For a more realistic college cost estimate and to better prepare for unexpected costs, the typical rule of thumb is to add on at least another 10% of your original cost of attendance.
If you don’t receive enough financial aid to cover your college costs, there are several ways to lower costs. One easy way is applying for scholarships. There are many benefits of applying for scholarships year-round, so keep searching and applying to scholarships even during the spring. Although private scholarships are typically not as helpful as institutional scholarships, every little bit helps.
Many students need additional money beyond federal grants, scholarships, and loans. You may consider cost-cutting tactics like living at home, taking summer classes, or taking transfer-eligible course equivalencies, a tactic we specialize in at First Degree, which can reduce college expenses by as much as 30%.
If you really need to, you can take out a private student loan. College Ave Student Loans is a well known site for finding private student loans that match your needs.
Negotiating your financial aid offer is one of the best ways to cut costs early and often a very worthwhile endeavor. Colleges plan for students and families to negotiate their letters and have some kind of budget to respond accordingly. Unfortunately, most families don’t negotiate at all, and end up leaving thousands of dollars on the table.
Since this is mostly a financial discussion, it’s recommended that the parents take charge here and write a well thought out letter. The goal in this letter is to show that your current income, assets, and savings cannot cover the cost of attending college. Remember that FAO’s are just people looking at a snapshot of your finances. They only see the numbers — they don’t see the story behind those numbers. If anything has changed about your financial situation, if anything will change, or if there’s anything you can mention to shine a better light on your situation, you should relay any and all of that information to your FAO in a polite, professional, friendly manner.
How To Negotiate
- Know your number — How much more do you need?
- Don’t send in your deposit too soon.
- Bring proof of your additional need.
- Use award letters from other schools as a negotiation tool.
- Request the right kind of aid — need vs merit.
- Be courteous and professional.
Comparing Multiple Offers
If your child has received multiple offers with sufficient financial aid, and not exactly sure which one to enroll in, it might help to revisit the questions, worksheets, and resources noted in our How to Get Into College: Exploring and Selecting Your Target Colleges article. Even then though, making the ultimate decision can be challenging, especially when it comes between two very likeable schools. If you’re still trying to decide between different schools, we recommend the following:
Ask questions. Create a list of as many questions as possible about the colleges you’re considering. You may want to get answers to questions like these:
- How many students return after freshman year? How many graduate?
- Does the college offer a lot of majors I’m interested in?
- What can I do for fun? What’s unique about the culture?
- What are the professors like? Are there any classes I must take?
- Do graduates go on to fulfilling and well-paying careers?
Get answers. The best place to get an answer depends on the question. Here are some of the resources that can provide information:
- People who work at the college — advisors, professors, teaching assistants.
- Current students at the college
- The college’s official website and its College Search profile
- Alumni (LinkedIn is a good tool for this)
Visit — or revisit — the campuses. If possible, check out a college’s campus to get more information. If you can’t visit a campus, call or email the admission office with your questions. Ask if someone there can put you in touch with current students and recent graduates. Your high school counselor and teachers also may know students who graduated from your high school and now attend the college. An interesting tool for virtual college visits is InDuck.
Think things over. You’ve done research and asked questions. Now it’s time to check in with your own thoughts and feelings and have your child ask themselves questions like these:
- How did I feel when I was on campus at each college I visited?
- Which colleges best match my list of must-haves?
- At which colleges can I imagine myself as successful and happy?
Compare the colleges. Together, use your new information to sort the colleges by what they offer and what you want. Make a list of the pros and cons for each college. You can also use College Search to compare up to three colleges side by side.
- Finances: Can you and your family realistically afford this school? Are there financial aid options available to you if you attend this school?
- Location: Do you really want to live in ________ for the next four years?
- Campus: Do you get a good impression of the campus when you visit it? Do the buildings and the overall campus make you excited to go there?
- Friendships: Are you going to know anyone or have anyone to help you get settled if you go to this college? Are there groups and clubs that you can fit into nicely?
- CareeProspects: Is this the best college to gain the skills that will help you pursue the career field you are interested in? Is the degree program that you would be entering into well-ranked?
- Distance from Home: How often would you be able to travel back home and see your family/friends while you were in college? Is that amount of time enough for you?
Carefully consider alternatives: Calmly talk with your child about possible alternatives, even if he or she is obsessed with attending a particular college. Point out the short-term and the long-term drawbacks of taking too big of a debt load and start building healthy budgeting habits. Explore whether attending a community college for a term or two, taking summer classes, or starting out as a part-time student to build up residency. In good housing markets, well-off families might consider purchasing an appreciating home/apartment for their child to live in to avoid rent. There are lots of ways to cut costs in college, and when the grand total comes out to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, every little bit counts.
Checking Deadlines, Making the Decision, and Responding to Colleges
This can be a tough decision, but you don’t have to decide overnight. Usually, colleges don’t expect your final decision until May 1st, in 2021 this date has likely been extended for most colleges. Keep in mind too that colleges are serious about reply deadlines. If you don’t send your deposit in time, you risk losing your place.
Once you’ve decided which college you want to attend, inform all the colleges that accepted you about your decision.
Respond to the college you’ve decided to attend. Make sure to send in the following items by the deadline:
- Your acceptance letter
- A deposit
- A separate acceptance letter for financial aid, if required
- Any other required items
You can use a College Application Worksheet like this one to keep track of your applications.
Respond to the colleges whose offers you’re declining. Send a brief note to the other colleges to thank them and turn down their offers. This frees up places for other students.
When accepting an offer, the college usually requires you to submit a financial deposit to formally start the enrollment process. The due date of the deposit may vary and be different from the due date of the acceptance confirmation. But regardless, we highly recommend you to take care of the deposit as soon as possible and send it in along with acceptance confirmation.
B are also a couple of caveats to keep in mind. (1) Try to remember that there is no such thing as a perfect school. College is what you make it, so if you put in the effort, you’re sure to have a great experience at whichever school you decide. (2) If you truly find there is a better school out there for you, you can always transfer. However, if you do go consider that option, be sure you carefully plan your credit transfer eligibility, as losing course credits can be a costly expense.
That being said, whatever your final choice may be, you will have to make it soon! Be sure you’re putting an appropriate amount of thought into it now and avoid later regrets.
Start Preparing For Your First Semester of College
You have gone through the wringer with college applications, but unfortunately, your work isn’t over just yet! For now, you have the task of researching and picking your favorite college. Later though, you’ll be attending orientation and preparing for your first days on campus. Exciting stuff! But with that comes many logistical complications that you’ll need to work out well before Day One of college. Here is a shortlist of some of the things you need to start thinking about sooner rather than later so that you’ll be ready for college:
- Attending your college orientation
- Submitting all vaccinations and other necessary forms required by the university
- Researching and signing up for your fall-semester classes
- Creating a rough draft of your four-year degree plan (you’ll want to bring this to orientation)
- Finding Housing/Roommates
- Buying everything you need to furnish your housing and prepare for class