Seven +1 Things Parents of 11th Graders Should Be Doing Now.

Many families are well into their college planning by now. Are you?
With over 150 different activities, tasks, and deadlines to manage, you still need to start now, if you don’t mind.
Break the 11th-grade to 12th-grade journey into segments based on the time, tasks, and schedules.
Here are seven + one crucial things every parent should do with their student between now and summer break.

Register to Take the SAT | ACT

  • PSAT was in Oct – Time to learn the real baseline
  • Register for a Nation Test – SAT (3/9 or 5/4) – ACT (4/13 or 6/8)
  • We use them to support a student – not hinder
  • Take them once and see

Build a List of College Options

  • Student and family college expectations and preferences
  • Realistic, authentic to one’s ability and talent
  • GPA with 2 ticks up and 2 ticks down

Schedule a Campus Visit 

  • Hands on – feet on the campus is the best  to learn about a college, university or accredited trade and professional school..
    • Learn about academics, campus life, clubs, sports and check the schools vibe
    • Speak to faculty, coaches and advisors
  • Use vacation time (February and April), Professional Days, and Saturdays
  • Register to attend and say hello to your College Admission Counselor
  • Get their before May; Bring the families are welcome
  • Five Ways to Make a Campus Visit Valuable – Checklist

Create an HS Resume

  • Activities and accomplishment, academic and personal; talent; leadership’ volunteer and work
  • 9th grade to now; in and out of school
  • Valuable when meeting college representatives, and interviewing

Assess the Family’s Capability to Pay

  • Education after high school is expensive; need to know your buying power
  • Saving, investment, disposable income?
  • What is you had to pay today? What’s your contribution now
  • Time to learn about tuition assistance programs; sooner than later
  • What’s the impact on college options?

Evaluate Credit Standing

  • If you need to borrow after financial aid; you’ll need good credit
  • What is your now?

Draw Up a Plan – Rally Your Resources

+ Get Organization

  • Add a student-college planning email address to the mix – Gmail | Yahoo | Hotmail
    • Correspondence and information
  • College planning e-folder
    • Documents, PDF’s, drafts, documents
  • Everything easily stored, sorted and retrievable

To learn more about who we are, our services, and our approach to planning and funding your student’s educational pathways after high school, visit www.getcollegegoing.com.Start a Conversation – Office is always open

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Updated 3/2024

What’s Up with Financial Aid?

By now, you have read or heard the U.S. Department of Education’s financial aid ship has suffered another setback.

This year’s financial aid process, already suffering from delays, confusion, and heightened anxiety for students, parents, guardians, and schools, has been hit with another blow.

This week, the U.S. Department of Education announced that they are again delaying the delivery of critical results for ALL completed and filed FAFSAs to ALL schools until mid-March. Initially planned for tomorrow, an error was discovered two weeks ago, affecting the methodology used to calculate eligibility for need-based aid. Reprogramming is needed. The error would jeopardize millions of applicants’ eligibility for institutional, government, and private scholarships if not corrected.

The delay will hamper the ability of Financial Aid Offices to deliver Award Letters to prospective incoming students and families. Award letters are critical to evaluating tuition assistance and your ability to calculate the school’s net cost in the final race to be the right fit. Returning college students are less affected as their information is sent later in the Spring.

What to do while you wait?

  • Continue to monitor the status of your Admission Application Requests.
  • Please log into your college portals and follow up on information from the Admissions and Financial Aid Office.
  • Use the Comparison Spreadsheet provided to track and monitor the net cost of a school based on tuition assistance received to date.
  • Attend Accepted Student Day Programs. A day set aside for you and everyone in the family to evaluate a school’s offerings, experience the campus, and meet faculty, coaches, and advisors before making a final decision in mid-April.
  • Do not fall prey to scammers promising to help you figure out how to beat the system, increase your eligibility, or get an answer quicker. Call Me.
  • Keep the hunt on for private scholarships – time invested = funds awarded
  • The Elephant in the Room: The Annual Deposit Day to secure a set in the Fall Freshman class is May 1st (or earlier). Due to all the delays, a school may extend this date to help families make their final selection.
    • UPDATE: Monday – February 5th – Reports are coming out that some schools are moving their deposit date to June 1 – As you narrow your list and await word on eligibility for need-based financial check with your schools to determine there specific date!!

You have all worked very hard to reach this point. Be patient with yourself, each other, and the Financial Aid community. They are just as stressed during this time.

If you have questions, need to relieve some stress, and, most importantly, share insights if needed as you make your final “right fit” choice, reach out!!

Tom

Article Updated on February 5th