Can you ask a college for more scholarship money? Most often, the answer is “Yes, it never hurts to ask.” When it comes to asking for more scholarship money, there seem to be three different types of colleges: Colleges that do not accept requests for more financial aid Colleges that Read more…
There are many ways to avoid choosing a college you can’t afford, but it does take some work. First, let’s take a look at why some families do choose a college they can’t afford. Why (Would You) Choose a College You Can’t Afford? Prestige – We all struggle with this Read more…
Finding your deals is the point in the Upside Down College Search process where you determine colleges that are likely to meet the criteria you have defined and will be a good deal for your family. Over the past several weeks, I have covered the steps to defining your criteria: What Read more…
What does your student “need” in a college? Now is the time to separate “wants” and “needs”. This is the third article in the series that breaks down the Upside Down College Search concept I first introduced in “A Better Way to Search for Colleges: The Upside Down College Search“. Read more…
What’s your student’s merit hook for the college search process? I am not going to go so far as to say that every future college student has a merit hook, but most do. Even if your student is not at the very top of his or her class, he or Read more…
What can your family afford for college? Knowing this is the first step in the Upside Down College Search process. I introduced this concept last week as A Better Way to Search for Colleges. This Upside Down College Search process is targeted for families caught in the middle – too much Read more…
Do you need a better way to search for colleges? Last week, I wrote about The College Search Family Caught in the Middle. Basically, if your family makes too much money for need-based aid, but you don’t have enough college savings for four years of college at any school your Read more…
The college search family caught in the middle – Can’t afford the sticker price of college, but too wealthy for financial aid. This is the type of college search family I focus on most on mykidscollegechoice.com. Characteristics of the College Search Family Caught in the Middle Has some college savings Read more…
I have taken a couple weeks off from writing a new post. The first week, I was out of the country on an amazing company-sponsored trip. It made me feel very fortunate to be where I am today and it made me also feel very grateful for how things have Read more…
Is Sophomore year too early to start a college search? There are varying opinions on this. I could argue either way with respect to actually starting the search for potential colleges in earnest. However, there are definitely Sophomore year college preparation activities that should be taken care of. Second-Semester Sophomore Read more…