Planning for College

Roadmap for Parents

Now that your student has clarity as to what direction to go with respect to major, career and college preferences, it is time to take the next step and start planning for college. We help you determine your expected family contribution (EFC), determine your eligibility for merit-based scholarships, determine the parent versus student contributions and then determine your estimated out of pocket costs for the top target colleges for your student.

Parents have many questions regarding college planning

Which colleges offer the best financial aid for my student’s major?

What can I do to help keep my student on track so I don’t pay for extra years in college?

What type of merit-based scholarships can be considered for my student?

If you want to avoid having your student be in college longer than necessary and you want to know that you are giving them the right guidance, without the overwhelm, we can help!

Five Step Plan for College Planning

Exploring this early in the process reduces the likelihood of needing to change majors, taking longer to graduate, and costing you more money

Estimate your current out of pocket costs

Financial aid is provided based on a variety of factors including your age, income, and assets. Basically, they use a formula to calculate what they expect your family can contribute toward paying for college. This is called your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). We work with you to determine this cost and use it as a baseline to make your college plan. Appropriate strategies to reduce those costs will be shared with you.

Assess your family’s financial goals

Assess your family’s financial goals and priorities to find the best ways for you to pay your college expenses and then determine recommendations to reduce the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) for your family.Every family’s situation is unique, so based on your preferences and financial situation, we work with you to put together an approach that is right for your family. An important step in this process is determining the parent contribution versus student contribution preferences. Is there a percentage split between parents and student, are parents able to contribute up to a specific dollar amount or is there another arrangement?

Determine the right school for your student

Based on the student assessment, student preparation, and student preferences we have the insight to guide you in selecting an appropriate list of schools for your student to consider.We work with you to narrow the list of schools to apply to with regard to overall investment and your student’s preferences, major and skills to help them reach their potential.

Determine eligibility for merit-based scholarships at each college

College Scholarship Eligibility Report (Personalized for your student)This report lists which merit-based college scholarships your student qualifies to be considered for at each college on their list. This saves you the time of having to reach out to each school that you are considering, request the scholarship information, and sift through them to see which ones your student qualifies for. This list is compiled based on criteria such as your student’s grades, test scores (ACT/SAT), activities/sports, etc.We provide insight to help you use this information to aid in your decision regarding which schools to apply to, without you having to do any extra work!

Determine probability of admissions

Probability of Admissions Analysis Report (Personalized for your student)We combine our admissions expertise with advanced statistical analysis to give you your student’s probability of admissions to the top schools that are being considered. We can access data from over 7,000 colleges to give you the insight that you need. The reality is that every student won’t be able to get into every college. Arming you with the insight to know if your student has either a 75% or 25% chance of getting into a specific school enables you to make better decisions, without wasting time and money for application fees.

Learn About Our Workshops

Don’t know where to start? In our workshops, we reveal facts to help you to effectively navigate the college planning process

and provide strategies on how to pay for college in the most cost effective manner.
Learn About Our Workshops