How do you get to your college
How do you get to your college
Co-written by Luci Jones (Brown University CO ‘23) and Ethan Sawyer (College Essay Guy)
So you’re applying to college. At any moment, you could be deftly fending off questions from all the adults in your life, asking you where you want to go and what you want to major in. You’re probably having moments when you feel overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of possible paths your life could take. And, if you’re like me, this constant pressure to think about the future and what it means for you can feel extremely stressful.
But wait. Pause for a second. Take a deep breath.
I want to tell you that I’ve been there. I’ve dealt with adults asking big, open-ended questions about the future at many a potluck party. I’ve spent many hours staring blankly at the Common App essay prompts, paralyzed by the number of potential topics I could talk about while being simultaneously unsure if I had any stories worth telling. I’ve had the stress that comes with not quite knowing how to apply to college and being scared by all the what-ifs.
That being said, I also want to tell you that I made it. I’m alive and still very much a healthy, functioning human being (on most days). And you’ll come out of this alive too. In fact, with the strategies I’ve learned from College Essay Guy’s resources, I enjoyed this process and came to see it as an incredible outlet for self-reflection and self-discovery. This gradual shift in my mindset from “OH MY GOD COLLEGE I’M SO STRESSED” to “Hey, I’ve got this, I’m worthy of going to the schools I’m interested in” was by no means an instant transformation. But hopefully the resources below will help you break down this huge process into something more bite-sized and easily digestible. (In fact, here’s a College Application Timeline to give you a sense of where we’re headed). And don’t worry—we’ve got you. Better yet: you’ve got you.
1) Figure Out Where You Want to Apply
(AKA Create a Customized College List)
Think of this stage as the pre-research to researching colleges. Before you can find a college that is right for you, you have to know who you are. Not everyone wants the same thing out of their college experience and you should know yourself and your values before you start your search.
Step 1: Figure Out What You’re Looking for in a College
The Short Version: If you want a really quick way to sort through your college must-haves and deal breakers, a great resource to check out is www.corsava.com. Corsava offers the most efficient, interactive, and complete resource for this part of the process and is free to use. I’d suggest doing the card sort to get a sense of what you’re looking for in colleges before you start diving into research.
The Slightly Longer Version: Here are some important factors to consider as you look into potential schools:
Climate: Ask yourself: To be happy, do you need warm weather, easy access to skiing, four seasons, lots of sunshine, low humidity? Be honest with yourself and your body.
Setting: Do you want to be near a city, or do you not care?
Socio-Political Spectrum: Do you want your style, values, opinions to be the norm, or are you okay being on the fringe?
Activities: What are your must-haves in terms of sports, theater/dance/film, etc.?
Distance from Home. How far from home are you willing to travel?
School Spirit: Do you love the idea of cheering at football games or not care if you ever see another football game in your life?
Parental Priorities: Talk through your preferences with your parents early and often. They’ll likely have some strong opinions. Ask them. Then listen.
College vs. University: Universities offer graduate degrees, whereas colleges primarily serve undergraduates. Universities are usually larger and they often employ Master’s and Doctoral students to teach first- and second-year undergraduate courses. On the flip side, universities may also offer an abundance of undergraduate research opportunities. Do you care?
Colleges’ Unique Values: We know that all colleges value education, challenges, and self-knowledge, but each college was founded on a unique set of values, and just like you, different institutions have specific priorities. For example, if you find that you and a school both value justice or creativity, then it might just be one you want to add to your list.
If you’re wondering how to figure out the unique values of a college, start by Googling the name of the college online. One quick search can tell you a lot about a school’s culture and mission.
You can also learn from a school’s application requirements. If you only need to submit a GPA and test scores, the college is likely one where you’ll need to be comfortable with independence, advocating for yourself, and being one in a crowd. A college that requires multiple supplemental essays, letters of recommendation, and an interview, on the other hand, is more likely one where you’ll need to be comfortable with participating in class discussion and developing close relationships with faculty and staff.
Graduation requirements (which can differ wildly between schools) offer another look at a school’s values. Generally, schools with less flexible, more standardized course requirements might be a good fit for students who value structure, while those that have few requirements to none at all are good for those who value autonomy and flexibility. Other requirements like community service and studying abroad can indicate that a school values community and helping others, or adventure and curiosity.
But again, www.Corsava.com will help you sort through all these things. In like 10 minutes. For free.
If you’d like to see a big list of all schools’ Common App deadlines, click here.
Step 2: Research Schools (Based on Your Interests and Preferences)
After getting an idea of what you want in a potential college, you’ll want to create a preliminary list of around 20 schools. How? By using an online platform that matches schools to your preferences. While many online platforms do this, my favorite is www.CollegeXpress.com. This site is the product of many, many hours of research. You can type in anything from “Schools for the Free Spirit” to “Great Private Colleges for the B Student” to generate a list of schools that match each of those descriptions. It’s free too.
Another great aspect of CollegeXpress is that you can click “Lists & Rankings” to see what other lists a school you search is on. Say you type in “Northwestern” because you’re interested in film; as luck would have it, you see a list called “Colleges with Great Programs in Film and Television.” Score. Clicking on that list reveals a few schools whose film programs you’ve heard of—NYU, USC, Chapman. But then maybe you see a few schools you didn’t know had great film programs, like LMU, Emerson, and Columbia College in Chicago. This gives you access to colleges you may not have known about, but that align with your core values or interests. Once you find a few colleges you really like, be sure to add them to your preliminary list so you can begin to keep track of them.
Heads-up: You don’t have to spend 10-15 hrs creating your preliminary list because you’ll do more research later. Maybe spend an hour or two creating this initial list.
You may be asking yourself where and how you should be keeping track of the colleges you’re interested in as you research. The answer to this is on your customizable (and free!) College List and Essay Tracker, of course.
First, make a copy of my Sample College List and Essay Tracker spreadsheet. Here’s the link to that.
Next, type your preliminary list of schools on that spreadsheet, dividing them into these categories:
Wild Card: less than 10% chance of getting in
Reach: low likelihood of acceptance, maybe 10-25% chance
Maybe: in range for your profile, maybe 26-74% chance
Likely: pretty good shot at getting in, more than 75% chance
It’s a good idea to start from the ground up, building your list from the most likely schools to the ones that are a far reach. Why? I want you to get yourself excited about the colleges you’re more likely to get into. If you’re not totally sure how to determine if a school is a wild card, reach, maybe, or likely, that’s okay. You can ask your counselor, use an online platform (like www.collegedata.com), or Google the name of the school and the words “freshman profile.”
Tip: maybe color code the “Likely” schools with green, the “Maybe” schools with yellow, the “Reach” schools in light red and the “Wild Card” schools in purple.
Step 3: Create Your Finalized and Balanced List of Colleges
Now that you’ve got a somewhat researched list of about 20 schools you might be interested in attending, it’s time to narrow down the playing field.
To do this, you should be doing two main things:
Figuring out what you can afford.
Doing more research.
To figure out if you can afford a school, first estimate your EFC (Expected Family Contribution), which will tell colleges how much your family can theoretically afford to pay. Second, use a Net Price Calculator to provide an estimate of how much money you’d receive from a particular college upon admission. Every school is federally required to have an NPC on its website. Third, if you have in-state schools on your list, find out if you qualify for your state’s aid programs (both merit-based and need-based aid). Lastly, research possible scholarships. Institutional scholarships (i.e., those offered by a school) are a great last resort to make a school affordable.
After you’ve figured out what your financial means look like, start doing more in-depth research into the 20 or so colleges you put on your initial list. A great place to start is just to talk with your college counselor. They’ll be the most likely to know which schools might be a good fit for you. They can also tell you where students from your school and with your profile (scores, grades, extracurriculars, etc.) have been accepted in recent years.
Another one of the best ways to get a feel for colleges is to actually go and visit them. Attending an info session or going on a guided tour can give you a great sense of whether or not you can envision yourself living and studying at a given school. On these visits, don’t be afraid to ask questions! Use it as a chance to learn about what a college has to offer you. It’s not all about what you can give to them. Of course, visiting schools can be expensive. You definitely don’t have to do this. In fact, you can also normally find virtual tours on colleges’ websites that allow you to explore the campus if you don’t have quite enough time (or energy) to visit. If you can’t find anything on a college’s website, simply Google or search YouTube for the name of the school plus “tour,” or use virtual tour sites like www.campusreel.com.
For the pro perspective, go to www.CollegeCountdown.com, where you can pay a few bucks for online access to the Fiske Guide to Colleges. For the student perspective, check out www.Niche.com or www.Unigo.com, where you can read real students’ opinions on their schools. And don’t just read 1-2 reviews; read a bunch of them. You’ll get a sense of the school vibe pretty quickly.
After doing more in-depth research, try and narrow down your preliminary list to about 10 schools. Why ten? Because that allows you to divide your list like this:
1 Wild Card (1-10% chance of acceptance)
3 Reach (very low chance of acceptance)
3 Maybe (decent chance of acceptance)
3 Likely (good or very good chance of acceptance)
I can’t emphasize how important it is to list schools that you know you can get into—and that you also like. It will relieve SO MUCH STRESS throughout this process.
If you want to read more about the nitty gritty details involved in this part of the process, see the blog post here. Once you’ve got a solid list of schools you’d be excited and able to attend, you’re ready to move on to the next step.
2) Get Great Teacher & Counselor Recommendations
Note that this section was written by Alexis Allison and will appear in Ethan’s forthcoming book, College Admission Essentials. We’ve adapted it here, but credit goes to her for the original draft!
So, you’ve got to get another human’s stamp of approval.
Why bother? Because some colleges consider letters of rec pretty darn important. When colleges are comparing you and another student with the same stats (GPA, class rank, test scores, extracurricular activities), your essay and letters of recommendation can help you stand out.
Basically, they’re really important and you want to make sure you get good ones. Here’s how:
Step 1: Build Relationships With Your Teachers
Before you ask anyone to write a letter of recommendation for you, you want them to know who exactly they’re recommending! To do this, pop in to see them when you know their day hits a lull. Or schedule an appointment. Show curiosity about who your recommenders are as real people. Ask questions about class, work, life. A two-way conversation will give them different insights into who you are. Give them a chance to get to know you and vice versa. Not only will that help them write a much more personalized letter of recommendation, it’ll also create awesome connections that can continue on even after you graduate high school.
Step 2: Ask them!
When you do this, here are a couple things to keep in mind:
Actually ask. Don’t just add the name of your teacher, counselor, or boss to your Common Application. Actually speak to them.
Ask in person. An email ask should be a last resort. If one of you has moved, making an in-person request impossible, then opt for the phone call first, email second, and text never.
Make one-on-one requests. A teacher friend, Alexis, once shared a time when two students who were friends walked up to her together to ask for their letters of recommendation so she felt obligated to tell them both yes — how awkward would it have been if she’d told one yes and one no? In short, maybe ask when it’s just you and the teacher.
Time it right. You know how you wait until your parents are in a good mood before you ask them for something? Do that with your recommenders, too. That means: Don’t ask your teachers during class. Don’t ask your counselors during lunch. (They’re humans. They eat.) Don’t ask your priest on Sunday after mass or your boss on the busiest day of the week. You get the idea.
Handle the print submissions. While this is not the norm, some schools still want you to snail mail your rec letters. If that’s the case, it’s your responsibility to provide your teacher with a stamped envelope addressed to the admission office of the relevant college. Make sure to let your snail mail writers know that your full name and birthdate should be clearly stated at the top of the page, so the letter makes it into your file. You may also do this for Other Recommenders.
Step 3: Follow up in writing.
Once you’ve asked someone if they’d write you a letter of rec in person, you need to do one more thing the very same day: Write your recommender a follow-up email. The human brain is like a very smart bowl of spaghetti: If you don’t put your conversation down in writing, it might get lost in a thick vat of garlic and marinara.
Also, make sure to follow up after the recommendation has been written. Don’t forget to say thank you. These rec letters — especially the good ones — can take three hours to write. And the thing is, teachers and other recommenders don’t have to write these letters. They don’t get paid for them. They write them because they care about you. At the very least, write a thank-you email or note.
3) Devote Some Time to Standardized Testing
Note that this section was written by Bruce Reed and Adam Ingersoll from Compass Prep and will appear in Ethan’s forthcoming book, College Admission Essentials. We’ve adapted it here, but credit goes to them for this content!
While standardized testing tends to be a big part of what makes the college process so darn stressful, know that testing is a) important, but not more important than your mental health b) only one part of a much bigger application c) there to serve your specific needs and d) not required at a growing list of colleges (Fairtest.org keeps a running list of US colleges that have gone test-optional).
With that in mind, if you’re planning to take standardized tests, here’s the best and least stress-inducing way to go about it:
Part 1: Map Out Your Full Testing Plan
Good test taking starts with good planning. No matter how far into high school you are now, a good testing plan can take shape by working backwards from the fall of senior year. Frame your testing window and then pencil in what you already have on your plate in that timespan, whether that’s weeks, months, or years. From there you can map out test dates thoughtfully based on realistic timelines that work for you.
A common game plan looks like this:
Take the PSAT (if offered at school) in 10th grade as a no-stakes introduction to testing
Take the PreACT (if offered at school) in 10th grade for comparison purposes
Retake the PSAT in October of 11th grade, especially if you plan to take the SAT
(this is also the National Merit qualifying test for juniors)
Choose the ACT or SAT and select a date for your first official sitting
(most students start official testing in the spring of 11th grade)
Consider taking Subject Tests at the end of 11th grade
Retake the ACT or SAT at least once to improve in one or more sections
(over the summer or early in the fall of 12th grade)
Grab your calendar and make note of the upcoming slate of official test dates published on the respective websites of the two testing agencies. Both offer testing several times a year.
Count the number of weeks (and conflicts) you have leading up to different test dates. Test date selection should be based on academic readiness, test preference, desired preparation timelines, date conflicts, and application deadlines. There’s no such thing as predictably “easier” or “harder” test dates, and whoever else is testing on a given day has no bearing on your score.
It’s smart to complete at least one ACT or SAT before the end of junior year and remain open to retesting in the summer or early fall of senior year. Juniors should consider Subject Tests while the material is freshest. If you’re taking an AP, Honors, or advanced course in a given subject, you’re an especially good candidate for a corresponding Subject Test.
Part 2: Create Testing Accounts
After plotting a comprehensive testing plan, don’t neglect the critical mechanics. If you take the PSAT, you’ll set up a College Board account, which you’ll use to register for the SAT and Subject Tests, access those results, and eventually submit those scores to colleges. A separate ACT account is required to manage your ACT testing.
Most colleges want official score reports sent via the testing agencies. However, some colleges now allow applicants to initially self-report scores and then provide official reports only after being admitted and prior to enrollment.
Registering early increases your chance of securing a seat at your first-choice venue. Tests are not offered at every high school, so you may need to travel to another school in your region.
Opt-in for (or opt-out of) the essay during registration and take note of what’s required (and forbidden) on test day. Certain test dates offer you the option of purchasing an expanded score report which gives you a chance to review any questions you missed. Decide if this is something you’ll use, especially if you think you’ll retest.
Finally, if you require special testing accommodations due to a diagnosed learning, physical or medical disability, be sure to have those approvals in place in advance. The testing organizations have crucial differences in their accommodation policies. Seek assistance from your high school if you’re unsure how to seek those accommodations.
Part 3: Determine a Test Preparation and Practice Plan
We recommend spending 3 to 4 months preparing for the ACT or SAT. This gives you enough room to work test prep into an active teenage life without sacrificing other interests. Proper test preparation will clean up content gaps identified by diagnostic tests, and it will give insight into subtle but predictable patterns in the test as well as any negative testing habits you may not realize you have.
Good test preparation involves a commitment to evaluated practice over a reasonable amount of time, exposure to authentic study material, and some dry runs on full-length exams. Both ACT and College Board offer free or low-cost access to practice material and there is an established commercial test prep industry that delivers resources and instruction.
Test prep comes in different forms. Self-starters can successfully self-study by committing to persistent use of options found online and in bookstores. Other students benefit from the structure and discipline of a regularly scheduled group class. Still others feel that the individualized approach of one-on-one tutoring works best for them and their busy schedules.
As you explore commercial alternatives, it’s good to be armed with questions to help you determine the best fit. Start by asking yourself a few questions about what matters most to you. Then ask friends and counselors for trusted recommendations.
Some colleges also ask their applicants to submit Subject Test scores. A word of caution: Subject Tests should be used to demonstrate mastery of a subject. So if you haven’t (yet) mastered a subject, don’t demonstrate that. Subject Test scores are only helpful if they enhance your testing portfolio.
We recommend waiting until March or April of 11th grade before taking a practice test to see where you stand. That’s late enough in the course to get a basic sense of your readiness while leaving enough time to brush up a little more before May or June on gaps identified by the practice test. It’s also a good idea to talk to your teacher about how well the class has prepared students for the corresponding Subject Test in the past.
You can retake a Subject Test but first ask yourself why. Your score is unlikely to improve much unless a significant change in your level of mastery occurs.
After you’ve gotten your bearings in terms of standardized testing, it’s time to move onto the step that normally occupies the most time and energy in applying to college, but also has the potential to be the most interesting: yup, writing essays.
4) Write Your College Essays
At the most basic level, there are two types of essays you’ll be writing for college applications: your personal statement and your supplemental essays. The personal statement is the big, 650-word essay you send to many of the schools you apply to, while the supplementals are more college-specific and often times shorter in length (although not always).
There are different techniques for tackling each type of essay that you should know about before you start writing. Let’s start with the biggun’.
Part 1: Tackling the Personal Statement
Step 1: Brainstorm
It’s important to begin with some juicy brainstorming exercises. These will help you clarify who you are “on paper.” Here are a couple different brainstorming options here for you to choose from:
Option #1: If you really knew me…
Begin by saying the phrase “If you really knew me…” and share something personal with yourself or with a partner. Share something you’ve never told anyone.
Go for it! Surprise yourself.
Option #2: I love…
Set a timer for one minute and finish the phrase “I love. ” aloud by naming a series of things that you love. Do this repeatedly until the buzzer beeps. Try and list as many as you can. This is a pretty fun free association game to get your creativity flowing.
Option #3: Gratitude Check-In
Gratitude helps us identify what we value most. Take turns with a partner sharing something you’re grateful for. Get as specific and as personal as you can.
Once you’ve spent a bit of time warming up with these brainstorming activities, it’s good to move into a more essay-focused activity we like to call the Essence Objects Exercise. We consider the Essence Objects exercise the most complete exercise for the college essay. It helps describe the world you come from. By the end you should have almost all of the material you need to know how to write a college essay (seriously!). Definitely find a quiet space and dive in. Writing this assignment by hand produces the best results. Here’s how it goes:
In this box is a set of objects.
Imagine that each one is one of your essence objects.
What does this mean?
Each object represents one of your fundamental qualities.
Thus, each object is more than just an object.
For instance in my (Luci’s) essence object box, I put my phone case, which is covered pop-art style tiny tin cans that say “Cool Beans” on them. For me, this case is a daily reminder to take life in stride and to focus on happy moments rather than get bogged down in negativity. I also say “cool beans” a lot in real life because it’s just objectively a great go-to expression.
In other words, by picking this object, I’m learning to connect a tangible, physical thing in my life to my core values of happiness, positivity, and being present.
Try making a list of about 20 objects. Afterwards, survey your list and see what values are reflected in the objects you chose. If you feel like there are values you haven’t yet touched on through your list, try brainstorming a few more. This is a great way to start thinking about potential subjects or values you want to incorporate into your personal statement.
Another great brainstorming activity is the Values Exercise. Here’s a link to a description of how it works. This is useful for identifying both your core values and your aspirations. It will help connect your experiences to what you value most and give you ideas for insights and uncommon connections you want to share with your reader.
Once you’ve done some brainstorming, it’s time to move on to thinking about how you want to organize your essay.
Step 2: Structure
There are four possible paths for writing your college essay.
To figure out which path might work best for you, ask yourself two questions:
Have you faced significant challenges? (You define «significant.»)
Do you know what you want to study?
Based on these two answers, take a look at this chart and see which essay approach might work for you:
It’s important to remember that these categories are interchangeable and you can move from one to the other upon further brainstorming or reflection. So rather than thinking of these as “types of students,” think of them as “different paths for a personal statement.”
No matter which path you choose, we believe a good college essay should either:
Go deep, discussing one moment that fundamentally changed your life, or
Go wide, discussing many different elements of your life.
The Narrative Structure will help you go deep while the Montage Structure will help you go wide. We’ll discuss both structures in the next two sections.
For a Narrative Essay, a great place to start is by doing the Feelings and Needs Exercise. This will give you a sense of how a specific story in your life connects to your broader needs and values in a college setting.
For the Montage Essay, you want to start developing what’s called a “focusing lens.” This is normally an interest, object, career path, or some other theme that connects several of your interests or values. This focusing lens will eventually become your way of highlighting several seemingly disparate parts of yourself in your final essay. For examples of great montage essays, go here. Essays 3, 4 and 7-0 are Montage; the rest use the Narrative structure.
Step 3: Write and Revise
Once you’ve found a topic you feel personally invested in and a structure that your excited to explore with your topic of choice, you’re ready to start writing!
Don’t be afraid to just start. There’s no right or wrong first draft. Just get your ideas on paper and you can do plenty of revising later on.
Feeling stuck? Click here for a separate guide on how to begin your college essay.
Once you’ve got a first draft, you want to start combing back through it to see if your essay is doing its job. Here are four qualities of a great personal statement:
Core Values (AKA: information)
These are the values you would fight for (Ex. family, freedom, empathy). As you read through your essay, ask yourself: which values are kind of there, but could be clearer? Or which values should be coming through but maybe aren’t yet?
Vulnerability
This is where you can FEEL the writer coming through. Test your essay by reading it aloud to someone who knows you. Ask them two questions: “Do you feel closer to me?” and “What did you learn about me that you didn’t already know?”
Insight (aka “So What?” Moments)
Try working 4-5 of these moments into your essay. The ends of the paragraphs are a great place to put these. Look at the claims you’re making and ask: what do they say about me? And are these insights obvious or unpredictable?
Craft
Craft is when you know why each paragraph, each sentence and, yes, each word is there. Make sure all are necessary. Comb through your entire essay with the word “necessary” in mind.
And that, in broad strokes, is how you should go about writing your personal statement. If you want more specific details or some essay examples from previous years that worked, check out this free 1-hour guide.
Now, let’s talk supplementals.
Part 2: Writing Your Supplemental Essays
Ultimately, a lot of the writing you do for these essays is similar to what you do for your personal statement. Here’s a general idea of what the writing process for supplementals should look like:
Step 1: Gather all your topics into one spreadsheet
Research all the essay topics (you’ll find most on the Common App—if not, try the school’s website) for the colleges on your list and put them into one spreadsheet.
Then, play the overlapping prompt game: read through all your prompts and decide which might potentially overlap. This will give you a clearer sense of how many essays you need to write from scratch and how many you can just shift around a bit to fit multiple prompts.
Step 2: Brainstorm topics for a “Super Essay”
One great way to save yourself time is to brainstorm an essay that will work for several prompts. I call this a “Super Essay.” A great way to find one is to consider the activities, projects, or clubs that either a) you’ve spent a lot of time on, or b) are impressive. Make a list of 2-3 of these. To figure out which one may yield more (and better) content, ask yourself these questions:
What did I actually do? Make a bullet point list of your responsibilities, with active verbs at the start of each one (Ex: organized meeting notes, facilitated conversations, etc.)
What problems have I addressed or solved through this project/activity/club?
What lessons/values/skills did I develop? What am I better at than I was before?
What impact did I have—on my self, school, community, or world?
How did (or could) I apply this to other areas of my life?
If you read through these and it’s clear that a particular activity, project, or club will yield more content, it might be a sign that it’s a great “Super Essay” candidate.
Once you’ve got a topic you’re satisfied with, go back to all your essay prompts and see how many of them your topic of choice could potentially work for. Sometimes you might have to get a little creative to make it work, but don’t be afraid to think outside of the box a little bit.
Step 3: Structure and write!
Pick a structure:
Narrative Structure: great for essays in which you overcame or worked towards overcoming a challenge. If you go with this structure, try breaking it down like this:
Challenge I/we faced
Why it was a big deal
What we did about it
What my particular role was
Montage Structure: great for everything else. If you go with this structure, use the Values List to brainstorm 4-6 lessons you learned through the project/activity/club. Tip: try to not choose the values that every other student will choose (ex: discipline, hard work, etc.) and instead strive for uncommon connections.
5) Creating the Rest of Your Application
Once you turn your attention to the rest of you application, you’ll need to do a few more things on the Common App itself.
First, create a Common App Account and fill out your info. And while we could have created a guide for this, our friends at CollegeWise have already put together this one.
Second, create an activities list that highlights the projects you’ve worked on, clubs you’ve been a part of (or founded), jobs you’ve worked, etc. Here’s our guide to writing a Great Activities List.
Finally, make the most of the 650-word Additional Information Section. This part is often misused or skipped over entirely, but provides some great opportunities for you to share more about yourself. Here’s our guide for the Common App Additional Information Section.
And that’s it! Pretty much a step-by-step guide on how to apply to college. It may feel like a lot but remember to take each part of the process as it comes and to enjoy yourself along the way. Don’t be afraid to take deep breaths when you need them. There’s no harm in taking time for yourself if you’re feeling overwhelmed. We believe in you. You got this.
Hi! I’m Luci Jones (Brown Univesity, CO ‘23). I took Ethan’s How to Write a Personal Statement course last year and absolutely loved it. Ethan asked me to help him compile a few techniques/strategies for applying to college that I learned from his course. He also allowed me to use some material from his forthcoming book! Hopefully this step-by-step guide will give you a good sense of what you should be expecting from the college application process and how to make it as smooth as possible.
Choosing a College: How to Get Started
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The process of choosing a college can be an intimidating one. After all, for many students your college experience will be the first time you live away from home. The college you attend will become your home and your community for the next four years. It represents a good chunk of your future and will likely have an even further reaching impact on your career and life beyond college. It’s no wonder why choosing a college that is just right for you can seem intimidating or even overwhelming at first.
While many big name schools might already be familiar, there are hundreds of others that you’ve likely never heard of before. Luckily, there are many resources out there for learning more about colleges of all sizes.
In this post, we outline how to get started when it comes to choosing a college. By tapping into your resources you’ll be able to learn about all the options and compile a college list that works for your unique interests and priorities. To learn how to begin choosing a college, read on!
There Is No “Right” Time to Begin Choosing a College
Many students worry about starting their college search too early or too late. While it’s definitely possible to leave it until the last minute and find yourself with limited options, it’s nearly impossible to begin looking at colleges too early, so long as you’re committed to keeping an open mind right up until you commit to a school.
Some students have dream schools they’ve wanted to attend from the time they were very young. Others begin to get interested in looking at various college options early in their high school careers. Still others don’t get serious until junior year. All of these approaches are great to help you compile a college list.
We recommend starting to think about college choices sometime around sophomore year, but you will still have plenty of options as long as you have put some thought into it by the beginning of senior year. Even if you leave your college search until the start of your senior year, it’s possible that you’ll still be able to compile a great college list; you just won’t have quite so much time to do so.
To learn more about starting the college search at various times, see our posts:
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Start By Making a College List
A college list is a polished list of the schools that you’ll ultimately apply to. Depending on when you begin your list, it is likely to vary in length at times. Sometimes, students start out with a lengthy list that needs to be whittled down. Other times, students have only a few schools on their list and need to add more before they apply.
To get started creating a college list, you’ll need to think critically about your priorities and any other important factors in choosing a college. Do you need to attend school close to home? Are finances a limiting factor? Are there any other non-negotiables that you’ll need to take into account?
Also consider your preferences. Do you want to attend a big university or a small private college? What demographics are you looking for? Is geographical location important to you? All of these factors might ultimately play a role in your decision.
To learn more about what a college list is and what it entails, check out these CollegeVine posts:
Sometimes, the hardest part of creating a college list initially is discovering the schools that you consider for it. You might hear about the Ivy Leagues and schools with big name sports teams, and maybe you have an older sibling or know of high school alums who have attended other, lesser known schools, but how do you learn about the hundreds of other colleges out there?
How can you be sure that you include the colleges you’re most likely to love on your college list? Here are some tips to get started.
5 Ways to Learn More About Colleges in the Early Phases:
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How to Get a Full Scholarship
This article was co-authored by Jennifer Kaifesh. Jennifer Kaifesh is the Founder of Great Expectations College Prep, a tutoring and counseling service based in Southern California. Jennifer has over 15 years of experience managing and facilitating academic tutoring and standardized test prep as it relates to the college application process. She takes a personal approach to her tutoring, and focuses on working with students to find their specific mix of pursuits that they both enjoy and excel at. She is a graduate of Northwestern University.
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Getting into college is tough enough. Then you’ve got to figure out how to pay for it. If you want to secure assistance from a university or a private institution in the form of scholarships, you can learn to negotiate the process and give yourself the best chance for getting big money. While «full rides» are rare, most state schools offer a number of them to qualified students, and you can learn to patch together different foundation options to help you pay for school. See Step 1 for more information.
Do You Have to Go to College to Be Successful? The Answer: Yes and No.
Maybe you are steps away from graduating high school and looking for the answers for what to do next. Or perhaps you’ve been working for a few years and you are wondering if college is the next step for you. But first, you need to know if it’s worth your time and money. So honestly, do you have to go to college to be successful in life? The answer is yes…and no. Read on to find out why there’s no simple answer.
Is College Important for You to Be Successful?
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College is an important part of many people’s lifetime. It is an experience unlike any other one could have, but the important question is, is it important enough to spend all of that time and money?
There are many degrees that have a very high ROI. If the expected income you will make with your career choice is high, and the tuition for your program is affordable, then college will be well worth your while.
However, there are many careers that don’t pay well enough to make a degree worth it, and there are many career fields that you can enter without college. So you definitely need to make sure that your expected career is worth the investment.
Overall, college is important because it provides invaluable experiences, you gain important, life-long connections, and you can get further in your career and make a high income with most degrees.
Also, it is possible to graduate debt-free with University of the People, the world’s first accredited tuition-free university. So with University of the People, your degree will always be worthwhile no matter your path.
You Don’t Need a College Degree to Be Successful — Here’s Why
The truth is that a college degree is a required step of many careers, but not all. Decide what career you want first and check if a degree is needed. Even if a degree is not needed in the beginning, it may be required in order for you to move higher up within your company or field.
That being said, you can certainly be successful without a college degree — your skills and talents can get you hired. Find out exactly what skills are needed for your career path and work hard to excel in them. You will have to be determined, self-disciplined, and goal-oriented. In the end, both education and marketable skills are key. It’s up to you how you want to get that education and skills — through an institution, or on your own in the real world.
Finally, do employers really check degrees? They sure do, if it’s important for them. For companies that require degrees, they may check your resume to find out if you really completed the accomplishments you put down. They will likely ask you about it in your interview as well.
However, many new companies today do not look at resumes during the hiring process. Instead, they will ask for written answers and a preliminary skills test during the application,and a more thorough and in-person skills test during the interview process. Your skillset, personality, and recommendations will go a long way for companies such as these.
Do You Really Need To Go To College? That Depends
There are three important factors when determining if you should go to college: the hiring manager or hiring process, the industry you are entering, and finally, your own definition of success.
1. Hiring Manager
For better or worse, there is an algorithm to hiring nowadays. Some companies have software that will discard resumes submitted with no degrees or irrelevant experience.
Some hiring managers are under pressure to produce the best applicants possible and will therefore choose college as a way to filter out some of their applicant pool.
Today, many companies have third-party hiring agencies that make money from finding qualified applicants for a position. Hiring managers and HR coordinators within these agencies will often filter out applicants without degrees in order to increase their chances of matching an applicant to a job. To find out if this is the case, check with the HR department at some big companies you would be interested in applying to get an idea of what to expect during the application process.
2. Industry
Some industries are more likely to require degrees, such as fields of psychology or hard sciences, whereas some areas are more heavily dependent on relevant skills — such as some areas of technology and business. Those looking to get into marketing, design, programming or content creation may not need a degree, but a good portfolio showcasing past projects will be crucial.
3. How You Define Success
Ultimately, it is up to you to determine how you define success for yourself. If you are able to start your own business, continue a family business, or start small in a company and move your way up without a degree, do you consider that success? Or will you always feel the need to have graduated from college no matter your career path? Do some self-reflection on how much a degree matters in your own definition of success for yourself.
Benefits of Having A Degree
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There are countless reasons why you really should go to college. One of the most common reasons why students attend college these days is for the opportunity for an increased income and a boost to the resume.
College grads, on average, make much more than those working with only a high-school diploma.
Employers really do look at your education as an important aspect of your resume and many companies won’t consider an applicant without a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. In addition, many companies offer higher entry-level salaries for a college degree. And if you study while you are working, you may be eligible for a salary increase once you graduate.
Plus, we can’t discount the college experience. As cheesy as it may sound, college really is a life-changing experience. The people you meet throughout college, even though an online degree will change your life forever. There are so many research opportunities, and project experience you will gain — not to mention all of the soft skills you develop from attending colleges such as time management, work-life balance, networking skills, and presentation and writing skills.
In addition to all that experience, college gives you a depth in your field that short programs, certificates, and work experience can’t offer. The college includes courses on theory and research that give you the expertise and confidence to do what you do in the real world. All of these courses, projects, exams, and group work will give you the critical thinking experience you need to enter the workforce competitively.
The easiest reason to go to college: Your career choice. There are just some career paths that necessitate a college degree and there is no getting out of it. Do your homework on the job and career you dream of and check entry requirements, as well as what it takes to move ahead in the field so you know full well if a degree is required.
These are all great reasons to go to college — but is it worth it? The truth is that there are so many online, flexible and low-cost options these days that you are almost certain to find a program that will be within your budget and time constraints. Pursuing a specialized undergraduate certificate program can be a potentially beneficial option. In the end, you need to decide for yourself if the program is worth your time and money.
If you are worried about whether your degree will be worth the investment, do some research on which degrees, majors, and colleges have a strong record of a high return on investment. Common majors with high ROIs include engineering, computer science, economics, physics, and finance.
A College Degree is Beneficial, But Not Always Required
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You don’t necessarily need to go to college to earn big. There are plenty of high-income earners who did not go to college, and many high-paying industries that welcome non-college graduates.
Start-ups in technology, for example, may be more interested in your skillset and potential than a degree. You can also start your own business in something you excel at, such as consulting, marketing, design, or freelance programming — all of which can pay well without a degree.
You also don’t need to go to college to become an expert in an area. Personal and professional experience, coupled with online resources can give you expertise in your field that a college degree cannot. In college, you don’t learn tenacity like you do from the fails and successes of real-life experiences.
In addition, your degree could be useless by the time you graduate. Take computer science, for example. The introductory programming course taken in freshman year of college will likely be irrelevant for a job four to five years later. Industries such as technology and science are always changing — a better way to learn and become successful in your field is to keep yourself updated on industry news.
Finally, the biggest reason people talk about not going to college: Student debt. Student debt is a real problem for almost all graduates. Many grads take many years to pay off student loans — if you leave college with large amounts of student loans, going to college might hurt you in the long term.
Education Comes in Many Forms
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You don’t have to attend college in order to get an education and preparation for a career. There are other options as well. But take note, some aren’t cheaper than college.
1. Trade Schools
Trade schools are schools for specific careers. There are applied-skills trade schools for automotive, plumbing, electrician, and aviation, for example. There are also healthcare trade schools for careers in medical technology, billing, and nursing. Other options include culinary schools, art schools, tech schools, and beauty schools.
2. Certifications
There are plenty of fields today that offer certificates in place of, or in addition to college degrees. Common certificates include project management, digital marketing, programming, teaching, information systems, and forensics examiner.
3. Real-Life Experiences
If you can start a good job and work your way up, or learn the skills you need and move on to your dream career, by all means, go for it! You will earn real experience and get paid while doing so. Just make sure you are doing a job that leads to what you ultimately want. Other opportunities that are not jobs but are real-life experiences include self-directed projects, volunteer work, and being on an executive board.
4. Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships are ways for you to get real work experience while learning with the best in the business. You can get an apprenticeship in law, nursing, IT, and more. In a way, an apprenticeship is similar to a paid internship, but not associated with the school.
5. Military Experience
Military experience is another non-college route to go. The military can give you plenty of relevant experience to enter the workforce. Plus, if you decide to go to college later, you may be reimbursed for tuition. However, joining the military is a very serious decision and you will want to talk it over with loved ones, as well as take plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons.
How to Invest in Your Education
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Your education is an investment, so invest wisely. Do your homework when it comes to the school you plan to attend, and the major or degree you plan to graduate with. Some degrees and majors have higher or lower ROI, so make sure yours has a high ROI to make it worth your money.
Knowing your financing options is an important part of paying for your college degree. Do as much research into relevant scholarships that you can, and apply for them, no matter if the reward amount is large or small. The small scholarship amounts can really add up!
Make sure to fill out a yearly FAFSA to determine your eligibility for federal student aid. If you can, try to pay off some of the tuition while you are in school. Check out options for work-study, where you get paid and earn college credit while you work. See if you can also work for college credit, or TA for a class to offset tuition costs.
Finding financial success while you are in college is possible. Try starting a side business, either with yourself or with colleagues. If it goes well, you can pursue it further after graduation. There are plenty of student-friendly jobs available that are either part-time, flexible, online, or a combination of all three. Saving wherever you can will help you out big time in the long run. Try to eat in, stick to your budget, and use all the student discounts you can while you are in college.
Making tough decisions is a part of financial success in college. You might have to forgo a dream school if the price is too high, or you might opt to live at home during college to save money. These are tough decisions to make, but ultimately will help you financially in the long run.
You don’t have to be a part of the student debt crisis. If you attend a low-cost university, it is possible to work part-time throughout the school to pay off the tuition as you go. If you attend the University of the People, your classes will be tuition-free, almost guaranteeing that you graduate from college debt-free with a useful and in-demand degree.
Many Successful Leaders Don’t Have College Degrees
You don’t need a college degree to be successful — these leaders don’t have one!
1. Steve Jobs: Steve Jobs went to Reed College for computing but dropped out after just one semester. After spending some time in India, he went on to build one of the most powerful and influential companies today: Apple.
2. Richard Branson: As a dyslexic student, Branson didn’t have much success in school and dropped out of high school. He is now a billionaire, and the founder and CEO of Virgin Group.
3. Dave Thomas: Founder and former CEO of Wendy’s, Thomas left high school to work for a restaurant in Indiana. He opened the first Wendy’s in 1969 and the rest is history!
4. Michael Dell: Dell went to college because his parents wanted him to become a doctor. But during school, he started a side gig refurbishing computers that became so successful, he dropped out after one year.
5. Rachael Ray: Believe it or not, Rachael Ray has no culinary training or any degree for that matter. She used her skills, personality, and tenacity to become the amazing food star that she is today.
6. Henry Ford: Ford left his family’s farm at the age of 16 to move to Detroit and work as an apprentice in a machine shop. He has no formal schooling in engineering or business but went on to revolutionize the automotive and business world.
7. John D. Rockefeller Sr.: Rockefeller, like many of his time, started working at the age of 16 with only some knowledge of bookkeeping. He is known as one of the richest Americans to ever live and founded one of the most successful companies in America, Standard Oil.
8. Steven Spielberg: Spielberg was actually denied acceptance to film school twice. While attending another school, he started as an intern at Universal Studios and began his career that way. He eventually received an honorary degree, 35 years after first attending college.
9. Mary Kay Ash: Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, started her company in 1963 at the age of 45 after decades of watching men get promoted instead of her. Before she started Mary Kay Cosmetics, she was a successful businesswoman much ahead of her time.
Conclusion
There are many factors that come into play when answering the question, “Do you have to go to college to be successful?”
In life, you create the opportunities to sharpen your skills and improve your talents, learn and explore different disciplines, and cultivate experiences. It is up to you to choose which path you will take to obtain those. Ultimately, you need to define your own success, and believe in yourself and your ability to succeed.
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How to Pay for College Without Parents’ Help
Paying for school is daunting enough when you have the financial support of your family. But for students whose parents can’t or won’t contribute to expenses, figuring out how to pay for college on your own becomes a whole different challenge.
In this guide, I’ll lay out everything you need to consider about how to pay for college without parents and all the steps you need to take.
Table of Contents
Fair warning: we’re going to be talking about a lot of stuff in this article. So here’s a table of contents for you to use as a quick reference:
Paying for College on Your Own: Why It Matters
The most significant sources of student financial aid are need-based. This means that family financial need is the main criterion taken into account when determining aid eligibility. Your finances are not considered separately from your family’s finances when aid sources determine financial need. This is the case even if your parents can’t or won’t help you pay for college. So why is it such a big deal if you can’t count on your family to contribute to expenses?
This is a frustrating and unfair situation for any student to be in. You may feel you’re at a disadvantage here—and to be honest, you are. But whatever the reason that your parents won’t be contributing to your college education, there are steps you can take to maximize your aid eligibility. It won’t necessarily be as easy as paying for college with familial support, but it’s definitely not impossible.
One of the best parts of going to college is the sense of freedom and independence that comes with adulthood. You have options and autonomy here as a young adult—so let’s get started figuring out how to pay for college without parents.
What Does College Even Cost?
For the 2019-2020 academic year, the average annual cost of tuition and fees was:
The cost of tuition and fees is usually the first expense that comes to mind when people think about paying for college. Unfortunately, there’s a lot more to the picture than just tuition costs—there are hidden or implicit expenses associated with spending a year at college. Here are some of the biggest hidden costs you might encounter based on average amounts from 2018-2019:
Lumping together all of these expenses (especially if you can estimate travel costs and personal expenses) will give you a school’s real sticker price—also known as the Cost of Attendance, or CoA. It’s pretty easy to get an estimate of a school’s CoA—just google «[school name] cost of attendance.» To get a more detailed explanation of all these expenses, including tips and strategies for reducing costs, check our guide to what college will really cost you.
Just a quick glance at these numbers will tell you that college is probably too expensive for you to cover on your own. What’s more important than sticker price, however, is your «net price» at a particular school: it’s what you pay after all financial aid is taken into account. This is what you actually owe out of pocket for a year of college.
Want to estimate your net price at almost any college? Just google «[school name] net price calculator.» Many schools have a tool built into their websites that will give you an estimate of how much you’ll pay out of pocket. These calculators take financial need and sometimes merit-based factors into account.
Sometimes, though, the net price is still daunting, especially if you’ll be tackling it on your own. The rest of the post will be focusing on minimizing this net price, starting with smart college application strategies.
Minimizing Your College Costs: Instructions for Any Cost-Conscious Student
What do you do if you don’t have access to a ton of resources? You try to minimize your costs from the start.
If you’re applying to schools with price in mind, your strategy should focus on lowest net price, not necessarily lowest sticker price. Naturally, the best way to decrease your costs is to apply to schools that will offer you low net prices. Once you’ve been accepted to schools, you’ll receive official financial aid packages. You can then determine which packages you’re most comfortable with. Here are the types of schools that will give you the best deals.
Top Private Schools
A lot of well-ranked schools (including Ivy League universities and top liberal arts colleges) have especially generous financial policies. The bulk of financial aid at these schools tends to be need-based, not merit-based, so you may not get much aid if you come from a wealthy background. Notably, the Cost of Attendance (or sticker price) for these schools will likely be higher than those of public schools.
Schools That Offer Generous Merit-Based Aid
If you’re a high-achieving student but don’t think you’ll qualify for much need-based aid based on your family’s finances, you should look into schools that offer generous merit scholarships. Schools with generous merit-based aid programs often offer scholarships to attract competitive students.
If you have a particular talent (e.g. if you’re an athlete or musician), or if you have high grades and test scores, you could be offered some pretty large scholarships. If you’re interested in a particular school, just google «[school name] scholarships» to see what sort of aid they offer. You can also start by checking our list of schools with the best financial aid.
Public Schools
Public colleges and universities can be reasonably priced for in-state students but very expensive for out-of-state students. They also offer much less generous financial aid packages than some of the top private schools, although they may offer more merit-based aid to attract competitive applicants.
If you’re interested in attending a public university and won’t be getting assistance from your parents, you should definitely apply to a wide range of in-state schools.
Steps to Take If Your Parents Won’t Pay
Here’s where we start getting into the nitty-gritty steps of paying for your education.
After strategically applying to schools, the most effective way to cover your college expenses is to apply for as much financial aid as possible. Even if your parents don’t want to contribute financially to your college education, there are ways that they can help make financial aid available to you. The bottom line is that more financial aid means a lower net price.
Like I mentioned earlier, the main sources of financial aid are federal and institutional (i.e. aid from your school). You can still qualify for aid from these sources if your parents won’t be paying for any part of your school expenses, but you’ll need your parents’ help in applying. Assuming you’re already using the college application strategies that I’ve discussed above, here are the steps you should take in order to maximize your aid eligibility:
Step 1: Submit a FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid
This is the only application you’ll need to submit to qualify for federal aid. Many schools also use the FAFSA to award their own aid. In order to qualify for things like the Pell Grant, Perkins loan, or Direct Subsidized loan, you’ll need to submit your parents’ financial information even if they won’t be contributing. For detailed instructions on submitting this application, check out our guide to applying for financial aid or our guide to the FAFSA.
Step 2: Apply for Scholarships
You can receive funding for schools through private organizations that offer grants or scholarships. If your family is low-need, apply for merit-based awards; if your family is high-need, you can apply for both merit- and need-based awards. There are so many scholarship programs out there—national, local, big, small. You should do your own scholarship search by looking for awards that are tailored to your interests, background, location, and ethnicity. Start off by checking out our guides to top scholarships for high school juniors and seniors.
Once you have a plan for submitting a FAFSA and applying for scholarships, you’ll need to talk with your parent or guardians about getting the information you need from them.
It’s important to start an open dialogue about financial aid with your parents.
How to Talk to Your Parents About Applying for Financial Aid
If your parents can’t or won’t pay for college expenses, they may be wary about filling out a FAFSA or giving out financial information for need-based scholarships. It’s important to assure them that submitting a complete FAFSA with their financial information does not obligate them to help you pay for college. The FAFSA has nothing to do with your bills or college expenses. it’s simply an aid application.
Bottom line: if they refuse to help you with your FAFSA, they’re not protecting themselves. They’re just impeding you from qualifying for financial aid.
What if, though, they’re just overwhelmed by the process of completing and submitting a FAFSA?
If this is the case, you can let them know that the FAFSA only takes 2-3 hours to complete. You could even do it on your own if you have your family’s financial information handy:
The sooner you submit your FAFSA, the better, so don’t put off having these discussions with your parents or guardians!
What You Should Do If You’re an Independent Student
If you’re classified as independent, you’ll be doing things a little differently.
If you’re still in high school, chances are that you are a dependent student, and everything I’ve written so far will apply to you. In other words, your family’s finances will be an important factor in determining how much aid you’re eligible for. But not all students who attend college will be considered dependents, and as such, they won’t need to submit their parents’ financial info for consideration when they fill out their FAFSA.
Independent students don’t have to pay for college on their own. Parents can help if they’d like, but both colleges and the FDOE award aid under the assumption that independents will be paying their own way. This will work to your advantage when it comes to aid eligibility, particularly if your parents are relatively wealthy. If your family’s finances aren’t considered when schools and the federal government determine aid eligibility, you’ll likely receive more need-based aid.
Who Qualifies as an Independent?
You may be considered independent if:
The FAFSA asks all necessary questions to determine independent/dependent student status, so just answer the prompts honestly when you fill out the application.
What If You Don’t Meet the Above Criteria?
If you don’t qualify as an independent student but strongly feel that your parents’ financial information shouldn’t be considered when you submit your FAFSA, you should look into a dependency override.
A dependency override is when financial aid administrators change a student’s status from dependent to independent so that they aren’t required to submit parents’ financial info for consideration on the FAFSA. As a result, the student will likely qualify for much more need-based aid. Dependency overrides are very rare, though; what you think may count as an «unusual situation» may be discounted by federal financial aid administrators.
Here are some situations that will not qualify for dependency overrides:
Here are some situations that may qualify for dependency overrides:
If any of these situations apply to you, you may need to present evidence or documentation to support your circumstances. Dependency overrides are decided on a case-by-case basis—if you think you might apply for one, you should read more about the process.
The majority of college applicants are high school seniors, and most of the college application advice out there is aimed at them. But what do you do if you don’t fall into this narrow category? Our eBook on how to prepare for and apply to college as a nontraditional student will walk you through everything you need to know, from the coursework you should have under your belt to how to get letters of recommendation when you’re not a high school senior.
Closing the Gap: How to Cover Your Remaining Costs
You’re almost at the finish line.
At this point, you should have an idea of whether you’re (1) high-need or low-need and (2) dependent or independent. You should also have an idea of the types of schools you’ll apply to—for example, top private schools, in-state public schools, schools with generous merit aid, or some combination.
After you submit your college applications, you’ll receive financial aid packages from schools with all the federal aid and school-based aid you’re eligible for, including grants, scholarships, and some federal loan options. You’ll decide what forms of aid you want to accept, and which ones you’d prefer not to take. Here, I’ll briefly discuss the types of aid you may receive, and which types are better than other.
Financial aid packages often build in a parental contribution based on family’s finances. If your parents won’t be contributing this amount, it becomes your responsibility. and they aren’t obligated to pay it. If you want to be able to register for classes and actually attend college, this amount needs to be covered. If grants and scholarships don’t cover all your college costs, it’ll be up to you to decide how much student debt you’re comfortable with to close that gap.
In the next section, I’ll talk more about how to use student loans to cover your college expenses.
Higher education costs in the United States have been skyrocketing for the last 20 years, but it’s still possible to get a great education without breaking the bank. Learn how you can maximize the quality of your college education while minimizing costs with our six-hour online course.
Using Student Loans to Pay for School
Student loans aren’t inherently bad, and you’re not a failure if you graduate with student debt (most people graduate with some loan debt). If you’re smart about the types of loans you take out, your debt should be pretty manageable over the long run.
«Good» Loans
Most federal loans are «good.» They have low-interest rates compared to private loans and come with a built-in grace period (a period after you graduate where you don’t have to make payments).
The best types of loans are subsidized, which means they don’t accrue interest while you’re not making payments, so you owe less in the long run. They also may be forgivable if you enter certain public service careers, so they end up functioning as a grant.
«Bad» Loans
Private loans usually have less favorable terms than federal loans. For example, they won’t be subsidized, and they’ll likely come with higher interest rates. Typically, private loans are the last resort in covering any remaining balance that you owe for school.
Private loans may be difficult for you to get on your own. Most require a cosigner, another person to sign the loan who takes responsibility for the amount borrowed. If you take out a private loan, then you’ll probably need a parent or another family member (with good credit) to cosign.
No Loans
If you want to try to avoid debt, check out our guide on paying for college without taking on student loans. Without financial help from family members, however, it might be unrealistic in certain situations to try to pay for college without loans. It may be possible, though, for students who qualify for a lot of need-based aid.
Creative Ways to Pay for College Without Parents
These ideas may not be revolutionary, but they’ll get you thinking outside the box.
We have talked a lot so far about the challenges of paying for college on your own, in addition to the ways you can minimize your costs. In this section, I’ll go over some more creative ways to come up with funds for college after you’ve looked into the normal financial aid and loan options.
Scholarships
I’ve briefly touched on scholarships a bit earlier in this post as a way to come up with funds. There are two main types of scholarships:
Now, scholarships are never a sure bet, but they can cover a good chunk of your expenses if you are proactive about submitting applications and you do your own research about local or targeted scholarships.
Student Jobs
If you get a student job while you’re in college, you can potentially put money towards your bills for tuition, room, and board. You could also use your income to cover your daily personal expenses.
This isn’t a great option for everyone, however. If you’re working so much that your schoolwork starts to suffer, it defeats the purpose of getting a student job. If you can balance a student job with your academic responsibilities so that you have money to put towards your bills, working might be a good call. Read more about whether it’s a good idea to get a job as a student.
You know what’s even better than getting a job during the semester? Getting a paid internship during winter break or summer vacation. In this case, you get professional experience and a chance to put money towards school. It’s a win-win!
High School Savings
If you’re currently in high school and anticipate that you’ll be on your own for college, you might want to consider getting a job now. This isn’t right for everyone (for the reasons I listed above), but if you have the time and the initiative, it could help you build up a nest egg before you head off to college. To get started, read more about the best jobs for teens.
Family Support
Sometimes support can come from unexpected places.
If you’re reading this article, your parents probably won’t be contributing much to your college expenses. But do you have grandparents, aunts, or uncles who may be willing to help you out with college costs?
If you feel comfortable bringing this up with family members, it may be a good move to seek financial help from people other than your parents. If you feel uncomfortable asking for funds outright, consider asking to borrow money and then paying it back with student job or post-graduation earnings. You can also ask for funds for college costs for holidays and birthdays.
Example Scenarios
You’ve learned a lot, but now you have to put all this information to the test. This stuff may be confusing to understand at first, so in this section I’ll present some example scenarios to demonstrate the concepts we’ve discussed how to pay for college on your own.
These are real-world scenarios, using real schools, to give you a realistic idea of how college expenses play out in different situations.
Scenario #1: Student From a Low-Income Family
As you already know, students from low-income families may be eligible for quite a few need-based aid programs, especially if they’re relatively high-achieving.
Student A Information
Student A College Applications
Student A wants to tackle her college expenses by cutting costs and seeking out as much funding as possible. She applies to several schools, including an in-state public school (UC Irvine) and an out-of-state private school (Davidson College).
Here’s what her expenses would look like at UC Irvine and Davidson, based on both schools’ financial aid calculators (remember, she has to have her parents fill out a FAFSA in order to be eligible for federal loans):
School
UC Irvine
Davidson
Based on her estimated out-of-pocket costs, she thinks that Davidson College will be the more financially prudent choice. Still, she wants to work to minimize her federal student loan amount ($4,100).
Here are steps she can take to help cover expenses:
Student A decides she’s able to make Davidson work. Here’s a quick breakdown of how she’s able to cover her estimated out-of-pocket costs:
Scenario #2: Student From a Relatively High-Income Family
Students from high-income families may not qualify for much need-based financial aid (even if they’re paying for college on their own), but that doesn’t mean they can’t get funding from other sources, especially if they have solid grades and test scores.
Student B Information
Student B College Applications
Like Student A, Student B wants to minimize his costs because he knows he’ll be responsible for all college expenses. He applies to several schools, including an in-state public school (Arizona State University) and an out-of-state private school (Lesley University).
Here’s what his expenses would look like at Arizona State University and Lesley, based on both schools’ financial aid calculators:
School
Here are the steps he can take to reduce his costs:
Here are the steps he can take to cover his remaining cost:
Student B decides he’s able to make ASU work. Here’s a quick breakdown of how he’s able to cover his Estimated Out-of-Pocket costs:
Now that you’ve seen how these cost-cutting and money saving tips work in action, you can go ahead and apply these concepts to your own college and financial aid applications. The above scenarios won’t apply to everybody, but the thought processes demonstrated above definitely do.
What’s Next?
If you’re eager for more information, there are a ton of things you can learn about to help prepare yourself for upcoming bills and expenses. You might start by brushing up on federal financial aid, and programs like the Pell Grant and Perkins loans are key. The FAFSA is an important part of the federal aid process.
If you’re looking for a broader overview of concepts, you could read our guide to applying for financial aid. While you’re at it, check out a list of colleges with the best financial aid programs.
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Francesca graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and scored in the 99th percentile on the SATs. She’s worked with many students on SAT prep and college counseling, and loves helping students capitalize on their strengths.
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