It’s Time to Mentally Prepare for New School Year

Labor Day is rapidly approaching, and in many ways it’s similar to New Years Day.  It’s the start of a new year -- not the calendar year, but the academic year.  For students, it’s the perfect time to make mental (or electronic) checklists to be sure they’re on track to meet their future goals.

Students should carefully consider their class schedule for the new school year, to be sure that the courses they’ll be taking will allow them to complete all of the courses they want to have under their belt by graduation day.  For example, students with dreams of attending a top college to major in engineering should be sure to get through calculus while in high school.  If they’re not on track to do so, perhaps they should double up on math this year.

Strategies to Help High Earners Pay College Fees

As college costs continue to rise, it’s not only families with financial struggles that are worried about paying the bill.  Even high-income families can be caught off guard when they realize that the costs of many top colleges now exceeded $75,000 a year for tuition, room and board – not including expenses for travel, a social life, and other amenities.  Schools in this category include Amherst College, Brown University, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, University of Chicago, and University of Pennsylvania.

A recent Money article gave advice for families that are stuck in the middle, earning too much money to qualify for need-based aid but not enough to pay out-of-pocket. These families are encouraged to file a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) even if they feel they will be denied need-based aid. The reasons are many. First of all, the FAFSA is the only way to access low-cost federal student loans.  In addition, to apply for many state and private scholarships that are not need-based, a FAFSA must be filed.  A completed FAFSA is also helpful if a family’s situation changes in the midst of an academic year due to job loss, medical expenses, or other sudden hardship.

An Organized Timeline Eases Student/Parent Stress

As parents and students plan for a new school year, it’s important to realize, even in times of uncertainty, that having a carefully organized timeline can help avoid the stress of an anxiety-filled senior year.

A student’s path to success actually starts during the early part of freshman year. Colleges admire students who show longevity in their activities, so the sooner students identify their clubs, sports, volunteer work, or other activities of passion, the longer they have to build a track record of accomplishments.  Freshman year is the perfect time to take on a new musical instrument or sport that might make a student particularly attractive to colleges.  A demonstrated commitment to volunteer work could earn a 50% to 100% tuition scholarship to The College of New Jersey which seeks “Bonner Community Scholars” and expects 300 volunteer hours each college year.

Vital to Gather Information and Ask Key Questions

As campuses across the country start to re-open, college-bound students once again have the opportunity to visit schools and gather vital information as they seek to make one of the most important decisions of their life.

The first step, before embarking on any college visit, is to educate oneself by reading information that is readily available on college websites and in reputable publications such as U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges guide. Students and their parents can easily access data for each college such as the acceptance rate, average SAT scores of accepted students, percent of faculty who are full time, percent of classes with fewer than 20 students, percent of classes with more than 50 students, and so much more.

Students Should Register ASAP for the August SAT

Registration is open for the August 28th SAT exam, and interested students should sign up quickly. If past years are any indication, there will likely be a shortage of available seats in Central New Jersey and families may have to embark on a road trip to get a seat for this extremely popular testing date.

The August SAT exam is being offered for the fifth consecutive year after being eliminated back in the 1970’s.  It’s extremely popular with students who view summer as the perfect opportunity to prepare for the exam without the pressures of school, homework, and afterschool activities.  By taking the exam in August, students have the opportunity to put their newly acquired SAT strategies and skills to the test without waiting for the fall SAT exams, which are offered the first Saturday in October, November and December.

In-State Universities Gain Favor With NJ Students

New Jersey has long been known for its “brain drain,” due to the vast number of students who head out-of-state for college.  But if recent statistics are any indication, local students are taking note of colleges and universities within the Garden State.

The most popular colleges, along with the number attending, from Hillsborough High School’s 2020 graduating class included many New Jersey institutions: Raritan Valley Community College (109), Rutgers University – New Brunswick (72), The College of New Jersey (21), Rowan University (17), Stevens Institute of Technology (8), Montclair State University (8), Ramapo College of New Jersey (6), and Drew University (6).

Those who left New Jersey tended to favor nearby state universities, including University of Delaware (15), Penn State University (9), University of Maryland (9), and University of Pittsburgh (7).

Never Too Early to Start Writing College Essay

Most high school students start their college application process by completing, online, the Common Application that is accepted by more than 900 colleges.  It requires one essay, and students can choose from a variety of topics or devise one of their own creation. 

Although the Common Application “goes live” on August 1st of each year, students can actually start working on it as early as they want as the vast majority of answers roll over onto the updated application when it changes in mid-summer. As for the 250-650 word required essay, some of the prompt options change from year to year, and some remain the same. This year, six of the seven prompts are identical to last year’s options and a new one has been added.

One of the most popular prompts states, “Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it.  If this sounds like you, please share your story.” This option allows students to write about almost anything of which they are passionate.