Ken Anselment isn’t just the dean of admissions and financial aid at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. He’s also the father of a high school junior who’s in the throes of college planning. As Anselment shares in his recent Washington Post piece, he recently received a piece of mail from a college financial aid planning company that preys on all of the fears so inherent in this process. And I am frustrated, though not surprised, to report that the company is using exactly the same letter, nearly to the word, that I first wrote about in January of 2011, a post I titled College Counseling Done the Wrong Way.
Anselment says it best:
“…unsolicited letters from complete strangers telling you that you ‘need to do’ something often come from senders acting more in their interest than yours. When these letters use your child’s future to pluck your heart strings, leveraging the desires they presume you have for your child, you can be almost certain their interest does not mirror yours.”
He also reminds readers just how many wonderful, qualified, and free resources there are to help you through your college planning journey.
No family needs a college admissions or financial aid advisor to successfully complete the process. In fact, most kids in college today got there without paid outside advising. There are plenty of legitimate reasons why you might hire a qualified advisor to help you with particular needs, especially once you’ve fully explored the resources Anselment recommends. But don’t let fear—of missing out or losing out—drive that choice.