1 And Done...And The College Application Process Part 6

Greetings fellow quarantiner’s and Happy Holidays. 

It's December, 2020. A huge thank you to my Lender of nearly 30 years, Scott Short, for encouraging my next installment of the “College Application Blog. 

So much has changed since my last blog-yet so much has remained the same.   Our one daughter is living in an apartment, on campus at UCSD.  She made her first trip home since school started for Thanksgiving. Then right back to campus 4 days later.  She had the option to finish out the Quarter from home or return to campus.  She chose to finish out the Quarter there.  She fly's back home for Christmas Break very soon & will finish up a couple of finals from home.

Our other Daughter will finish her first Semester Dec 21 with her very last final-all from her Bedroom.  Not ideal by any means but we are hopeful for her next Semester.  Johns Hopkins has issued her housing assignment & plans on welcoming students in January; however, they will make the final call..............yep, not until January.  We shall see.  Should they allow the return of students we will have to scramble to get flights, hotel & all of her worldly possessions to Maryland-in the Snow.  Did I mention Southwest cancelled their Nonstop flight from Sac to Baltimore?  Stay tuned!

Your High School Seniors have completed the majority of their applications, I am sure.  I do not envy you all.  It’s quite a cumbersome & stressful process.  CONGRATS on having it behind you!

With that being said-just a couple reminders that I wish we knew…..

If you haven’t started FAFSA, now is a great time.  Remember, 1 parent AND the Student have to EACH create an account. https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa?utm_source=mcp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fall_renewal_applicant_follow_up_english  Once created, although you can only list 10 schools-we recommend listing the top 10 & if your student is applying to more go in & swap them out to add new ones later on down the line. 

IMPORTANT:  If your student is applying to any Private schools I HIGHLY recommend creating the CSS Profile in advance of the school sending your student an email requesting additional financial documents.  EVEN THOUGH you already completed the FAFSA.  Some schools DIG VERY DEEPLY……..and trust me -  by the time your student sees the email with the school’s request you’re scrambling to figure out how in the heck to set it up & obtain all of the required docs by their deadline!  https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/ 

Although you’ve created the FAFSA  - keep your tax returns handy. Some colleges send scholarship emails and they require you to input all of the info, scan in your tax returns and upload them to an IDOC website. I’m like “admit my kid” then I’ll do it!! However, some scholarship deadlines will have already passed before admission decisions are released.  If that’s not enough, even more annoying is you have to PAY to submit the documents to them. Say what?  You’ve got to be kidding me. Haven’t we paid enough??  All of this is BEFORE they accept your student.  Take a deep breath!

Another reminder:  SAVE all math assignments for math placement review test.  This may be easier since most everything is online now-but if you have any worksheets, etc. I recommend keeping them.  In our case, the Math Placement tests did not determine which math classes the girls would be in because their AP Calc & Stats test scores gave them College Credit.  However, at the time the placement tests were due we did not know this yet.  So the girls had to recreate their Math wheel back several years.  With Covid who knows what will happen with AP Tests & the Colleges accepting them but I think it’s still a good idea to keep the Math Paper Trail in advance. 

If your Son/Daughter is considering out of state colleges check for arrangements with other states for reduced Tuition.  https://www.wiche.edu/tuition-savings/wue/

Again, the info contained in my blog is just from our experience’s.  I hope it’s helpful to you but PLEASE verify all of the info!  A LOT has changed in just 1 year & I am far from an expert!  I'm just a Mom who wished I knew more!  Please feel free to share if you know someone who'd like the info!

Time really does fly by.  I cannot believe we are coming up on the first half of my girls' Freshman year of college-complete!

Best wishes to your Student!  I cannot wait to hear all about their College acceptances! 

Season’s Greetings!  May you have a safe & wonderful Holiday Season!

Susie Lacy
Broker/Owner
Realty World Lacy & Spadoni Inc
(916) 837-0703
Lic # 01057370 Since 1989