Insights from 1st Year Students

by | Aug 30, 2024 | College Admissions, College Readiness

Students are heading off to college. Dorms are filling up, and new classmates are showing up in the hallways as the experience becomes real.

This summer I spoke with five students who had just completed their first year of college. We discussed their experiences, challenges, and the advice they would give to their past selves. Their stories were filled with lessons learned. Here are their top eight. I am so proud of the group!!

Who are they, you ask? My cohort of students is a diverse group. Their schools are close to home, two hours away, and one arrived by plane. They enrolled in schools with 20K and 5K students. They have different academic interests; some play DIII and club sports. Their diversity reflects the varied experiences you can expect in college.

What did they share?

#1 Comment—Get out of your DORM. A dorm room is for sleeping, unwinding, and relaxing with friends and roommates. Get out of your dorm. Find a quiet place to study away from the dorm. Find a calm place: library, tech center, or academic center.

#2 New friends are not all in the dorm. Outside of roommates (one was a horror show) and neighbors, all agreed they met more friends outside of the residence hall. Join a club or two, get involved with intramurals, eat in the dining hall, and attend events.

#3 College academics are more challenging than anticipated. Whether high school was a breeze or one spent long hours studying, the first semester was rough. There was a lot of reading and taking notes and a huge expectation from the faculty that you would do the work. Create some good study habits and stay on top of work. There was no handholding.

#4 Get to the Academic Center EARLY. Two of the rising Sophomores waited until the end of the semester to see out help—not their best move. Collectively, they all mentioned that their expectation of getting A’s, like in high school, became the reality of B’s and C’s. No one will be asking if you need help. Do not procrastinate.

#5 The 1st week or so was tough – One was alone more than she thought, everyone got homesick a bit, and all acknowledged they learned their ability to be independent

#6 Read your emails – Events, messages from faculty, assignments, deadlines, and more are all communicated through emails and the student portal. Stay on top of things to avoid getting behind.

#7 Less is More – Everyone agreed; they took too much stuff to campus and sent most of it home.

#8 Be healthy – exercise, eat right, hydrate, get enough sleep, and watch out for free time. Check-in at home periodically; they want to know how you are doing.

Keep an eye on your college students. It’s a new experience and they will need you help. The key to one’s first year in college, 4YR, 2YR, Community College is making the transition to the world of higher education. A very different experience.

Like what you read, share my website and blog with your friends, colleagues and fellow parents.

2024 Fall College and Career Fairs

by | Aug 20, 2024 | Before, College Admissions, College Planning, Uncategorized

Time to Meet Your College Counselors

High school gyms, cafeterias, and local auditoriums open their doors so students and families to meet college representative and learn about life after high school options..

Families of 10th and 11th grade students its time to explore and learn about colleges and universities, locally, statewide and in other parts of the country. You will learn about educational offerings, cost and how to get in. For seniors on the door step of graduation  and the end of high school its a chance to ask unanswered questions, share a resume and shake hands with a member of the Admissions decision making team.

Specialty events are also held for students and families interested in visual and performing arts, and STEM.  Events are always open to students and families living or working in the immediate area of the fair.

Maximize Your Event

  • Bring your list of prospective schools
  • Learn about new “unknown” possibilities
  • Ask questions, and be inquisitive
  • Register for information
  • Shake hands, introduce yourself, and collect business cards
  • Leave Behind Your Resume

Hint: When you return home, send your current and new interests an introductory email with a second copy of your resume (leave off your GPA and test scores).
Let the ‘reverse’ recruiting begins!!!!

Stay alert to announcement from your Guidance Department on when a specific college or university will be visiting your high school. It could be your one to one interview.

2024 Massachusetts Fall Evening and Special Event College and Career Fairs
Check with the host school or organization for a list of colleges and universities scheduled to attend.

To learn more about our services, and approach to assisting family’s with planning and funding your student’s educational pathways after high school, visit www.getcollegegoing.com. Start a Conversation- the office is always open.

 

School Bells Will Be Ringing

by | Aug 15, 2024 | College Admissions, College Planning, Financial Aid

School Bells Will Be Ringing

Yes, I am happy to report that the new school year begins shortly. There will be new surroundings, classes, new and old, and opportunities to explore and grow. But before they go, there’s time to talk…

Don’t forget to read the bottom

Exploration with New Skills

The high school scene will welcome 9th and 10th graders who will quickly realize they’re not in Kansas anymore. The size of the build(s) and student body, new classroom demands, and personal (social) pressures can derail expectations. Students in these grades must learn about study skills, time management, accountability, and how to explore their academic interests and hobbies. Their abilities are there if they’re already involved in athletics, dance, gaming, robotics, and performing arts. It’s time to get them to gel in the classroom.

Pivotal Time

There is no time like the present: 11th Grade is the critical period to spark the life after high school conversation. It’s the time to organize thoughts and ideas and schedule activities, visits, and action items. Yes, final decisions come next year, but the clock ticks quickly from here on in. Academic interest, test or no test, where to go, how to get in, financing confusion, and what if I’m not ready? There are too many critical decisions, and it is time to talk, plan, and prepare for the future – A pivotal time.

Scrambling

If a plan is not in place and ready to be acted on, it’s senior scramble time!! What typically takes the whole junior year must be condensed into 3-6 months. It’s doable but faster with a focus on details and deadlines. Planning and preparation are essential whether you’re heading to college or considering a different path. The scenery might change, but the need for a solid plan doesn’t.

College Class of 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028

Don’t underestimate your responsibilities as a college student. If you are returning with a year to complete or enroll for the 1st time, your job awaits. Upper grades are about internships, networking, research projects, and preparing to enter the workforce or grad school. New surroundings, friends, and the reality that college academics are more challenging than anticipated await 1st year students. Time management, seeking help, getting involved, and leaning on trusted faculty and peers will make college successful. Don’t forget your parent(s) and loved ones are thinking of you; check in occasionally.

5 Keys to Successful Life After High School Planning

  1. Communication – #1 ingredient – the secret sauce for a successful experience. An open and two-way flow of information and conversation.
  2. Expectations – agree or disagree, revealing what they are and how everyone understands their merits keeps things open.
  3. Understanding the Game—Knowledge is power—Asking questions is vital to finding answers, and seeking information makes you a wiser consumer.
  4. Be Realistic—Dream big, but have your feet on the ground. Students should be encouraged to find their education, work, and career path. However, out of fear, societal pressures, and the lack of honest guidance, students limit their options to find their authentic selves. Let’s eliminate the focus on rankings, better is best, myths, and those dam societal pressures. Let’s shift the conversation to Dream Big, Be Realistic, and Be Proud!
  5. Have a Plan – Mapping a student’s path after high school can create uncertainty, confusion, and an overwhelming sense of lack of control. College, work, skilled professional, military service, a gap year can easily lead to I don’t know! Sometimes, the pressure can make one seem like the Mad Hatter: too much to do, not enough time. Managing a student’s individualized plan for life after high school can reduce stress and help everyone stay focused on the goal.

The start of the school year is an exciting experience, whether for students, families, or those watching and supporting from the sidelines. Use resources, the talents of professionals, and your plan.

READ FIRST – IF you answer one question from this article, let it be: How will you pay? How will you finance the cost of college, community college, an apprenticeship, or a call to service? What if there were no college scholarships, student loans, or even a one-way airline ticket to boot camp? Do you have a financing strategy in place? No, maybe we’re talking. It should be #1 in your comprehensive life after high school plan. Why, call me!!!

College Decisions are Pending – Action Required

by | Apr 18, 2024 | College Admissions, Financial Aid

I have worked in higher education enrollment and financing for over thirty years and am a parent who has experienced the sector firsthand. I have seen the evolution of technology, regulations, practices, and policies to support students and families in pursuing education and career goals. Never in my time have we experienced such a high level of uncertainty affecting the lives of hundreds of students and families looking to college in September of this year.

In early 2023, the US Department of Education announced its desire to change the financial aid form known as the FAFSA to create a ‘Better FAFSA.’  Subsequently, ED announced it would not make the new application available for the traditional  October 1 start of the financial aid season. Although finally released in January 2024, it has been plagued by application completion challenges, methodology inaccuracies, and prolonged delays.

This inefficiency of the Administration and ED prevents the delivery of critical student and family information to colleges and universities.  Traditionally, all colleges and universities would have communicated their financial aid offers to students /families by this date. These offers are critical to a family’s ability to make final institutional choices. The absence of this vital information may jeopardize first-time, returning, and transfer students from enrolling in September of this year.

What’s At Stake

Students and families relying on tuition assistance, especially need-based aid awarded beyond merit scholarships, are caught in this enormous catch-22. Need-based aid could be a college or university Grant, a Federal Pell Grant, a State Grant, or even a private external scholarship awarded based on financial need. The assistance that hundreds of students and families accepted to attend and enroll at a 4YR, 2YR, Community College, or an accredited technical, trade, and vocational school rely on to make their institutional choice. The same institution is also affected like any other business as they forecast enrollment to deliver academic and campus services to students and families effectively.

The clock is ticking, deadlines are approaching, and nerves are escalating. Consider your options if your final school falls into one or more of these categories and you are awaiting your financial aid award letter; consider your options:

Group  #1
Institutions in this group will not extend their acceptance and housing deposit dates past May 1, 2024.
Action Steps:

  • If resources exist to cover the net cost, excluding borrowing a sizeable private student loan – GO – If not.
  • PASS and go to Plan B!

Note: Most schools in this category will not budge significantly. They control the supply and demand of enrollment on their campuses.

Group #2
These institutions have announced they are not moving their May l dates, but they will review requests on a case-by-case basis.
Action Steps:

  • Calculate the net cost remaining. Can you manage finance 80%, 60%, or 40% of the remaining costs?
  • Using a honey versus vinegar approach, contact the Admissions Department to discuss your interest in attending in September.
  • Indicate that you are looking for a specific number; if awarded, you will deposit immediately.
  • Admissions may have to consult with  Financial Aid before committing.
  • If you receive an offer, compare it against your financing capabilities, excluding borrowing a sizable private loan, GO, or PASS.

Note: Schools in this category are generally borderline concerned with hitting their enrollment number and may be willing to assist further.

Group #3
Institutions in this category have indicated that their deposit dates have moved to June 1, 2024.
Action steps:

  • Contact your school choices in this category with a greater sense of urgency.
  • Apply the same process and approach as in Group #2 and have a number in mind that, if obtainable, will accelerate the decision-making to YES.

Note: Most schools in this group are concerned about their September enrollment numbers, and their willingness to assist may surprise you.

The student should initiate action to communicate and arrive at a mutually agreeable and affordable enrollment cost at the school(s) interested in attending. Reach out to school(s) under final consideration to compare merit scholarships and tentative awards already received or review pending estimated awards.  Parents are brought into the conversation to review financial information or submit a formal appeal if needed.

Historically, the higher education industry has been very open to conversations with students and families regarding financial aid appeals, those tied to extenuating circumstance. Many may now may be moved to a “win-win” decision with students and families regarding the net cost of enrolling. Don’t wait!

Learn more by reaching out to us at Get College Going

Red Flag Alerts: Do not touch retirement money, and be cautious of the lure of private loans

Springtime at College

by | Apr 10, 2024 | College Admissions, College Planning, Financial Aid, Uncategorized

Springtime on a college campus is among the best places for young minds. The energy is fantastic, the spirit high, and there is a general sense of excitement. As they await graduation in early June, seniors are finalizing job offers or applications for grad school. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are finishing projects and papers as they study for finals and prepare to return home in mid-May to work, relax, and volunteer.

However, another group remained on campus hanging out until they had to return home, only to explain that they couldn’t return. Would you believe the average number pushes upwards to 20% or higher? Due to poor academic progression, health, and difficulty keeping up with the rising cost of education, students must withdraw from school.

I have advised countless students and families and recognize that college is the means to financial security and upward movement for many. I’m the dad of four, all of whom attended college, graduated, and now contribute to society as working adults. But I am increasingly worried about the 20% who need a different path after high school. If taken, they could match their peers while at the same time not shouldering education debt.

What’s Happening this Month

  • College and Career Fairs are happening in high school cafeterias and gyms, culminating with the big show at the Boston Seaport Convention Center. These events are important opportunities for families of 10th and 11th-grade students to obtain information, meet college counselors and get the journey started. Learn more about local events on my blog page.
  • Colleges and universities are moving to eliminate unpopular and undersubscribed majors to reduce costs and remain strong institutions. Ask your school what’s up.
  • Colleges continue to delay issuing their financial aid offers due to the FAFSA debacle. Critical information affects a family’s ability to say yes to the college of choice.
  • The elite and highly selective school remain resolved to hold firm on the May 1st Acceptance Deposit date while other institutions move their date to accommodate anxious students and parents. Check with your final choice of schools to confirm their date.
  • A new unsettling practice by colleges is to pressure students to submit Housing Deposits before choosing their school. Don’t fall victim. Acceptance Deposit first, then housing.
  • If you are college-bound in September, access a copy of my 2024-2025 Financing Checklist to help with your family’s financial strategy. Don’t wait for the bill to arrive!

Since switching in 2012 from working directly with colleges, universities, and specialized career schools to offering family-focused college advising, I have had the chance to implement a 360-degree Six Stage approach to helping families manage their college enrollment process. What is different from the “other” hope and dream approaches is that I begin with considering what a student’s interest might be after high school and how a family has planned to pay. Every household is different so every college plan should be too. The journey to find the right education pathway at the right school for the right reason and at a cost an family can afford is our goal.

Spring is essential for all high school and college-aged students and families. Planning, preparing, and exploring for the future happens now. If you are a parent concerned, confused, or feeling paralyzed, reach out. We’re here to assist with your student and family needs before, during, and after high school.

To learn more about our services and approach that can assist you and your family plan and fund your student’s educational pathways after high school, visit www.getcollegegoing.com. Start a Conversation- the office is always open.

Housing Before Yes – Wait a Minute

by | Mar 3, 2024 | College Admissions, College Planning, College Readiness

The college admission process is stressful enough … add this year’s financial aid debacle, and you have sources of students and families on edge. But, no, let’s make matters worse.

If it isn’t hard enough for families to navigate the college planning, finding, applying, and funding process, colleges and universities are exerting more pressure on anxious students. It comes from all places: housing and resident life.

As an education advisor already trying to stem the stress and strain of the admission decision-making process and uncertainty on how to pay, I now hear from students and parents that emails are arriving with a message: no housing deposit, no room.

Growing up in the industry, the process, procedure, and protocol that college-bound students and families follow have been to find a school, apply, get accepted, learn about financial aid (or lack thereof), and then, after evaluating your options, say yes, here is my May 1 deposit. Add me to the list of incoming first-year students. Only then was the next step to send a housing deposit to secure a dorm room.

Did I miss a significant shift in the process? A new business decision on campus. If not, Presidents, Deans, VPs, Directors, and Managers on campus, why are you putting the cart before the horse? Why are you adding to the already emotional, stressful period in the lives of many highly vulnerable young teens?

On behalf of my students and families, please share the why?

Posted on Linkedin and FB – 3/3/2024 – no campus comments yet.