Putting Your Child in The Best Position For College
June 22nd, 2009 | Posted By Jay R. McGrath
One of the most difficult financial decisions, and certainly the most stressful for a family, is trying to decide on which college to attend and pay tuition for. While some colleges come with hefty price tags, it is important to find a financial advisor, consult a private wealth management firm, or simply find a financial planning guide for colleges. Although the process is tedious and stressful, your child can put him or herself in a position to receive merit aid and other types of financial aid from colleges due to academic, athletic, or extra-curricular achievement in high school.
The Early Bird Gets the Worm
Start early! According to Nettleton, freshmen year is the preferred time to start planning for college.
“I’m not even addressing the issue of starting to save early,” Nettleton notes. “I’m taking that as a presumption. But, most families aren’t doing that.”
“If they don’t, what ends up happening is what we call brush fire planning. Where they’re in their senior year and they’re running around putting out fires here and there. Whatever the hot spots are whatever the emergency is. If there’s a deadline due or a school wants something, that’s what they’re handling.”
The plan in action needs to be handled equally between the parents and student. Nettleton cites the student’s responsibility academically to schedule a rigorous schedule and maintain quality grades. Community service and student counsel are other prime ways to display leadership and a desire to learn. Extracurricular activities like sports are also great to place on a resume.
Position for Success
Position for success equals gaining notice for your son or daughter. While nothing builds a reputation like a strong GPA and outstanding test scores, parents can also research the background information on any school.
Statistics are posted on university web sites that offer the ideal SAT, ACT, and average GPA of the last incoming class. Compare those averages with your son or daughter. If those numbers are above the average, you’re in great shape.
“The student has to know what the school is looking for. Is the school interested in things like, on the academic side, the GPA, the SAT scores, or the class rank?”
“You really want your student to be positioned in the top 25 percent of applicants,” Nettleton continued. “That’s what we call the sweet spot, because that’s where most of the money is given. A secondary position that you can still get some money would be in the top half of the middle 50 percent of the students.”
Understanding that the college process really starts in freshman year, as well as having your children apply to some schools where they are in a position to receive merit aid will allow for some stress to be alleviated if finances are an issue for your family and aid at some reach schools is not satisfactory.
