Schools That Award Lots of Merit Scholarships

I recently wrote a post that shared the colleges and universities that say that they meet 100% of financial need for the majority of their families. If you missed it, here it is:

List of Colleges That Meet 100% of Financial Need

The story prompted a mom to email me over the weekend with this question:

Have you ever published a similar list to the “Most Generous Colleges” one – but focused on the colleges that are most generous with their MERIT aid?
A Tool to Find Merit Scholarships

I tend to get this question when I am giving presentations for affluent parents. Their children won’t qualify for need-based aid, but they loathe the idea of paying full price. (And many of them can’t pay the sticker price.) These parents want to know what schools award merit scholarships, which are given without regard to need.

It’s easy to find schools that dispense merit scholarships. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if all public colleges and universities offered these awards. Thanks to the National Association of College and University Business Officers, I do know that 87% of private institutions dispense merit scholarships. The average tuition discount is 57%, which is an historic high.

Clearly, finding schools that award scholarships doesn’t pose much of a challenge . That said, there is an online tool from COLLEGEdata that can help you pinpoint schools that provide a large percentage of their students with merit aid.

I recorded the YouTube video below on how you can use the COLLEGEdata search tool to find schools that award a high percentage of students merit awards. This video will also be relevant to anyone looking for schools that are generous with need-based aid since I explain how you can sort schools by the percentage of financial need an institution provides.

College Tips: Admissions counselors pay attention to bouts of 'senioritis'

Senioritis — an often chronic malady that strikes 12th graders with bouts of laziness and apathy — can be a problem for college applications.

High school seniors may not want to hear this, but grades matter, even those that are earned after the Common Application has been submitted.

“It’s the first thing I look at when I open a file,” Matt Middleton, the College of New Jersey’s associate director of admissions, said. “What courses are they taking their senior year and what are their grades? They are critical.”

Middletown said first quarter and first semester grades from senior year tell admissions officers a great deal about the applicant.

“I want to see are they continuing to challenge themselves or are they coasting along,” he said.

Many applicants think junior year is the showcase year, since the application process begins before senior year starts. And for students who apply early, applications are filed before the year’s first tests are taken.

But colleges have until March to make their final decisions, so Middleton cautions students from slacking off.

“If I’m looking at a file second time, if I see students doing well, it might move them from the wait list to admitted, or from the denial pile to the wait list,” he said.

“Our attitude is that senior year is the springboard to college,” he added. “We want you to continue to push.”

Final checklist for seniors

While many seniors have completed their college applications, there are still lots of procrastinators out there who will wait until 11:59 on Dec. 31 to hit the submit button.

Here is a final checklist for seniors who may think they’re done:

• Finish your first semester strong. Don’t get complacent, even if you’ve already been accepted. Read your acceptance letters carefully, because colleges are quite clear that your acceptance is contingent on consistent performance. Don’t let yourself be the cautionary tale for juniors by having your offer rescinded. Colleges will request a mid-year report and an end-of-year final transcript.

• Check your application status – colleges will generally inform you via email if some item in your application folder is missing. Be certain to read all emails from your colleges. Once they have notified you that your application is incomplete, it is your responsibility to rectify the situation. This might mean that your letter(s) of recommendation, test scores or transcripts have not arrived.

• Make sure your name is consistent on all college-related documents. One of my students this year was surprised when a college said it had not received her test scores, though they’d been sent months earlier.

After some investigation it was determined that she had used her middle name on her college application but did not use it when she signed up for testing. Consequently, while the test scores were sent to the college, they were never linked to her application due to the inconsistency with the names. She had applied Early Action and was deferred due to an incomplete application folder.

• Thank your teachers, recommenders and school guidance staff. They have a lot on their plates and their roles are often under-appreciated. Send a personal note, and you are sure to stand out.

• Start researching merit-based and need-based scholarship opportunities. Most high schools provide links to scholarships on their websites. Check out the honors college programs and institutional scholarships deadlines at each of the colleges where you’re applying. Those will be the most generous and offer you the best return on investment.

• Re-evaluate your list. Now, with a little distance and hopefully a little less anxiety, review each of the colleges where you’ve applied and prepare a written critique: “What I like best …” and “What I like least …” These lists will be very helpful when you find yourself accepted at multiple colleges and need to make a final decision.

• Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Create your Plan B. In the unlikely situation that the worst-case scenario occurs, you’ll need to decide if you’ll attend community college, work or create your own gap-year program.

Take comfort in knowing that this will all be over in less than 4 1/2 months. May1 is National Decision Day, when students need to inform colleges of their final decisions. It will be here before you know it.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/12/09/4531556/final-checklist-for-seniors.html#.UqnaeFtDuAh#storylink=cpy

College Admissions: What Your PSAT Scores Really Mean

PSAT scores will arrive for anxious high school students this week (Coming to NTHS Students in January). These scores mark the time when sophomores and juniors can begin to target colleges that are in range. Realistically, there are only 5 months left for juniors to visit colleges before campuses empty out in the first week of May. In the fall, early action dates begin a few weeks after school opens, and many colleges are filling 30-70% of their seats in that round. So, starting your visits in junior year is critical. If your school is slow about handing out scores, you may want to go online and get them. Then, how do you interpret your PSAT scores and use them to launch your college search?

Estimating SAT scores

If you add a zero to end of each PSAT score, that would be your SAT score. Your percentiles indicate how well you did vs. other students in your grade taking the PSAT. You are not measured against 11th graders, if you are in 10th grade. If you scored in the 85th percentile, you did better than 84 out of 100 students in your grade nationally. Because of additional math coursework, you will most likely see your math score increase from your sophomore to junior PSAT. If you elect to do test prep, you will probably see a bigger increase. Most students who prep will go up 60-180 total points (across all 3 sections) from the junior PSAT to the SAT. Many families believe their child will jump 300 points or more with test prep. That kind of an increase is rare, and choosing colleges according to that hope will get you into trouble.

Low scores should NOT be ignored

For students who are getting A’s or B’s in school, PSAT scores below 40 can often be an indicator of an undiagnosed learning disability (LD) or anxiety during testing. Talk to a neuro-psychologist or college counselor about options for educational testing. If you are diagnosed with dyslexia, ADD, ADHD or other learning differences, you may qualify for extended time on test day. It is best to do evaluations by 10th grade since the standards for extended SAT time have been getting more stringent. Those with scores in the 40s-50s who are aiming for a competitive college should begin test prep early and be very diligent about studying each week on their own. Students should also consider taking the ACT. It can often be a better test for students who are high achievers in school or who don’t do well with vocabulary.

What colleges care about

Colleges DO NOT see your PSAT scores. PSAT scores are intended as practice for the SAT and allow you to determine areas where you may need help. The only situation in which they may affect your admission is if you are a National Merit Semi-Finalist or Winner. Only juniors are considered for this award, and the cutoff varies, but you usually have to have a total score of 210 or better. If you are a finalist, it is viewed as a very prestigious honor by colleges and there may be scholarship money to follow.

Test Prep is a MUST

Most students should begin SAT prep in the fall or winter of their junior year, and spend 10-12 weeks studying before they take the test. However, some students with lower scores or those aiming for highly competitive colleges, may want to begin prep as early as sophomore year. The type of study program you select depends on your budget and needs. Some high school based programs are free, but many are relatively weak. It depends on the curriculum and instructor. The major test prep companies like Kaplan and Princeton Review do a very good job of screening teachers and training them, but the group courses will not usually help you with content review (geometry, algebra, grammar). They typically focus on test taking strategy. A well-trained and qualified private SAT tutor will teach strategy and address individual needs to learn the relevant math, vocabulary and writing skills—but the cost is a bit higher. For families who cannot afford courses or tutors, there are terrific SAT prep books on the market, and some highly motivated students can achieve top scores with disciplined self-study.

SAT Alternatives

If you have tried the SAT and ACT, done test prep, and still can’t achieve competitive scores—then it is time to consider “Test Optional” colleges. Today, there are more than 800 in the U.S., and they include prestigious liberal arts colleges like Middlebury, Bowdoin and Bates. Catholic colleges are also jumping on the bandwagon, including Providence College, St. Michael’s and De Paul. What you won’t find on the list are the primary campuses of state universities or the Ivy League.

*Not all high schools offer the PSAT for sophomores

Our Financial Aid Checklist

Today, we're pleased to bring you Part II of a checklist of tasks you should be tackling right now to pay for college, courtesy of College Advisor Alice Kleeman. Admission deans, financial aid officers and college counselors agree that the single biggest mistake families make in the college application process is failing to apply for financial aid. So even if you think you won't qualify, apply. Use this checklist to make sure you are eligible for ALL the aid you may qualify for.

*          Most importantly, do apply for financial aid to be sure you are considered for all assistance available. You may be pleasantly surprised. And, sometimes, even though you don't qualify for federal aid, you need to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to be considered for merit scholarships, state aid and federal student loans.

*             Check with your high school counselor about financial aid workshops scheduled at your school or in the community and attend with your parents! 

*          December is a good time for families to gather all the tax-related information that is available before the year's end; this will facilitate early filing of both taxes and the FAFSA in the new year. The FAFSA can be filed based on estimates if tax returns are not completed, but beginning to assemble all the important information necessary for prompt tax filing can hasten the process for a year in which a family is applying for financial aid. Just remember, do not SUBMIT your FAFSA before January 1—it will not be processed for the correct school year!

*          The list of documents needed for filing -- tax returns for the most recent year, Social Security numbers, driver's license information, student and parent W-2 forms and other records of money earned, current bank statements, etc. -- can be found on the FAFSA website here. Families can also find worksheets on the FAFSA website to fill out prior to filing.

*          If you have not obtained your FAFSA PIN (Personal Identification Number), do so now. You can obtain a FAFSA PIN (Personal Identification Number) for yourself and one of your parents here.  Later, when you file the FAFSA electronically, you will use the PIN to create an electronic signature. While you may obtain a PIN now, remember you will not file the FAFSA until after January 1.

*          Check with your high school college counselor to make sure you understand any special requirements for applying for aid at public universities in your state and have completed all forms necessary to qualify for state financial aid.

*          If you have begun to correspond with the financial aid offices of the colleges on your list, make sure that all communication includes your name, address, email address, the last four digits of your social security number, and your date of birth on every page.

*          Continue researching scholarships and use the winter break to tackle scholarship applications. Again, here are some resources for researching scholarships: 

CollegeData

CollegeScholarships.org

College Board Scholarship Search

FastWeb

FinAid’s Major-Specific Resource

Meritaid

Moolahspot

Peterson's Database

Scholarships.com

Scholarships4Students.com

Scholarshipedia   

School Soup

The Web-based Naviance system features a scholarship search service powered by Sallie Mae. Check with your counselor to see if your school offers this feature of Naviance.
 

*          Draft a scholarship essay. Many scholarship applications ask for a personal statement that is essentially a brief autobiography. Collect all your already-prepared college essays and begin to think about creating a personal statement and drafting your scholarship essays. This brief autobiography can include information about your family's financial situation. But pay attention to what each application requests for the personal statement and be sure to answer the specific prompt.  

*               Deadlines matter! Track them carefully. You can use the Financial Aid Deadline Organizer available here. Or your high school may have an online system, such as Naviance, for tracking progress and deadlines. Check with your high school guidance or college counselor.

*             Submit your CSS Profile to colleges that require it by each college's deadline.

*             If you have questions, ask your high school college counselor or speak with the college financial aid office about any concerns about the FAFSA, CSS PROFILE, deadlines or scholarships and financial aid in general!

What Do Colleges Look For In Applicants?

There are many factors that go into admissions decisions and there is no magic formula to ensure you will be admitted into a particular college. However, most colleges do use some similar criteria as they select their incoming freshman class.

Students should find out the entrance requirements for any college they are considering. You should also know in advance how selective a college is. Bear in mind, meeting the entrance requirements does not guarantee entrance into that college. There are many factors colleges will look at including GPA, class rank, standardized test scores, personal statements and essays, which courses you have taken, recommendations, extracurricular activities and interviews.

The weight of any given statistic varies between colleges. Large state university systems typically use a mathematical formula based on GPA and SAT or ACT test scores. They also are partial to students from their own state.

Some private colleges will look more closely at personal statements and essays, teacher recommendations, your leadership abilities and your areas of talent.

When filling out college applications, remember this is the time to present yourself in the best possible light while still using your actual past record. Colleges want to know the following things about you:

• How well can you handle the academic pressure at their campus?
• Do you value the unique advantages they offer?
• What will your contributions be to life on their campus?
• How will your personality and character be a positive influence for them?
• How well will you handle managing your independence from home and family?
• Have you learned to budget your time, set priorities and make sacrifices?

As you think about and answer these questions, follow these guidelines:

• Don't merely tell them what they want to hear. Instead, show them, illustrating with specific examples from your past. The college will infer that your future behavior and values will follow from your past history.
• Don't just give examples. Explain what those examples meant to you. How have they shaped your current outlook?
• Don't just tell the college that you did certain things. Outline the reasons why you did them. Your motivations behind your past actions are the best predictor of your future behavior.

Even though there are no guarantees of being admitted, following these tips will show the colleges that you are a serious candidate. Keep working away at those applications and know that in a few short months, this will all be forgotten and you'll be looking forward to starting the next chapter of your life. In the meantime, I want to wish you all a Happy Holiday.

Give Thanks for Online SAT Test Prep Resources

Planning SAT preparation can be a test all by itself. Listening to advice from fellow test-takers, teachers and the vast world of online resources might overwhelm you as you devise a study plan that best suits you.

Start by narrowing your search with these five SAT prep resources that you'll be thankful for throughout your journey. 

(NTHS offers a great SAT Prep program called PrepMe through the Navaince Family Connection home page. When students login, the link is in the upper left hand corner)

1. Free practice exams: At the start of your SAT prep, it is important to assess your strengths and challenges on the exam. Taking a practice test is one of the best ways to decide how to tailor your study plan to your specific skills. Begin by trying the College Board's Official SAT Practice Test. 

Continue assessing your exam-taking skills throughout your prep schedule with free test questions and exams available online. Once you take a practice exam, try the College Board's skills assessment tool for tips on developing specific skills. 

Scoring your timed practice sections is the only way to understand yourself as an SAT test-taker and to determine your most personalized approach to the exam. 

2. Writing resources: The SAT essay section moves quickly and serves up a challenge in the same way that any timed writing exam does. As with all aspects of SAT prep, the best way to become comfortable with the essay is to practice at least four to five timed essays before test day, and score them. 

Scoring the essays is a good way to include people who want to support you in your preparation. Ask them to read and score your essays, as well as note grammatical concerns or awkward parts of your piece. 

Look for any patterns in their feedback, such as passive voice, subject-verb agreement problems or punctuation issues. Your family members might not use those terms, but you should evaluate the constructive criticism and try to name the problems so you can fix them for the actual exam. 

Many online writing centers offer handouts and even videos that explain common writing problems. Once you identify, name and learn to revise your errors, you can walk into the exam prepared to proofread for those specific concerns before time is up. 

3. Online vocabulary builders: The SAT verbal section is notorious for its challenging vocabulary. Many classic SAT words come from scholarly sources, which assume audiences with high levels of education and a specialized vocabulary. 

It is natural for these words to be unfamiliar to high school students. There are many free vocabulary-building sites. Flashcard Flash is a search engine that finds flashcards from several websites. Flashcards come in mobile app form, too, and many are free. 

4. Online math explanations: Very few students express gratitude for math questions, but during SAT prep, students frequently become appreciative of anything that helps make sense of their SAT challenges. 

One website, FreeSATMath, offers a very straightforward SAT math problem-explanation set-up. Students can access math problems and answer choices, and can get help or see reference material. 

The simplicity of the site is what makes it attractive. There is nothing to navigate. You can focus on the 

5. Online games: Test prep can be fun! For instance, some people find the math section challenging simply because they don't like working with numbers. 

Online sudoku puzzles can help build confidence in number relationships and keep the mind nimble while breaking from the exam format. Students with more time to prepare can consider a free basic membership to Lumosity, a brain game program that claims to sharpen critical thinking, among many other skills, through an individualized program. 

Online games are a strong resource for students who have thought ahead and want to increase the speed and agility of their critical thinking. 

No matter how many skills a student needs to develop before exam day, these five resources are flexible enough to meet a variety of test prep challenges. 

Your College Advisor - Dec. 1, 2013: Have I been accepted?

Before I start this week's college column, I want to share with you an article I read in the fall 2013 issue of "The Journal of College Admission." The article was about the top stressors on students as they applied to colleges. The top two stressors are writing the college essay, noted by 71 percent of students, and taking the standardized tests, noted by 64 percent.

Hopefully you read our column on how to write a winning essay, and you know about one of our favorite websites, fairtest.org, which lists schools that do not prioritize standardized tests. There, we just took the two top stressors out of your college application process! If you missed the column on how to write a winning college essay, email me at patrestaino@optonline.net and I will be happy to send you a copy.

High school seniors who applied to college through an early decision or early action program should know their fate in the next week or so. For those who get accepted, congratulations are in order. The good news is the pressure is off. Knowing which college (most likely your first-choice school) is in your future certainly has a calming effect on the entire family.

Since early decision is binding, when you apply, you agree to attend the college. Therefore, if you applied to any schools through regular admissions, you must withdraw those applications. Inform your counselor that you were accepted by early decision and then write any letters to colleges that you already applied to withdrawing your application.

But what if you suffer from buyer's remorse or your financial aid package is less than you expected? Circumstances do change. However, think long and hard before you break an early decision contract. Some colleges do share this information. And since this reflects poorly on you, you jeopardize your chances of getting accepted to other schools.

But what happens if you don't get accepted by your early decision school? In most cases, you'll go into the regular admissions pool, so there is still the chance that you'll get into your first-choice school. If you waited to hear from your early decision school before applying to others, send in any applications that are ready or continue with your college search. The typical deadline for regular admissions ranges from Jan. 1 and onward. Know your deadlines.

If you get accepted through an early action program, you have choices. Since early action is not binding, students can apply early action to more than one school, as well as regular admissions. When you get accepted by an early action school, you can accept immediately or wait until the spring deadline (May 1), after you've heard from all of the colleges you applied to.

Even when you decide to wait until you hear from all of the schools, it's a relief knowing that college is in your future. Counselors get very busy this time of the year, so don't wait to bring them your applications. If your deadline is the beginning of January, your counselor needs to know now, not the first week in January when you come back from Christmas break.

- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/columnists/234026981_Your_College_Advisor_-_Dec__1__2013__Have_I_been_accepted_.html#sthash.uMJEXza8.dpuf

College Tips: Parents, get ready to tackle the FAFSA

The college application process is often emotional, with students sizing up their choices based on their gut feelings. But there's an important financial side to the decision: How are we going to pay for it?

For most families, that conversation begins with the federal financial aid application, known as the FAFSA.

Edward Bove is College Planning Director and a founding member of Ducerus, a national organization that works with families on all aspects of college admissions and financial aid. Based in Union, Bove has more than 23 years of experience as a financial advisor and tax professional. And all three of his children are currently in college.

Here, he answers the basic questions about the FAFSA

Q. What is the FAFSA, and what information does it want?

The Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the form used to determine the amount of money a family is expected to contribute toward college costs. Your financial need is difference between the cost of a particular college and this Expected Family Contribution (EFC). You are required to submit the FAFSA every year you attend college to qualify for federal grants, loans and work study. Most states and colleges also use it for their own aid programs.

The FAFSA seeks both personal and financial information for dependent students and their parents. (Independent students do not need to provide parent information.) You will need to provide obvious information like name, address and Social Security number, and some not so obvious information like the date the parents were married or divorced. Required financial information includes earnings, adjusted gross income, savings and the net worth of certain investments.

Q. Is the FAFSA just for lower income students and their families? Is there a maximum family income that makes it not worth the effort?

Not at all. In fact, you can make a comfortable six-figure income and still qualify for need-based aid. Because the FAFSA is based on a complicated formula called the Federal Methodology — does the federal government ever do anything that isn't complicated? — there is no specific income cutoff. In addition to income, there are many other factors that determine your eligibility for aid including certain assets, the size of your family and the number of students attending college at the same time. Even if you're not sure you will qualify for aid, it always is worthwhile to submit the FAFSA. In fact, you can't obtain federal loans without filling one out.

Q. It has a bad reputation for being a pain to complete. Is that fair?

It is a reputation that is well deserved. While it appears simple at first glance, it is anything but. Filling out the FAFSA is like tiptoeing through a mine field. One wrong move and you're a goner. For example, one question asks for the net worth of the parents' investments, including real estate. However, if you fail to read the question carefully, you may not realize that you are not supposed to include the value of the home in which you live. That has proven to be a very costly error for many an applicant who has mistakenly included the value of their home.

Q. Should I wait until I complete my 2013 tax return before submitting the FAFSA?

Absolutely not! It is much better to submit the FAFSA early using income estimates, than it is to wait until you have exact figures. In fact, you are allowed to go back and update the FAFSA after you have filed your tax return. So there is no reason to wait. Most colleges have a February 1st "priority deadline" for submitting the FAFSA. You'll get the best aid package if you get it in by that date since aid is dished out on a first come, first served basis. It's like going to a party: You want to get there early while there are plenty of refreshments to go around, not later when there are only crumbs left on the table.