Have you heard/ used Dave Ramsey's Custom College Guide?

[momofkhm]

Dave Ramsey’s Custom College Guide will show you how to go to college debt free! This customized book features the colleges you’ve chosen and lays out financial help you qualify for. It compares up to six of your top college choices. You’ll see the total cost of each school compared side-by-side so you can make the most informed decision.

It also teaches you the difference between the different types of financial aid—which ones to take advantage of (because they’re free money!) and which ones to stay away from (because you have to pay back loans!). We will help you understand exactly what you are signing up for.

 

I just got this email this morning and it looks good but I don't want to send him $160 is it doesn't work.

 

http://www.daveramsey.com/tools/college-guide/?ectid=ccg.e4594&et_cid=2300271&et_rid=0&linkid=learn+more+at+dr.com

[dirty ethel rackham]

I think there are many FREE ways of getting that information (or very low cost ways), that I certainly would not pay someone $160 for it. Dave Ramsey just went down even a few more notches in my book for assuming people are so dumb that they should fork over that much money to do their thinking for them. The Princeton Review puts out a book called Paying for College without Going Broke. Before I forked over that much money, I'd read a couple books on the topic and subscribe to a couple of lists (hs2coll and homeschool2college are two yahoo groups that I found helpful.)

[TranquilMind]

I just got this email this morning and it looks good but I don't want to send him $160 is it doesn't work.

 

http://www.daveramse... more at dr.com

 

 

Another young guy wrote a book about the same topic. Debt-Free U by Zac Bissionette. There are actually several similar books, so I'd not be dropping $160 on Ramsey's stuff.

 

Dave's actually doing for you what you can do for yourself. I never pay for stuff like that. There are things that require specialized knowledge and training, but this isn't it.

[creekland]

From the link:

 

 

Dave Ramsey’s Custom College Guide will show you how to go to college debt free! This customized book features the colleges you’ve chosen and lays out financial help you qualify for. It compares up to six of your top college choices. You’ll see the total cost of each school compared side-by-side so you can make the most informed decision.

 

It also teaches you the difference between the different types of financial aid—which ones to take advantage of (because they’re free money!) and which ones to stay away from (because you have to pay back loans!). We'll help you understand exactly what you are signing up for.

 

There's no way I'd pay for it. It sounds like a "Get More Wealth" scheme for DR himself. This is ALL stuff you can EASILY do yourself with some time put in on the internet (not even a ton of time, after all, you've already picked your colleges - he doesn't take your info and match you up). I'd actually put this in under a scam heading if I received it.

[momofkhm]

This was pretty much how I felt when I got it. It seemed really expensive to me. Thanks for telling me what I already know!

[creekland]

I could see where this would be helpful for those who are just overwhelmed with the whole process, and don't know what to look for nor even where the info could be found. Or, they just don't want to do all of the research on their own.

 

FWIW, most services are for those things that we could actually do for ourselves: financial planning, housekeeping, lawn care, clothing alterations, car washing, etc. IMHO, this is just another service being offered. No harm in that, really.

 

 

I don't have a problem with people offering services. I have major problems with people like Dave Ramsey (very wealthy himself) marketing such an overpriced product to people who are usually trying hard to use his program (or similar programs) to get out of debt. If someone were marketing this to people who could usually afford financial planning, housekeeping, lawn care, etc, then who cares? $160 is probably no more than a drop in the bucket for them and they can spend it where they choose. They probably spend more on dinner out at times or maybe a piece of clothing. But for those deep in debt and trying to get out from under it to the point that they would choose DR, $160 is a large amount - and he's not offering anything for that cost IMO. These folks would be served better by a free (he can afford it) "How To" site on his website, then turned loose to do the little bit of work themselves. Or, as was mentioned before, a less expensive book like Debt Free U could be appropriate.

 

It's the situation that make me say scam.

 

Actually, on our local news they've been running some college finance "On Your Side" advice and they ALWAYS tell people not to pay for services (like this) you can do yourself calling such services scams - so it's not just me thinking it. It's not just DR. There are tons of people out there trying to make a buck off those who can least afford it by telling them they can find extra aid or info or scholarships or something. There's nothing special any of these can do. They just want you to think there is and send them some $$.

[Jane in NC]

One would think that Dave Ramsay would be spouting "Get Thee to the Public Library!"

[Guest TSilcox]

If the books, high school guidance counselors or college financial aid offices alone

were the solution, we wouldn’t have over a trillion in student debt in this country

with almost a third of it delinquent. A service that helps anyone figure out exactly

how to stay out of that sinkhole while getting a degree would seem to be a good

thing. Obviously not for everyone but it’s good for some of us who don’t want to

spend days trying to calculate everything on our own. After all, time is money, too.

[regentrude]

It compares up to six of your top college choices. You’ll see the total cost of each school compared side-by-side so you can make the most informed decision.

 

The raw information about cost is available for free on the schools' websites. Paying somebody to collect these data for me doe snot seem a wise financial decision.

Furthermore, this info does not take into account the amount of financial aid will be offered to the individual student which will make the picture look entirely differently. I doubt Dave Ramsey has a crystal ball and can see what the schools would actually cost to my student.

[Barbara H]

If it is a statistical comparision of colleges that you want - there are free online tools that will do that.

https://bigfuture.co...ompare-colleges

http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

The College Navigator isn't pretty, but if you are motivated and want to spend some time on it, there is a lot of very good information there.

 

As far as books, my top suggestion would be Princeton Review's Paying for College Without Going Broke. Most libraries have it. I find it to be a more substantial book than Debt Free U. I also have many free articles on my site that you may find helpful. Here's one that explains how to start getting an idea what college will cost: Planning for College Costs

 

As a homeschool and college consultant, I believe I offer a valuable service that is personalized to the needs of individual families. I do not believe everyone needs to hire a college counselor. There is a lot of good information available online for people who have the time and interest to put it into context. I consider a consultant similar to hiring an accountant or a kitchen remodeler. It is just about your individual needs and abilities. I personally won't pay someone to do my taxes because that isn't hard for me, but I will happily pay someone with more expertise and training to do major home repairs (particularly if it keeps my family members who overestimate their competence at doing electrical work from doing it!) I'm not willing to pay for a $160 book that gives me generic advice about how to do home repairs though. It is pretty impossible to tackle the financial planning aspects of college without understanding how the student's academic profile comes into play and I'm not sure if that is represented in this book because I haven't seen it.

 

Finally, please do not pay for scholarship services because they are a scam.

[creekland]

Obviously not for everyone but it’s good for some of us who don’t want to

spend days trying to calculate everything on our own. After all, time is money, too.

 

Just for the record, it certainly didn't take me "days" to figure out costs (and potential for merit or need based aid) for each college my kids were interested in. It's even easier now that all colleges have to have a net price calculator on their website.

 

What takes longer is finding potential good schools - and this is something this $160 program does NOT do for you. You have to do that yourself. You'll also need to provide your financial data to them too (assuming they do get personalized). This is the same data any individual can plug into the Net Price Calculators...

 

IF the service were to take the students stats, likes/dislikes (fit stuff), financial data, potential major(s), etc, then help them find potentially affordable schools, THEN it might be worth paying for - esp for those with time constraints. This is what many college counselors do (along with coaching apps in some cases). But, as advertised in the link, this service does not do that.

 

And again, DR tends to play toward those who can least afford to be paying for things they can do themselves at a much, much lower cost (ie free if they use their library). If he were marketing to the wealthy, who would care? Those who have the $$ can spend them however they choose. Those already is the depths of debt don't need to be digging deeper for this "service" IMO. Why add even $160 more to their college expenses?

[TravelingChris]

I don;t even understand what this program is supposed to do. Like at what point in the decision process are you supposed to use this? If it is before you apply, I suggest that if you are in that mid range of income, you should initially compare costs of many more than six schools. This is especially true if you try a fafsa calculator and fall in shock when you realize that they expect you to pay the first 30K of the education or something like that when you had the idea that maybe, just maybe you can scrounge up about 12K a year at most (1K a month). This is particularly true for families where the income was much lower in the past (preventing much savings), the parents aren't that old (again preventing more savings and also being penalized by the system for being younger) and now the income is higher. This is just one example. It won't make any difference if the Fafsa estimate is 20K and you think all you can afford is 7K or whatever the figures.

 

NOw if you have no problem with your fafsa number, the only thing you would need to check is how likely is it that the school will cover your full need, if any. Most state schools won't if your need is great enough and the cost is high.. If your need is greater than the total of Pell grants plus any loans or workstudy, unless your kid wins a scholarship, full fafsa won't probably be met.

 

But here is the thing about the Dave Ramsey audience= they may feel poor because of debt but FAFSa and student aid departments don't care about parental debt. They only look at income.

 

NOw here is how most people do it- look around for schools that are a fit and find at least a few that are also a finacial fit. Apply to those and then to some others that are longer shots, both for admission and enough aid to work. WHen all you admissions come in and the financial aid papers are in, then compare the offers. Note that a 50% scholarship, for example, is better than a scholarship with a set amount of money that equals currently 50% of the tuition because I can almost guarantee you that it won't be 50% of the tuition once your student is a senior (there are a few colleges that guarantee no tuition increases for the four years but usually that doesn't include housing, food, etc).

[Guest TSilcox]

I generally agree with Barbara H's assessment that "it is pretty impossible to tackle the financial planning aspects of college without understanding how the student's academic profile comes into play". I would only expand that comment to include particular family/financial circumstances as well as the student academic profile which combine to make almost every circumstance different. A couple years ago, I was hired to review dozens of books about affording college/going to college debt free/etc. -- Some are pretty good, others are an almost complete waste of time (the two Barbara H recommended fall in the "good" category, IMHO) but none are highly effective at addressing a particular family's circumstances.

 

Ramsey's "guidebook" is not cheap but it does appear to be customized to a particular family's/student's circumstances. As far as I know, no one else is doing that, including the websites Barbara recommended. And if you believe colleges are making this information easily available, think again. The Chronicle of Higher Education has an article today entitled "For Parents, Straight Answers on Paying for College Are Still Too Little, Too Late." Ramsey is at least pushing cost comparison. Good for him.

[creekland]

Ramsey's "guidebook" is not cheap but it does appear to be customized to a particular family's/student's circumstances. As far as I know, no one else is doing that, including the websites Barbara recommended. And if you believe colleges are making this information easily available, think again. The Chronicle of Higher Education has an article today entitled "For Parents, Straight Answers on Paying for College Are Still Too Little, Too Late." Ramsey is at least pushing cost comparison. Good for him.

 

But Ramsey is not helping families by making cost effective suggestions. He's not looking at the student and finances and deciding if merit, need based, or inexpensive is the best option for them. He's only taking colleges the family has picked out and showing the cost comparison - at least - from the link, that's all I see that he's offering. If he were doing the former (including suggestions of where to apply), then I could, perhaps, agree with it for someone not caring to do the research themselves. For the latter (and what it appears he is offering and to those he tends to play to) it is a rip off compared to a website telling folks how to do it themselves. DR has no insight into what a student will actually be offered. The best he can do is guess based upon net price calculators using financial data the family has done the work to supply.

[Barbara H]

Our "just visiting" poster got me curious and I took a closer look at the website. Disclaimer: My comments are just based on the information and samples on the website and there may be more elsewhere than what is visible there. If anyone has the actual program and would like to provide additional information I'm eager to hear it. From the website it appears the program offers four services. Here are my ideas for how you can get the same stuff for free.

 

1. College profiles for six schools. http://a248.e.akamai...llegeSpread.pdf

This is information like contact information, address, how many students attend the college, etc.

 

If you want this information for free not just for six colleges but for every college in the country: It is available on many easy to use consumer websites. A lot of families find the College Board to be the very easiest to use site, but there are others (see above) that have more complete information. I would encourage not to just read this demographic information though - check out the college website, look at online tours, visit, etc. Nobody should pick their college based

on a pie chart!

 

2. College Cost Comparisons (not factoring in merit aid or scholarships) http://a248.e.akamai...downSpread.pdf

 

If you want this information for free not just for six colleges but for every college in the country (and you would like some estimates about merit aid): http://netpricecalcu...legeboard.org/ http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

 

3. Noncustomized List of Scholarships

If you want this same information for free: www.fastweb.com

Just a note though, please be cautious in the amount of time you devote to this. Private scholarships amount to less than 5% of the total aid for college - most comes from state and federal and from the colleges themselves. Sure, 5% is something and some kids do well with this, but this depends on your academic profile and financial need how much it will pay off. The homeschoolers who you hear about getting huge merit scholarships are most often getting them directly from the colleges they attend. That's why college selection is so important.

 

4. Free FAFSA: Finally according to the video they even make it so you can apply for the Federal Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) for free.

If you want to file to for free you are in luck, as it is actually free to file the FAFSA. That's why the first F stands for free. http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

 

Finally, I just want to really encourage everyone to carefully consider college fit as a key factor in college cost. Just submitting six colleges to find out which one is least expensive (not factoring in merit aid) doesn't tell you which six colleges to pick out or how to be well prepared to be successful there.

 

We need to remember that just 60% of students who enter college have earned a college degree six years later. One reason why students don't complete is financial, but research suggests that lack of acadmic and social fit are very significant as well. Students who are at a college that is not a good fit often end up transferring and adding more cost to college, taking longer to graduate, or dropping out with no degree. I am passionate about the need for families to look carefully at costs and to be informed consumers and part of that is avoiding making decisions that are penny wise and pound foolish.

 

So, does that all make sense? Let me know if this was helpful and if there is anything I can clarify. Happy college hunting to all!

[creekland]

Thanks for taking the time to write that out, Barbara. I sure couldn't find anything worth even close to $160 on the link provided. I still call the whole thing a rip off.

[Guest CollegeStudent]

i BOUGHT IT, so you don't have to. Don't buy it. Save your money.

 

I just purchased and received Dave Ramsey's Custom College Guide. It provides NO INFORMATION on getting through college debt free other than 1) go to an inexpensive school, and 2), work while in school. There is very little specific information on ANYTHING.

 

There is NO information about scholarships.

 

It does provide a nice side-by-side summary of information on the schools I selected, but every bit of that information is available elsewhere. (See some of the prior posts.)

 

 

Caveat Emptor.