At the end of a family vacation, we’ve usually got a lot of photos to sort through. Which ones do you keep? If you’re like me, you keep the best ones—the photos where you look impressively young, thin and perfectly tanned. Anything that didn’t capture you in the best light gets deleted. It’s hard not to be proud when you’re picking which ones to show other people.
But when you’re applying for financial aid, you should do the opposite.
The worst thing you can do when you’re applying for financial aid is let pride get in the way of honesty when you’re filling out the forms. Don’t inflate the amount of money you made last year. Don’t overestimate the value of your home. Don’t be afraid to admit that you struggled to pay the unforeseen medical expenses your family faced. This is no time to be proud. You’re not making conversation at a cocktail party here—you’re trying to give colleges an accurate, unfiltered view of your financial position so they can determine your financial need.
Don’t do any financial airbrushing to make yourself look better (or worse) than you really do. Be honest, not proud.