<p>I am overwhelmed with this whole issue. Does anyone know of a service that I could contract with for counseling about this process?</p>
<p>There are plenty of services out there that will charge fees. If you are willing to spend some time and read a lot of these posts you will find the information you need. I've been reading religiously for 2 years. The veterans of this site Thumper, chevda, sybbie, curm etc have a ton of valuable advice. Read the posts, go to the links, do the calculators, check out the college web sites, and save the fees for when you need to pay for college! The effort will be worth the return of the knowledge.</p>
<p>I'm with nurseratchet, save the money for college. A pal of mine posted this to the Washington Post college discussion group "Admissions 101" a while back. I'm putting it here with permission.</p>
<p>Wishing you well as you enter the twilight zone!</p>
<p>"My 2 Cents"</p>
<p>Dear Middle School, 9th grade, and 10th grade Parents,</p>
<p>1) As soon as you finish your federal tax return this year, go to FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans and run the FAFSA and Institutional Methodology calculators based on this year's figures.</p>
<p>2) After you see the horrifying results (your estimated EFC), re-run the calculator with some different assumptions (for example if Mom works full-time, if most of the family cash savings are converted into retirement funds, etc. etc.)</p>
<p>3) After you see those horrifying results, look at other FAFSA calculators on other websites, or even set up a FAFSA account for yourself/child and run the calculator for real there. Remember that FAFSA (federal method) and CSS Profile (institutional method) use different assumptions so they will produce different results.</p>
<p>4) Put all of these results together, look at them long and hard, and accept once and for all that THIS IS WHAT THE COLLEGES WILL EXPECT YOU TO PAY. Need-based financial aid will only cover some of the difference between what the college/university charges and this figure. Some of the colleges/universities will actually produce need-based aid that covers the full difference, BUT MOST OF THEM WON'T.</p>
<p>5) Accept once and for all that a certain fraction of need-based aid WILL IN ALL PROBABILITY BE IN THE FORM OF LOANS.</p>
<p>6) Then, line up all your other family expenses and see how many can be reduced/eliminated in order to free up the equivalent of your EFC. Start living that way now so it won't hurt so much when the kid is in college.</p>
<p>7) If your expenses are already as minimized as you can/are willing to make them, and your EFC is more than you can imagine possibly paying, it is time to re-think where you can afford to send the kid to college.</p>
<p>8) If your kid has really good grades and really good test scores, there are merit scholarships (some of them full-ride) out there. You will have to look long and hard for them. You will have to be willing to send your kid to a college you have never heard of for them, but they do exist.</p>
<p>9) If your kid is just a normal, happy, kid who has normal grades and test scores, go take another long hard look at your local community college and your state's public universities.</p>
<p>10) Remember the stages of grief? That is what you are looking at here. Just try to get yourself through Denial so you, and your kid, can get on with life.</p>
<p>11) If you want insight into the seemingly demonic logic of the financial aid system, download and read "A Primer on Economics for Financial Aid Professionals" published by the College Board:
<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/highered/fa/Economics-Primer-2004.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/highered/fa/Economics-Primer-2004.pdf</a></p>
<p>Good places to look for info.:</p>
<p>College</a> Admissions, Search, and Financial Aid Help from College Confidential - absolutely addictive, way too much stuff to wade through, but there is gold buried in them thar hills.</p>
<p>[admissionsadvice.com[/url</a>] - addictive, informative, and not as much to wade through as at cc</p>
<p>and don't forget our pal Mr. Flagel's [the Dean of Admissons at George Mason U in Virginia] site and all of its links:
[url=<a href="http://notjustadmissions.wordpress.com/%5DNot">http://notjustadmissions.wordpress.com/]Not</a> Your Average Admissions Blog “A Beneath the Surface Look At Everything College Admissions (with a few shameless plugs)”](<a href="http://www.admissionsadvice.com%5Dadmissionsadvice.com%5B/url">http://www.admissionsadvice.com)</p>