Posts Tagged ‘financial aid’

q & a news you can use

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Two nice Times Q & As this week:

1. Clara Hemphill on NYC public school admission (3 parts):

“There is no quality control on the information the schools provide about themselves. It’s next to impossible to transfer schools, so you need to kick the tires and look under the hood of any school before you enroll.”

2. Mark Kantrowitz on the FAFSA and financial aid (7 parts):

“[Y]ou should submit the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE form even if you think you won’t qualify for aid[,] because many families underestimate their eligibility for need-based aid. This is especially true at the colleges that require the PROFILE, since they tend to be among the more expensive colleges.”

And check out this one from September.

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congratulations, you weren’t rejected outright

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Getting deferred is disappointing. Without being too big of a Pollyanna, let me point out three upsides:

1. You didn’t get rejected. Brava. Lots of excellent applicants did. They like you. They’re still considering you. A deferral means, “Thanks, you’re a pretty good candidate, we think you’d probably do well here. It’s going to be sort of a competitive year, though, and also we are in a huge financial crisis, so God knows how many people we’ll be admitting/rejecting this year and for what if any reason, and try not to hold us to it. Also…can you send us your fall grades? Thx qt :) ”

2. If you do get rejected in April, you won’t care as much. You’ll already be thinking seriously about other schools and getting accepted by them.

3. If you get accepted in April, you won’t be locked in. Former first-choice schools sometimes seem less attractive a few months later. Financial aid offers start to make a difference. Waiting until you can choose freely might be a good thing.

More advice and information on early deferrals later, but you should have three priorities right now:

1. Finish your applications.

2. Pick a second first-choice school.

3. Enjoy winter break.

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from the mouths of admissions deans

Monday, December 7th, 2009

A panel of admissions nabobs from Wesleyan, Penn, Marquette, Princeton, Bryn Mawr, Grinnell, UVM, and Williams appeared last week in a movie-length Internet broadcast, via WSJ and Unigo, worth watching in its entirety. (Part I, however, is missing.) Highlights include stuff about the “backyard” advantage of local applicants, renegotiating aid offers, whether admissions officers look at Facebook pages (yes, of reported cyberbullies), resumes (they “hate” them), preparing for admissions as early as middle school (“I don’t want a seventh or eighth grader to think, ‘this is what they want,’ and have it drive the next six years”), and humor on the essay (redacted: “If you’re funny, be funny. If you’re not funny, don’t try it. Be very authentic.”)

Oh, yeah, and if you strangle your personality and stomp on your passions so you can become some sanitized (and probably inaccurate) image of the perfect applicant, says one dean:

“That’s going to lead you down a bad path. Because you’re going to get to an institution that isn’t…the right place for you.”

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