STUDENT-CENTERED SOLUTIONS FOR COLLEGE PLANNING

It’s time to fill out applications and a big concern for many families this fall is, “Should we check ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the question about financial aid on the admission application?”

While it’s understandable that students would want to avail themselves of as much financial assistance as possible, uncertainty over whether the family’s ability to pay will have an impact on the admission decision has folks on edge. There are three issues worth noting in addressing the concern.

One, the “ability to pay” is increasingly a factor in the admission process, especially for students on the competitive margin. There was a lot of discussion at the end of the admission process last spring about “full-pay” students with modest credentials getting the nod over students with somewhat stronger credentials but demonstrated financial need. With that in mind, you need to go into the admission process with your eyes wide open and make sure you are focusing on schools that value you-they’ll admit you and give you what you need.

The second matter is more practical. It has to do with how colleges use the information they glean about your financial need from the admission application. Checking “no” that you don’t need financial assistance means that a hurdle goes down—the question of your financial need has been answered. If you check “yes,”colleges still don’t have enough information to be able to discriminate in the admission process. You see, approximately one-third of the students who indicate that they will be applying for financial aid either never apply—they know they don’t need it, or they do apply and demonstrate that they don’t need it!

Colleges that discriminate based on “ability to pay” in the admission process will wait until they have seen the academic credentials and the financial aid data for most if not all of the potentially admitted students before making their final decisions.

Checking “yes” does, however, allow the admission officers to be on the alert for your financial aid application materials. That can be important if you encounter delays or problems with the processing of the latter.

Finally, you need to know that the financial aid question on the admission application is intended to reflect your intent to apply for need-based assistance from the institution itself. Period. Your eligibility for merit scholarships awarded by the college does not require you to check “yes” unless you are specifically instructed to do so on the application.

The bottom line, then, is that you should check “yes” if you know you want to be considered for need-based financial aid. That checkmark should not compromise your application for admission.

October is a time of reckoning for students as they prepare college applications. The senior year of high school is in full swing with new academic challenges and a sense of nostalgia as students wistfully embrace events and relationships for the “last time” in their high school experience. And, for many, the college application represents another layer of activity on top of an already busy schedule.

The excitement and allure of going to college begins to wane as the process of applying becomes an onerous imposition. With pending deadlines and mounting requirements, there simply isn’t enough time in the day to get it all done! As a result, there is a tendency to choose the course of least resistance-to do what is “good enough.”

I would like to offer a word to the wise if you find yourself in this situation. Stay focused. Now is the time to do your best work even though doing so may mean making compromises in your social life. You can’t “will” great grades. Essays don’t become excellent overnight. College applications don’t materialize out of thin air.

Keep in mind the competition for admission. Popular forecasts to the contrary, the competition will continue to increase as a higher proportion of the college age population applies to college this year-and next, and the year after that. As a result, colleges will continue to be inundated by applications from more qualified candidates than they can admit. And the more selective institutions will be forced to make fine distinctions between deserving candidates.

In particular, they will watch to see how you handle the pressure. Will you wilt under the weight of the added expectations? Will you find the easiest path to the finish line? Or will you step up to the challenge?

Colleges that can be picky are watching. They want to see what you do when you don’t think you have to do anything. They want to see how you approach your classroom assignments. When a “B” seems good enough, will you continue to push for the “A?”

And they will be able to gauge your investment in your application immediately. Have you been thoughtful about conveying key messages? How have you told your story? What does your essay say about you? I can tell you from experience that applications and, in particular, essays that are pulled together at the last minute have that “good enough” look about them.

During our most recent Web-Side Chat webcast on October 3, we had some interesting discussions about the implications of doing what is “good enough” in preparing college applications. The sequel to that webcast, “The Biggest Mistakes Made in Applying to College,” will take place on Tuesday, October 13 at 7:00 PM ET. In order to participate click here to sign-up. In addition to gaining access to the upcoming Web-Side Chat webcast, you will also be able to view past webcasts in the BCF archives.

As a high school senior and an applicant to college, you are still in a position to control the manner in which your application is presented. Do your best, then, to resist the temptation to put things off or go into cruise control. Now is the time to accelerate! You must make that commitment, though. As one young woman observed after hearing this message at a recent program, “If nothing else, I have learned that good enough is never enough if I want to reach my goals.”

The line on applications for admission that makes parents shudder most is the one that reads, “Do you plan to apply for financial aid—Yes or No?” As eager as one might be to check “yes” with the hope of receiving some type of assistance, there is a growing reluctance to do so for fear that checking “yes” might compromise the student’s chances of gaining admission.

This conundrum hits close to home in the current economy when even families who live in relative comfort are suddenly faced with uncertainty regarding cash for college. As the need for some type of assistance (merit scholarships, loans, campus work study) becomes more acute, so does the angst with regard to how that expression of need might be interpreted in the admission process.

As a result, the “Yes/No” question on the admission application becomes more relevant. At most institutions, the question is used to determine the likely demand for institutionally awarded aid—money allocated from the college or university’s budget for need-based aid. Frankly, the question holds little other value other than to help interested admission officers track the progress of financial aid applications.

Will institutions discriminate in the admission process with regard to a family’s ability to pay? Sure. However, they are not likely to do so based solely on the response to the “Yes/No” question. Rather, they will discriminate at the back end of the process when they have a full view of all the candidates they like as well as the respective financial needs for those candidates. It is at this point when they can see the big picture that they determine how to use available funds to leverage the enrollment of the students whom they value most.

Discriminating against students solely on the basis of who checks “Yes” to the financial aid question would be foolish. Roughly one-third of applicants for admission who check “Yes” indicating that they intend to apply for financial aid either never apply—because they realize they don’t need it—or they do apply and demonstrate that they don’t need it! Discriminating based on a “Yes” response means an admission committee will arbitrarily eliminate one-third of its applicants—many of whom would not have required institutional assistance.

If you respond “No” to the question—and there is good reason to believe you won’t need assistance, a “hurdle” to the success of your candidacy goes down. In the competition for admission at many colleges, your ability to be self-supporting financially is a competitive credential. Either consciously or subconsciously, when the folks reviewing your credentials see the “No” response they make the mental note that you are “free”—that you don’t require assistance.

So, what do you do? First, respond honestly. If you think you need assistance, say so. By acknowledging the possibility you enable an admission officer who is interested in your candidacy to track the progress of your financial aid application. If anything is missing, late, or incomplete, s/he can let you know in a timely fashion. And second, trust in the fact that colleges that value you for what you do well will admit you and give you what you need financially in order for you to enroll.

What you DON’T want to do is scheme the process. Don’t pretend to be “rich” by putting all of the money you have saved for college into your first year in order to improve your chances of getting in—and then expect to receive financial aid in subsequent years because you’ll be so darn poor you need it! Colleges budget financial aid for years two, three and four of your enrollment based on the expectations of year one. If you look “rich” when you apply, they expect you to be “rich” in the years that follow. If you plead poverty after your first year without evidence that something catastrophic (serious illness, injury, death, or loss of employment) has affected your family’s financial picture, don’t be surprised if the response of your financial aid officer is simply, “That’s your problem.” This is when families—and students in particular—start borrowing beyond their means to stay in school.

I would like to offer a couple of related thoughts. One, if you know you don’t require institutionally funded need-based assistance but anticipate applying for a Guaranteed Student Loan (Stafford) or you hope to secure a part-time job on campus, be prepared to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as institutions will use that to determine your eligibility for federally subsidized programs on their respective campuses.

Two, if you would like to be considered for any merit scholarships offered by a college or university, look for evidence that the place in question may actually offer such awards. If they do, find out about the eligibility criterion and protocols for placing yourself into consideration for an award. Most schools will have separate evaluation processes in place to determine merit scholarship recipients apart from the “Yes/No” question discussed previously.

Finally, when in doubt about what to do, check with the financial aid officers of the school(s) in question. It is better to move forward with good information than to discover too late that you have misinterpreted the process.

Special Note! The Best College Fit Membership program is about to launch! Watch for upcoming details to learn more about how you can go inside the college planning process with me to find and get into the schools that fit you best!