This is all such good advice. Thank you for sharing.
Hopefully the NPCs will be updated in September or so, before ED apps are due. Meanwhile, many NPCs can still give a decent estimate as long as you increase the COA for 2024-25 by 4% or so, and there is nothing else potentially problematic re: NPCs for your situation (divorced parents, business and/or real estate ownership).
ED is supposed to be a binding agreement. There are forms you and your child will need to sign regarding the ED contract. If you run the NPC for the school and itās an affordable number, go for it. If that schoolās financial aid package doesnāt match their NPC, then that is a valid reason to back out of ED.
IMO, that can be crushing for the student so proceed with caution. Depending on where your child is applying, some schools will do financial aid pre-reads to give you a better idea of their aid calculation. Thatās especially helpful if you are in a situation where the NPC isnāt necessarily accurate - if you own your own business, are divorced, etcā¦
@momofboiler1 and @Mwfan1921 , thank you both! Fortunately we do not fall into any of those catering. Itās a simple salaried income and a own house.
Points:
The NPC at the college I discussed below quoted $25K/yr merit. Thatās the max amount (it didnāt ask for GPA); high stats DS2022 was offered $23K; friends were offered practically nothing.
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I have a friend who wants to keep to $40-$48K/yr for DS2024 college.
He has a #1 college in mind. Their NPC showed $48K.
I was leary because my DS2022 was accepted there and was only offered $23K/yr merit/no financial aid (and we make less than my friend), making COA to be ~$56K.
I asked her to check the numbers again:
She kept insisting that itās close to $48K/yr, then they can negotiate down. I know that college doesnāt negotiate unless the applicant meets some institutional needs, etc.
At least I was able to convince them not to apply ED when their numbers are soooo far off.
Good luck.
Another thing to keep in mind is the siblings in college variable. The NPC price showed a reasonable amount for us at one of my kids top choice schools but when I ran it again without the sibling in college it was unaffordable. I will only have the sibling overlap for one year so I canāt count on that ādiscountā.
The sibling in college consideration will be dropped from FAFSA this year but still in CSS as far as Iām aware.
Most of the schools on our list are CSU/UC so no CSS profile so we likely wonāt even get that sibling discount at all unfortunately.
Do the UCs (or California state) give more FA to those with multiples in college?
This change at the federal level will impact some families for pell grant eligibility/amounts, but because the allowances have increased, more students will qualify for Pell grants than in the old system.
For CSS schools I encourage people to call FA offices and ask if they are changing the treatment for those with multiple siblings in college.
The UCs just use the FAFSA so they did consider the sibling as it was part of the FAFSA calculations. However they donāt meet full demonstrated need so Iām not sure how much the financial aid packages will change for people of various income levels.
Yup. This popped up today:
While recovering from wisdom teeth removal and before heading to her job at a camp for the next month, D24 is getting started on the Common App. Does anyone have suggestions/resources for writing compelling and succinct descriptions for the activities section?
College essay guy has a lot of guidance and examples (all free), hereās one of his resource pages: 80+ Extracurricular Activity Examples for the Common Application
Generally write like on a resumeā¦start with action words, sentence fragments ok. I recommend writing everything in google docs or word first and then pasting into common app.
My two cents is be bold in terms of specificity and detail, if at all possible. These poor admissions officers have to read dozens and dozens of these a day. If you can in any way paint an unusually interesting image in their mind, I think you will immediately generate some good will.
There is another thread about the danger of exaggerating ECs. Generally it is better to use clear, straight forward language IMO.
Valedictorians at the Gate had a small nugget on the subject and she illustrated well how to make best use of that space.
I note I agree with this, but it is also consistent with the advice I gave. Meaning honest, clear, straightforward, specific, detailed, unusual, and interesting are all compatible virtues.
Tips Iād give to a student:
Start with writing a longer description of your EC, your involvement and role, and the activity at hand. A short paragraph for each one and donāt think about the word count, instead describe all of it as if someone asked you a question about āXā and they didnāt know a thing about the EC, the activity, or the organization. (This isnāt a waste of time! You can include this as part of the information you give your recommendation letter writers at the start of fall.)
After youāve got those longer descriptions written out, start a new sheet where you rewrite the ECs within the parameters of the word count; this is some Jenga-like trimming! You get 50 characters for your Position/Leadership description, 100 characters for Organization Name, and only 150 characters to describe the activity. Tip: sometimes it makes sense to use either (or both) the āPositionā of the EC and the āOrg Nameā as part of your overall effort to convey everything you can about your EC. Also, itās okay (and expected) to use abbreviations when needed; donāt over do it, you want it to still be legible and not read (too) choppily, but you can do it.
For example, S23 was deeply involved in a professional theater company from 6th grade onwards, but he did different things with them over the span of 6 years, and it was on hold for a covid year. All of that wouldnāt fit in the description character count, so he used the āPositionā and āOrganization Nameā to most accurately describe this EC:
Position: 6 yrs: Leading Actor; Chorus; Soloist; Apprentice
Organization Name: ________ ______ (Professional Theater Co.)
Description: Performed 5yrs chorus & dancing; 1yr as apprentice to stage manager; 1yr as a lead actor (incl solo singing) for 5500+ each yr.
He did this also for Student Council, because over the years of his involvement he held different roles:
Position: Elected President 11th & 12th; Class Rep 10th
Org Name: ___ Student Council
Description: I organize school events & donation drives for nonprofits; lead meetings; direct projects; manage student proposals & coordinate w faculty & admin.
It wouldnāt have been honest to say he was the President of Student Council for three years - he wasnāt! Using the āPositionā to accurately reflect his different roles was important. Similarly for the theater company; accuracy was essential in painting as complete a picture for the readers as you can, within the constraints of the character counts - expanding on this within the āPositionā made this more clear and stronger.
*Editing to add: these werenāt his only ECs, but they were the two that needed this technique - the others were straightforward. Here was how he first wrote out these two ECs in short paragraph form, to give you an idea of the blurbs that he included in his CV for his letter writers. Writing these out in a conversational tone also helped him when he was preparing for interviews and the classic ātell me aboutā¦ā
Theater EC:
_____ [theater company] is a musical performance incorporating story, dance, and the highest level of choral music; it pairs professional actors, musicians, and dancers with a multi-generational chorus to an audience of over 5,000 each season. Beginning in 2016 I performed for two years in the chorus, a third year working as an apprentice to the stage manager & tech crew, and in 2019 I was one of the lead actors in the ______ show, where I also sang with the chorus, performed 18th century dances, played a lead in the ____ and performed a solo. In 2020 I sang in the chorus of the virtual show, and this year I am a member of the chorus singing and dancing in the _____ show.
Student Council EC:
Iāve been a member of Student Council for 3 years, and I was elected President in 11th grade. We organize social events for the student body, such as singalong nights and several dances throughout the year. We also lead donation drives for local non profit organizations, e.g. last year we led 2 knit-a-thons making hats, gloves, and scarves for _____, and two donation drives for local youth shelters.
We also solicit ideas from the student body, and write and pitch proposals to faculty & school heads. As president I run meetings, lead projects and events, and meet often with the faculty to discuss topics and proposals brought by class representatives.
DS24ās schedule came out. As expected, he got 5 APs, gym and jazz band. He also wanted Music Theory and Wind Ensemble, but I guess they didnāt fit. Is this enough? He would have 2 study halls a day (plus lunch) which seems like a lot but another academic class seems overwhelming. Iāve been trying to get in touch with the guidance counselor but sheās out for another monthā¦
Does she have all of the main subjects? If so then it sounds like more than enough, add in period 0 applications!
I think 5 classes in senior is good but it also may depend what others kids in
your school do.
For our School we have been told that 4 to 5 classes in senior year at school is good enough. School only allows max 7 if you get into zero period and 6 is the normal schedule. Son is registered for 4 APās and one Regular class total. He may do one course outside the school but that may depend on how far he gets in essay and college app process before september.
So your D24ās school has time for 9 periods plus a lunch? Wow. (Got that by 5 APās + Jazz + gym + 2 study hall periods.) How long is each period?
@HotSauceFan , 5 APs along with Jazz and gym is killing in the senior year. He cannot do a good job with his applications unless he is well planned and finished most of his work during the Summer or he is only applying to just local safety schools. I think it should be a mix of APs and some regular classes too.
Most of the students in our school take college preparation course which is 2 bells and they can write their essays etc during that bell and the teacher also will help them if they have any questions. They also add Early Release and Late arrival too to their schedule.
It all depends on how well he performed in his junior year with APs and how many he took.
As long as all the core subjects are covered, it sounds like more than enough. At our school kids typically take 5 core subjects and 2 electives (for 1/2 the year one elective is always gym) - an elective can be an academic class, of course.