I hope you all had a great weekend.  It was good to spend some time in the sun, even if it was cold.  By now most of you with seniors have already applied to a college (or 4) and are well on your way to finalizing your choices and finding out how to fund.  For those of you with sophomores and juniors, you may be enjoying your last few months of peace before the big rush.  I have some tips for you that may help save your time (and money) in the coming year.

       Early admission / Early Decision for college are a growing trend that shouldn’t be ignored.  If your student is a head above the rest in academics and activities, and is SURE (I repeat SURE) of what school they would like to attend, you may look into an early consideration program.  This would probably be best for your students 1^st choice of schools.  If you are looking at early consideration at a university that is 3^rd or 4^th on the list, just wait and go with regular application.  Many colleges offer programs for early acceptance, a more in-depth interview with some friends of Indy College Funding is available here http://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2012/02/12/college-admissions-advice-from-prep-school-pros/?utm_source=alertsnewpost&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20120212  Check it out for some great insight.          

                Now for some direct tips!

Do not wait until the last minute to apply! 

99.9% of schools have very specific application deadlines.  If your student is a junior or sophomore, it is NOT too early to begin looking at dates for when they do apply senior year.  Procrastination on your part can really hurt your students’ chances of college attendance.  Just because your student is at the top of their class doesn’t mean deadlines won’t apply at a college or university.  Also many schools offer scholarships for students with high ACT or SAT scores, or with certain GPA’s.  If you don’t make the deadline for application though, you will go without.  A perfect example is IU.  IU offers a $9000.00 scholarship to students who meet certain testing/gpa requirements, but you have to apply within a certain timeframe to be eligible.  $9000.00 is a lot of money, and for many families that could make the difference between attending your college of choice or attending whatever college was affordable.

Don’t rule out colleges just because of the sticker price.

Just as I mentioned above, many colleges offer scholarship money for good students.  Sticker shock for a school like IU might keep many families from applying, but with proper research and help from your friends at www.IndyCollegeFunding.org you might be surprised at what you can really afford.

 So my charge to you this week is to be prepared.  Start researching schools and deadlines early, or you may be late to class!  I usually recommend sophomore year (at a minimum) to start thoughtful research into what college to attend.  If you haven’t started yet, don’t fear the boat might still be in the harbor, just be sure to jump on it!

See you next time,

Kurt

(photo by JomPhong)

Kurt Supe offers securities and advisory services through cfd Investments, Inc. and Creative Financial Designs, Inc, respectively. Member FINRA/SIPC.  Indy College Funding is not affiliated with the cfd companies.