​College Applications

For those of you who have kids in high school, let me get you ready for senior year.  Senior year took me by surprise.  Now don’t get me wrong, I knew that my son would be applying for college.  After all, I had been taking him on college tours for the last two years.  What I didn’t anticipate was all the expenses that came along with applying for college.
Let me tell you, the costs associated with applying to college, so that you can be prepared:

1. First off, you must get your kid ready to take the SAT exam.  If you have a highly motivated teen, the cheapest way to do this is to go to Barnes and Noble, buy some workbooks, and let your kid practice on his/her own time.  Again, you must have a highly motivated kid for this option.  If, like me, you have a teen who can be easily distracted, you can pay for SAT prep course.  Depending on what level of prep you choose, this can cost anywhere from $800 and up.  You basically have your choice of the Princeton Review or Kaplan.  You can have your child in a class setting, or one on one with private tutors.  Either way, get ready to remind, I mean nag them to do their work. 
2. Next, you have pay to take the actual SAT exam.  The SAT is currently $47.50.  If you take the SAT with the essay, that’s $64.50.  Guess which one is preferred?  You got it.  Its the one with the essay!  If you’re lucky, your child will only take the SAT once.  But, don’t count on it.  Your child will take it at least twice.  (S)he will want to see if (s)he can score higher the second time around.  Also, you better register on time.  If you don’t, you will be charged a late fee of $29.00. Go ahead and get that checkbook out.
3. Did you think it was over with the SAT exam?  Nooooooo!  Now, there are the SAT Subject Tests.  For those of you who either didn’t go to college, or went so long ago that you can barely remember taking the SAT, there is another component to the college entry process … the SAT Subject Tests.  Here, for a mere $26, your teen gets to impress the colleges by showing his/her proficiency in several subject areas: math, foreign language, literature, world history, chemistry, physics, etc.  If your teen wants to be a show off and impress the colleges by showing his/her proficiency in more than one subject, (s)he can do so at the low cost of $22 per additional test.  Get ready, some colleges require the SAT subject tests.
4. You will need to complete both the FAFSA and the CSS profile for your financial aid package.  Luckily, the FAFSA has the ability to just upload your latest tax return from the IRS website.  You can finish that application in about 30 minutes.  However, be prepared to spend a few hours on the CSS profile.  Have a cup of tea on hand.  You will need it to help calm your nerves.  Oh, to add injury to insult, after you spend a few hours filling out those forms, when you and your child have finally narrowed down the college list, you have to pay to have CSS send out your financial information to each college.  Guess what?  You must pay a fee for EACH COLLEGE you send your report.  At this point, you start to realize that everyone but you is making money in this process.
5. So, you’re finally done with the exams.  You’ve completed the financial aid forms.  Now, let’s head on over to the College Board website where your teen will fill out the Common App.  Again, for those of you who did not attend college, or attended before the internet was invented, most colleges accept applications via the Common App.  This is actually a great thing because its one centralized location to help these kids stay on track.  You may want to get their password to check up on what they are doing.
6. I don’t remember if there was a fee associated with the Common App itself, but, there is a fee for every college your kid wants to apply to.  These fees aren’t cheap.  Gone are the days where you can just apply to three schools knowing that you will get into at least your state school.  Nope.  Now, it is very competitive and high school guidance counselors are telling kids to apply to at least 15 colleges.  Can you imagine that!  15 colleges at let’s say $75 per application is $1,125!  Are they insane!  Here is where I will help save you some money (I did this with my son).  This generation has the opportunity to apply for Early Action.  If your child has a reach and/or dream college they want to attend, have them apply to that school Early Action.  At the same time, have them apply to about 2 or 3 safety schools.  Best case scenario, they will get into the first-choice school and you will be able to afford it.  Next best scenario, they won’t get into their first-choice school, but they will get into one or more of their safety schools (that’s what happened to my son).  That’s great because now, your child already knows that (s)he has gotten into college and they have the option of applying to other schools.  If they still want to apply to schools, they can narrow the list down to the schools they really would like to go to.  So, instead of applying to 15 colleges, they only have to apply to 6 or less.  This saves you money in application fees, and in the fees associated in sending out the CSS profiles.

 So, welcome to the wonderful world of applying to college!  When I was finally done with this process, I was ready for a well-deserved breather.  It didn’t last long.  Shortly thereafter, I received an email from my daughter’s school informing us that it was time to start get the juniors ready for the SAT!
 
​So, if you have kids entering high school, start saving for the college application process now!
 
Now you know, and you can … Consider Yourself Warned!
 
If you have already gone through the college application process, what advise do you have for other parents?