College Mentors

Kiplinger recently published an interesting visual comparing the amount of college debt and average incomes for each state. They also provide information about the least and most expensive colleges based on outstanding debt: http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/studentdebt/map.html Of course, these are averages, and families must evaluate many factors when determining how expensive a particular college is for their family—family income and student academics can lead to scholarships and grants, etc.—even a very expensive college can be within reach, so don't restrict your college choices purely by cost.

As most of you know, the US News & World Report rankings have been released, and the push is on for students and families who believe that getting into one of the US News top tier colleges will make or break their future. It's simply not true for US News or any other ranking tool. There are several ranking tools--each with its own criteria. Make sure you know what attributes the particular tool is using, so that you can judge how important those attributes are to you. One tool that I think bears looking at is the Forbes list, which also just came out and which puts more of an emphasis on students' perspectives: http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/02/colleges-university-ratings-opinions-colleges-09-intro.html While any ranking list can be a useful tool to compare colleges on a given list of criteria, none should be used as a final authority as you construct your own college list. I know just how tough it is to listen to the hype, the peer pressure, the family pressure and so ...

The Common Application for 2009-2010 has been released, so you seniors can get started early at www.commonapp.org. The personal statement prompts have not changed, so if you've been working on your essay this summer, full speed ahead! Here's a run down of what's different: Demographics: Student-- There are a lot more demographic questions about the student, most related to race and ethnicity, all of which are optional, except for a question about first language and language spoken at home. Family-- There are a few more questions about families, including a designation of "other" for person with whom the student makes his/her home. Other-- They ask whether the student has had college counseling or assistance with their application process "from a community-based organization" such as Upward Bound or Questbridge. Other Sections: In the disciplinary statement, if you answer 'yes' to either question, they now want you to write about the incident and...

The White House has announced changes to the FAFSA form/process, changes to other financial aid programs, as well as new government based financial aid sources. Here's a highlight, followed by a link to the announcement from Ed.gov: FAFSA Form : A shorter, easier to fill out FAFSA form, especially online, where interactive "skip" technology will be used to help students navigate the form, making sure they see only the questions to which they need to respon d. This new version should be available this summer. Expanding Pell Grants and College Tax Credits: The Recovery Act increased Pell Grants by $500 to $5,350 for 2009-2010 and created the American Opportunity Tax Credit, a new $2,500 tax credit for four years of college tuition. In addition to those enacted changes, others have been proposed in the budget: Expanding the Perkins Loan Program: There is a budget proposal to allocate 5 billion to make Perkins loans available to over 2,600 additional schools and an estimat...

Of course, the answer to this question depends on what grade you are in, so here are a few pointers for each grade level: Going to be a high school Senior in the fall? These items should be on your to do list this summer: Prepare for taking or re-taking the SAT/ACT and/or Subject tests Work on your personal statement (the prompts don't change a lot from year to year) Work part time and/or enhance your extra-curriculars through volunteer work, community service, athletic and/or arts participation, leadership participation Start or continue researching possible colleges for you; think outside the box of your experience (i.e. consider different geography--such as small town if you're a city dweller or a city if you live in a rural area, size--such as small college if you went to a big high school, activities available, sports, campus life, etc.) Consider taking a class of interest at the local community college to enhance your resume Make some college visits, at least to nearby ...

Those of you who are completing your junior year in high school are probably planning to take or retake the SAT/ACT tests very soon. Which tests should you take? Is one type better than the other? When are the next test dates? Both the SAT and the ACT with writing are accepted by most colleges & universities. If you can, I recommend taking both and then using the scores from the exam on which you do best. The SAT and ACT test differently, and depending on your learning and testing style, you may do much better on one than the other. In a nutshell, the SAT tests abstract reasoning skills more than the ACT, which tests you on the body of knowledge you learn in high school. Both tests include a writing component. (We'll talk about SAT Subject tests in the next post.) SAT TEST DATES June 6th, 2009 Registration deadline is May 5th for regular registration and May 15th (mail) or May 19th (phone). There is an additional cost for late registration. They have not ...

Today I learned that Evergreen State College in Washington is still accepting applications for their fall class. Evergreen is a unique college, offering an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Their program would be of interest to students looking for a "progressive liberal arts and sciences college." If this kind of college sounds interesting to you and you have a 3.0 or above GPA, check out their website at: http://www.evergreen.edu/admissions/apply.htm