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Community Corner

How Do I Pay For College?

Once your child prepares for the SAT and gets a great score, and earns solid grades in school, you reach the final step.....figuring out how to pay for college.  While this is certainly a stressful topic, there are guidelines that will give you the greatest chance of meeting with success.  

There are basically three types of "scholarships:" Merit awards, Financial aid awards, and Outside scholarships.  

Merit awards are based on a student's accomplishments in high school.  Frequently, SAT scores are a key criteria in determining the amount of Merit money that is awarded to a student.  The reason for this is that the SAT is the one level playing field for everyone.  Students take the same test which is marked on a curve, comparing students from all different schools from all over the country, and even the world.  So the SAT is considered a fair means of comparison. Colleges also look closely at a student's G.P.A. and at the level of difficulty of the courses on a student's transcript (e.g. Advanced Placement and honors courses are much more impressive that CP courses.) Finally, colleges seriously consider a student's accomplishments outside of school.  What are a student's passions....what has he/she done outside of school that is truly impressive?  Basically, merit money is used to try to lure students to a particular college.  A student who is accepted to a "reach school" (one he/she had little chance of getting into) has little chance of being awarded merit money.  However, a student who is accepted to a "safety school" (one which is a tier or two below those which are a match for a student's academic accomplishments) will likely be awarded substantial merit money.  So a good strategy is to find a college which has an excellent program in the major your child wishes to pursue, but which overall is a tier below the colleges where your child could likely be accepted.  Such a school will most often offer an impressive merit award in an attempt to attract your child. 

See tomorrow's blog on Financial Aid Awards!

Susan Alaimo
Founder and Director of SAT Smart 
www.satsmart.com 

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