Floridians, have you heard of the EASE grant? The Effective Access To Student Education Grant is given to students who attend a private college in the state of Florida. The amount given annually just increased from $2000 per year to $3500 annually. This is a non-need based grant. So, regardless of your income, your child will have $3500 deducted from tuition each year at a private college in Florida. There are some great ones! You’ll find reviews of many of them on my website

Summer is flying! As my rising seniors are completing their Common App and SSAR, I wanted to remind you about an important fact about grades. I’ve posted this sample Self-Reported Academic Record before, but the point bears repeating. Parents of all high school students: notice that there are no pluses and minuses on the grades. Before the school year starts, I’d have a conversation with your teen about the fact that a 90% is SO much better than an 89% in a class. When colleg

As the school year is nearing a close, I wanted to gear this Thursday Thoughts post to parents of freshmen and sophomores (and any juniors who might need a little push). The SSAR and SRAR are tools that many public universities throughout the US utilize to have students self-report their academic record. When students are applying to college, they list all the high school classes they’ve taken (including those in middle school for HS credit) as well the grade earned in each c

Has your high school student started thinking about plans for the summer yet? Are you wondering what “they” are looking for in college applications these days? Admissions representatives love to see teenagers who have held a typical job like the ones we used to have when we were teens. They are not looking for kids who had an internship at their uncle’s firm or kids who went to El Salvador to build houses. They really like to see students who worked at an ice cream shop, groc

Today’s Thursday Thoughts builds on last week’s post about finding the schools that are the right fit for your child. Last week, I commented on the 4 Ps: Place (geography, setting), Program (academic offerings, do they have your major, liberal arts, career-oriented), People (student life, athletics, religion, etc), and Price (both need-based and merit-based). A classmate of mine gave an example this week of one of her students who really wanted to go to NC State to study nurs

Sometimes people get very stressed trying to find the “perfect” college for their teen; they feel like they’re looking for that one pearl. In reality, there are dozens of schools that will be a great fit for your child! When we discuss “fit” in college counseling, we’re talking about an academic, social, physical, and financial fit. Some questions for your child to consider include: Academic: Where will I be challenged but not overwhelmed? Where is the learning environment th

Do you know anyone who is currently a senior in high school? Chances are that today is a VERY big day for them! Many of them decided to apply early decision or early action to some schools, and many of the decisions come out today! There are many reasons why students choose to apply ED or EA, but one of the main reasons is because it increases their chances of being admitted to highly selective schools. Check out some of these numbers from August, 2022. At Barnard College, th

If you’re the parent of a senior, chances are that there is a high level of stress in your house, especially this week as she scrambles to get everything completed by the Nov. 1 early deadline. Dr. Lisa Damour offers some great advice! Even though she has counseled teens and families for decades, she said she never realized just how stressful first semester senior year was for the whole family until she went through the process with her own daughter last year. A few tips she

“In some states, it is possible to own a mansion, a business, and sizable investments, and - as long as your taxable income is within state parameters – still qualify for thousands of dollars in aid. We estimate that thousands of these parents, under the impression they make too much money, never even apply.” If you weren’t planning to fill out the FAFSA because you thought you make too much money or have too many assets, fill it out anyway! It takes less than an hour and som

Here are some timely Thursday Thoughts with the FAFSA opening this Saturday. As your child is researching schools, you definitely want to be researching what the schools will cost you, not what the sticker price is. By law, all colleges need to have a net price calculator on their website. Some of these are better than others. (If you would like to know if a particular school’s NPC is a good one, feel free to ask me.) I just did an assignment for my financial aid class in whi

Do you know what it means when colleges talk about their “yield?” Let’s say that Amy really wants to go to UF. She sends out all her applications, and UF accepts her! Yay! Amy chooses to go to UF. This means that UF has “yielded” Amy. It is very important to schools to have a high yield percentage. This is why it is critical for students to demonstrate interest. If UF receives an application from a random girl named Amy who has not interacted with the university in any way, t