College Planning & Financial Aid Blog

See how you look through the eyes of the financial aid office BEFORE you file for financial aid. Everybody seems to know that financial aid is a part of the college planning process. What very few people understand, however, is how financial aid is actually awarded. There are three basic categories that each college has in mind when they review a financial aid application. The category that you land in has a lot to do with what your final financial aid award will look like. A

Which scores to report and whether to report them at all When students are applying to college, they have to report their grades, activities, and awards for the 3-4 years that covers their high school career. If a student starts to take high school classes in the eighth grade, that adds another year and it all totals up to a lot of days and a lot of history for colleges to consider. Depending on how things have gone, that could create a very favorable situation or one that’s

Which one gets you the best results when applying for college It’s no secret that college has become super competitive over the last 10 years or so. It’s not enough to just have good grades and a strong SAT or ACT score. Students also have to have rigor to show that they’re challenging themselves academically. But, if your student is struggling to manage their work load or if you’re unsure if you should sign him up for another AP class like your counselor is advising, t

For many families navigating the college admissions process, GPA often feels like the golden metric—an all-powerful number that determines a student’s future. But while GPA is certainly one piece of the puzzle, it’s far from the whole picture. Recent insights from Applerouth's college admissions experts make it clear: colleges are reading more than just a transcript; they’re trying to understand a story. And that story is called the academic profile. GPA: The First Note, Not

Which one should you use to get the best results? People ask me all the time if they should apply Early Action and Early Decision. It’s not surprising that so many people know about these options, but what is surprising is that so few people truly understand what each one is – and how to use each one to their advantage. This article will help explain the key attributes of both and help you make a more informed decision when it comes to choosing the best route for your ki

How to connect with the college of your dreams by speaking their language. So, my wife was visiting our son while he was studying abroad in Italy and even with the help of Duolingo, she doesn’t speak much Italian. Hearing the everyday conversations of the locals was interesting at first, but soon her lack of understanding allowed her to drown it out as just another sound of the city. Even though the conversations may have been spoken perfectly, creatively and passionately, n

How to avoid the mistake 87% of people make when making their college list. The college selection process is one of the most difficult and most stressful parts of the planning process. When you’re first starting out, it’s too early to have any direction and the lack of momentum combined with the stress of needing to get things moving, especially if you’ve waited too late to begin planning in the first place, can be overwhelming. In order to have a successful journey, y

The truth about the world of private scholarships and financial aid I get a lot of questions about scholarships. People want to know what to apply for and when to start applying. And usually the scholarships people have in mind often include private scholarships offered by some company or organization outside of the college itself. There are tons of these kinds of scholarships available – something for everything under the sun. Over the years I’ve heard about a left-handed

Even superheros have to update their tactics in order to stay on top. High school students would be wise to do the same when it comes to preparing for college. In Superman issue 13, Clark Kent quit his long-time job at the Metropolis newspaper. Kent, Superman's alter ego, has been employed by the newspaper since the comic book series started in the 1940's. But new Superman writer Scott Lobdell says they wanted to "explore Superman through a modern-day lens." As far as what Ke

Answering your questions about how much is too much and how to know if you’ve done enough I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about the SAT and ACT. Most of them have been related to when should I take it, how often should I take it, and are my current scores good enough so that I don’t have to take it again? I’ll address each of those here in case you have some of the same questions. When should you take the SAT or ACT? It used to be that taking standardized tests we