Beginning the College Search?
Searching for the right college can be a stressful and confusing time for any family. Trying to get the needed amount of financial aid can make it even more so. Let College Solutions guide you as we have thousands of other families.
College Solutions has the skills and experience to guide you in your search for higher education, keeping it stress-free along the way. We will assist you with the college search, applications, essays, financial aid aspect, and preparation of forms.
College Solutions begins the process with an in-depth personal interview, delving into preferences and priorities that affect a student's school selections, such as diversity, geographical location, sports, majors, likes, dislikes, etc.
Based on this interview, as well as SAT scores, grades, extracurriculars, etc., we will compile a list of colleges to meet your criteria, incorporating "safety," "reasonable," and "reach" schools into the equation. We have many years of experience in matching students to colleges that are a perfect fit for them.
The student will also spend time interviewing with colleges right here in the comfort of our office. Because of the time we spend up-front, we have a less-than 2% transfer rate, during or after freshman year, compared to a statewide average of 30%.
College Solutions will assist you by completing the data section of your common application with your information. We will review information for completeness and accuracy.
During this busy college search and application process, the student will communicate on a regular basis with College Solutions to ensure that they are working toward creating a good mix of schools. They will meet with us to discuss their "potential college list" and we will provide feedback in terms of chance of admission (admissibility). We will also indicate which colleges will provide the student with substantial merit/scholarships. More importantly, we have the expertise to be able to indicate which schools will not award merit/scholarship money.
During the process of working with the students and the schools, College Solutions will work with the parents to attain the greatest amount of financial aid. We will meet with both the parents to estimate Expected Family Contribution (EFC) to help determine financial aid status. Our expertise is directing families to schools that give significant amounts of financial aid and/or merit money. Keep in mind that our average client family earns more than $75,000 annually and our students average $18,000 per year in aid. If it is determined that you will not qualify for merit/scholarship money, we explore other options. For instance, there are other avenues that business owners can use to increase their status to attain financial aid.
College Solutions completes all financial aid paperwork: FAFSA (online), CSS Profile (online), Business and Farm Supplement, as well as individual college financial aid paperwork (Some colleges require more than just the FAFSA or CSS).
Students are required by the colleges to make their college decision by May 1st. We meet with parents and students to review financial aid awards, discuss options and assist you in making the best decision as to where you will attend.
After the student has made his/her deposit to the school, College Solutions will assist with any loan paperwork to meet any un-met need.
We are differrent from other advisors; College Solutions does not sell insurance products of any kind, nor do we provide loans. We are dedicated to the student's best interest.