part and time (excitement, investigation, and confusion followed by frustration) on our part.</p>
<p>I wonder how they determined who should get them? I assume they cannot have access to free/reduced lunch lists to catch kids who are eligible for waivers but haven’t applied for them. Zip code seems kind of dumb. I’d love to know how they decided?</p>
<p>I also e-mailed the College Board and I was going to paste their reply on this board but I see that “corclan” beat me to it. I got the same exact reply. So, unless you would normally be eligible for a fee waiver, you should not be using these special fee waivers. So disappointing.</p>
<p>In addition to contacting College Board we also sent messages to a couple reach Engineering schools which our son was taking off his list because we only budgeted for about 5 application fees max. We told them were were middle class, one income, 3 kids (1 already in college at a “State U Honors College”) but did not qualify under the Common App description for a fee waiver, and should/could we allow him to use these to apply to more schools? They were very gracious and said yes, please use them if they help him apply to more schools than he would have without them. They also said they would not require a letter from his counselor or school, just mail them in. Our guidance counselor thought we were over thinking the situation, as well. </p>
<p>Here is what we decided. We are going to mail them with a short cover letter to about 5 reach schools, explaining that we are middle income family and that these would help our student apply to more schools than we budgeted application fees for, and would they still allow/accept the waivers given the circumstances, and is there any special process we should use? That way we are being honest, sending them in advance, and giving the college a chance to say “No, these aren’t for you!”</p>
<p>I also just received one of these “Realize Your College Potential” packets yesterday along with the eight fee waivers. I do qualify for fee waivers the normal way, though, being on reduced lunch, so it can’t hurt me to use them. I also got four fee waivers through my SAT voucher long before receiving this packet, and now I have more fee waivers than I could ever hope to use! </p>
<p>Just when I finally thought I managed to narrow my college list down to eight good schools, this packet comes out of nowhere, begging me to apply to more! Might as well add another reach school or two, seeing how I’ve got nothing to lose now.</p>
<p>There is no such thing as a free lunch and the college board fee waivers are no exactly free. </p>
<p>The application fee is only one small part of the equation; remember you will have to pay for each additional SAT score report to be sent (unless you have added a bunch of sat optional schools) so those 8 free fee waivers are going to cost you an additional $218 to send your scores($90) and $128 if you are applying to CSS profile schools. </p>
<p>So far they have not decreased the cost of the profile for low income students, so in the end it seems that while the college board is removing one financial barrier, they are just adding another.</p>
<p>My daughter received a reminder email from college board this past week to use her “Realize Your College Potential” application waivers. She has already used one to Yale, and we will continue to use them. I do not see the controversy - the schools listed in the booklet WANT us to apply.</p>
<p>My daughter has used hers, as well - and so far, all is good. She sent them in about 2 weeks ago, and every college has acknowledged receipt of her Common App application at this point. If it comes down to a ‘disqualification’ at any point due to not being financially eligible for this program, we will take it up with the individual colleges who take issue. As nothing is stated in the program package about necessary financial eligibility, I doubt the schools who agreed to be part of this program can reject her application on that basis. </p>
<p>As a side note, my daughter applied to schools that took these waivers as well as ones that didn’t - and we paid full freight in those cases. That probably makes it obvious to Common App that we don’t qualify for need-based waivers. And yes, as these waivers encouraged my daughter to apply to schools that she ordinarily wouldn’t have (like Yale and Colgate), we wound up spending MORE $$ for sending test results than we would have based on her original list! :-)</p>
<p>YueYang96,
What did you check on the common app to be able to use the Fee Waivers? My son also received them but I am not sure what to check off to utilize them. The only spot I can see is where it asks if you feel your circumstances qualify you to be able to use them. Your feedback is appreciated!!</p>
<p>My son also received the waivers and he received this email from College Board last week: </p>
<p>Realize Your College Potential
Dear xxxxx,
Congrats on all your hard work as a high school student so far.
Because you performed well on the SAT®, we have mailed you a packet, “Realize Your College Potential,” that includes eight (8) college application fee waivers along with college planning information and resources.
Quick question for you: Did you get it?
Yes, I received the packet in the mail.
No, I did not receive the packet.
The packet was designed to help you find and apply to schools that are a good fit for you, including colleges you may not have previously considered.
Check it out now, and explore additional resources online with your access code: xxx
The College Board may provide your name to your counselor to assist you with your college planning.
A Note on Your Fee Waivers
Please be aware that the college application fee waivers included in your packet are intended to assist students who are not able to afford the application fees for eight colleges. Please only use the fee waivers if the cost of applying to college creates a financial barrier for you or your family. (Most colleges define eligibility for a college application fee waiver as: being eligible for or having received an SAT or ACT fee waiver, participating in the Federal Free or Reduced Price Lunch program, or receiving public assistance. For more information and guidance, click here.)
In addition, we know some of you have questions about how to use the college application fee waivers on the Common Application. These college application fee waivers are intended to assist students who might not otherwise apply to a broad set of schools because of the cost of applying. Students should indicate their true financial status in the Common App Fee Waiver section of the application — if you do not meet the Common App eligibility criteria, you will not be able to use these application waivers for Common App institutions.
Remember, we’re with you every step of the way to college. And if you have questions, you can always call us at 866-444-4025.
The College Board </p>
<p>Seems pretty clear to me that he cannot use them and it’s not worth taking the chance on not getting in due to this.</p>
<p>Someone who has used the fee waivers please tell me----To use the Fee Waivers, did you have to have checked ‘Yes’ on the common App itself, or was there a spot on the individual school supplements to the Common App. My son has the waivers but I am not sure how to utilize them…Help Please</p>
<p>I like your idea but I would worry about mailing the originals without knowing which schools would accept them since you would not get them back and you have to write the name of the college on them. I guess if you get to use some of them it is better than nothing though.</p>
<p>I sent an e-mail to Cornell and specifically mentioned that we would normally not qualify for fee waivers due to free lunch, SAT fee waiver, etc. and that we would like to use the fee waiver, if possible. I got a reply back that we CAN use the fee waiver and gave me the address to mail the waiver to. The address was different from the address in the packet but we’re going to mail it to the address in the e-mail and maybe print out the e-mail we sent as confirmation that we got “permission” to use it. If they come back and say no then we will pay the app fee.</p>
<p>Are you sending the waiver before you submit the Common App? That’s where I am confused. I thought you need to submit the Common App/ supplemental App at the same time electronically, how does the waiver fit in? I thought you can’t submit until you either pay or use the waiver. How do you use the waiver online though if you dont say that you qualify on the Common App itself? Does the schools give you a spot on their supplemental form to use the waivers?</p>
<p>You mail the fee waiver to the school after you apply on-line. There should be a spot where you click “fee waiver” for payment type. My daughter did that for a Northeastern fee waiver that they sent her.
BTW, American U said that they will accept the fee waiver if your guidance counselor will sign off. So we won’t be using it for that school!</p>
<p>"There should be a spot where you click “fee waiver” for payment type. My daughter did that for a Northeastern fee waiver that they sent her. "</p>
<p>How do you use the waiver online though, if you say-- NO---- on the Common App itself to the FEE WAIVER question? Did Northeastern give you a spot on their supplemental form that was part of the Common App- to use the waiver?</p>