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What we have learned about choosing college and paying for it


Kendall
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We have received the complete financial aid package from the 3 colleges.

I know that the scholarships are set in stone and renewable provided he keeps his grades

 

This whole process has been a huge learning experience.

 

Lessons learned:

 

"Buying" a college is more like buying a car or house than buying a refrigerator.

 

There is more scholarship available than what is on their websites.

 

When we got the financial aid package there were little scholarships on there that hadn't been mentioned before.

 

If you let them know that you are leaning toward another college because of finances, you can get more scholarship money (discovered this by accident).

 

We got more grant aid than we expected. Someone probably could have told me this based on our EFC, but I had no idea.

 

Don't decide that one college is out before you have all of the numbers even if it looks impossible. We might even have looked at some other schools had we known this, well probably not with this child but we will look more for the next one.

 

Have them write down their feelings/emotions about each school. When one school looks out of reach they tend to supress the excitement about that school. When it comes back into the realm of possibility it helps to refresh their memory of what they liked about it.

 

Even federal aid is vastly different from one college to the other.

 

This college choosing process can be an emotional roller coaster ride.

 

I'm glad I didn't have twins going through this.

 

Lots and lots of talking with your senior and making calls can mean your younger children will have no chance of a good enough education to allow them to receive scholarships:). I guess we’ll be doing summer school.

 

Kendall

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Thanks, Kendall, for your observations! I'll add my two cents to yours. And additional observations. What a great post!

 

 

We have received the complete financial aid package from the 3 colleges. I know that the scholarships are set in stone and renewable provided he keeps his grades

 

1) A few colleges have fixed tuition costs (guarantee that tuition won't rise over four years), but most do not. A scholarship that starts out as a percentage of the tuition will cover less and less as the years roll on. One of dd's schools averaged a 12.67% yearly tuition increase over the past three years--eek! 2) The state university near us has an all or nothing policy on keeping up GPAs for renewing scholarships. If the GPA dips too low, the scholarship money drops to zero. Nor is the a grace semester to raise a low GPA. We found more grace at the LACs. Most would drop a student back to the next lower level for which their GPA still qualified them, and some had a grace semester. 3) There is simply no way to overstate the importance of keeping as high as possible GPA in the first year. Looking at it from a purely mathematical standpoint, it is nearly impossible to recover from a low GPA without extrememe effort, because the greater the number of hours, the more diluted the effect of each hour becomes. Keeping it high in the first place is of paramount importance. I told my student that if she likes her nice college situation, she'd better work hard to keep it, because the harsh reality is that the alternate is community college.

 

 

 

This whole process has been a huge learning experience. Ditto

 

Lessons learned:

 

"Buying" a college is more like buying a car or house than buying a refrigerator.

 

There is more scholarship available than what is on their websites. This is true in many cases, but not in all (sadly).

 

When we got the financial aid package there were little scholarships on there that hadn't been mentioned before. Yep

 

If you let them know that you are leaning toward another college because of finances, you can get more scholarship money (discovered this by accident). Yes, but not all the time. :(

 

We got more grant aid than we expected. Someone probably could have told me this based on our EFC, but I had no idea.

 

Don't decide that one college is out before you have all of the numbers even if it looks impossible. We might even have looked at some other schools had we known this, well probably not with this child but we will look more for the next one.

 

Have them write down their feelings/emotions about each school. When one school looks out of reach they tend to supress the excitement about that school. When it comes back into the realm of possibility it helps to refresh their memory of what they liked about it. Good Idea!

 

Even federal aid is vastly different from one college to the other.

 

This college choosing process can be an emotional roller coaster ride. Oh, honey, we all feel beat up emotionally. I'm hoping by the end of the week we'll be ready to celebrate!

 

I'm glad I didn't have twins going through this.

 

Lots and lots of talking with your senior and making calls can mean your younger children will have no chance of a good enough education to allow them to receive scholarships:). I guess we’ll be doing summer school. Join us? :glare:

 

Kendall

 

Loved your post, Kendall!

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Thanks, Kendall! Great post! Here are a couple more learnings from personal experiences of the Guheerts:

 

- Some colleges will reduce, eliminate or otherwise renege on scholarships that are listed on their website before your child attends. We are hoping this does not happen for multi-year commitments *after* the student begins attending.

 

- When a college states that it will provide "full ride," "full tuition," "half-tuition" or whatever for some student achievement or situation, this does NOT mean that there is a single scholarship. It may be the combination of ten different scholarships that add up to the total. While the dollar amount is the same, the amount of justification/application required to get that dollar amount may be *much* higher than anticipated.

 

- Some states, including VA, will provide non-need-based grants to residents who attend accredited private schools in-state.

 

- Students should NOT stop applying for scholarships/aid once they begin attending. They may be able to learn about/get more while they are there.

Edited by RegGuheert
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I'm glad I didn't have twins going through this.

 

Kendall

 

When I did this with my oldest a couple of years ago, all I could think about was how much work it would be with the twins, and they were only 2 at the time!!

 

Thanks, Kendall! Great post! Here are a couple more learnings from personal experiences of the Guheerts:

 

- Some colleges will reduce, eliminate or otherwise renege on scholarships that are listed on their website before your child attends. We are hoping this does not happen for multi-year commitments *after* the student begins attending.

 

-

 

Yes, this happened to my son. Due to budget cutbacks, the state pulled a $2000 scholarship for this semester. This was a scholarship that was for low-income students for the first two years of college.

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  • 1 month later...
Lots and lots of talking with your senior and making calls can mean your younger children will have no chance of a good enough education to allow them to receive scholarships:). I guess we’ll be doing summer school.

 

Kendall

 

Kendall, I literally LOL when I got to this part of your post! Thanks for the levity! Thanks, too, for sharing from your experience. I have a rising senior and am thankful for your insight. Lately, I've found myself telling my dd that my efforts to research/investigate options for her have become a full time job!!! (I'd prefer that she stick with the books and let me do some of this legwork..... ;-P)

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I'm glad I didn't have twins going through this.

 

 

 

I wish I did - my ds may be going off to college at about 60% off thanks to scholarships, etc. - BUT even while we coached him through essays and tests and interviews we were having to get a guardianship and set up a special needs trust for his fraternal twin SillyAutismBoy. I would far rather be sending two boys off to college :-(

 

Now, the Gosselins going off to college in 12 years.....!!!!!!

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