<p>So I'm a senior and have to apply to colleges this coming fall, and I'm facing so many problems, many of them financially. Someone sent my family a flier to go to a meeting on saving money for college. I sort of coaxed my dad into going to the meeting. Of course it was for someone's business..</p>
<p>So I guess the first problem is that I feel guilty. My dad and mom are both a bit enamored with the guy, but I am just soooo confused. He's basically trying to save us money towards college (for a small fee.. it's just about $1,000 so no biggie). But anyways, he sets stuff up in "academic match schools", "money schools", etc. I think he basically tries to put the family in the best position to get merit aid.</p>
<p>I understand this, and know why this enamors my parents.. I mean, they aren't rich or anything and would love for me to get a big scholarship.. the problem is that most of what I want in a school.. options, internships, medium/large student body, big sports scene, etc are almost all based in larger state schools where we would probably not get too much aid. And of course the schools that I'd get merit based aids would be safety schools (right?). I don't know what kind of schools he would try to make me look at, but that's what I'm thinking. He says something about finding "six to eight schools I would be fine with attending."</p>
<p>I really don't want to go to a small private school. And I don't want to end up applying to more than two safeties.</p>
<p>My family's EFC should be around $35,000; I really don't want to put my family in debt, but I also don't want to attend a school I wouldn't be happy with attending.</p>
<p>What should I do? Should I talk to my dad to cut off this guy? Bite the bullet and go through with it?</p>
<p>Help please! This may be a done deal in a few days.. I don't know what to do, and am so stressed/scared/ughhhh.</p>
<p>Cheaper to read books from the library about paying for college without going broke than to pay some guy $1K to do what you could easily do yourself.</p>
<p>There! I just saved you $1K; use it for college!</p>
<p>I think it's an obvious scam, but.. really, the help you'll get here is like no other. The internet is your friend, so much can be found out on here directly on the school's site, FAFSA's site, etc.</p>
<p>Personally, I would balk at shelling out $1000 for the help ... but that amount of money is a big deal to me. It sounds like your dad is absolutely fine paying the guy, so at least give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure it's not a scam - there are folks who make good money matching students with schools & helping them with the whole process. If he is good, he will talk to you about what YOU want & try to help you find schools that fit your needs AND your parents' needs. It might make things easier on you, to be honest, if he knows his stuff. </p>
<p>In the end, you will have to decide what is best for you. This guy will just help you figure out what that might be.</p>
<p>Schools where a student is in the running for merit scholarships are often matches or safeties because those are the ones where they are in the top few percent of the applicant pool. By the definition of a reach, it would be an unlikely place to get merit aid. I'm not saying doesn't happen, just that it is not the as frequent. My D got merit aid at what she considered her safety, match and lower reach schools.</p>
<p>In kelsmom's Ds case, she got merit aid at one of the few very selective schools that offers merit aid (many highly selective schools only give need based FA). So, none of these schools will be safeties for anyone, and students that get their scholarships will be at the top of the top (thus a 34 ACT).</p>
<p>The way I said it came out wrong, I think. What I meant was, the schools that gave my D nice merit scholarships were not undesireable schools. Even with good stats, she wasn't guaranteed to even be accepted to these schools. So, she got scholarships to schools that were "better" than just safety schools for her. You, too, may find that the schools the professional comes up with are not safety schools for you. Give him a chance. Your parents are willing to pay him - so use his services to your advantage.</p>
<p>Remix, a friend of mine talked me into going to one of those seminars; same thing, $1,000. She used him and thought he was great. Terrific presentation, I made an appointment, but then realized the schools he mentioned were not the type D was interested in. Basically he just gets the data on the % of aid schools give, what % of students receive aid, what the average stats are for their students, etc. (All of this is easily available.) Then he bounces your stats against the lists. But you're right. My friend's S was at the lower end of the spectrum. The school was not worth the 40k+ sticker and gives huge grants to almost everyone. So take it with a grain of salt. But you never know, there might be some surprises. With an EFC of 35k, 1k isn't too bad to help get through this. And they should also handle doing other things like fafsa. (The one thing I learned was that you shouldn't file fafsa at the very beginning, like the first week of Jan. Wait till the last half of the month; any bugs in system changes, new temps, etc., will have been worked out.)
It worked fine for my friend; she wasn't the type to do ANY research. So they're happy.</p>