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April
By now, the student should have received word from the financial aid office about the amount of financial assistance he or she will receive. If they have not heard anything, they should contact the financial aid office.
Evaluate your financial aid offers carefully. When you apply to more than one college, your financial aid offers most often will vary, and each college may not be able to meet all of your financial aid eligibility.
If the amount of assistance awarded doesn't seem sufficient, call the financial aid office for details. Ask the financial aid staff about other sources of aid.
Look for a summer job to help with college costs. Or sign up for summer school or an internship.
Consider grants, scholarships, and other aid you don't have to repay before accepting a student loan. Accepting a loan means repaying the loan with interest.
Decide on the college you'll attend and send in any forms or deposits by the deadline. Do not make your decision solely based upon financial aid. Choose the college which is best suited for you to achieve your goals but do have a clear plan on how you are going to meet your financial obligation to the college and if you borrower to your lender(s).
Sign and return your college's financial aid offer, noting the parts you're accepting and the ones you're declining. Be sure that you investigate every non-loan source before you borrower.
Notify the schools you won't be attending.
Get help if you need it. Contact your high school counselor or college financial aid administrator.
May
- Take Advanced Placement exams.
- Have your final transcript sent to your college.
SUMMER
Complete any remaining financial aid forms. Report any additional scholarships you receive to your financial aid administrator.
Prepare a college financial plan.
Arrange for college housing and transportation; plan to attend college orientation.
Complete a student loan promissory note, if you'll be getting a federal student loan. Only borrow what you absolutely need - not a nickle more.
SCHOOL VISIT CHECKLIST
A school visit allows you to use all of your senses about a place! Check out the facilities, student life, sit in on lectures, gauge the attitudes and interactions of faculty, students and staff, determine if this is the place where you want to complete your journey into adulthood. If possible make your visits during your junior and senior year. Since this can be an expensive proposition, carefully plan each visit and limit the number of visits to the schools that are most important to you.
Planning the Visit
- Get a map of the campus!
- Plan at least a full day (and stay overnight, if possible) at each school.
- Visit when school is in session.
- Arrange an interview with an admissions officer or sign up for a group session, if available.
- Prepare a list of questions you might have about the school.
- Get a notebook to record the answers and your impressions.
What to Do
- Take a campus tour.
- Talk with students and faculty.
- Attend a sporting event, if possible.
- Check out the stuff that's important to you (e.g., dorms, libraries, student unions, "College Town", athletic facilities).
What to Look For
- Watch how students spend their time: studying, partying, socializing, exercising.
- Check out the size of the average dorm room and what the normal furniture is.
- Look at what students have in their rooms and how they've arranged it (e.g., computers, TVs).
- What's available off campus? Restaurants, theaters, museums, public libraries, job opportunities?
What to Ask
- Are there active fraternities and sororities on campus?
- How good is the food in the dining facilities?
- Can you stay in the dorm for more than freshman year? Can you have a single room or must you share? And if you're sharing, with how many others?
- What intercollegiate and intramural teams are represented on campus?
- What kinds of clubs and societies are represented on campus?
- How well are the campus and its facilities maintained?
- How safe is the campus? Where are the campus police located? Are there safety programs, such as escorts and emergency phone boxes, on campus?
Things to find out about the school:
- the school's accreditation and licensing documentation
- its Job placement rate
- admissions policies (grade point required, college placement scores, and so on)
- costs, including tuition, fees, room and board, transportation, and books
- scholarship, grant, work-study, and loan programs
- a copy of the school's crime and security report
- the school's refund policy if you leave before completing the semester or quarter
- information about programs to support culturally diverse, non-traditional and minority students
- permission to sit in on several classes and meet with a professor in the field you plan to study
- Are class sizes small or large? Do students talk to the professors, or just listen and take notes? How do you feel about the atmosphere in the classrooms and on the campus?
- Are students friendly and willing to answer your questions? Do you see other students like yourself? Are you O.K. with that?
- How easily can you use the school's library and computers? Will you have e-mail and Internet access?
- Does the school seem to embrace cultural diversity? Do you have the sense that you will be valued on campus?
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