<p>It's not too bad to change. The hard part is figuring out who to contact! You can just fill out online contact forms & add your email.</p>
<p>Counting Down, the object is to use an e-mail that ISN'T your child's personal e-mail. It should be one that both of you have access to. It isn't hard to change the e-mail you use for College Board.</p>
<p>I didn't find it necessary to have access to my kids' e-mails. It depends on the kid.</p>
<p>I did insist, though, that my daughter, whose personal e-mail address is a combination of her initials (which include the letter L) and our house number (which includes the numeral 1), get a new, less ambiguous e-mail for college admissions purposes.</p>
<p>thumper1, thank you for your list of suggestions, Im making a hard copy to post on Ds bulletin board.</p>
<p>Does anyone have the link for the CC thread listing rolling admission schools?</p>
<p>Bumping up-still hoping to merge threads...</p>
<p>DS has been using his own address for quite a while. It's not CB I'm worried about, it's the colleges...he and I should talk about it. He is usually very good about checking his mail and forwarding me stuff (like his SAT-II reminder this AM)...</p>
<p>CSS Profile, as apposed to FAFSA.
Familiar with the later, how do I find out about the CSS?</p>
<p>The CSS Profile is adminstered by the College Board. If you go to their website you should be able to get info about the Profile. The skinny on it is that it is used by most private schools and many highly competitive public schools as part of their financial aid application. The Profile uses home equity as part of the equation, and the income and assets from both custodial and non-custodial parents and spouses. The FAFSA uses only the custodial parent and spouse information. Both use student information. Typically the FAFSA is used for federal methodology, and the Profile for institutional methodology.</p>
<p>So how do you find out if an institution uses the CSS instead (or in addition to)? Do you simply ask?</p>
<p>The CSS Profile is used in addition to the FAFSA. This information is clearly spelled out on each college finaid site. Check a college finaid site and you'll see what the college requires and what the deadlines are. For the CSS Profile, you need a school code...you can either get it while doing the Profile, or you can find it on the school website. Also, be alerted...the FAFSA cannot be filed until after January 1 of 2008 for the fall 2008 school year. However, the Profile is available in the fall of 2007, and some schools have priority deadlines for the Profile filing for EA or ED applicants. Check deadlines carefully. AND EVERYONE should plan to file the FAFSA as a "will file" as close to Jan 1 as possible (using estimates). Plan to have your taxes completed as close to Feb 1 as possible, and then go online and amend the FAFSA to reflect the filing of your 2007 taxes. It's a PITA to amend the Profile...you have to do it by hand. However if you have a priority deadline in the fall (we had one that was November 1) you'll need to do that. DEADLINES DEADLINES DEADLINES...check them...and the forms needed. And some schools continue to use a finaid application form of their own too. Check.</p>
<p>Something I didn't do, but recommend: keep a spreadsheet with list of what is needed for admissions & financial aid, deadlines for everything, etc.. I thought I had it all under control, which I did for the most part. However, Profile was done kind of last minute (due to difficulty in amending, I waited until I had everything in hand before I filed). To save time, I simply typed in the names of D's colleges & had Profile sent to the colleges that appeared on the Profile list. Mistake! Two of the schools didn't need it ... turns out it is only used for ED at those schools. That's money down the drain (and things really add up, believe me).</p>
<p>Another tip: don't automatically send scores (ACT/SAT) to schools when you sign up for the test. If you want to save money & send some free scores, go ahead ... don't send any "extra" scores, though --- the ones you have to pay for. If your kid ends up having a better score on another test or retake, then it's wasted money. Again, it all adds up!</p>
<p>Speaking of adding up ... make sure you check to see if you can file online for free!!! D was able to apply for free to 7 of 10, I believe.</p>
<p>Which reminds me ... the Common App is nice, but don't let your S or D think it makes the application process simple & quick. Most schools have their own supplements, and D didn't have a single common question on her 10 supplements! Some are a bear!! And ... scholarship apps are often needed, too. Try to make sure your S/D doesn't wait too long to get those done (great advice that my D, the ultimate procrastinator, totally ignored!!).</p>
<p>PITA indeed!</p>
<p>This summer have your child write a resume - two actually - a full resume and a one page summary. It is very handy in organizing activities. It was useful to give out to GC and teachers when asking for recommendations. My S did a couple of versions - one that expanded on his athletes that he emailed to coaches, that emphisized ECs and one that he used for job hunting this summer.</p>
<p>Great idea skiers-mom!</p>
<p>A friend gave us some valuable advice to help keep everything organized, and it was the best advice I got, so I will share it here:</p>
<p>Get a plastic file box (the kind with a handle that you can carry around - also helpful if it has a lid where you can keep pens, clips, stapler, stamps, etc.) and a bunch of hanging and regular files.</p>
<p>Make the following files:
Timeline / checklist
Resume
Transcript
Testing
Biographical data
School Reports
Letters of Recommendation
Essays
E.C.'s / Service Hours
Certificates & Awards
Scholarships & Financial Aid
FAFSA / CCS
Common Application
Comparisons
Guides
And then one folder for each college you are seriously considering</p>
<p>Use this file box to store everything, including all correspondene with your key colleges. You will be glad that you have everything in one place. I bought both hanging and regular folders. The regular folders had little pockets in the back - this is where my sone put the business cards he got from college visits.</p>
<p>Additionally, I recommend the following: Get an attractive two-pocket folder. Put copies in there of: transcript, senior year schedule, testing results, resume, critical awards. Put this folder in the front of your file box. Voila! You're ready to go to an interview or college night, and everything you might need to fill out forms is there.</p>
<p>In our family, we kept this box easily accessible in the kitchen, since that was where my son did a great deal of his college planning. The top of the box became his "in box" where I put the college mail he received. (by the way, he had another large box for all the junk mail from other colleges he wanted to keep, but was less serious about.)</p>
<p>Good luck to all!</p>
<p>Bumping again.</p>
<p>One of the best pieces of advice given to us, and I do plan to use it again this year, is to enclose self addressed and stamped post cards that are coded in the corner(example SUT1 might be for State Uni Teacher 1 rec) and simply say "please place this in the mail when you receive these materials" on the back. We used computer labels to save time. The cards were placed in all the materials that we sent, and in addition in all the materials the school sent. My sons were then able to check off the items when the cards came back, and chase down those items when the cards didn't come back. There were some schools that did not return the cards, but most did. It sure cuts down on wondering which items have been received. It also let us know that in one case one of the teachers had not done the recommendation because all of the T2 cards were missing, so my son could inquire but be a pest.</p>
<p>Bumping bc this is some really great advice!!</p>
<p>I just opened the new email account for college only emails and am going tonight to get the stuff for the file box idea. </p>
<p>I had previously made a spreadsheet for college apps and deadlines at the suggestion of BassDad over in the music majors forum. On it I have potential audition dates, audition piece requirements, deadlines for apps, fees for apps, whether or not said school takes the common apps, and any other pertinent info.</p>
<p>More advice:
--If you take the SAT twice, send the first scores to all of your colleges but wait to send the second scores until after you see them. Then, if the scores go down, as happened with my son, you don't have to send them to the colleges. Even though they all say they "superscore" it's better not to show them the lower scores.
--After you've filed all of your applications, around March 15, send an update letter to each college reaffirming your interest and updating them on things you've been doing inside and outside of the classroom.<br>
--Write thank you notes to everyone you meet along the way -- interviewers, admissions reps, etc.<br>
--Touch base with these people later in the process with questions, to show your continued interest, but make sure they are good questions.
--Be prepared to write a lot of different essays on the Common App supplements or for the schools that don't accept the Common App. Look over the applications and start brainstorming about possible topics to write about.
--When people ask where you (or your child) is applying, be vague. Don't even mention your reaches. In my son's case, I'd say "He's applying to about 10 schools--BU, Brandeis, a bunch of others."</p>
<p>Mom2Sons,
That's a great suggestion about the file box! I printed your post and am going to set up a box like that for my son. Thanks!</p>