Are 529 plans really worth it? Why should a family bother filling out the FAFSA if you know you won't qualify? What colleges have "no loans" policies where any financial aid offered is always a grant, not a loan that needs to be paid back? Mark Kantrowitz is a financial aid expert, author of Secrets […]
Read More >Seniors, do your colleges require 7th semester transcripts?
Seniors who've applied to college, now that you're about to finish the first semester of your senior year, it's time to double check the application requirements for your colleges and see which ones require: 1) An official copy of your transcript with the grades from this semester (your "7th semester"). and/or 2) A mid-year report […]
Read More >A new way for teens to stand out
14 year-old Allison Miller sends and receives 27,000 texts in a month (and no, this is not the "new way to stand out" that I'm suggesting). While she may the exception, the article goes on to describe just how many digital interruptions teenagers face today, and how the constant need to multi-task is affecting their […]
Read More >Don’t abandon your ambition–redefine it.
Does being an ambitious student mean you have to make yourself miserable to achieve your goals? I don’t think it does, and neither does Cal Newport. Cal’s latest blog post about college admissions argues that ambition is a good thing; if you work hard and stand out, you’ll have more interesting opportunities (colleges, jobs, promotions, etc.). […]
Read More >Why we don’t like career tests
We often have prospective Collegewise families ask us if we do any career testing as part of our program. That's an easy one. No. I understand why they ask. But if you're looking for college counseling advice based on what a test says your kid's career aptitude is, we're not the right college counselors for […]
Read More >Ask Collegewise: How should I address my college interviewer?
Zack asks: I got an email from the alumni interviewer at one of the colleges I applied to asking to set up a time to meet. My question is, what should I call him? Should I use his first name or call him Mr. Smith (last name changed by the editor)? He signed the email […]
Read More >Why our office is full of guidelines
I take a lot of friendly flack for writing guidelines in our office–documents that describe a process and exactly how we do it. Whether we need to prepare for a new employee's arrival, train essay specialists, or make a good pot of coffee, I've got a guideline for it. Our guidelines aren't about enforcing standards […]
Read More >For teachers who write letters of recommendation
If you're a teacher who regularly writes letters of recommendation for students, you've probably experienced the struggle of trying to write one for a student who hasn't given you much to work with. And at that point, it's already the fall of the student's senior year. It's too late for that student to show you […]
Read More >How to be a leader without a leadership position
Every high school has students in leadership positions–student council presidents, yearbook committees, and editors of the school papers. But you don’t need to have a leadership position to be a leader. Leaders rally people towards a better future together, and you don’t have to be elected to do that. Here are five examples of ways […]
Read More >Avoid this common FAFSA mistake
Any class of 2011 senior who wants to apply for college financial aid should now be completing the FAFSA form, availalbe here. But here's a common mistake you can easily avoid. "You" and "Your" refers to the student, not the parent, unless the form specifically says otherwise. The FAFSA is written with the assumption that […]
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