[00:00:00] Hello everyone. My name is Julie Shields and I am the Senior Director of College Planning, education and Training at mifa. Let’s talk about college admissions. First, I’ll give you a little information about mifa. Mifa is a state authority created by the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and we have been around since 1982 with our mission to help families plan, save, and pay for college.

Today we’re gonna talk about current trends in college admissions, your college list, how a student would go about building a college list. We’ll talk about campus visits, the application process. And we’ll touch upon financial aid and throughout you’ll notice we’ll tell you about free resources that have are available to you.

One note I’ll make is that Mifa has many webinars and [00:01:00] so much information about financial aid. So what we’ll touch upon today will be a small fraction. So you should come back and listen and, and hear our financial aid webinars and look at the resources on our website as well. So we’ll start with the trends in college admissions.

One trend is that students apply to a greater number of colleges, and that trend has, uh, been consistent for a while. Uh, it’s partially because one of the, uh, applications, which is the common app, um, allows a student to complete an admissions. Application once and then send it to multiple colleges. So it really can be easy to apply to, uh, many colleges.

And also students know that college admissions can be, um, can be competitive. And, um, many schools are selective because of, you know, the number of students they can admit and the quality of [00:02:00] applications they receive. And so one tip is to apply to. Multiple schools, multiple colleges that you, um, that you love, so that you have your options open for good choices and options in the spring of your senior year.

Now another trend is, is something called demonstrated interest being a factor in admissions. And that really comes about because students are applying to numerous, uh, schools because. Uh, in a long time ago when students applied to just a few colleges, um, a college could be 100%. We’re pretty certain that if the college received an application from a student, that the student really wanted to go there.

But since students are applying to many colleges now, colleges. Can’t be certain that every applicant, um, really hopes to attend that institution. And so they look for clues in the application of, um, a student’s interest. Now, not all [00:03:00] colleges do this, but some do, and some of the things that could qualify as demonstrated interest might be that you visited the college.

You don’t have to do that either. Maybe it’s that you contacted the college or you watched, uh, an admissions webinar online, or you contacted the admissions office to ask about campus tours, uh, or connect with an, an admissions representative for some questions. So all of those things can demonstrate interest in the college.

And the bottom line is if you are very interested, um, in attending a certain college, um. It’s probably worth your while to do some of those things to let that admissions office know of your interest. Another, uh, thing I like to talk about is social media. Uh, social media is actually a great way to get to know.

The colleges that you might be interested in, all colleges have social media accounts. You can follow them, you can see what they post. [00:04:00] You can find out what’s happening on their campuses. It’s really a terrific way to learn about a college. Uh, the one caution is that with. Uh, students’ social media accounts, your own social media accounts.

You just wanna make sure that your social media profiles that are out there are, um, ones that you wouldn’t mind a college admissions officer seeing. You wouldn’t mind a prospective job, um, you know, an employer seeing, um, or really anyone. So you just wanna make sure that, um, that your social media profile, um, is exactly how you want it to be.

Out there. Cost is a bigger factor these days, uh, and in fact that in some ways is a good thing. Um, we believe that you should pay attention to the cost and how much it’s going to cost you as a family and, and make your decision, um, with that in mind. And so. Yeah, it’s not great that [00:05:00] college is very expensive, but, um, it’s good that, that families are really looking at cost as one of the factors, um, among many in the admissions process.

Um, one thing that’s terrific, I mentioned. Watching a webinar online, doing a virtual campus tour, uh, during, uh, COVID when, when families and students couldn’t visit colleges and be on campus colleges, developed all kinds of resources so that students could interact virtually with them at that time. Now that’s passed and students are very welcome on campuses, but.

Colleges never did away with those terrific resources. So there are so many ways that you can interact with a college online virtually, and that’s a great thing. These days. There are also more colleges, um, saying that they are test optional, meaning they don’t require a [00:06:00] standardized test. So that’s something to pay attention to, um, because.

That does increase the number of applicants to a school if they don’t have to send a, a standardized test school a score. And that does also result in longer wait lists. And, um, so. Something to just be aware of. And finally, I just wanna mention something called direct admissions. Um, that’s relatively new, but what that means is that some colleges may send you an admissions acceptance letter even before you’ve applied.

And that’s because maybe they received your information. Um. On a test that you took from, from taking the SAT or the A CT, or they received your information from the common app, which we’ll talk about, which is one of the. Application portals and they quickly saw some statistics about you and thought, Ooh, this student will be a great fit for our school.

So they send you an [00:07:00] admissions acceptance and it usually will say, you know, we’d love to have you just fill out this shortened admissions application for form. Answer a few questions and, um. You can be admitted. So it, it’s a little funny because that’s not how things have gone in the past, but it does work well for some students who may not have considered that school as one that they were interested in attending.

It will then help them take a second look at that, complete the form and, and maybe be admitted there. So, um, there’s some real benefits, uh, to students for that, but that might be confusing if it happens to you. So I like to share. Uh, another important note about the admissions process is stay organized.

There are a lot of little pieces, um, that you need to keep track of. We have something called the college application Manager on our website. Feel free to download that and keep track of the colleges you’re [00:08:00] interested in. What is their admissions deadline? Do they require a standardized test? What about financial aid?

What forms are required for that? What’s the deadline for that? So you can do that or you can just create your own spreadsheet, put a big whiteboard in your kitchen, uh, something on your phone, whatever you do. Um, it’s good to stay organized with the process. And so then the first step, how do you even start?

Um, well, you can do some of that right from home on your computer and, and just start researching colleges. And one way to do that is to use one of these tools, um, college Navigator. A college scorecard. Uh, those are both federal websites and the way these work is, you would, you would go into one of these and you would put some information about yourself and what you’re looking for.

I’m looking for a Massachusetts College. I’m looking for nursing programs. Um. Things like that. And then it will [00:09:00] give you a list of potential colleges that you can research more thoroughly. And these websites have lots of detailed information. They, you know, show you where they’re located. Is it in the city?

Is it in a more rural area? They give you the size and then they get into some. Real details such as, um, what’s the average annual cost for a student? Um, what, what’s the median earnings of a graduate? Um, things like that. What’s the graduation rate? So, um, those are fun tools to play around with. Also, big future from the college board, similar college search tool.

You go in and you put some information about yourself and it will give you a list of colleges. And Mifa has our own college search tool within Mifa Pathway. And that is a, uh, free college planning portal, um, that has a lot and also has a college search tool. You, it’s free. You can go in, create an account and you can use that works [00:10:00] very similarly to what I described.

And so what factors should you consider when you’re thinking about a college? Some of the things you won’t even know until you really dive into the search a little bit more, but some students might know. So maybe institution size and location. Um, does a student know if you wanna be in a city, do you know if you wanna stay in Massachusetts?

Do you know if you wanna stay in New England? Do you wanna go to California? Um, and do you, would you like to go to a very large school or a smaller school? You can get thinking about things like that. And that’s one of those things that I think after visiting a few schools, you’ll have a better sense, and let’s say you wanna go to California, you might still want to visit some colleges closer to home and get a sense of some of those things.

Academic fit is really important. You probably want to be with students [00:11:00] who are like you academically. Um, you know, there are some students who really want to study all the time because they, they love that and they. Want to make sure they’re the top of their class. Um, always get a’s continually are learning and might even, you know, study on Saturdays at the library.

And there are other students who, while they want to try hard work, hard be good students, they maybe don’t wanna be doing that all weekend long and maybe they really hope to, um, you know. Go to a big football game on the weekend, or they like to go out hiking or they have another activity that they really like to spend time doing, um, and they’d like to do it all week long.

Um, and really balance those academics and activities. And so it’s good to pay attention to that when you’re learning about a college. Um, you know what? How do students, [00:12:00] um, behave and, and you’ll find, you’ll find a mix, but you just wanna make sure that you’ll find students who are like you. Um, if you ha know the major you want to study, then you definitely wanna make sure that your college has that intended major.

And you probably from high school, know a little bit about your learning style. Um, do you enjoy classes where. There’s a discussion in every class and the class is always broken up into small groups and there’s a lot of discussion during the class. Or do you prefer classes where you can sit, listen, take it all in, and then study later?

Um, you’ll get a sense of that and you’ll, for that reason have a sense of how you, um. Might like your classes to be in college. Um, will you enjoy large lecture halls, which some very large institutions have a lot of those, especially in, in the early years. Um, or do you really like smaller classes [00:13:00] and then campus culture activities?

Um, those are things that you can best assess from being there on the campus. Does the college have sort of a, a religious. Side to it. Um, is it, I mentioned the big, big football games on Saturdays in the fall. Um, is, is college one of those where the entire campus sort of comes out and that’s what, that’s what the weekend is all about?

Um, or again, do you, do you, um. Love being in musical productions and, and you love to sing and is there a lot of that type of activity on campus? So you’ll find out some of that, the activities and the campus culture by number one, visiting the college, but number two, by just connecting with the college.

Asking questions. Asking questions of current students, um, to learn as much as possible. Most [00:14:00] colleges have study abroad programs, career. The internship services. Um, but if those are really important to you, you know, you wanna study abroad, delve a little deeper into those as well to find out what your options will be.

And then of course, affordability. You really should consider that. So take the time to learn a little bit about, um, the cost, the financial aid available, and what type of financial aid and what. That might really mean for you and what you would be paying as a family, and there are ways to do that. I, I’ve mentioned visits a few times.

You can go visit a college campus, walk on a college campus any day, and that can be really fun just to sort of. See what it’s like. Is it pretty? Are students walking around, you know, together, uh, what’s happening there? You can go to a, um, a sporting event or a theatrical [00:15:00] production. Um, but once you get to be a junior in high school, it’s a really good idea to do something called a formal visit, meaning make sure the admissions office knows you’re there, you’re on campus, and maybe.

Attend an admissions presentation and take a campus tour with a student because that student will take you places like maybe into a dorm room that you can’t do on your own, just walking around campus. And you can find out a lot more information that way. And another way you can get to know colleges, um, that’s really great is college fairs.

And, um, here, nacac fairs.org and NI AAC two organizations, NAC and NI Yak that um, have a lot of college fairs. So you can go to those websites and see if there’s one near you and that. Is usually a, a huge space with lots of colleges, sometimes from [00:16:00] all over the country, uh, where you can walk around and meet admissions representatives from all those colleges without having to travel.

You can do that right here in your own backyard. So check out Nak A in the yak a and sometimes some of those faires might be geared to a specific, um, you know, type of education if you really are interested in the arts. There, there might be an. A college fair dedicated to that with schools, um, who, who focus on that.

So you can attend, sort of make a plan before you go in of who you might like to see, who you might like to talk to. And then when you get to the fair, um, there’s an ability to have one-on-one meetings with those representatives. And there are sometimes presentations and other things going on as well.

So then you want to really try to think about your prospects for admission at the different colleges you’re interested in, [00:17:00] and when you finally develop a list of colleges you’re going to apply to, you want to apply to colleges that fit into all of these different categories. The first likely, this is a college that I am likely to be admitted to.

I learned about. Um, what the other students who are there now are like, each college usually has a, a, a profile of students from the class that was admitted the year before. You seem to fit right into that. It’s likely you’ll be admitted. Um, it’s good to have a number of those colleges on your list because again, you wanna have options and choices Spring of senior year.

But as we spoke about college is, uh, it’s competitive and some colleges are, are selective because again, they can only admit a small class. Um, they receive many, many more qualified applications than, um, students they can admit. So some colleges fall into that possible where [00:18:00] yes, you seem to have a similar profile to the students who do attend that college, but.

It’s either small or very selective. And for that reason it’s only a possible that you’ll get admitted and then you might fall in love with some colleges, um, that are gonna be a reach for you. And one thing I sometimes say is the Ivy League schools or reach for everyone. It really doesn’t matter how.

What a terrific student you are. Your grades, all you’ve done. Um, those type of institutions receive so many more, um, applications from qualified overqualified applicants. That really, for everyone that’s a reach doesn’t mean don’t put those on your list. It just means balance. Those reach schools on your list with likely and possible schools.

All right, so what are the types of admissions applications? Um, [00:19:00] well, college is the regular decision process. Usually has a deadline early January, and you submit your application by the deadline in early January. They let you know of the result if you’re admitted or not, um, by, let’s say, March. Or definitely by April.

And then you would just have to respond by May 1st. May 1st is, uh, typically national decision day where students have to let the college that they’re going to attend know they’re coming. So that’s the regular decision process these days. Many colleges have early processes, and so one early process is just called early action, and really it’s similar.

To what I just described, except early action deadlines are in November or December, and student just applies that early and then hears back from the [00:20:00] college earlier and still doesn’t have to let the college know until May. And um, sometimes though colleges, if the, that. Deadline is in November. Sometimes colleges will let students know before that winter break, and that can be nice for a student to just sort of at least submit one or two early applications and have a sense that, okay, I’m admitted, and whatever else happens.

I know I have a couple of colleges that I like. That I can attend. So that can be nice. And then there’s something called early decision, and that’s different, um, that also has deadlines in November and December, but it is a, it’s a binding agreement. So if you apply to a college early decision, what you’re agreeing to is that that is the only college you’re applying to early decision that if that college admits you, you’ll withdraw.

All of your other applications and um, [00:21:00] so if you love a college way beyond any other colleges and you’re sure you can pay for it and you’re even sure that. You’re okay paying for it. Even though some of those other colleges that you had to withdraw your applications might have given you more financial aid, um, then early decision can be a good option for you because on the positive side, early decision and making that binding agreement with a college does demonstrate interest.

And we talked about how that can be helpful. Next, there’s rolling admission and that just means that a college opens their. Their school to admissions applications and it continues on, so it could be from November through May, and you submit the application whenever you want. In that timeframe, I would suggest enrolling admissions to submit on the earlier side, just in case there are any, uh, [00:22:00] sources of of funding financial aid that could run out.

And then there’s open admission, and that is like our community colleges here in Massachusetts, where, um, if you, uh. You know, meet the very basic eligibility criteria, you will be admitted. So it’s open to all students. Um, the only thing to be aware of, it doesn’t mean every program is open to all students.

There are some programs that limit the number of students, nursing, um, things like that. But, um, it does mean you can be admitted to the school, but not specifically to, to the program. And so let’s talk about the college application forms. Uh, common [email protected] is an application where you would complete the common app and then send it to all of the colleges that you want to send it to it, so it [00:23:00] organizes your process where you only have to complete the application once and then send it to all of the colleges.

Sometimes some of those colleges might have some supplements. But you’ll find, you’ll see that right in the Common App application and you’ll be able to do it all there. And, uh, it’s, it’s nice. And the other applications are like that as well. The universal app, the coalition app, and, uh, your college will tell you what application forms they accept and sometimes they accept multiple and then it’s up to you to choose.

And, but again, that way you can do a form and send it to. The colleges that you are applying to. Uh, some colleges have a website application and some even have a paper application, but I see less of the paper these days. Um, and a website application might be a, a simplified form for community college, for example.

And then here are [00:24:00] all the components that will be part of your application. Um, the application. So that could be the common app or the universal application or the website form your high school transcript, standardized test scores if required. And I mentioned that. Many, many colleges do not require those anymore, so that’s only if required or if you choose to send them letters of recommendation.

Many times that’s anywhere from one to three letters of recommendation, usually an activity list or a resume, a personal essay, and then the last three are less common. Maybe an interview, uh, maybe an audition or a portfolio if you’re applying to those types of, uh, programs such as theater, music, design, uh.

And so what are colleges [00:25:00] looking for when they’re looking at your application? The most important thing they’re looking for is academic readiness. They want to make sure that if they admit you to their college, that you are going to succeed and thrive and just be, um, so happy with your experience there.

And so in order to assess academic read readiness, they look at rigor. So they look at the classes you took in high school. Have they prepared you for the type of classes you’re gonna be taking at that college? Um, and we always get the question and they’re looking at your grades in those classes. And we do get that question, is it better to get an A and an easier class or a b and a harder class?

And it’s not so simple as that. But colleges like to see that you challenged yourself and that you took some, some challenging classes throughout high school and that you did well in them. Um, so there’s [00:26:00] no, there’s no easy answer to that question, but they would really prefer to see you didn’t just take.

All the easiest classes to ensure that you would get a’s that you did. You did stretch yourself and, and take some difficult classes. Um, they like to see improvement over time. I guess the most important lesson I’d say there is if you have a not so great grade freshman year, one. Sad grade, but then the rest of your transcript is, um, you know, is wonderful and, and just shows that was a blip.

And colleges understand things like a blip freshman year in high school. Uh, they like to see that you exceeded your minimum requirements. Did you take on some additional classes and things you were interested in? And were your classes, uh, relevant to your college plans? And you can check online, there is a sliding scale for mass public colleges and universities about, um, what grade [00:27:00] point average will get you into certain colleges.

And, um, that can also be balanced by, um, test scores. So a little bit about standardized tests. We’re basically talking about the SAT and a CT here and, um, the PSAT is a practice test for the S-A-T-A-C-T also has a practice test, and if co, if a college requires a test, they will take either the SAT or the a CT, so it doesn’t matter.

And. Many colleges don’t require a test. Um, so there you can see that fair test.org provides a list of nearly 2100 colleges that don’t require a test. And if a test is not required, you don’t need to submit a test. However, if you do great and get a really high score on one of these tests, then that might be worth it to send your test score even if the test scores aren’t required.[00:28:00]

Um. The best thing I hear from people who are experts at testing is it really helps to practice taking these types of tests. They can be long and um, uh. There’s a certain flow to them and a slightly different flow from the a CT to the sat. So a good way to go about this might be to take a practice of each of those tests, see which one you liked better, see which one you did better on, and then just go with it and really practice, practice for that.

And then a lot of students, especially when they’re applying to colleges that require these tests, take it twice in the spring of junior year and fall of senior year. And then the AP exam. If you take an advanced placement class in high school, then at the end of it, that’s a college level class, so that looks good to a college.

And at the end, you can take an exam and if you receive a high score on that exam, that also looks really [00:29:00] great on an admissions application. And then colleges will usually ask for. Activity list and resume. And what’s important here is to see how you spent your time outside of school. What other things have you done?

And that could be sports, it could be, uh, theater, it could also be a job. It could be some community service, it could be coming home from school and taking care of your younger siblings. Um, so all of those things are, um, are great to, to report and talk about because they all show that you’ve built skills and leadership.

Um, so that’s what a college is trying to assess there. And one activity is not better than another. It’s, um, your relationship to that activity and how. What time and effort you put into that, and then the [00:30:00] essay. So most colleges will have you write an essay, some will have you write multiple. But um, really for the essay, you want to pick a topic that you want to write about and you want to be able to share a little bit about yourself.

F in that written essay. Because the colleges have your grades, they have your test scores, they maybe have a recommendation from a teacher, but this allows you to share something that maybe they can’t see anywhere else in your application. So you want it to be meaningful and personal, and you wanna start writing early.

Because if you start writing on a couple of topics early, then you just have time. You can put it down, pick it up again. And, and write a little more. Give yourself time so you’re not doing it last minute. Once you get an essay to a, a decent point that you’re happy with, share it. Share it with a teacher, share it with a parent, share it with [00:31:00] a friend.

Um, just so that you can get some feedback. But it shouldn’t be feedback that’s telling you. Don’t write about that if you really want to write about it. You should do what you want to do. Um, but hopefully it could be feedback like, oh, I think you shoulda expanded about when you, um. Made this choice. I, I, I wanted to know a little more, um, things like that.

So hopefully you get a few people to just give you a little feedback on, on your essay. Um, know that plagiarism is taking, taken very seriously. Don’t do that. This is a piece of your own writing and you just wanna have time to sort of perfect it and make sure that. You read it and enjoy reading it because if you enjoy reading it, probably the person at the college will enjoy reading it too.

If you have an essay that just bores you to tears, well that might have the same effect [00:32:00] on the person reading at the college. The common app gives these common app essay prompts, um, for fall 2026. And as you can see here, I’ll just read one or two, reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea.

What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? Um, so these. You can write about anything. These are just prompts to get you thinking about something to write about, discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

And then let’s talk about letters of recommendation. So. The guidelines are usually that you should have a teacher from your junior year in one of your five core subjects. That would be English, math, science, history, foreign language. But even more important than that is you want to ask people [00:33:00] who know you well to write.

That recommendation because that’s really important. Someone who can add some, some perspective on who you are as a person, what you brought to class, or a job or the field. And that’s why I say that. People always ask, can I have a coach? Right. Can I have my, um, the teacher who led. The project of community service project that I was a part of.

If that person knows you well and can share about who you are and your work, um, then that can be okay too. So keep a mix of those. Um, what’s the most appropriate for that in mind? Um, and if a college asks for two recommendations, don’t send in four. Because what they might do is they might read two, and it might not be the top two that you wanted them to read, so follow the directions on how many recommendations they want you to send, [00:34:00] and then make sure you.

Give the person who’s going to write the letter for you, um, some information I’m applying here. I’m, I’m, I think I’m gonna study this in college, or I’m interested in this. Um, and then always say thank you, uh, but know that the people writing those recommendations sometimes have a lot of student recommendations to write.

So anything you can do to help them is good. And then interviews, as I mentioned, are not so common, but they, they do exist. So first thing, find out, does the college that you are applying to require an interview or allow an interview is another thing. Um, and there are two types. There’s informational interviews and evaluative.

So informational is really just that you getting to know the college, the college, getting to know you. And sharing information. Evaluative means it is directly a part of the admissions process where, [00:35:00] um, that evaluator is going to give you a score that’s gonna be part of your admissions application. So just good to know either one, but, um, it’s nice.

Even if it’s just optional, it’s nice to go on an interview as far as getting a lot of information and being able to, um, share about yourself. But the bottom line is find out the process at the schools you’re attending. If they require an interview, set one up at the time that they, uh, designate, which could be during the admissions process or it could be, um, after you’ve submitted an application and.

Two things you could do to prepare for that would be number one, really get to know the college and. Read everything. You can look at the website and see what questions you have, real questions, because that will, that will come across as genuine. And then also do a little reflection on [00:36:00] yourself. You know, what have I liked in high school?

Uh, what classes have I liked best? What books have I read lately? What movies have I seen? What do my friends and I do after school? Uh, just reflecting on yourself will make it easier. When, um, an interviewer is just asking you questions about yourself that you’ll have already thought about some things ahead of time.

Other than that, relax and be yourself. These are, um, professionals who enjoy talking to, um, 18, 19-year-old students. They love it and that’s why they do this. So they will look forward to talking to you and look forward to having that, um, experience. And then when it comes to the decision, um, you could be told you are accepted, which is wonderful and exciting.

Uh, be aware that these days we do see some colleges accept students, but say you can’t come [00:37:00] in September, we’re gonna wait till January. So you’d. Decide if that was gonna be something you wanted to do. Um, it is possible to be deferred. So if you apply to one of those early programs, early admissions programs, um, they could say, um, you’re not accepted early action or early decision, but we’re gonna bump you to the regular applicant.

That happens a lot. Or you could be denied. In fact, you probably will at some school. It’s just part of the process and although it never feels good to be rejected, it’s just never a good feeling. Um, please just. Quickly tell yourself, this is just part of the admissions process that I applied to all of these colleges.

I’m only gonna accept one. Um, they are admitting students and for whatever reason, you may not make the cut at a certain college in a certain year just because of the applicant pool. They have the priorities they have. [00:38:00] So, um, you may get some denials and just prepare yourself for that. Or you could be waitlisted where they say you’re not accepted, but you’re on the wait list.

And that’s tricky because you may be disappointed, you may still really want to go to that college. And if that’s the case, you should let them know that. You should say. I thank you. I do want to accept my place on the wait list, and in fact, as weeks go by, you probably want to keep telling them that you still want to keep your place on the wait list.

Maybe you win an award at graduation, you wanna send that to them and say, I just wanted you to be aware of that. I wanna keep my place on the wait list. But at the same time, you have to make a mind shift because by May 1st you have to accept at a college that has accepted you. And in fact, if you later come off the wait list, you probably lose your deposit where you’re accepted.

But you have to do that. Um, and wait lists can be long. So. [00:39:00] It, it’s, it’s not possible for colleges to say you’re third on the wait list. Um, and they don’t accept in order either. Um, so it’s, it’s tricky to be on the wait list, but it just tells you, you are totally qualified for that college, but you just didn’t make it into the admissions spots first thing.

So then I’m just going to mention college affordability, but I’m also going to encourage you to go and listen to some other videos and other webinars on NIFA’s website about. Financial aid, but some things you can be aware of for the admissions process. Find out at colleges what is their cost of attendance, you know, how much is their tuition and fees, how much is it to live on campus?

Um, what other expenses might there be? And then you wanna find out about their financial aid program. What financial aid applications are required, and when is the deadline for financial aid. That can differ from school to school. [00:40:00] You wanna find out is the financial aid from this college based on need, which would be determined by your financial aid applications or merit?

Would it be determined by, um, other things, academics, sports, other things? Um, one other thing you can do is start looking for outside private scholarships now. So just look to your town, look to your high school, um, look to your parents’, employers. Are there college scholarships out there that you can apply to?

And you just might wanna start keeping a list of those. And net price calculators are on all college websites, and this is a tool that you could just play around with to get a sense of what it really might cost you as a student, as a family to attend a specific college. So you would just type net price calculator into the search bar, and then it will ask [00:41:00] you questions about your finances.

And maybe your academics, and I’ll tell you what that means, and you put all that in there and then it would. Spit out an estimate of the type of financial aid you could receive if you attended that college. And that can just be helpful to prepare you to get you ready to see a comparison among different institutions.

So for example, if they’re asking you questions about your grades or test scores, that probably means they have some merit aid that they award to students. Um, if it’s all financial questions, that might mean it’s mostly need based. And the main forms that I want to put in your mind right now are the FAFSA free application for Federal Student Aid, and you apply for that online and it opens up fall of your senior year on October 1st.

So, um, October 1st, 2026, the [00:42:00] FAFSA will open for students who are hoping to be enroll in college. Fall of 2027 and it will ask about your 2025 income, and you’ll be bringing that in with your tax returns. All colleges require that. Some colleges also require this additional form called the CSS profile of the college board That.

About 200 colleges and scholarship agencies require that form. If the CO a college you’re applying to requires it, then you’ll have to do that form as well. And that also is available by October 1st, the fall of your senior year. Some colleges may have a a a one pager financial aid application on their website.

Just make sure you look at the financial aid page of a college’s website so you get all the details and make sure you don’t miss out on anything. And a few notes about [00:43:00] paying for college in Massachusetts. Um. Some, we have something now called Mass Educate. It is that community college in Massachusetts is tuition and fee free now for all students.

And, and some students could even get a potential book allowance. Um, that is terrific because it’s common for students to sometimes go two years to a community college and then transfer to a four year college. So that’s terrific. Um, but one note, you still need to do the fafsa. You still need to complete that fafsa.

So everyone should just complete that fafsa. Um, but community college free in Massachusetts, um, there’s also some new money called Mass Grant plus expansion money. And that really is allowing, um, for low and middle income families, um, that. Your student may actually receive free or reduce tuition and fees at the four year public institutions, so that’s nice as well.[00:44:00]

And the tuition equity law now here in Massachusetts, um, has allowed. Undocumented students to receive Massachusetts state aid and in-state tuition rates. So undocumented students cannot complete the fafsa. They cannot apply for federal aid, but here in Massachusetts, um, they potentially could receive state aid and you can go to that website, tuition equity website, and the form that.

An undocumented student would use to apply for the Massachusetts aid is called the mafa. M-A-S-F-A and Mass Transfer is a great website that shares how students can start at a community college transfer to a four year. Which can be very cost effective. And tuition break is, um, a program that allows students to attend public universities in neighboring states [00:45:00] and for certain programs, potentially pay Massachusetts in state tuition, even though they’re going out of state.

And here is a, um, uh. Sort of a list of things you’ll be doing from junior year to senior year. So I’ll just go through that. Spring and summer of junior year, you’re researching colleges, visiting campuses, maybe going to college fairs, asking teachers for those letters of recommendation, taking the S-A-T-A-C-T if you want to start writing the college essay.

In fall of senior year, then you might retake the S-A-T-A-C-T. Secure those letters of recommendations from your teachers. Finalize your essay. You can attend me. FFAs Financial Aid 1 0 1 webinar where again, we tell you everything you need to know about. Your financial aid [00:46:00] application. Complete all of your admissions applications.

Submit your fafsa, submit your CSS profile form if required, and then winter of senior year. Continue submitting those admissions applications. Apply for private scholarships and potentially send in midyear grade reports spring of senior year. Hopefully you start receiving those admissions and financial aid offers.

And Mifa has some great programs. Um, one is called mifa Financial Aid offers. Um. And the college bill webinar. And that allows you to compare financial aid offers from different colleges and, uh, you know, really learn about the affordability piece. You can also attend open house programs at colleges to learn even more to help you with your decision.

And then you’ll probably choose your college by May 1st. Um, I mentioned early on that Mifa has a college planning tool and it’s actually for students in grade six through 12, [00:47:00] but, um, you can create a free account. And go into mifa pathway.org. And it allows you, let’s say you’re not sure what you wanna do for, for college or the fields you’re interested in.

You can take skills and interest assessments, you can research careers, research colleges. There’s some financial aid and scholarship information in there. And it just allows you to keep track in. Um, let me say it kind of a fun way, um, because it’s very interactive and engaging. So stay with us. Um, please continue to look at all the resources on our website and attend our webinars and begin researching your colleges and start creating that college list.

Here are all our social media handles. Stay in touch with us in whatever way works best for you. And you can always call us, um, with your questions and you can email us with your questions and we’re [00:48:00] happy to help you. Thank you so much.