Recent College Visits, What to Do if you are Deferred, PSATs

December, 2011

In This Issue

PSATs and SAT Subject tests

Sending additional info

Financial Aid: FAFSA and CCS Profile

Outside Scholarships

CBM has been very busy.

Check out our recent College visits.

Gettysburg

McDaniel

Moravian

Pratt Institute

Univ. of Southern California (USC)

Pepperdine

MISC. CBM Tools

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our College Bound Mentor Website

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Upcoming Seminars

How to Apply to College in a Financially Strategic Way

The cost of college has continued to outpace the cost of living increases on all counts. Finding the right college that best meets your needs and is likely to accept you is a challenge. It's even more challenging to find a good "financial fit."

This interactive workshop will review the different types of financial aid available and will discuss some of the ways families can demystify the process by understanding how to find a good financial fit.

Beth and Lisa will walk through several case studies of actual students who addressed their college search in a financially strategic way. We will also identify opportunities for students in this market who do not have any financial constraints.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Maplewood Library

Maplewood, NJ

51 Baker St.

973-762-1622

7:00 pm

PSATs

By now, you should have all received your PSAT scores back. Please let us know how you did. If you add a zero to the score, that will give you your SAT equivalent. This is a good time to take stock in which subjects you may need additional studying or tutoring.

Each state has a different cut off for the selection of National Merit Semifinalists.

Qualifying Scores for the Class of 2012 National Merit Semifinalists:

New Jersey 223
New York 219
Texas 219
Tennessee 214
Virginia 220

Click here for full state listing.

SAT Subject Tests

Here is a link to a listing of schools that require the SAT subject tests. If you click on the school name, it will tell you the specific requirements.

SAT Subject Tests

This will help you plan your testing schedule for sophomores and juniors. If at all possible, try to schedule your subject tests right after you AP exam. For example if you are taking AP US History in May, take the US HIstory test right after the exam so you don't have to study additionally.

Happy Holidays!

Congratulations to most of you on completing all of your applications and to those of you who were accepted Early to any of your schools.

If you were accepted Early Decision congratulations! You can relax for the rest of the year (just not too much!) Also remember to contact any other schools with pending applications to let them know that you have been accepted ED somewhere else. A simple e-mail will do.

For those of you deferred or denied to an ED or EA school, we feel for you. It is hard to get rejection, but it's time to regroup and figure out your strategy going forward. We've identified some steps depending on your situation below.

Sending Additional Information for Deferrals and Regular Admissions

If you have relevant, additional information that has happened after you have submitted your application for regular or early decision, it is important to send that information to the schools. If you were deferred to an ED or EA school, you are now part of the regular applicant pool and it is important to help yourself stand out.

You will need to send mid-year reports to any schools that you have not yet heard from, so keep up your grades so there is good news to report.

Admissions offices have piles upon piles of material that they need to sort through and attach to the appropriate college. If the information is relevant, send it, if it is not, then err on the side of caution.

So what constitutes relevant information:
· Scholarships or awards
· Additional leadership responsibilities
· Change in activities or additional activities
· Articles in the paper highlighting your accomplishments
· National Merit Scholarship

Financial Aid: FAFSA Forms and CSS Profile

Now is the time to get in your FAFSA forms even if you do not think you will qualify for any needs based aid. You will need to have the forms filled out to be eligible for Government subsidized and unsubsidized loans. Additionally, the money is given out on a first come first served basis, so in this case the early bird gets the worm. FAFSA Forms can be submitted on January 1.

FAFSA Forms

CSS Profile forms should be submitted now.

CSS profile

Outside Scholarships

Seniors, once the elation of getting accepted into an ED school wears off, the financial reality may start to set in. If you do not qualify for needs based financial aid and your school does not offer merit aid, then the best way to look for outside funding is through local scholarships or scholarships aimed at your academic interest, talent, or personal background. A recent Patch article listed several locally based scholarships.

Local Scholarships link

Another good place to start is to speak with your guidance counselor at your high school. You can also sign up for Fastweb click here for link , which will cull scholarships that meet your criteria.

For those seniors who have not yet heard and juniors, it is a good idea to see what types of scholarships are available so you will know what to expect. It is also a good idea to start the scholarship applications as early as possible so that you are not scrambling in April.

Scholarships generally fall into several categories:

Local Community Organizations including The College Women's/Men's Club, the Rotary Club, The Lion's Club, Your high school, etc.

Faith Based Organizations often offer scholarships to its members, so find out if your church or synagogue has any scholarships.

Academic Major/Interest specific majors. Music, History, Library Science, Creative Writing, Society of Women Engineers (often available after you are freshman in college), etc. may have associations that offer scholarships.

Link to the Society of Women Engineers Scholarship.

Click here for SWE scholarship link

The best thing to do is Google specific majors to see if there are any related scholarships. This link is a good starting point click here for specific majors scholarship link

Medical Condition Related Scholarships. If you have a medical condition like Diabetes, Depression, Hearing Impaired, Cancer, Epilepsy, etc., there are often scholarships available for students who have successfully managed these diseases. This site lists available scholarships by condition.

click here for medical related scholarships link

Learning Differences Here is a link that Diane found for several scholarships for students with learning differences. click here for learning disabilities scholarship link

Westfield also offers the Katherine E. Cuthbertson Scholarship for students with learning differences. click here for Cuthbertson scholarship link

Professional Association and Company Sponsored Scholarships. One of my students received a $10,000 per year scholarship for the Association of Footwear Retailers because his parents owned a tennis shop that sold a lot of footwear. Look into your parents/your industry associations or Companies and see if they offer any college scholarships.

Juniors: If you haven't already, please contact us to do a needs assessment so we can begin working on your preliminary college lists.
Martin Luther King Weekend and February break are a great time to visit some schools.

Sophomores: It is a good time to meet in February to plan classes and activities for the coming year. Please contact us to set up a time.

Sincerely,

Lisa, Diane, and Beth
College Bound Mentor, LLC
Lisa@collegeboundmentor.com
908-789-8566
www.collegeboundmentor.com