College Guidance Services

Spring Break – Visit a College

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:05:16 +0000

What are you doing during spring break? Sleeping in? Catching up on movies? Call your personal college counselor and arrange for a personal visit. Do NOT just pop in. Make sure college is in session. You want to meet your personal college admissions counselor and want them to get to know you. Dress nicely and be well-groomed. Make a good impression. Bring your parents, if possible. You want to let them know you are serious about this college. Ask questions. Make positive comments on things you like. Take advantage of any days that high school is not in session.

Work Study – What is it?

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:40:10 +0000

When the award letters begin coming this spring, work study may appear in the amount of $900 to $1500. Be careful about assuming that you will be given a job and be guaranteed these amounts. It may appear on paper but often students may need to be aggressive in getting the actual jobs. And, the work study job may conflict with your class schedule. In that case, you may have to find a different job if there is one still available. If there are no jobs open, you may be able to work only half of the assigned hours which translates into half the amount that appears on your work study total in the award letter.

Quite often work study is “first come — first served” and not unusual to find that upperclassment have already captured the jobs prior to freshmen even arriving on campus. So, don’t assume you will be able to make that amount of money. You may get lucky but you also may be left holding the empty work study bag.

Be flexible with your work schedule. Some colleges offer evening jobs that would not conflict with classes. Be open to unusual jobs and times and be flexible.

Check Out Award Letters Carefully

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:11:12 +0000

Colleges will soon begin to send out Award Letters which will tell you how much college will cost you and your family. Carefully check out the loans vs. grants.

Grants are preferred. They are gifts and do not need to be repaid. Also, check out the criteria for scholarships. What is the requirement to keep a scholarship? Some colleges merely want you to get a 2.0, others a 3.0, others a 3.2 and some a 3.5. Since most students get a somewhat lower g.p.a. in college than they did in high school, don’t make yourself vulnerable toward losing your aid.

Some colleges give the student generous aid but slam the parents with incredible debt. These are all things to look for. Keep in mind that the most expensive colleges tend to be the most generous. They may look like they will cost more, but may actually end up costing less. You may be quite surprised when you have all the award letters in your hot little hands.

Scholarship Weekends

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:54:54 +0000

So, you’ve been invited to a scholarship weekend at a college in your senior year. You may have to miss a friend’s birthday party, take time off from work, and you’re just not sure this scholarship weekend is worth it. Should you go? Yes! First of all, colleges don’t invite you unless they think you are scholarship material. Second, you could miss out on a scholarship if you don’t attend. These weekends are a series of competitions and meetings with faculty where you are given a score for each session. In the end, you could get thousands of dollars toward tuition. A scholarship weekend is a fun experience and could be very fruitful.

Private College Consultants

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:53:36 +0000

Should you hire a private college consultant? Private consultants can do a lot for you if you plan on getting into the top schools where it is extremely competitive. But, if you are a typical student that could possibly get scholarships and financial aid based on financial need, you could probably buy my book and get the same results. Most of what is in my book is from my private college consultant experiences. Get the book in the beginning of your junior year and just follow directions. You won’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a private consultant and probably do great!

Is a Vocational College for You?

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:35:30 +0000

This is no great surprise but not everyone is four-year college material. In fact, the majority of “hot” jobs are tech jobs requiring 1-2 years of vocational training. Junior colleges are filled with hot careers and experiencing record enrollments. What do they offer?

automotive technology,
automotive collision technology,
biofuels technology,
carpentry,
computer repair,
dental hygiene,
diesel technology,
emergency medical services,
graphics technology,
industrial electrician,
industrial mechanics,
maintenance electrician,
manufacturing technology,
media technology,
medical assistant,
medical laboratory technician,
radiologic technology,
sustainable energy,
web technology,
welding technology.

Employers are recruiting 2-year college students while still in school because they are having difficulties finding enough skilled individuals to keep their factories going. Many jobs go unfilled. The average age of a welder in the U.S. is nearly 60 yrs. old. Production lines can’t be sustained.

If these careers appeal to you, checkout local community colleges. And, if these careers do not appeal to you, you can attend the first two years at a junior college for far less money than a four-year college.

When Should I Visit a College?

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:48:29 +0000

Colleges have unique atmospheres and you want to experience this on a visit to campus. You can’t experience much of anything if the students are not there. You can’t experience the food in the cafeteria if it is closed because students are on break. Visit when your high school is not in session and the college is!!

What is an EFC?

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:20:37 +0000

EFC could possibly be the most important three letters to you as a college student. EFC stands for the Expected Family Contribution. When you submit the FAFSA, you will receive an SAR report, Student Aid Report. In the top right hand corner there will be some little numbers after the letters EFC. This is what your family is expected to pay for college based on the federal government’s formula. These are arbitrary numbers because colleges do not have to honor the EFC. “Your assignment, should you decide to accept this mission”, is to find a college that will come as close to the EFC as possible.

So, if your family EFC is 5000, this tranlates to $5000. If a college offers you an award letter of $5595, this will probably be your best offer. Another college may offer you a package where your family is expected to pay $12,000. Colleges can offer you anything they want. It is your mission to find a college that will offer you the best package.

Don’t Forget the FAFSA

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:58:28 +0000

This is the last day of February and time is ticking away for everyone to get their FAFSA filed. This drives all financial aid in colleges. For some of you, financial aid deadlines were already missed. Some colleges have deadlines of mid-February and some are March 1st or 15th. Don’t miss this deadline. Call your colleges immediately if you haven’t filed yet and get the deadline.

There are some colleges that are so generous that they extend the deadlines but don’t play chicken with the FAFSA. Colleges don’t always play nice once you’ve missed the financial aid deadlines. The colleges on this website do list the financial aid deadlines but they could have changed for this year. The only way to be sure is to review the literature each college sent you. If you’ve missed the deadline, that college may be out of the picture for you. Public universities play hardball more than private colleges.

Stop Doing Stupid Things

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:17:15 +0000

For some totally unknown reason, students are posting themselves doing stupid things on Facebook and MySpace. Stop it right now! Colleges in larger and larger numbers are going on these sites prior to giving scholarships to check for character. If a college Googles your name and you come up with a seductive pose with a babe/dude at a party and you are both holding beers or Capt. Morgan, you may lose a scholarship within seconds. You won’t even know that you had a chance to get it and won’t be notified why you didn’t get it. Some college consultants estimate the percentage of colleges doing this is over 20%. You can’t expect to get a scholarship based on leadership and character if you do things like this. And, with some scholarships in the $5,000 to $20,000 range, it just isn’t worth it.