College planning and saving advice from the experts
2020
Ask the Expert: Waitlists
My high school senior was waitlisted at one of the colleges they applied to. What happens next? First, provide encouragement. A wait list offer means the college would like to admit the student if a space opens up—they...
2019
Ask the Expert: Scholarships and Financial Aid
I’ve heard I shouldn’t apply for outside scholarships because it will impact my financial aid. Is that true? All outside scholarships need to be reported to the financial aid office at the colleges you are applying to....
Scholarships: Tips for Searching and Applying
A great place to start is through online search platforms such as Fastweb, Cappex, College Board and scholarships.com. These are just a few of the search tools available where students can create a profile and filter through millions of dollars of available...
Ask the Expert: Building the College List
What's the right number of colleges to apply to? We’ve seen an increasing trend of students applying to more and more colleges—it’s not uncommon to find students applying to over ten or fifteen schools these days....
Top 5 FAFSA Tips
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is required by all colleges, and in some cases, it’s the only application needed to award financial aid from all sources. The FAFSA can be completed online at FAFSA.gov as early as October 1st to apply for the...
Ask the Expert: Does College Savings Impact Financial Aid Eligibility?
How do we report 529 college savings on the FAFSA? Will our savings impact financial aid eligibility and should we still apply? Unless the account is owned by someone other than the parent (such as a grandparent, aunt...