Some basic college admissions resources

For the beginning of the school year, I'm posting some sources for guidance.

I did two features for the website www.sfkids.org:

• Where to start in five steps: a guide for students and parents
• When do I start? A high schooler's timeline for college preparation

Those are posted on sfkids.org's Beyond High School page, which offers more information and resources.

Some useful places to click:

University of California and California State University admission requirements

• University of California system website
• California State University information

A resource for "First in the Family" applicants

• First in the Family: Advice about College

Financial aid and scholarship information

• California Student Aid Commission
  
• Federal Student Aid Information

And unless you are Bill Gates, it's strongly recommended that you fill out the FAFSA -- the Free Application for Federal Student Aid

More resources:

• FinAid
• College Goal Sunday
• ECOS – Education and Career Opportunities System
  FastWeb
• Financial Aid Forum
• FindTuition
• Scholarshipexperts.com
• Scholarships.com
• School Soup
• Student Loan Justice, an organization protesting “predatory” student loans

College admission tests

• SAT
• ACT
• Princeton Review – more information on SAT and ACT
• PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test

Two organizations questioning the emphasis on tests:
Education Conservancy
National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest)

Information about colleges

Calendar of traveling college fairs
National Association for College Admission Counseling

The all-important SAT: this year's dates

Welcome to the new school year. For high school juniors and procrastinating seniors, the SAT looms.

College-bound high-schoolers are encouraged to take the SAT reasoning test (when you see simply SAT, that's generally what's meant) and two SAT subject tests, or SAT IIs.

You may take the SAT more than once, and more than two subject tests, in search of higher scores. Organizations such as the Education Conservancy and FairTest — crusaders against the overheated college admissions frenzy — urge students and parents not to go nuts taking and retaking the tests repeatedly.

To get full information on the SATs, sign up at www.collegeboard.com. Once you get into their database, the College Board will also send you perfectly targeted e-mail updates, which are extremely useful and a little creepy. ("Now that it's October of your junior year, you should...")

The SATs are given in a zillion locations on the same Saturdays worldwide. Special testing can be arranged on the Sunday of the same weekend for those who can't take tests on Saturdays for religious reasons. The earlier you register, the more likely you are to get a convenient location — those who have tried to get a teen-ager to a faraway spot by 7:45 on a Saturday morning recognize how important that is. Here are the dates and domestic signup deadlines (see the College Board website for international information):

Test date: Oct. 4, 2008 (SAT and Subject Tests)
Regular registration deadline: Sept. 9
Late (with a late fee): Sept. 16

Test date: Nov. 1, 2008 (SAT and Subject Tests)
Regular registration deadline: Sept. 26
Late (with a late fee): Oct. 10

Test date: Dec. 6, 2008 (SAT and Subject Tests)
Regular registration deadline: Nov. 5
Late (with a late fee): Nov. 18

Test date: Jan. 24, 2009 (SAT and Subject Tests)
Regular registration deadline: Dec. 26
Late (with a late fee): Jan. 6

Test date: March 14, 2009 (SAT only)
Regular registration deadline: Feb. 10
Late (with a late fee): Feb. 24

Test date: May 2, 2009 (SAT and Subject Tests)
Regular registration deadline: March 31
Late (with a late fee): April 9

Test date: June 6, 2009 (SAT and Subject Tests)
Regular registration deadline: May 5
Late (with a late fee): May 15

Register via the College Board website.

Top things to know about financial aid

Welcome back to a new school year. I'm now the parent of a high school senior and will be thinking about college admissions — oh, just a little tiny bit — this year.

I need to think about financial aid (a lot) too, and so do many of us. I asked San Francisco financial planner Amporn Leininger, who specializes in college financing, to create a list of the top things parents need to know and do about financing college.

1. Stop assuming that you won’t qualify for financial aid. Many people have the misconception that because of their income or assets, their children will not qualify for financial aid. This is often not the case. Assuming ineligibility may cost you thousands of dollars every year your child is in school. There are many factors used to calculate your “financial aid eligibility."

2. Understand the definitions of “financial aid”, the financial aid process and the sources of financial aids. Financial aid consists of scholarships, grants, work-study and loans. You will want to obtain as many scholarships and grants as possible. These are the sources of money that does not have to be paid back. Financial aid and other scholarships come from different sources: federal government, state, colleges, and many private organizations. Your son/daughter does not have to be the highest achiever to receive some of these financial aids.

3. Position assets and income properly and timely to avoid potential large reductions in aid. You should correctly identify and establish the value of the assets. Overstating asset values or including assets on the financial aid form that are legally excludable may either reduce financial aid eligibility or result in receiving no financial aid. Understand that “Base Year” for income is the calendar year prior to your son/daughter going to the first year of college, which is the fall semester of your son/daughter’s senior year in high school. Assets are the fair market values as of the date you file the Financial Aid application.

4. Create an“Admission Recipe Workbook” and a “College, Financial Aid and Scholarship Portfolio.” The “Admission Recipe Workbook” reflects students’ educational goals, personal characteristics, interests, accomplishments, abilities, values, special needs and readiness. It also has college information, admission profiles and criteria for admission for each of your son/daughter’s prospective college.

The “College, Financial Aid and Scholarship Portfolio” contains information about the costs of attending, financial aid and scholarship profiles, criteria for receiving financial aid and scholarships, financial aid application deadlines and contact names, addresses and telephone numbers for each of your son/daughter’s colleges of interest. There is also a master copy of Personal Statement and or essay to be used for college admission and scholarships. You should understand the impact of “financial aid eligibility” if your son/daughter plans to apply for “Early Action”, “Early Decision”, or “Regular Decision”.

5. File Aid Application Correctly, File Early and File Timely. You must file a financial aid form annually to receive financial aid. FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the form administered by the U.S. Department of Education and is required by all colleges. In addition, many private colleges require the CSS Profile Application and their own Institutional Documentation Service (IDOC) form, which is administered by the College Board. You should file the Financial Aid application using the correct form. Fill out the financial aid forms in a timely manner by not filing too early or too late. The FAFSA form cannot be filed before January 1 for the subsequent academic year. Each individual school has a priority filing date. It may be as early as January 15, or as late as May. Missing deadlines often results in aid reductions. Most financial aid forms are done online.

Prior to applying for financial aid:
FAFSA -- Apply for a PIN for both “Student” and “A Parent” in December of a student’s senior year @ www.PIN.ED.GOV.

The CSS profile-Student establishes an account with College Board @ www.collegeboard.com, which is usually done when a student registers for PSAT or SAT test.

Want more stress? 8th-grade PSAT on the way

Los Angeles Times

College Board to debut an 8th-grade PSAT exam
The test, expected to be released in 2010, aims to identify talented students and get them into college-prep classes early. But many critics say students already face too many tests and too much stress
By Gale Holland
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

August 8, 2008

High school students already face a battery of standardized tests on their way to college. Now, the college testing frenzy is reaching into middle school.

The College Board, which owns the SAT, PSAT and other tests, plans to introduce an eighth-grade college assessment exam in 2010, a top College Board official said this week.

The new test would be voluntary, said Wayne Camara, the vice president for research and analysis at the New York-based nonprofit, who spoke at a college enrollment conference at USC early this week. But critics noted that the PSAT, which also is voluntary, was taken last year by 3.4 million students, and said the new test would just boost the pressures for students considering college.

High school students now can take the PSAT in 10th or 11th grade to practice for the SAT college entrance exam and to qualify for educational aid programs including the National Merit Scholarship. But younger students have been signing up for the PSAT in growing numbers, perhaps to establish eligibility for gifted or enrichment programs, or to measure college readiness.

The new test would be tailored to eighth-graders. And it would put students on notice to start lining up the rigorous courses required by selective colleges, Camara said.

"By the time they're taking the PSAT, it's much too late to determine whether they should be taking algebra in the eighth grade, biology, and other important gatekeeper classes needed for college," he said. "This test will help schools identify students who have some talent and could likely succeed if they take honors or AP courses, but have not been recognized."

Some Southern California educators said they welcome the opportunity to get students, particularly African Americans and Latinos who are underrepresented in higher education, into the college game early.

Los Angeles Unified School District Senior Deputy Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said he has proposed that the district offer all eighth-graders the chance to take the PSAT beginning next year, as many top private schools do. "Polytechnic, Westridge, Harvard-Westlake all do," Cortines said. "Just because you go to a public school you should still have the same opportunities."
Click to read the rest of the article.