Students
Do you want to go to college?
We will help you.
Gaining admission to college is not extraordinarily difficult. Students with less than stellar grades can win acceptance to an institution of higher education. Unless, since ninth grade, you have been promoted to the next level by the skin of your teeth you can get into college. In fact, according to an annual survey by UCLA, 76% of freshman report receiving a letter of acceptance to their first-choice college.
The out-of-pocket costs of that education, however, may be far less for the academic high-achiever than for those less-accomplished. These days, because of something called enrollment management, admissions and financial aid are integrated processes. The admission process is targeted to attract a defined, student body composition, pre-determined by the school. It is a competition based on factors related to the demographic profile a school wants.
Each school thoughtfully defines its own objectives for student body composition. Characteristics include domestic and foreign; state and region; gender and ethnicity balance; academic ability; standardized test scores; non-academic interests and abilities; letters of recommendation; community involvement and, finally, a variety of factors often related to a college's brand identity (children of alumni, sport-specific athletes, first-in-the-family college student, etc.).
It is a fact that some students win admission who are less academically qualified than those denied admission or put on the dreaded waiting list. The college's own objectives are the reason. For a teen with his or her heart set on one, special university, it can be a gut-wrenching experience. Your friend wins admission and you don't! Yet your grades and scores were better; letters of recommendation stronger; etc. There is usually no obvious explanation. Don't take it personally. It very probably has everything to do with the college's own, internal considerations, and nothing to do with factors you control. Most vexing, you will probably never know the reasons.
Money! Some financial aid is influenced by academic achievement. There are two categories of financial aid. The first is "need-based." That is simply an arithmetic calculation by FAFSA (FAFSA = Free Application for Federal Student Aid). The calculation is based on you and your family's income and assets. Need-based aid is offered to every student who gains admission to a school, and who qualifies financially. Need-based aid is mostly in the form of loans (some grants and work-study may be included). A loan is money you spend today and repay out of future income.
The second category of financial aid is "merit aid." That is "other people's money": gifts; scholarships; grants; tuition credits. Academic achievement (what you have done in high school) and scholarly potential (what it looks like you are capable of in college) play a large part in those decisions. Think about it; no school wants to award $10,000 in gifts to a student who flunks out after two semesters. Schools may award need-based aid to such a student, but the merit aid is reserved for those who demonstrate college-level potential.
As mentioned, merit awards are based on more than just GPA and standardized tests. Without qualifying there, however, most students are not even considered for merit aid. Do you want to go to college? Do you want choices as to which college? Yes? Then, the final word is
We will help you.
Gaining admission to college is not extraordinarily difficult. Students with less than stellar grades can win acceptance to an institution of higher education. Unless, since ninth grade, you have been promoted to the next level by the skin of your teeth you can get into college. In fact, according to an annual survey by UCLA, 76% of freshman report receiving a letter of acceptance to their first-choice college.
The out-of-pocket costs of that education, however, may be far less for the academic high-achiever than for those less-accomplished. These days, because of something called enrollment management, admissions and financial aid are integrated processes. The admission process is targeted to attract a defined, student body composition, pre-determined by the school. It is a competition based on factors related to the demographic profile a school wants.
Each school thoughtfully defines its own objectives for student body composition. Characteristics include domestic and foreign; state and region; gender and ethnicity balance; academic ability; standardized test scores; non-academic interests and abilities; letters of recommendation; community involvement and, finally, a variety of factors often related to a college's brand identity (children of alumni, sport-specific athletes, first-in-the-family college student, etc.).
It is a fact that some students win admission who are less academically qualified than those denied admission or put on the dreaded waiting list. The college's own objectives are the reason. For a teen with his or her heart set on one, special university, it can be a gut-wrenching experience. Your friend wins admission and you don't! Yet your grades and scores were better; letters of recommendation stronger; etc. There is usually no obvious explanation. Don't take it personally. It very probably has everything to do with the college's own, internal considerations, and nothing to do with factors you control. Most vexing, you will probably never know the reasons.
Money! Some financial aid is influenced by academic achievement. There are two categories of financial aid. The first is "need-based." That is simply an arithmetic calculation by FAFSA (FAFSA = Free Application for Federal Student Aid). The calculation is based on you and your family's income and assets. Need-based aid is offered to every student who gains admission to a school, and who qualifies financially. Need-based aid is mostly in the form of loans (some grants and work-study may be included). A loan is money you spend today and repay out of future income.
The second category of financial aid is "merit aid." That is "other people's money": gifts; scholarships; grants; tuition credits. Academic achievement (what you have done in high school) and scholarly potential (what it looks like you are capable of in college) play a large part in those decisions. Think about it; no school wants to award $10,000 in gifts to a student who flunks out after two semesters. Schools may award need-based aid to such a student, but the merit aid is reserved for those who demonstrate college-level potential.
As mentioned, merit awards are based on more than just GPA and standardized tests. Without qualifying there, however, most students are not even considered for merit aid. Do you want to go to college? Do you want choices as to which college? Yes? Then, the final word is
- Work hard in high school.
- Earn the highest grades you are capable of achieving honestly.
- Take the SAT/ACT in 11th grade, and repeat twice (3 times all together).
- Avail yourself of all resources to improve your scores on successive tries.
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