For people with younger kids: College Planning

[HopperFan]

^ I'm going to chime in on the athletic scholarship stuff...this chart shows the amount of full ride scholarships different division schools can give out per sport
http://www.scholarshipstats.com/ncaalimits.html

Our DD was recruited for Track at a D1 school. For track & cross country there are only 18 full ride scholarships that can be given out for both sports combined. There are a heck of a whole lot more than 18 girls on the combined track & cc team. Most kids have partials, or book scholarships. DD got a good academic scholarship so we were fine with what she got for track. After 2 years she was done as the time commitment to a D1 sport was just too much with her engineering classes too.

I was cluless on the whole how much scholarship money was available for each athlete until we went thru this with her.

That is the amount that they are capped at giving out. MANY schools do not fully fund every sport, particularly the non-revenue sports. So while a sport may list 8 scholarships, that school may have decided to only fund 4. And don't forget that is for the whole team, not just freshman. The process is more complicated than a chart can show but it's a great way to get a reality check.

For sports where partials are offered....if done properly a coach will put you through the FAFSA process first, so be prepared to have that done early. They will often use that to determine how much you are offered. We have known coaches verbally discuss very large scholarships, family gets excited, FAFSA is determines their capability and coach cuts scholarship way back. Knew one who was offered $40k per year but once they did the paperwork and the parents income was included the offer was brought back to $6k. Coaches work with their departments to get as much non-athletic scholarships as you qualify for (which is great should you become injured or get cut after a year or so) so their money can be stretched out as much as possible. So good grades etc are just as important to athletes.

I guess my point is if you are hoping for athletic money and are spending lots to get it, do your homework so you understand the reality.

Like I said in earlier post, I work in this area & had 2 compete in college and have one that is a high school coach now. ALWAYS think about and discuss with your child that receives an athletic scholarship - if they get hurt, cut or decide to stop playing .... can you afford for them to stay at that school for the duration or will they have to transfer? Many athletic scholarships come from instate tuition for out of state schools. Once you are not on the team, that tuition goes back to out of state. I won't even begin to discuss the coaches side of this, and how they work the process. Educate yourself about EVERYTHING.

Don't be so sure all the credits will transfer. They often don't.

Very true. DS transferred from one in state 4 yr to another .... and was shocked how many didn't transfer in a way he needed. They dumped them all in electives. He had to retake what we thought were basic classes and should have transferred. Of course this can change from year to year, school to school, so it's hard to plan for. He had one class they dumped in elective they brought back out two years later when they changed their curriculum. Best advice is if you are planning the transfer method (and I totally support it for those it works for, DH did it from state 2 year to private to grad school) don't take anything out of the standard core, common type classes to get the most transfer as possible.

 

[crisi]

Generally the credits will transfer from one accredited school to another - but they may not apply to your program - or even to the general ed requirements of the school. Some degrees have room for a lot of filler courses, but for many it means you'll spend an extra year in school - just as if you switched majors.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I have only gotten through the first page, but intend to read the whole thread.

I have two starting college in the fall.

Best recommendation is once in high school (and if you can afford it) put your kid in classes that teach them how to take the SAT and the ACT. Those test scores pretty much determine how much merit scholarship money you kid will get.

I second this. Life is so much easier with good scores. And it's not only for scholarships - some schools, and some of the more competitive programs, require higher scores. Also, some areas don't require both. I'm in MA, and the colleges we looked at all said, in person to me, that they don't care which one an applicant has, just one or the other. So check that out in your own area. (Had I known that earlier, we would've concentrated just on the SATs. I'd read a lot on here about the ACTs.) Lastly, kids don't have to take an ACT/SAT study class. I know students who did well just by studying on their own, or using an App. The key is that the student has to recognize their importance and really put the effort into doing well, because if they really don't care much, chances are they won't do too well on them even if they take a class (as happened to so many we know). They then may find out, when it's too late, that they didn't make it into their college or program of choice because of lower scores.

DS just finished his first year at UVA. He took AP Calc AB his junior year and AP Calc BC his senior year of high school. Unfortunately his BC teacher wasn't good, left halfway through the school year and kind of messed the kids up. DS ended up placing into Calc 2 at UVA, so he took that 1st semester of college. Around here all the college admissions people stress rigor. They realize all high school programs are different and offer different types of courses. They tell the kids to take the most rigorous courses available at their high schools. For high schools in my area that means AP courses - lots of them. And the hardest math and science courses offered at you HS even if you plan to be a liberal arts major. You need the most rigorous courses just to get in to UVA.

Something we discovered on our journey in the public schools is that upper level classes are more enjoyable for students because there is less disruption in the classroom and kids there seem to care more. So an added bonus for striving for rigorous classes.

Question about starting the resume in middle school.... Do you really put the stuff your child accomplished in middle school on a college application? Do they really care she was her school's student of the year in 7th or 8th grade going into college? The only reason I ask is because I am an 8th grade teacher and had NO IDEA. My daughter just finished 8th grade and is going into HS. If this is true I better get going and go back and log her stuff! I will also be sure to tell my students this is something they might want to keep track of.

Ok I had no idea about this, either, until this year. The way it works is that guidance counselors also submit letters of their own for students, to colleges. They may or may not know your kid very well, and/or they need details, in order to formulate their letters. So they give you a form that asks a lot of questions about specifics about your kid, listing awards, accomplishments, volunteerism, leadership, employment, athletics, you name it. You fill it in. In order to do that, you need to remember everything. So that is why it's helpful to keep track.

There is a lot of discussion about Calc and Stats. Going to add my two cents. As a nurse myself, and with my DD going into nursing as well, I knew she needed Stats, as that's what she'll take in college. Yet, guidance had recommended Calc for her in high school. So we saw to it that she took Stats instead. We were at an Open House for Nursing at her college of choice one night last fall, and when they talked about needing Stats, suddenly a lot of hands shot up and frantic questions started about Calc. Many prospective students were disappointed that their Calc classes weren't ideal for them. I imagine this type of thing happens with lots of majors. Go on to college websites to see what classes are required for specific majors. (Obviously helpful here to know what you want to study and where you want to go, but generalities could apply, as well.)

 

[barkley]

"There's nothing wrong with going to tech!" -- that's what I've been drilling into my oldest for years now. He's the only one of my children that, at this time, I can forsee will attend a 4-year college at some point. I promised him I would cover his tuition for two years of technical college, and he could live at home. After that, he'd have to figure out the 4-year college portion (and housing, since we live 1+ hour away from three different UW schools).

I've explained to him that he has many friends who will go to a 4 year college straight out of high school, paid in full by parents, but that I can't afford that and don't want to see him in debt. I explained the rough savings by doing 2 years of tech college. He's a math kid -- he "gets" it, sees my point.

I know that if you do it right, all the credits will transfer to the 4-year. So when the time comes, we'll need to have a rough idea of what 4-year he'll transfer to and some idea of a major, and make sure the courses line up accordingly.

If he gets some scholarships, great! But I highly doubt it would be enough to do a 4-year right off the bat. He's not top of his class, isn't into sports, etc. He's very smart, probably top 10% (as I was) but that isn't enough to get the big money. So we'll make it work.

jedimom-you may already be aware of this, if not CHECK IT OUT!!!!

your state has a programs similar to mine-just like the dual credit programs that are offered for traditional college there is a program specifically for kids who are interested in TECH SCHOOL. you've actually got 5 options/programs available that offer tuition free tech school during high school.

we've got a similar program here and it's phenomenal for kids who want to go the tech school route. they get into them in their junior year and by the time they graduate from high school they can have completed close to 2 years of a tech school curriculum. if this is something your son would be interested in it could create an opportunity for him to take the tech school classes at no cost and then use the money you've earmarked to pay for it towards the 4 year if he opts to do it.

 

[Jedimom]

Don't be so sure all the credits will transfer. They often don't.

Well I don't believe that for a second! "Often" is a strong word choice. It's certainly not been my experience that things don't transfer. If you're smart about it, it all transfers just fine. Now if you go to one of those for-profit colleges (always a bad choice IMO) then yeah, I wouldn't expect everything, maybe even anything, will transfer. You should ALWAYS look into the legitimacy of any school, see who they're accredited through. Basically DO YOUR RESEARCH. If you do, it'll likely work out just fine.

As far as my situation goes, I can say with certainty that WI has an agreement between the technical college system and the UW-system. Everything WILL transfer credit-wise -- it's guaranteed to. But as I alluded to in my earlier post, you still have to be smart in the courses you choose so the right courses transfer over for credit to a particular major at a particular school. Online somewhere is a list of the course equivalencies. Counselors at all schools are well aware of the list as well.

For the thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands in savings, my child can take their chances. Fear of a class or two not transferring "right" is no reason to overspend by that much and be in debt forever.

 

[Jedimom]

jedimom-you may already be aware of this, if not CHECK IT OUT!!!!

your state has a programs similar to mine-just like the dual credit programs that are offered for traditional college there is a program specifically for kids who are interested in TECH SCHOOL. you've actually got 5 options/programs available that offer tuition free tech school during high school.

we've got a similar program here and it's phenomenal for kids who want to go the tech school route. they get into them in their junior year and by the time they graduate from high school they can have completed close to 2 years of a tech school curriculum. if this is something your son would be interested in it could create an opportunity for him to take the tech school classes at no cost and then use the money you've earmarked to pay for it towards the 4 year if he opts to do it.

Yes thank you --- I am aware of that program and have intentions that he'll be taking something or other through tech, during HS, for college credit once he hits junior or senior year. The $aving$!!! In both time and money. He won't get 2 years worth in but it'll be something. The school district will only pay for courses which aren't offered somewhat equivalently by the school. Slimmer pickings, considering out school is now doing a lot with online teaching and can tailor courses to the individual student's needs.

 

[MariMama]

Well I don't believe that for a second! "Often" is a strong word choice. It's certainly not been my experience that things don't transfer. If you're smart about it, it all transfers just fine. Now if you go to one of those for-profit colleges (always a bad choice IMO) then yeah, I wouldn't expect everything, maybe even anything, will transfer. You should ALWAYS look into the legitimacy of any school, see who they're accredited through. Basically DO YOUR RESEARCH. If you do, it'll likely work out just fine.

As far as my situation goes, I can say with certainty that WI has an agreement between the technical college system and the UW-system. Everything WILL transfer credit-wise -- it's guaranteed to. But as I alluded to in my earlier post, you still have to be smart in the courses you choose so the right courses transfer over for credit to a particular major at a particular school. Online somewhere is a list of the course equivalencies. Counselors at all schools are well aware of the list as well.

For the thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands in savings, my child can take their chances. Fear of a class or two not transferring "right" is no reason to overspend by that much and be in debt forever.

I'm familiar with the UW system, thanks. Everything MAY transfer, but it may not be applied to the major or what you want it applied to.

 

[HopperFan]

I'm familiar with the UW system, thanks. Everything MAY transfer, but it may not be applied to the major or what you want it applied to.

Absolutely correct and it's no fun to have to retake classes that you took because of slight variations and have the ones you took thrown into elective area, therefore removing your chance to pick your own electives. Electives are a great way to specialize your degree so that is a loss. This happened to DS and many others. So what they "transferred" as they were in essence worthless and costly.

Its fine if you planned to transfer from day one and can plan, but I venture many transfer because they aren't happy with a school once there, they find the school does not offer the major they have decided on or for financial reasons. It stinks to have to start over in areas when you transferred from one school to another in the same system.

 

[DisMommyTX]

...

Best recommendation is once in high school (and if you can afford it) put your kid in classes that teach them how to take the SAT and the ACT. Those test scores pretty much determine how much merit scholarship money you kid will get.

This is not really an 'if you can afford it' option. SAT/ACT classes are an investment which will pay back 10 fold. SAT scores are critical for scholarships and grants as well as job opportunities during college. Some students think their SAT scores don't matter because they have automatic admission based on rank or other factors, but they are wrong! Do everything possible to get those scores up or they will haunt you through the next four years.

My other suggestion is that every college-bound high school student take a College Algebra course at the local community college--especially those who are NOT taking calculus in high school. Colleges have strange ways of interpreting high school math classes, even those labelled AP. Many students at our regional university end up in remedial math classes which could have been easily avoided. A summer college algebra course could save our STEM majors two semesters of remedial course work, and for out liberal arts students, it is often the only math class you will need!

 

[havaneselover]

As the mom of a rising 8th grader, to high school kids do PSAT prep? I thought PSATs determine National Merit finalists.

My kids will definitely do SAT prep. My scores went up 200 points from the PSAT to rhe SAT thanks to the course I took.

 

[Arkansan]

Re: PSAT prep--my kids' HS allows Sophomores to take the PSAT, space permitting. The Juniors register first and, after a certain date, Sophomores can register. I encourage my kids to take it as a Sophomore as it is the first long standardized test they have taken. Even though they haven't had all the math yet, my kids have found it beneficial. Junior year, they just studied the book that they were given when registering for the PSAT. Later in the year, an SAT prep class was taken.

Check with your HS, however, as I have found that not all schools in my area do it this way. A friend's child was not able to take the PSAT at his HS Sophomore year (they don't offer it to Sophomores) and my kids' school was full and wouldn't let him take it there, either. My friend waited until the day before the test to ask, so her child missed out.

Thanks for this thread! My oldest just graduated and will be a Freshman in the Fall.