For you and your high school seniors, this is a crazy, exciting, and scary time. Your student has heard back from the colleges applied to, and hopefully you have a few options. As of the writing of this blog, FAFSA snafus have been aplenty, and many of you either just received your financial aid award letters, or are still waiting for them. Many schools have pushed back the date by which you are to commit and send in your deposit (from May 1 to May 15 or even June 1). But besides the financial angle, how exactly DO you decide which college to attend? What should you be considering?
As Charlie so aptly put it in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “What do now?”
What to Consider when Making your Final Decision
Now that you have your “short list” of yesses, it’s time to decide which college to attend. There are a number of factors you should consider that are very similar to the factors you considered when creating your college list in the first place. These include admitted student events, campus visits, reviewing the majors/academics, and campus life. Then of course, there is the money. Is the school going to be affordable? Is it worth the debt?
Admitted student events/campus visits can help you decide where to attend
Attending admitted student events is an excellent way to get a taste of what life would be like at that college. They certainly are trying to “wow” you, but hey, they should be! It’s a wonderful opportunity to ask questions – and really see how the current students live. There are often student panels so you can ask some very honest questions.
If you did not go to an admitted student event, you can still visit the campus: either sign up for an official campus tour, or let admissions know you would like to visit the campus and chat with either a professor from your chosen major, or with a student tour guide. Admissions wants you to say yes! 😉
If you cannot physically visit the campus, there are so many virtual tour options that can help you decide where you will attend. Check out your applicant portal to see if they offer any suggestions. Since COVID, colleges have included virtual tours on their websites. But you can also check out these two links; they’re great for virtual tours:
Majors and other academic opportunities
You should be considering the majors you were accepted into, and comparing each school’s major requirements and opportunities. One school may offer more flexibility with, for instance, study abroad options in your major, where another school doesn’t offer your courses abroad. When I say “requirements”, I mean for you to look at the “major map” or required and suggested classes you will need to take in order to earn the degree.
Are you interested in research? What research opportunities does each school you are considering offer? As part of the research you conducted when you were building your college list, was there one school that really got you excited because of the faculty? Was there one or a few professors you were excited about? Hoping to do research with?
Another important component to help you decide which college to attend is flexibility – is it important to you that you can easily switch majors? Most schools are pretty open to that. However, you should make sure that the school you ultimately choose has the majors you are interested in. For example, although you applied as an art history major, you also want to investigate architecture. That was important to you when you applied – if it’s still important to you now, make sure the school you select offers you that flexibility. College is all about discovering who you are, what you love and giving you the freedom to explore who you want to become.
School spirit & campus life vibe are important in deciding which college to attend
Another aspect you will want to compare between campuses is the school spirit. If this was important to you, a great way to measure the campus vibe is to check out the school’s social media. There are also some great student review websites that might provide some insight – just type in the name of your college to see what students think of it.
Were there clubs or activities that you wanted to have at your college? Make sure the one you choose has what you were looking for. Similarly, were you interested in Greek life? Check out the number and prevalence of fraternities and sororities on campus. College is not only about classes and academics, it’s about developing your social side and feeding your extracurricular soul. And there’s nothing like going to a college football game to cheer on your team!
Affordability factors in heavily when deciding which college to attend
Of course, an important consideration in deciding which college to attend is affordability. You should absolutely compare the financial aid packages from each college on your short list. Were you offered merit scholarships from any of the schools? Merit awards are based on your application (GPA, activities, essays, test scores) versus need-based aid which would be based on your family’s financial situation as revealed by FAFSA and sometimes also by the CSS Profile.
When looking at the merit-based scholarships, are they renewable each year? What is the GPA that you have to maintain in order to be eligible for the renewal of the scholarship?
Other types of “awards” you will find on your financial aid award letters include loans. There will be student loans through the federal government if you submitted FAFSA – the maximum a student can borrow the first year is $5500. The student loans are identified as “Federal Direct Subsidized” and “Fedearl Direct Unsubsidized” loans. Then the rest of the loan offers will be called “Federal Direct PLUS” loans which are meant to be borrowed by the parents. You need to identify your borrowing comfort level. For more information about the Federal Loans (which are far better than private loans, in my opinion), click here FAFSA.
How to Read and Evaluate Financial Aid Awards
It’s really unfortunate, but many schools do not make it easy for you to understand the true nature of the awards. Let me try to help you sift through the jargon.
How to read the financial aid award letters
Carefully read your financial aid award letters. This is a crucial step in helping you decide which college to attend. As I started to allude to above, they can be deceiving. Here are the components of the award letters:
- Direct Costs – tuition & fees, housing & meals – you pay these costs directly to the school.
- Indirect Costs – books & supplies, transportation, other personal expenses – these are NOT paid to the school as part of the “term” bill.
Once you have your costs figured out, next you will want to look for the financial aid offered. Some schools divide it into “Grants & Scholarships”, and then “Loans”. Others will use the terms “Gift Aid” and “Self-help Aid” and then many just list the financial aid without letting you clearly see whether the offer is a loan or a grant/scholarship.
Grants & Scholarships
Grants are usually given by either the federal or the state governments. The most common federal grants include the Pell Grant and the Federal SEOG (Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant). See Grants for more details. Then you may see a grant given by your state; for example, the Cal Grant, for California residents.
Grants are based on need; to be eligible, you must submit FAFSA. Your need is somewhat based on the SAI (Student Aid Index) you received after submitting your FAFSA. This number can be as low as -1500. It’s not exactly the “amount” you should be expected to pay for college, but it is used to figure out your need.
You may also see an amount deemed as Federal Work Study. This is a federal program where by the student can apply for and work on campus at “work-study” jobs. A portion of the work-study job salary is subsidized by the federal government. The student earns this money directly; it does not automatically go towards paying the college bill. Work-study is always based on need.
The next section in the “gift aid” category is scholarships. These are awarded by the college itself, and these are usually based on merit, but can also be based on need. They will have all sorts of names, but they are clearly from the university itself. The more gift aid you receive, the easier it makes it to decide which college to attend, non?
Loans
There are two categories of loans – those taken out by the student alone, and those taken out by the parents. The student loans are capped – for students starting college in the fall of 2024, the student can borrow up to $5500 the first year, $6500 the second and then $7500 for the last two years, for a total of $27,000, the maximum amount a student can borrow. This loan is identified as the Federal Direct loan, and it can be either subsidized (no interest accrues during the time the student is enrolled) or unsubsidized (interest accrues). No more than $3500 of the $5500 loan can be subsidized (no more than $4500 for the second year and no more than $5500 for the following two years) – the decision is made based on FAFSA as to how much of the student loan may be subsidized, based on need.
The next loan is the Federal Direct PLUS loan. You will find that the amount of this loan is usually what is left to pay the school after the grants, scholarships and student loans have been awarded. Literally, the parents can borrow whatever the balance is, provided they don’t have adverse credit history.
It’s important that you understand each component of the financial aid award letter so you can make an educated decision on affordability, to help you decide which college to attend.
Should you appeal? To whom?
Now that you have a grasp on what each college has awarded you, should you appeal? If you want to appeal the need-based aid (grants, scholarships based on need), you would direct your appeal to the college’s financial aid office. If you would like to ask for more money based on merit (school scholarships), you would ask the admissions office to review your appeal.
The worse that can happen is you are denied more money. I have not heard of any school rescinding their offer of admission because you asked for more money.
Appealing need-based awards
In order for an appeal to be successful, you will want to have a reasonable number in mind, and it should be backed up by some facts & documentation if possible. For example, remember that FAFSA is based on the prior prior tax year, meaning if freshman year starts Fall 2024, the tax year in question is 2022. Was that an unusual year? Was 2023 much different? For instance, were there excessive uncovered medical expenses in 2023 making it more difficult to afford college? Did you receive a retirement distribution in 2022? Are the parents now divorced? Remarried? If there were changes, you might be a good candidate for making an appeal.
Appealing merit-based awards
For the merit-based appeals, again, you want to come up with a reasonable number for your ask, and tell them your story – between when you applied and now, tell them your grades improved dramatically, you earned X award, you completed some amazing bit of research, or you raise tons of money for a charity. Whatever the case may be, tell them why they should give you more scholarship money.
Most importantly, be sure to know the process for each school where you want to appeal. For the admissions office/scholarship appeals, the student should be involved, and for the financial aid office/need based appeals, the parent (and student if possible) should make the request.
College Aid Pro is a trusted partner of mine, and they can help you with appeals (based on need or merit) – even though the coupon has expired, click here for more info College Aid Pro.
Decision Made. 🎉 What’s Next?
Now that you have gone through all of the pros and cons, you have picked your college – CONGRATS! 🎉 Just a few things to remember to do – and these are time-sensitive:
- Make sure you make your deposit on time
- Check out the housing and make the deposit as soon as possible
- Ask your high school counselor to submit your final transcript to your chosen college
- If you submitted ACT or SAT scores, and the school you have selected wants “official” scores to be sent, that means go on CollegeBoard (SAT) or ACT website and order your official score report to be sent to your school.
I am so excited for all of you – this is such a wonderful time in your lives – congratulations!
I hope this has helped you decide which college to attend. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, or to leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you!