The EduAve Blog - Educational Avenues | College Planning | Boarding Schools

The Harvard Illusion

Harvard’s Dean of Admission, Bill Fitzsimmons, is known to have said that it’s the students that make that school a special place. Many families fall for the illusory benefits of a “name” school and may encourage their children to apply to the most selective schools they can get into, with the hope that their children will become successful. In fact, students will become most successful at schools where they can grow from where they are, and graduate with a sense of agency, resilience, and self-confidence.

When you look at kids who train very hard for a sport and don’t make it […]

The Harvard Illusion

CSS Profile Form

CSS Profile Form Required By Highly Selective Colleges.

Elite colleges and universities require parents to file the CSS Profile form in addition to FAFSA. In this article, I’ll review the CSS Profile form and the formulas behind it that drive up the costs.

In fall and winter, I often receive calls from frantic parents who are worried and confused about how to file the CSS Profile. They fear losing financial aid if they don’t file it correctly and provide additional financial information through iDocs. I just heard from one parent who wondered why must they upload their W2 when they already sent […]

CSS Profile Form

Apply to South Carolina Colleges!

College Applications, Clemson, and Early Deadlines.

Clemson is often the more selective university in South Carolina except for the University of South Carolina-Columbia’s Honors program. The latter has a full honors curriculum separate from all other offerings, whereas Clemson’s program simply adds an honors class for enrichment purposes each year.

Clemson’s applications shot through the roof last year, for academic year starting Fall 2021 ending in spring of 2022. They received 47,000 more applications than in the previous year. They enrolled their largest class ever, with 4,250 students. One reason may be that Clemson signed on with the Common Application in 2021-22, […]

Apply to South Carolina Colleges!

Control Your College Costs!

College planning means knowing which strategies will work for you. Control your College Costs instead of college costs controlling you!

Learn the key terms in the college financial aid alphabet soup! For example, the Cost Of Attendance, COA, is like the MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) of a car. Unfortunately, colleges don’t announce the upcoming academic year’s costs until the summer before the student starts, so many parents are paying for college not knowing the sticker price until just a few months before the new academic year.

In a discussion with the Associate Director of Admissions at Boston University, said if parents […]

Control Your College Costs!

College Affordability for Everyone

Would you like to know how to pay less for college and get a good return on your investment? I’ve watched college prices increase exponentially, over the last thirty years. If I learned anything, it is that families really worry about the whole college “thing” from when their child is born, in elementary, middle, and high school. The national psyche is focused on this preeminent goal. Parents want to make sure their kids will be successful adults, able to support themselves and be happy.

There are 5,300 colleges in the U.S. alone. There are choices. In fact, there are so many […]

College Affordability for Everyone

SATs/ACTs and Scholarships

The headlines among the college counseling community is that most colleges have gone test optional, which means they will not be requiring standardized tests scores such as the SATs or ACTs for admission. Many students cast a sigh of relief! Few students enjoy these high-stakes tests. Starting in March 2020, the College Board and ETS cancelled the testing dates and closed testing sites due to the fear of spreading the Covid-19 virus. Students are fearful of sitting for the three-and-one-half hours in a potentially crowded, unventilated room to take these tests. As a result, many colleges have gone test optional […]

SATs/ACTs and Scholarships

Strategic Enrollment Management’s Effect on Students and Parents

Many parents and students don’t know that colleges employ specific strategies to recruit students. They may wonder “Why did I get this amount of financial aid?” or, “Why did one college give a larger scholarship than another?”

There’s a little-known strategy that plays a major role in the amount of scholarship and financial aid that colleges award to families. It’s called “Strategic Enrollment Management” or SEM. This is a powerful tool that colleges use to recruit students. It involves regression analysis to predict enrollment results. It’s like running an experiment and assigning a value to an independent variable and watching the […]

Strategic Enrollment Management’s Effect on Students and Parents

FAFSA: What Families Need to Know This October 1, 2020

Most families with students applying to college have heard of the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This is a form you need to complete to obtain financial aid from the federal government. However, not every family knows if they should complete a FAFSA. Even if you think you will not qualify for any aid, it may be in your best interest to file anyway, to make sure that you don’t miss out on scholarships. This article will introduce families to basic principles to know when getting ready to file this application.

Most families with students applying to college […]

FAFSA: What Families Need to Know This October 1, 2020

What First Year College Students Can Expect

Is it possible to be both excited and worried at the same time? The pandemic is not dampening the enthusiasm of first year college students, many of whom are chomping at the bit to set foot on campus. At the College of Charleston classes have already started online. Students can continue to learn remotely or move into the dorm rooms as soon as the campus officially opens, sometime after Labor Day.

Colleges have been delaying opening the physical campus for good reasons: Covid-19 is spreading. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that The University of North Carolina-State, shut down housing just […]

What First Year College Students Can Expect

College Admissions during COVID pandemic

Colleges have been delaying opening the physical campus for good reasons: Covid-19 is spreading. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that The University of North Carolina-State, shut down housing just after a few weeks, and the list of colleges postponing plans for reopening grows. Students and parents can only keep watch for updates with bated breath. In this era of uncertainty, they must become comfortable with the unknown.

Parents are asking if they will receive some refunds on the room and board moneys when students are sent back home. Some colleges are pro-rating the portion toward the following semester. College administrators […]

College Admissions during COVID pandemic