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In recent decades, Ivy League schools have adopted a policy of ensuring that applicants’ inability to pay tuition won’t stop a school from admitting them. More recently, a number of Ivies have offered full scholarships covering room, board and tuition for students coming from families with incomes below $65,000. The number of low-income students–and diversity among the students–is increasing, thanks to these programs. But these well-intentioned initiatives have produced somewhat disappointing results. A recent study by researchers at the Equality of Opportunity Project based on anonymous tuition records and tax filings reveals that Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, Penn and Brown have more students from the top 1 percent of the income distribution than from the bottom 60 percent. We recently came across a study revealing that the number of middle-income students in these schools is decreasing as the upper- and lower-income ratios increase. What do these trends mean for middle-class families? If your student isn’t applying to an Ivy League school, is there something to learn from this? Listen to our latest podcast episode to hear us discuss this topic!

Applying for financial aid, whether it's federal aid with the FAFSA or scholarships and grants, is a big part of preparing for college for many families. One aspect of financial aid that isn't always understood is financial aid appeals. What is a financial aid appeal and why would you use it? We'll cover this thoroughly in this episode.

With so many options to consider after high school--from online classes to trade schools to job experience to college to travel--what are the reasons to go to college today? Peter and Carla discuss the pros and cons of college now verses in the past. Listen in..what do you think is important or outdated about college now?

Taking the SAT or the ACT may be one of the most stressful times in a high schoolers' experience. The pressure to perform well to end up with a good score is intense for many students. There are ways to reduce the anxiety, however, and be well prepared when it's time to take the test(s). We cover a range of options in this episode, from low or no budget to more expensive solutions. Listen in and share with your student!

So many high school students feel some level of uncertainty or anxiety about choosing a college major, and it's completely understandable. Most students have heard many times from teachers, parents and other adults that choosing a major in college is an important decision. It's one of the first big independent decisions of your academic and professional life. As a high school student, you had to deal with people asking, “Where are you going to college?” Now that you’re entering college, the question changes to, “What are you majoring in?” How much does your major even matter? What criteria should you use to choose one? What if you have NO idea? What if your parents want you to choose a major you don't like? We'll help answer these questions in this episode!

Recently in the news, the University of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100,000 a year. By 2025, the cost of attendance at elite private colleges may reach the $100,000 mark, based on projections by The Hechinger Report using annual college cost growth rates from 2008 to 2018. That would likely make the University of Chicago the first college or university in the United States to break the six-figure mark. Three other schools — Harvey Mudd College in California, Columbia University in New York and Southern Methodist University in Texas — are projected to cost almost as much. However, fewer students are paying the full tuition. Is widespread discounting helping more people afford higher education, or just making it more complicated? We discuss why costs are rising so fast and how middle class families can address this challenge of the cost of higher education. If you want to learn more about list prices (what a college advertises) and net prices (what a student expects to pay based on income), we also recommend the updated Tuition Tracker, a Hechinger Report project that crunches federal education data reported by each institution into nice bite-sized pieces.

The digital revolution has changed the way people learn. Understanding how to interact with the digital tools, networks and social media platforms of the Internet is critical to students today. Schools, libraries, museums and community centers are upgrading technology so young people can access digital tools throughout the day, creating new opportunities to learn any time, any place and at any pace. This presents some challenges when it comes to student data and privacy issues. Traditionally, student data consisted of things like attendance, grades, discipline records, and health records. Access to that data used to be restricted to the administrator, guidance counselor, teacher, or other school official who needed it to serve the educational needs of the child. With the use of technology in schools, traditional data is now often shared with companies that provide learning tools and many other technologies. Parents, students, and others have raised concerns about what information is being collected or shared, and what use those companies might make of that data. We'll dig into this topic in this episode!

For high school students getting ready for college, applying for financial aid is often a big step in the process. Applying for financial aid requires filling out forms: the FAFSA and the CSS Profile. What are these forms and how do you fill them out correctly? We will answer this in this episode of the Your College Concierge podcast.

In this episode, we wanted to cover financial aid for college. Financial aid applications begin in October, with many students in the US submitting forms in hopes of getting money for college. However, many families think they won’t qualify due to income levels being to high—and that’s not always the case! Listen in as we discuss this important topic.

2.5 million students in the US today are homeschooled. It’s a trend that is growing due to online schools and more parents wanting to offer options or have flexibility for their children. In this episode, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for students that are homeschooled in high school. Listen in to learn what to focus on and how to have the best opportunities when it comes to getting into college.

In this episode, we wanted to cover tips for parents that have teens going back to school. Each year of high school is different, with different goals and expectations. We wanted to help parents understand how to best support their teen in 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade.

In the US over the past few months, there have been several incidences of fraudulent behaviors involving parents of college-bound high schoolers. Recently in the state of Illinois, it was discovered that some upper-middle-class and high-income families had been using strategies to get their children to receive federal financial aid when they otherwise would not have qualified. In our episode today, Carla and Peter review what happened and tips on receiving financial aid, even if you think your family won't qualify due to your income level.

Free College" and "Loan Forgiveness" are two hot topics that are floating in the media in the US as the 2020 presidential campaign is starting to take off. They sound great, but what do they mean for college students and families with kids that will be in college in the coming years? Peter Ratzan and Carla Holness explain these topics and what they mean in practical terms.

The college application essay is something that creates anxiety for a lot of students when they are applying to college. We have some tips (do’s and don’ts) for creating a great essay for a winning application. Listen to this episode and hear some of the most useful suggestions we give to our clients.

Recently the College Board made news headlines in the USA with their announcement of the "Adversity Index" that they will be testing with 50 colleges this fall for making college admissions decisions. This means that admissions officers will be taking into consideration additional factors when deciding to admit a student or not. These factors relate to a student's challenges and life situation (rather than grades, extracurricular activities, etc.). It's become a controversial topic that we wanted to discuss to help you learn more about how it might affect your student.

Choosing the colleges to apply to can (and should) involve many factors: tuition, scholarships, location, distance from home, opportunities for jobs, campus activities, size, etc. Many families have priorities and constraints when it comes to helping their students get to college. We work with many families that are unsure how to make the best decision based on their circumstances and options, so we made this episode to cover many common questions.

There are several ways students apply to colleges today. Because it’s electronic now, the process has changed dramatically in the last 10-15 years. There are new conveniences but also new challenges. Peter and Carla cover the college application process, and what to know as your child is entering high school (yes, it starts early).

We've recently completed a very competitive college admissions cycle. Many highly qualified students are sitting on waitlists for their dream schools, hoping to hear that they get in. What does it mean if your high school student is on a college waitlist? Is there anything they can do? How long should they hold out for a response? Peter and Carla answer these questions and more about waitlists in this episode.

In March 2019, the FBI released information about the largest college admissions scandal in US history. 50 people were arrested due to being involved with an estimated $25B deal involving coaches, parents and a college advisor/consultant. This story rocked the news headlines. Many people speculate about what this means about having unfair advantages when it comes to getting into colleges, especially if a student comes from a wealthy family. Peter and Carla get into a discussion about how this impacts families with college-bound students.

Summer is not far off - yay! It's definitely important to take time to switch gears, relax and have some fun. But there are also some things high school students can do to get ahead of the pack when it comes to getting a job or getting into college. Peter and Carla share their favorite tips for the best ways to maximize summer and make NEXT school year less daunting.