Senior are beginning to hear back from colleges. I hope you hear wonderful news about acceptances and scholarships.
After the thrill of hearing about admission and scholarships, suddenly the reality of finances comes crashing down on parents. Even with a scholarship, how can you pay for college?
It’s important to remain calm, even though you have heard one an initial message about scholarships. Because the truth is that scholarships come in waves. The first wave of scholarships was based on his SAT scores. The next wave of scholarships will be based on the FAFSA on January 1, tied to your financial “need.” Sometimes there is also a third wave of scholarships. That wave will be based on additional factors other than scholastic achievement or financial need. It could be related to a specific talent (football) or interest (engineering major) or skill (piano.)
You want to be perfectly positioned to ride all three waves.
I’ve recently been connecting with friends on LinkedIn. I invite you to send me an invitation if you want to connect with my business.
I have said it so many times, it almost seems like a cliche, “College tuition is like buying a car – hardly anyone pays the sticker price.” I felt strangely satisfied to see almost those exact words from the University of Washington President in our Seattle Newspaper:
ANYONE who has ever gone car shopping knows that the price you see on the sticker is rarely the price you pay. The same can be said of college tuition. Recent headlines about “soaring” tuition and fees have no doubt left many with a bad case of sticker shock ["Tuition and fees soaring at colleges across nation," page one, Oct. 21]. The more surprising story might be, “tuition at public universities offered at deep discount.”
Of course, he is trying to convince people to attend HIS college, so he does talk a lot about public education. Toward the end of the article he mentions the funding crisis in our state, and the impact on public universities:
“So why increase the sticker price of tuition when it’s going to be sold at a discount price? One of the primary reasons is the withdrawal of state tax support from public universities. At the UW, we just lost 26 percent of our state general fund budget.”
I would like to remind parents that private education is not funded by state governments in crisis. Many of them have wonderful funding from endowments and donations. If college costs are a concern, try to find a college with lots of money to give away, and that’s a good fit, so they want to give YOUR child money.
I still see private universities providing wonderful scholarships! In fact, private colleges are becoming a better and better value. Look at what The Washington Post says:
Compared with the past school year, tuition and fees rose 6.5 percent at public four-year colleges and 4.4 percent at private, nonprofit, four-year institutions, according to the report. Those were steeper rates of increase than in previous years, after adjusting for inflation. Over the past decade, annual increases have averaged 4.9 percent at public colleges and 2.6 percent at private colleges. The good news for students is that most do not pay full price.
Don’t panic. Don’t limit your choices by only applying to public schools because of the sticker price. Apply to schools that are a good fit for your child. You may be pleasantly surprised!
I have said it so many times, it almost seems like a cliche, “College
tuition is like buying a car – hardly anyone pays the sticker price.” I
felt strangely satisfied to see almost those exact words from the University
of Washington President in our Seattle Newspaper
Are scholarships available for students in their twenties? How long are SAT and ACT scores considered valid for scholarships and college admission?
~ Kim
Dear Kim,
Scholarships ARE available for students in their twenties! There are two kinds of scholarships, merit scholarships based on some characteristic of your students (high grades, or a particular skill or gift.) There are also need-based scholarships, based on income. Some students may be considered independent adults, even though we still view them as “children” and when that is the case, their need-based scholarships may be quite substantial. If they base their financial aid on the STUDENTS income rather than the PARENTS income, you could get a LOT of financial aid. To research need-based scholarships, use the FAFSA Forecaster here: http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/
You can also search for private scholarships while you are waiting to enter college. On my Gold Care Club site, I have a video called “College Scholarships for High School Credit” where I talk about how to find scholarships, write scholarship essays, and use those essays for English credit in high school. There are private scholarships available for every age, and there are quite a few scholarship search engines around. That video course will help you through the process of finding them, because it’s a little more complicated than just googling “Scholarships.”
SAT and ACT scores are used to help determine scholarships for high school seniors when they apply to college. After they have been out of high school for a while, they may not be considered a freshman admit anymore. At that point, college policies vary widely! Although SAT and ACT scores may still be available to colleges, they may or may not choose to use them. Your best bet is to check with the college you want to apply to. Ask them some direct questions. Is my child considered a freshman applicant? Can he take a “gap year” before applying? What will happen to his SAT scores? To be quite honest, colleges are trying to sell you their college. They LIKE to talk to you about these things, because they want to talk you into buying their product – a college degree! So really, they want to talk to you about it, and it’s not an inconvenience usually.
Colleges love homeschool students, and they love to give scholarships to homeschoolers. Sometimes those scholarships will require extra effort. Judy asked me about College Interviews:
We have homeschooled since 5th grade. My son has been accepted at the University with the President’s Scholarship (hooray!) which is $17,000 per year. On Feb 7th, he will be interviewed for the Full Tuition Scholarship. Only 5 of the 100 interviewed will receive it. Do you have suggestions for the kinds of questions he should be prepared to answer?
~ Judy in Washington
Dear Judy,
During most interviews, colleges are looking for a kid who has good social skills. Do they look you in the eye and have a firm handshake? Can they talk with anyone of any age? That’s one of the reason why homeschoolers do so well with interviews – they often have great social skills. So relax, most of your preparation for the interview has already been done! They are looking for someone warm and friendly. They do understand that kids will sound like kids and not adults. At the same time, they are trying to decide if “the lights are on” inside. If they mention President Obama, can the child give an opinion? That sort of thing.
Colleges will likely ask, “Tell me something about yourself?” For that reason, it would be a good idea to ask that question, and brainstorm some possible answers. They may ask specific questions about your area of specialization: sports, music, or an academic area for example. Think for a moment about some possible topics that you could bring up. You may want to think of questions you can ask the college about your major, or the living situation.
Here is a list of “Don’ts” from the College Board website, www.collegeboard.com
Don’t …
Be late
Memorize speeches—sound natural and conversational
Ask questions covered by the college catalog
Chew gum
Wear lots of cologne or perfume
Swear or use too much slang
Be arrogant—there’s a fine line between being confident and boasting
Lie—it will come back to haunt you
Respond with only yes or no answers
Tell the school it’s your safety
Be rude to the receptionist or any other staff you meet
Bring a parent into the interview
I was in the same situation with my children. They went to an all-day competition for the full tuition scholarship at Seattle Pacific University. They invited 108 students, and 10 were chosen. Two of the kids selected were homeschoolers – and both were my children! Boy, did we have a party that day!
When they were invited, they were asked to bring something that represented themselves. My younger son brought a charcoal drawing he had made of a French Economist. My older son brought a chess demonstration board that he used to teach chess in inner city classrooms. Every applicant had fabulous academics, great test scores, and an interesting passion. All of them were able to talk intelligently. There were some “Survivor” moments, when students would try to out-answer, out-talk, and out-volunteer others. My younger son was surprised that other kids would actually speak up more than he did!
I remember when they came home from the competition. They both told me “It was so much fun!” The LOVED getting to know new people, really smart kids with lots of interests. They met kids who would talk about interesting things all day, and it was a blast!
Ultimately, we found out that they weren’t chosen just because of their performance that day. They were chosen for intangible reasons. How did they interact with the other students? How did they handle the competitiveness? How did they behave when they thought nobody was looking? So really, it boiled down to socialization. And character. Most homeschoolers have those two in aces! I think they won because it was fun for them. Even my “quiet” son did well – it’s not about being outgoing as much as it is about being genuine.
Relax. Have fun. Think about a few bullet-point ideas you can use for the general “who are you” questions.
Laura asks: Wow, this is my first time to blog and I’m not sure what I am doing. Hopefully this is how & what I am supposed to do. Here’s my question. I was at the Cascadia college fair where you showed a thick notebook which you had with many dividers. This notebook was a filing system used for researching scholarships and keeping track of stuff. I am wondering if you can tell me what the divided sections were that you used.
Dear Laura,
I had so much fun meeting you at the College Fair! It was nice to see a friendly face in the audience when I spoke on “College Scholarships for High School Credit. “ My scholarship notebook is a three ring binder with dividers. In the notebook are all the scholarships, placed in order of “due date.” The tabs were only to keep the scholarships separate, without anything special written on them. If you put the due date on each tab that may help! Only descriptions of the scholarships were in the notebook.
I’m planning to make the audio of that presentation available in the future, but my tech department (my sweet husband!) is a too busy preparing my e-book on transcripts right now to be distracted by anything else. I’ll be glad to explain things on the phone, if anyone else needs the information. It takes an hour to get through the whole conversation.
Are you worried about the cost of college? Consider this; you could find a college that’s FREE! Look outside the box a bit, and search for a college that is the perfect fit for your student. Look at this college for example: The University of Alabama. One their website, they explain that a high GPA and high SAT scores will receive full tuition IF they apply by the deadline. Here is the link. Read about the Presidential Scholar program.
An out-of-state first-time freshman student who meets the December 1st scholarship priority deadline*, has a 32-36 ACT or 1400-1600 SAT** score and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive the value of out-of-state tuition for four years.
If you are absolutely, positively sure that you can NOT afford college, then think outside the box while you’re looking around.
Don’t be scared – educate yourself, and find a college your family can afford.
One mother asked me about scholarships. Sometimes people think our full tuition scholarship means that college is free for us – it isn’t! We still have to pay for room and board, books and supplies. The good news is that even when you get a full tuition scholarship, you can get other awards as well.
I have one son who gets engineering scholarships, and another that gets economics & business scholarships. They also both got small awards from a small community scholarship.
It’s not just genius-types that get good scholarships. I know students going to college with my boys who aren’t as academically gifted. They pay only $3000 PER YEAR for the same school – in reality, less than us! With many need-based scholarships, they have a variety of grants and scholarships that provide for most of the cost of college. The key is matching your student to the college.
Watch my “BIG Scholarships” video, and aim toward a college that will pay you money to go there.
Check out my updated home page and see the list of free homeschool resources. There is a lot of help out there if you need it.
I just published a 5 part mini-course about “The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make When Homeschooling High School.” It captures some of the most important lessons I’ve learned in homeschooling my own children through high school and helping other parents succeed as well. These five short lessons will provide an overview to help you stay on track as you think through high school issues with your student. Whether you are already into the high school years, or just wondering whether homeschooling high school is a possibility, this is the course for you.
When you sign up, please make sure you fill out the question “What is your BIGGEST question about homeschooling high school.” Your answers will help me know the best issues to address in my blog, newsletter, Dig Deeper pages and my Products and Services. Thanks!
I don’t know if this will apply to your situation at ALL, but Baylor University has an ROTC Scholarship for Christian College, and they love homeschoolers. When you join ROTC, you can study aviation, medicine, science, engineering, law, space, business, etc. They offer huge scholarships, including a full scholarship, but others as well. Students also get $900 per year for books, and a $300-500 per MONTH stipend – which means you can spend it any way you like.
I’ve never visited Baylor, and I’m not a member of the military. I do get a lot of questions about whether homeschoolers are accepted in ROTC and Military Academies (they are!) And I get a lot of questions about ways to afford college (there are many!) I hope this information helps someone. For more, see this website.
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