<p>4kidsdad…</p>
<p>There is a lot of information that I would need to recommend specific schools…but here is where you can start.</p>
<p>Myth…Most students will graduate in 4 years.
Fact…Most students take 6 years…rendering most scholarships and aid offers unable to cover al of your costs
Myth…aid is only offered to exceptionally gifted students.
FACT…properly positioned students are offered great aid packages.</p>
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<li> Elevate your student. Not all schools are created equal. Find the colleges where your student represents the top 25% of the incoming class. Now this will not work if your student makes straight C’s or scores below a 1000 on the math and reading portions of the SAT. You can’t create competition with this student.</li>
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<p>The fact is that there are A schools, B schools, and C schools. You can find this out by looking at the SAT score ranges and percentages of the incoming students published by the school each year. Some schools share this info…some make it a little harder to find…but it’s out there.</p>
<p>Look at the GPA and test scores of your student and you will know which schools will likely admit them. If their test scores and GPA put them near the top 25%…bingo.</p>
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<li><p>Cross reference your college picks with the colleges that meet the most need towards your EFC. There are plenty of EFC calculators on the web if you want to do this own your own. This will help you narrow down the schools that are likely to offer more aid. Call the school and ask them how they meet need. Some schools are very transparent…others are not.</p></li>
<li><p>Have your student do a career search with their guidance team or another individual that specializes in this. Narrow the choices of major to your top 3. Narrow the list of colleges that have two or all three majors. That way if your student changes majors…they do not have to change schools…which can cost you an extra year or two years.</p></li>
<li><p>Cross reference this list with the colleges that graduate a higher percentage of their students within 4 years. Again, the colleges should provide you with this information. I’m willing to bet that most public colleges in state fall below the 25% range. So much for in state being cheaper.</p></li>
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<p>There are schools that graduate as many as 60-95% of their freshman in four years. WHy not narrow the list to these schools?</p>
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<li> Narrow the list to 10 schools that your student will go to and that you can visit. As you can imagine…you will have a tough time narrowing this list to 10 schools if you keep your search in state. By broadening your search you will find more schools that will meet your criteria and you can take advantage of any geographic diversity that would work in your favor.</li>
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<p>The challenge here is time. Some families have it…Some don’t There is help out there and information out there if you are willing to look.</p>
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<li> Create competition. List all 10 Schools when you submit the FAFSA. Leave your number 1 choice off the number one slot. That is a giveaway for a lot of schools and tips them off that maybe you don’t need a lot of financial aid to convince your student to go there. A lot of families will actually see an increase in their aid offers AFTER they submit the FAFSA because the colleges can now see the other schools they are competing with.</li>
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<p>WHy do you think that early decision is becoming more and more popular with colleges? They want a commitment so they don’t have to compete.</p>
<p>I hope this presents an alternate view of things. This process works for a lot of families.</p>