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Do You Want to Apply for College Grants? Quick Tutorial

Article by Kelly Thompsan

There are many people that would like to earn a free college education but have a little bit of stigmatism or fear in regard to following through. Filling out paperwork was never a favorite chore of mine. I would find other things to do, including running errands in town 30 minutes away, to avoid having to fill out paperwork that needed to be done. College grants are forms that can be filled out either on the Internet or using their forms on regular paper. Here are a few tips on how to fill out college grant paperwork without having to stress over it anymore.

If you have ever gone to any of the websites which require you to fill out paperwork to apply for college aid, you know that this process can be very long and sometimes difficult. There are a variety of questions that you are asked which you must be prepared to fill out when applying for this free money for education.

What makes the whole process easier is to be prepared prior to filling out the applications with a few items that you have either in your wallet or at your house. By having these ready, you can spare yourself the stress of not having this information ready when the time comes. Especially when you fill out online forms, there is a timetable before the page will either close out or automatically save. The ones that automatically save your information are very helpful. Websites such as the ED site or FAFSA help you in this regard allowing you to save everything that you have entered automatically in case of a power outage or that you need to come back at a later time to finish.

Items that you will need will be your drivers license, your Social Security card, and information such as your date of birth, your current address, your phone number, and an e-mail which is usually how you receive confirmation of completion of the forms that you are doing.

Filling out grand forms is really no different. When you apply for grants, a similar username and password format will be administered. Simply make sure that you have a place to write down this information once you have opened your account. This way, if there is a problem in sending your personal information to you over the Internet, you will be able to log back in and either continue filling out paperwork or simply make sure that the process is complete.

By following these simple guidelines, you will be able to easily complete all of the financial aid forms that you need to online or off-line. It is better to be prepared, especially when you’re trying to get thousands of dollars from the federal government through the Pell Grant or through the stimulus package is offered by the Obama administration. The simple rule is the person who is always prepared stresses less than filling out paperwork and this applies directly to filling out any information that leads toward a free college education.

Applying For College Financial Aid – How To Apply For College Aid

Article by Felicia Ramone

Applying for college financial aid can be a traumatizing experience if you have never done it before. Going to college alone can be life-changing. You’re moving to a new place where you have never been before. If you are a single parent, you are probably attending college online however working with the Internet can be at times just as difficult. Here are a few ways that you can ensure that when you are applying for college financial aid that you received exactly what you need and even more to help you as you earn your college degree.

It all begins with a decision. You have to decide what major you want to focus upon. Every college degree has a different format by which it is taught. Some of these formats do not allow for online classes. Others allow only certain types of students to attend based upon previous classes taken. Financial aid is no different. If you do it wrong, or if your history does not represent a needy situation, then you will be unable to receive the college aid you may need.

Not all of us are born with a silver spoon. In fact, if we were, none of us would go to college. If we could live off our trust fund or if we never had to pay another bill again, we would’ve more than likely built a house on a beach and live there the rest of our lives. Most people going to college or not doing so because they enjoy it. They are doing so to survive.

The older you get, the more serious you become about where you’re going and what you were doing. You could be on a path to success at a young age and neglect its importance and fall to the wayside. Most of us that are not on the path we want to be choose to go back to college at a later point in time. We do so motivated by the needs of our family.

So whatever the reason you are going to college, if you do need college aid, here are a few tips on how to make sure that you receive it in a timely manner:

First of all, always apply early. Whether you’re going for a scholarship or federal aid from the government, if you wait till the last minute, you may miss important deadlines that might be changed. You might have something occur the day before your application is due which will prevent you from turning it in. Therefore, always think ahead and do what needs to be done way in advance.

Second, some familiar with your school and how much it costs. All of these questions will be asked on the forms to get college funding. You should have a rough estimate of how much you will need so that when you apply for student loans, or when you receive your financial aid in the form of a grant, you will know exactly how much you have to pay to the college to get your degree.

The last thing you should always remember is to never borrow more than you need. You might be in between jobs and require additional funding from the student loan. If the money is coming in the form of a grant that does not have to be repaid and you have debt that needs to be addressed, use this money wisely and it can help you dig out of your financial hole.

By following these suggestions, you will have a much easier time when applying for college financial aid that can help you earn your college degree and change your life for the better.

The Best 376 Colleges, 2012 Edition (College Admissions Guides)

What makes The Best 376 Colleges the most popular college guide?

*DIRECT QUOTES FROM STUDENTS that give insight into each school’s unique character, classes, financial aid, social scenes, and more

*ONE-OF-A-KIND RANKING LISTS that reveal the top 20 colleges in 62 categories based on how students rated their school’s dorms, professors, food, athletic facilities, and financial aid

*DETAILED ADMISSIONS INFORMATION that gives tuition, application criteria, deadlines, student to faculty ratios, graduation rates, and the most popular majors

*BONUS FEATURES like the “100 Best Value Colleges List,” plus unique ratings with all 376 schools scored on Financial Aid, Quality of Life, Fire Safety, Green Ratings, and more.

Written for any student or parent mystified by the confusing college admissions process, The Best 376 Colleges provides the facts and information needed to make a smart decision about which of the country’s best schools to consider.

What the media is saying about The Best 376 Colleges from The Princeton Review: 

“The offbeat indexes, along with the chattily written descriptions of each school, provide a colorful picture of each campus.”–The New York Times

“The most efficient of the college guidebooks. Has entertaining profiles larded with quotes from students.”–Rolling Stone

“A great book…it’s a bargain.” –CNN

“Our favorite college guidebook.” –Seventeen

“Provides the kind of feedback students would get from other students in a campus visit.” –USA TodayAn Interview with Robert Franek, Author of The Best 376 Colleges

What is The Princeton Review and how long have you been doing this book?
The Princeton Review is an education services company headquartered in Framingham, MA with offices all over the country and abroad. Our company was founded in 1981 to help students prepare for the SAT. Now we are known for our test-prep courses for scores of tests, plus our books, website, tutoring and online programs. Over the years we have helped millions of students research, apply to, get in to, and pay for college and graduate school. The Princeton Review also owns the Penn Foster Education Group, a global leader in online career and vocational education headquartered in Scranton, PA.

We’ve published our annual “Best Colleges” book since 1992. The Best 376 Colleges is our 20th edition. One of more than 150 Princeton Review books published by Random House, this title is one of our most popular. What makes it different from all other college guides is that it’s based on our college student survey which is the largest and longest ongoing survey of its kind: we ask college students to rate their schools and report on their experiences at them. We surveyed 122,000 students for this edition of the book. No other college guide has this much campus and student feedback about schools.

Why “376″ colleges?
“Best 375 Colleges” might sound catchier. But The Princeton Review doesn’t start from a catchy number, then add or subtract schools to fit it. The number is based on how many schools annually meet our criteria for “best.”

How do you pick the colleges for the book?
First, we choose schools based on our analysis of their academics. We review data that we annually collect from about 2,000 schools via an administrator survey that has more than 80 questions. We also get reports from our staff across the country who visit hundreds of colleges a year, plus our 28-member National College Counselor Advisory Board (you’ll find their names and affiliations listed in the book), and independent college counselors who give us valuable opinions and suggestions about schools for the book.

Second, we look at what students we’ve surveyed candidly tell us about their campus experiences. That matters a lot to us, as it would to applicants visiting a school and those that can’t get to the campus for a visit. Any college we consider adding to the book must allow us to conduct surveys of its students.

Third, we work to keep a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, character and type. Only about 15% of the nation’s 4-year colleges are in it.

Which college is best overall?
We don’t think one school is best overall. We don’t believe hierarchical ranking lists are useful, especially those that rank schools only for their academics. In fact, we think they are counterproductive, as every school under the #1 school must be considered “lesser” academically, down the line, and that’s just not so.

All 376 schools in this book are academically outstanding: they all offer a great education. But they differ widely – as do the academically outstanding students who attend them. It’s not hard to find an academically great school in this country. What’s hard is finding the academically outstanding school that will be a best-fit school for you.

What are your ranking lists based on?
Our multiple rankings lists are based entirely on data we gather in our student surveys. We report 62 ranking lists – each naming the top 20 colleges (of the 376 in the book) in a specific category. We think our lists — along with other info in the book’s college profiles — offer applicants and parents a broader base of input to find and successfully apply to the schools best for them than one hierarchical list based on one aspect of the college.

What’s new in this year’s edition of the book?
We added six schools to this edition: Five are in the U.S.A.: Champlain College (Burlington, VT), Christopher Newport University (Newport News, VA), Portland State University (Portland, OR), Roanoke College (Salem, VA), and the University of Houston (Houston, TX). One is in Ireland – National University of Ireland, Maynooth (Co. Kildare, IRE). This is the first time we have included a school outside North America in the book. We have had two Canadian colleges in it for many years: McGill University (Montreal) and the University of Toronto.

We also added a new ranking list category, “Best Health Services,” which, to our knowledge, is the first list of its kind. It reports the 20 colleges at which students most highly rated their school’s health center facilities and services.

Of course, all of the school data in the book is updated. We reach out directly to our contacts at the colleges to collect that info and we update all statistics in our school profiles every year. We also give every college the opportunity to review, fact check and report to us any incorrect information in their profile before our book goes to press.

What is the difference between the college rankings and the college ratings in your book?
That’s a great question as people often confuse rankings (which are lists) with ratings (which are scores).

Our Princeton Review college rankings are lists of schools in 62 categories (in rank order: 1 to 20) based entirely on our surveys of students attending the schools in our annual “Best Colleges” book. The survey asks students to rate their own schools on dozens of topics and report on their campus experiences at them. Our ranking lists include “Professors Get High Marks,” “Best Campus Food,” and “Major Frat and Sorority Scene.”

Our Princeton Review college ratings are scores on a scale of 60 to 99 that we tally for schools in up to eight categories that appear on college profiles on its site and college guidebooks. The ratings are based primarily on institutional data we collect from the schools’ administrators. Our rating categories include Academics, Admissions Selectivity, Financial Aid, Fire Safety and Green.

What advice do you have for students applying to colleges this year, and for their parents?
We asked this question of last year’s applicants and parents (nearly 12,000 people in all) who completed our 2011 “College Hopes and Worries Survey.”

Their most common advice? Two words: “START EARLY.” We saw this over and over in their comments. One parent noted,” I wouldn’t wish the last few weeks we’ve had on anyone.” Another said, “Start the whole process a year earlier than you think you need to.” One of our favorite tips from a student this year was, “Take a deep breath and let your parents help. They may actually know something.”

We echo that wise advice. And with best wishes to this year’s applicants and their savvy (if anxious) parents, we offer these additional tips:

For students:
1. Work hard to get good grades and good test scores. They are important both for getting in to colleges and getting financial aid from them. Take as many AP courses as you can. Admissions officers like to see you’ve taken challenging courses, plus high scores on AP exams can earn college credits, thus saving on tuition.

2. When winnowing your hit list of colleges, don’t make the mistake of picking schools only by their academic reputations. Get information about the campus culture, the student body, the town, the majors offered.

3. Never cross a school off your list because of its sticker price. More than 70% of students get financial aid and with aid it can cost less to go to a private or expensive school than a public or inexpensive one.

For parents:
1. Relax. There are hundreds of great colleges out there and the majority of students get into their first or second choice college. Be as supportive as you can of your child, and when it comes to dealing with the schools, let your child make the calls and write the letters, etc.

2. If you are hoping to get financial aid, learn all you can about the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) well before you begin filling it out, ideally months before. The FAFSA is a form all aid applicants must submit and your /your child’s answers on it are used to determine your “EFC” (Estimated Family Contribution) – that’s what the colleges will expect you “pay” out of the family coffer. Our annual book, Paying For College Without Going Broke, has detailed information on this and is the only annual guide that gives people line-by-line advice specifically on completing the upcoming year’s FAFSA form.

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TheWall Street Journal presents “Inside The Admissions Office.” Students across America sent in their questions expert Deans of Admissions from eight top colleges provide the real answers. In this clip, the dean of admissions and enrollment planning at Marquette University gives his take on how many schools you should apply to.
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