Julie Shields Rutyna: [00:00:00] Okay. Well, good evening. Welcome. My name is Julie Shields Rutina, and I am the Director of College Planning, Education and Training at MEFA. And I’d like to welcome you to our webinar this evening, You’ve Placed the Deposit for College, Now What? So let me just go over a few logistics, and then I will turn it over to our terrific presenters.

So a few, you know, ways to participate this evening and all of that. You have control of your audio. Um, if you would like closed captioning, you can hit the Live Transcript button on your screen, and you’ll see the words that are being spoken. Um, if you have a question, and we hope you do, um, bring your questions always, um, put it in the Q&A section, and I will just monitor that behind the scenes, and if it seems like you need an immediate answer, I may interrupt the presenters.[00:01:00]

Otherwise, we’ll make sure that we, um, have time for questions at the end. And if you need to leave the webinar, that’s fine. Um, if, uh… you, you will just know that we will send you a link to both the recording and the slides tomorrow, so you’ll have those, and you can share those, all of that. So with that, let me just tell you a couple of things about MEFA, if you don’t know MEFA.

Timothy Poynton: Oh, sorry.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Oh, great. Just that MEFA has been around since 1982. So we are, um, a, an agency of the state of Massachusetts, and we have always been helping families plan, save, and pay for college. And we started out with a student loan program back in 1982, uh, which we still have, and we, um, also then have added the college savings programs, uh, the 529 plan and a prepaid tuition plan, the U.Fund and the U.Plan.[00:02:00]

And then we continue to add, um… You know, we have MEFA Pathway, which is a web portal for students in grades 6 through 12, and we have all kinds of resources on our website. We have a podcast. We have, um, webinars like this at all times, and everything we do for the community, for families, for counselors, uh, for colleges, is free.

So please, uh, come back and visit us often. We have, um, a whole, a whole group of terrific webinars just l- just like this one with, um, huge experts who can guide you through all aspects of this, uh, college process. So thank you. And with that, I am gonna turn it over to Dr. Amanda Stirt and Dr. Tim Pointon, and I’m gonna let them introduce themselves and tell you a little bit about, um, about themselves and how, um, how they come to be here this evening.

So thanks.

Amanda Sterk: Well, fantastic. [00:03:00] Thank you everybody for coming this evening. And like Julie says, if you do have questions throughout, we would love to hear them. Um, a lot of you, as we go through this, will… Your minds are thinking, and, uh, we definitely wanna hear from you. So first of all, my name is Dr. Amanda Sturk, and I am, um, the executive director here of College Unmazed.

I am a practitioner. I, uh, have worked with students for over 25 years in mostly the counseling role, but I’ve also been a higher ed administrator, and really started to try to figure out, how do I help my own students navigate the complexity of going from the high school to college process, and really how to build a system that can support both the student and the parent or, or guardian as they go through the process.

A lotta times, um, unfortunately school counselors can be 1 to 450. Down in my area, I’m in Florida, it’s about 1 to 600. And so how can you get the information and the [00:04:00] tools and the resources to really have good conversations and informed decision-making? So that’s how College Unmazed really came about, is really a need for my own programming.

And I had found Dr., uh, Tim Poynton and Dr. Li- uh, Rich Lepan out of University of Massachusetts, and he’ll say more about themselves, but they were the experts in college and career readiness. When I looked up, you know, who knows what’s going on in terms of the research and the theory, um, it was Tim and Rich.

And so we put all of our knowledge together with being practitioners, with teaching school counselors, with the research, and said, “If we were to come up with a system and a program, what would that look like?” And that’s where College Unmazed, um, came about, and we wrote the College Unmazed student workbook.

We also have a parent guide that, uh, connects with that, so the p- student’s doing their path and then the, the parent’s doing theirs. We also have a homeschool guide, so if you are looking at, um, [00:05:00] homeschooling your student, definitely suggest that. And we also have your guide to dual enrollment. So we really believe in helping families navigate that process.

Tim, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Timothy Poynton: Yeah. Hi, uh, Tim Poynton. Um, I’ll give you the short version. A former f- a former school counselor, um, turned, um, professor and counselor educator. I currently work at the University of Massachusetts Boston. I teach primarily the college counseling and the career counseling courses.

And kind of as, as Amanda said, my motivation in doing this work and research in this area is really about helping students and families make more informed decisions. And that’s where kinda we came together to try to put together this process that we’ll describe very briefly, um- That helps students and families kind of navigate the overwhelming amount of information that’s out there.

Um, 20 years ago, the problem with choosing a college was that getting access to the information was hard. Today, there’s an overwhelming amount of information. So what we, what we try to do is, is, um, help you pay attention to the information you [00:06:00] need, like when you need it, instead of kind of throwing it at, at you all at once.

So, um, tonight what we’re focusing on is you’ve already made the decision, you’ve placed a deposit, then the next steps. Like, so you’ve accomplished a lot. You and your child should, should definitely be, um, you know, congratulating each other. But there’s still a little bit more to do s- to succeed in that transition from, from high school to college.

So, um, and then I’ll just speak, uh, Dr. Rich Lilpan is Professor Emeritus at UMass Amherst. Um, I’ve done a lot of research with him over the years. Um, he has since retired and has turned his attention to other endeavors. And, um, yeah, we still collaborate on things, uh, on, on occasion and, and on this. So, um, but his, uh, you know, he is retired from, from day-to-day, uh, work at a university.

So.

Amanda Sterk: Yeah. For sure.

Timothy Poynton: Yeah. You

Amanda Sterk: wanna go to the next slide? So the College Unmade process, like I said, is the three of us all sat down and really, really brought our experience together and said, “How do we develop a [00:07:00] path that families can follow?” And so what we found is we needed really two different, um, sort of focus.

And our first focus is really building critical college and career readiness skills, and we consider that in your you factor. We also have your academic factor, looking at careers and making good career decisions based on your interests, values, abilities. And we also talk about money factor earlier in the process.

Unfortunately, a lot of families don’t talk about it until you get your award letters. You should really be talking about that starting in freshman/sophomore year. So typically, the first section of the book, we would love to see that sort of in that freshman/sophomore year. So as students are looking at their high school experience, they kinda are looking at the goalpost, you know, the end in mind, and working backwards and knowing, “These are the things I need to do to sort of work towards that goal.”

And then we’re gonna go through what we call the LEADS system. So it’s building a college list, exploring those colleges using [00:08:00] data and informed decision-making, applying to colleges, deciding on a college, and then succeeding in a college. And tonight, the, our biggest focus is, like as Tim said, you’ve already built the list.

You’ve, you’ve already, after May 1st, put down that deposit. So we’re gonna be talking about succeeding in college, the S in the LEADS system.

And one of the things that, um, is really interesting is Tim and Rich, one of… How I got to know them and, and found them, um, is they had looked at college knowledge and the kind of critical information that every parent and student should know about the, the really the college process. And they did a study, um, looking at how much do families really know about college knowledge.

And they, um… It’s called the CAKE, the College Admissions Knowledge Evaluation. And I suggest that we actually have it on our website. So if you are a senior family, [00:09:00] go back and do that survey and assessment and find out, do we know all that information that we should know? You should be getting 100%, hopefully.

But as Tim will tell you, what is it? Um, I think seniors were a 50% pass rate, um, on that CAKE. So we took all of that sort of essential college knowledge and we broke it down into, um, all of our, our book, and we scaffolded the information, so you could see the you factor, your academic, your career, and your money factor.

So we’re making sure that all of those kind of critical pieces are there and in a way that really, um, makes sense for everybody. So there is the first half of the book. You can see all the information there. This is our mind map. If you are a school counselor and you would like one, uh, definitely just send me an email at [email protected] and I’m happy to send you one.

And Tim, the other one.

Yeah, go one more, I guess. Then we can go back, yeah. And then here is that LEADS process. You can see there’s a lot of [00:10:00] information and a lot of things that we work families through, um, including the six keys of college fit, talking about different programs, all the different things that you need to do at each step of the way.

So you can see under succeed, uh, we’re gonna be discussing tonight financial integration, academic integration, and social integration, and how those things are very important in, uh, making sure that your student is successful in the college process. Okay, Tim.

Timothy Poynton: Do we wanna go back to, to this one or are we good?

Amanda Sterk: That’s okay. Yeah. So that’s the LEADS process. Yes.

Timothy Poynton: All right. All right. So just a, a, a quick overview here of, of some of the data. I just put this together right, right before the presentation. This is data that you can look up on every school here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, assuming that folks here are from Massachusetts.

Um, other states actually don’t, aren’t as transparent with their data like this, so this is, um, you know, a, a good bit, uh, a benefit of living in Massachusetts is we can see this. And this just shows the progression of students, [00:11:00] um, from point one, students in the grad cohort of 2023. The data is about two years old.

Um, so that’s how many people started, how many students started as freshmen, and then you see this is Clinton High School where I live in Clinton. Um, you see it’s about, about 88, 89% of the students, um, graduate within five years of starting- As a freshman, and then you see the drop here between when students graduate and then how many enroll in college.

Um, not everybody plans to go to college, so that is factored in. But there is a good number of students who graduate from high school saying that they plan on going to college who never show up on a college campus. And that’s why this success planning part is really important because, um, the, the work isn’t done.

There’s more to do, and there’s things that you can be active and proactive in doing to ensure that your student has the highest likelihood of, of success. Um, so, um, I’m seeing some questions in the Q&A. We will get to some of those, [00:12:00] some of those questions. We’ll, we’ll leave probably at least about 10 minutes at the end to, to get to those.

So, um, we will get to those, so thank you for those. But, um, but here, just coming back to this for a second, um, this issue is it’s an issue for student and families when aspirations are not realized essentially, right? Like, people who graduate from high school who say that they’re planning on going to college and something falls apart, maybe the financial aid fell through, maybe, um, there was something that happened in the family.

There’s lots of reasons why this happens, but we can… w- what we can do is, through planning, try to help you be resilient to those possible obstacles when they, when they arise. Um, also know this is something that colleges are paying attention to. This is an enrollment management issue, is how they phrase it when you talk with higher education administrators.

Um, they’re very, very aware of the fact that this is a problem, and they want to help you solve the problem so that your student can, can, um, attend college. So they… They’re a resource. The college is a resource for you. [00:13:00] Um, so yeah. Um, here, this is again just kind of, um, re- reiterating some of that information.

Summer melt rates across all the high schools, um, nationwide are estimated to be between 10 and 40%. 10 tends to be… 10% tends to be the higher performing suburban schools, and the 40%, um, summer melt rate that’s observed is in the more urban schools. So, um, so summer melt is an issue. And then the next thing, um, that colleges also pay attention to that relates to the success and the transition is what’s called the retention rate.

Um, the retention rate is, is a published statistic for all colleges. Um, at four-year colleges, the nationwide retention rate is about, um, 80%. And the retention rate, to define that, it’s the, it’s the percent of, um, students who started at college as freshmen who return as sophomores, right? So they at least start their, um, sophomore year.

Um, I like to think of that as a college’s freshman satisfaction score because it really describes how well a college, [00:14:00] um, supports their students in the transition from high school to and through their first year of college. And colleges vary in this number from, again, the average is 80%, but you’ll see, as you see from, from the, the graphs here on the left, private colleges actually tend to do a little bit of a better job than public colleges at, at their retention rates, um, and graduation rates.

So, um, I think part of that is because the, the private colleges are able to allocate more, more funds to the support source, to the support resources for students and families. So, um, but that is, that is a fact. Um, so what that means is if, if, uh, your, your son or daughter or your child is going to a public college, we need to pay more attention.

And I have, um, my daughter is, uh, just finishing her sophomore year at a private college, and my son is actually going to Bridgewater State next year. So I- I’ll have some experience with both of those, personal experience with both of those systems and, um, I’m actually already seeing, um, some, some [00:15:00] differences.

I will say Bridgewater so far is doing great with, uh, with their outreach. So, um, great. Um, anything else to add to this, Amanda?

Amanda Sterk: No, I just want to make sure that they understand, uh, summer melt. I know you sort of talked about it on the last slide. So it’s when a lot of times students will- Oh, yeah … apply and even accept a seat, but then they don’t show up that first day um, which happens.

And so a lot of universities right now, they budget that into sort of their enrollment strategy, where they might give students a spring start date because they know not everyone will come in the fall. And like Tim says, anywhere from 10 to 40%. And a lot of times that retention rate is one of those data pieces if you, um, no matter where you’re at in the process, you should pay attention to.

Because one of the ideas is you don’t want your student to be one of those sort of negative statistics, the one in five that don’t return. So really, the rest of this presentation is talking about what are some of those things that you can do [00:16:00] to make sure that you are on the four out of five that end up showing up, are successful, and more importantly, that you’re completing on time.

‘Cause if you, you go to school, you take on maybe some debt, and then you don’t graduate or you take five or six years, that can get really costly, especially if you don’t have a degree at the end. So it’s really important that you are very, um, thoughtful and have a plan to navigate this next transition pa- piece.

It’s really important, and I don’t think enough families do it, which is why we’re here tonight. So yeah, no, I think that’s always so interesting. Um, and we’ll see, like, with the te- retention rates as well, depending on, like you said, private versus public, also two-year schools versus four-year schools.

Again, what are those support services that a lot of schools have and, and what type of students do they typically take on their campus for, like, admissions? Is it selective or less selective like a community college? [00:17:00]

Timothy Poynton: And this just real- I don’t want to spend too much time on this, but this is, um, one of the things that, that we try to work through, through the, the book and our materials on, is helping the students develop strengths.

Um, these eight college and career readiness strengths, which are things that, that they can leverage to succeed in the transition from, from high school to sc- to, to college. So having agency and feeling like they, they have control over their, their actions. Um, having positive beliefs, believing that positive things can happen.

Goal setting is obviously important. Um, knowing yourself and your interests and your values, and how that relates to things like choosing a major. Um, how to be successful in- as a student, and how you have been successful as a student. Um, character for workplace success is the interpersonal skills that are needed to succeed, um, both in jobs and in classrooms.

Um, college knowledge, as Amanda mentioned earlier, it’s just having that baseline knowledge of, um, basically life, what life in college is like, all the terms and [00:18:00] terminology. Um, knowing all of that kind of gives you some advantages in the process. And then finally, having a college support network is another strength, um, and that’s having parents that, that are, are supportive and also are instrumental in, um, helping their students through the, through the transition.

So, yeah. Um, so to, to get to this. So somebody mentioned in the chat, like, what’s the, you know, this, this doesn’t pertain. Um, I appreciate the feedback. I’m not disagreeing. So, um, just trying to set a little bit of background. But now we’re… The, the last chapter of our book, uh, is the succeed step of the college decision-making process, and this is where, um, so you’ve placed the deposit, now what?

There are three specific things that you can do to help succeed. Um, make a plan for integrating into the college financially, make a plan for integrating into the college academically, um, and then make a plan for integrating into the college socially. Um, I think Amanda and I, and, and lots of other people have seen reasons [00:19:00] why people stop out and drop out of college is for one, at least one of these three reasons in, in every case that I can think of.

Um, sometimes it’s roommate issues. That’s the, that’s the social integration. Sometimes it’s the, um, transitioning into the, the academics and the self-management that comes along with that, right? Um, it’s different at college than it is in high school, so that’s the academics. And then the financial integration is just the affordability side of it.

Um, somebody mentioned, for example, the financial situation changed. So knowing that and being a- you, you can do something about that now. Uh, I didn’t see what Julie’s answer was, but I’m sure she has the right answer for that. So this is what we’re gonna focus on for, for the rest of the presentation here.

So, um- Julie, you had something to add? Or-

Julie Shields Rutyna: No, just that exactly that. And I said you are, you’re gonna cover a lot of topics here as far as what’s going to get the student to that next step. And there are other webinars on the, on the, um, MEFA website, and some that have happened that are recorded, and some that are [00:20:00] upcoming, such as paying the college bill, comparing college loan options.

So you can find some other topics there too. So thanks.

Timothy Poynton: Yeah. Don’t go too far ’cause we might have some questions, uh, here for you, Julie. Um, just to make sure that we’re up to date on this. But so, um, when people, um, are not retained at a college and don’t make it through that first year, financial reasons is the most often cited reason for not, for not finishing at college.

Um, and, um, it could be because the financial situation changed. It could be because, um, not enough thought was given into paying, not just for the first year, but the second year, the third year, and the fourth year. So having this financial plan for all four years is important. And as Rich would say, if Rich was here, um, one of the things he talked about is with the, with the grad- lower graduation rates at some of the public colleges, um, you might need to plan for a fifth year because graduating in five years to…

At, at our public colleges in [00:21:00] Massachusetts, I believe the average four-year graduation rate is around 55%, which means nearly half of the students don’t graduate in four years. If you look at the six-year graduation rate, that jumps up to 65 to closer to 70%. It varies from college to college, but you need to plan financially for that.

Um, now I’m not saying that you, you should right now be planning for a, make a five-year plan for paying for college, but just be prepared for that possibility. Um, so something you need to be aware of if you’re not already is you completed the FAFSA this year. I can say as a parent, it’s gotten easier, uh, over the years with the data that’s automatically imported.

Um, but you need to complete the FAFSA every year. Um, and if you apply to a private college that uses the CSS Profile, they may require that that CSS Profile be completed again, um, or they may not. It’s just needed at admission. But, um, just be prepared for that possibility. And if you’re not familiar, there’s this thing called FAFSA verification.

Um, about one in five people [00:22:00] are selected for FAFSA verification, which means that you need to go through with the college’s financial aid office, um, and verify that, uh, the information you provided was, is correct and accurate. It’s just about providing some additional documents and in- and information.

Um, students who, uh, qualify for Pell Grants tend to be selected for verification more frequently than, than other students. So, um- So just be prepared for that. Be prepared to do the FAFSA every year, and be prepared. I- if they do select you for verification, it’s not that you did anything wrong, it’s that they do, um, while Pell Grants are selected for verification at a higher rate, um, they do somewhat randomly select other people.

There’s no red flags, so to speak. Um, so don’t think you did anything wrong if you’re selected for that verification. For, for scholarship eligibility, particularly important at, um, private colleges, um, read the fine print to ensure that you understand any eligibility requirements that are needed to maintain those same scholarships that were awarded for freshman year [00:23:00] and the rest of the years.

And I’ll share my daughter’s college. Uh, she’s attending, uh, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute out in New York. Um, the financial aid award letter was nine pages long with really small font, and I had to ask a question. I th- I thought that I knew this stuff pretty well, but I had to ask a question to see if the scholarships were, uh, if she was eligible, which, if she was eligible to keep the scholarships for all four years or if any of them disappeared, because it wasn’t absolutely clear on the award letter.

So I kept the email where they said, “Yes, these schol- these scholarships are available for all four years as long as you maintain satisfactory academic progress,” um, which is basically passing your classes and maintaining full-time status. Um, so, um, Amanda, you have anything to add to this so far?

Amanda Sterk: Yeah, no, I, I think that that’s very true.

I know, um, again, uh, both Tim and I have, have children in college, and I think even though we’ve been through this process, it was different going as, as a parent through this process. And, [00:24:00] um, you know, a- again, I’m in Florida. I know you’re up in Massachusetts. Um, I was not prepared for the fees, and I know we’re gonna talk a little bit about the healthcare and some of the insurance and some of the add-ons, um, that a lot of schools do add on.

So if you’re looking at tuition, um, you know, that’s one thing. Fees can be changed quite frequently. We had a school in mind. My daughter was set. We were early decision, and what was not stated was the $8,000 increase from the year prior. So then what does that look like the next year and the next year?

So, you know, when you’re looking at your cost, you might be as a parent sort of maxing out and saying, “Okay, this is what we can afford.” Well, what happens at some of these schools with the rising gas prices and everything that’s going on out there, what if it’s another $5,000 and another $5,000? And so- Really sitting down with the whole financial [00:25:00] integration, and what we’re gonna show you an example, but really sit down, look at the numbers, look at the budget, have a real conversation about spending money, those fees, expenses, travel.

And I think that’s, a lot of families just don’t do that, even beyond the award letter. Um, it’s just really important. But that’s what kinda got us was, um, tuition had increased sig- significantly, and we were not prepared to pay that, that different. So something to consider as well, that sometimes these financial aid packages, they can change, and they are changing with the rising cost.

Timothy Poynton: Yeah. Um, so if, if there is on that financial aid award letter, if there is work-study on there and you need to find out how to, how to get work-study, you have to apply for a work-study job. Like the student needs to apply for a work-study job and then do the work. Um, so while the, the, the college has often put it on there as an amount, a dollar amount, like it’s not automatically given like, like a merit scholarship is.

[00:26:00] Um, you have to work for it and get that money paid back over time. So just find out how the work-study works if work-study was included on the award letter. Um, I mentioned about budgeting for every year. That’s o- obviously critically important. Something I learned that, that I didn’t know was that, um, so if the college is more than 120 miles or so away from your home-

Amanda Sterk: Mm-hmm

Timothy Poynton: um, check with your auto insurance company, and they’re not gonna have a car. Um, check with the auto insurance company to see if you can drop them from your insurance. It means that the student cannot drive. Like they can’t use a friend’s car. They can’t drive a rental. Like they can’t drive. Um, but if, if that fits, if that works with, with the lifestyle that, that they’re having, um, it can be as- obviously, uh, insurance is not cheap.

So, um, what I did when my daughter came home for breaks that year, I would just email the insurance company and say, “Hey, she’s gonna be here from this date to this date,” and she was added for that, that limited time. So she could drive when she was home. Um, but I did have to go through the, the bother of, um, emailing with the insurance agent and adding and [00:27:00] dropping every time she did that.

Amanda Sterk: I, I did that call on Friday as we were driving- Oh … home from the university. I called the insurance agent and said, “Can you add her for the summer?” So yeah, I mean, that wa- definitely was a huge savings.

Timothy Poynton: Yeah And then, um, find out how the health centers work on campus. I still am a little confused by this.

Mm-hmm. I don’t know, Amanda- It’s not clear … if you have any more clarity, but, um, you know, how does the insurance work? What… You know, how does, uh, your… their personal insurance, like the family insurance work versus having the health center? So most of the time there’s a waiver process that you can go through to, to decline the school’s insurance.

Um, but there’s still a health fee, a health center fee, and the students can still go to the health center. So it’s confusing, but I don’t know, Amanda, if you have any more clarity on it than I do, but-

Amanda Sterk: No, ours was the same way, and they made it very difficult to not have the university health insurance, and it was significant.

It was like $2,000. So it was definitely costly. So again, if you are looking at all the information, um, that is… And [00:28:00] same with, uh, you know, any of the, the a- added expenses. Your meal plans, what does that look like? Again, if you’re not doing a meal plan, budgeting that in. All of those things are p- part of the conversation.

So what is absolute, you have to pay, and what are the things that you need to make some decisions on is really important.

Timothy Poynton: Yeah. D- Julie, you have anything else to add to the financing, financial plan stuff that we didn’t, we didn’t hit?

Julie Shields Rutyna: No. I would just say, um, yeah, get… You know, have students look for that work-study study job as early- Mm-hmm

as possible to have kind of the best choices of jobs. And what you said about the health insurance is right. They just should get that waiver form as lo- and they just have to show that they have other health insurance. So yeah. Yep.

Timothy Poynton: And students qualify, uh, uh, so adults in college, dependents in college qualify for insurance up until age 26, is it?

Is it 26? Yes.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yeah. Yes.

Timothy Poynton: Yeah. [00:29:00] Great. All right. Um, so, uh, here’s an example of, of the financial plan. So i- in the book, we have ways you can, you can make your own table, but try to think about a financial plan that includes things to do both over the summer and during the school year. So this can be written down, um, you know- Mm-hmm

in any format that, that works for you. This is just an example of one that’s filled out. Um, y- you know, like, uh, getting a part-time job over the summer. Um, is the part-time job money gonna be used to pay for college to build up savings, or is it gonna be used for spending money? Like, be explicit and transparent about, about how things are getting paid for and what the student’s responsibility is and what your responsibility is.

Um, so this just goes through… I don’t wanna read through all of these things. Um, we’ve already talked about a lot of these things, but just- Have a plan, like, and, and ideally have a written plan, um, that makes it really clear for you and, and your student, um, what, what to do and when to do it, in this case over the [00:30:00] summer and then during the school year.

Um, so for example, if there is, um, eligibility criteria for the scholarships, um, then they need to know what that is. Some scholarships it’s not uncommon for private colleges to say they need to do 10 or 20 hours of community service at the college to maintain eligibility for a particular scholarship.

Just make sure that, that you’re aware of what that is and make a plan for including that. All right? Um-

Amanda Sterk: And, and I’ll add one of the things is get to know, I know Julie would, would say yes on this, get to know your financial aid office. Um, even though you are getting that award letter right now, that’s not the end of the relationship.

This is gonna be a relationship for the next four years. And there are a lot of opportunities institutionally wise that will pop up that, you know, there are just scholarships for those first year students. So as you’re coming in from a senior or freshman with your application, you were awarded, you know, certain scholarships for that year or all four years.

But they also have other scholarships and stipends for sometimes honors [00:31:00] programs, study abroad opportunities, research opportunities. So my daughter just got a research opportunity at her university, and that pays about $2,000. It’s basically a… But it’s not tradit- a traditional work-study, but it is a stipend to do research.

Um, she also just applied and is heading out here in a few weeks to Monstan- Montana State University doing, it’s called an REU, which is, uh, called Research Experiences for Undergraduates. Um, so if it’s something your students are interested in, and it has a $7,000 stipend. And funny, my daughter’s like, “Yeah.”

She just kinda mentioned it halfway one day, and was like, “Oh yeah, $7,000.” And I’m like, “Okay, well that’s gonna be part of your financial plan. Like, that’s part of what you need to pay towards college and, and all these things.” And she says, “No, no, I’m just gonna go save that money.” It’s like, no, that’s part of it.

So understanding what, um, opportunities arise even after that senior to freshman year, and then [00:32:00] how is that gonna be integrated in that overall financial plan as a family, right? And what does that look like? So, um, she was gonna just keep all the money herself, and it’s like, no, that’s part of paying for college.

So, um, those are some things that your, your, your family should get to know the financial aid office, what are those opportunities, and making a plan to make sure you can get some of those is a great idea

So we’ll go into academic integration. So as Tim mentioned, um, you know, there’s a host of reasons why students are not successful. The idea is when you are applying to a university, they are looking at your student’s transcripts, all their grades, their test scores, whatever, you know, your letters of recommendations, your essays, all of that, and saying that the student matches our academics and what we’re looking for in a student to be successful here at the college.

Because colleges are measured [00:33:00] by their retention rates and their graduation rates. So it’s very important to them because they, they want students succ- to succeed. So by accepting your student, they already say that this is a good fit. But there are some things that students have to do to really make sure that they are integrating into the academic environment of a university.

Even if you have a strong student, it shifts from high school, where it’s more teacher to student focus, to now student to faculty or student to college focus. And so that self-advocacy is really important. So one of the first things that the college will do is, besides the text messages and the emails, is they usually provide a really good orientation.

And that’s where they’re gonna walk through basically how does the college function, all the way from their learning management system, um, how to check your grades, what to do. They’re gonna talk about all the different things on campus, all the support services. [00:34:00] Um, it’s really important to try to get the earliest possible orientation that you can.

I know sometimes that’s hard with different summer, um, opportunities, but usually that’s when registration happens. And so if a student has, is bringing in some AP credits or whatever, you wanna try to have the best option for your schedule. And so having the earliest orientation makes that a lot easier.

So going to orientation, writing information down, because sometimes it can be kind of an overload. So making sure you have a notebook, you’re taking notes, and so forth. One of the other things to do is at, whether it’s at orientation or to try to meet with an advisor, is really find out what your academic plan looks like.

So if you’re thinking of engineering or mechanical engineering, you know, one, you could do this yourself. Just go to this college’s college catalog, look up mechanical engineering, and usually they have a nice kind of eight-semester plan. This is what you take first [00:35:00] semester, second semester, third semester.

And look at that course sequence and really see- Are these classes what I wanna take? Do I want to go up to differential equations? Do I want to do quantum physics or organic chemistry or whatever those classes are? And really make sure that you’re looking at them and understanding what that major now really entails.

So ask the college, but you can also, like I said, do your own research using the college catalog. Um, and then also make sure that if you do have any college credits through AP, CLEP, IB, dual enrollment, um, that you also bring those credits in and, and talk to those advisors to make sure. You also wanna make sure that you really understand the college’s process to register.

If the classes are full, how do I get on the wait list? How do I get ahold of my advisor? Um, those are really important things because sometimes it just takes time. Um, s- I know at my, my daughter’s university is they [00:36:00] held back a few seats in every class for orientation so, you know, not every student, um

So every student has an opportunity to get some type of classes. But, uh, you know, you do have to go on a wait list sometimes. You have to … It’s full, and you have to wait for that professor, and then what happens if I wanna change things? So really understanding that process and what that looks like is gonna be really critical for your student’s success.

And also really just talking about your schedule, right? If you’re not a morning person, signing up for that 8:00 AM class might not be the best thing, or signing up for a night class. My daughter had a class, and unfortunately it was like from 6:00 to 8:40, clear across campus, which was almost 40 minutes away, and you’re walking home at night at 9 o’clock at night.

What does that look like, right? So really thinking about really how does that work within my schedule and what’s the best schedule for my success. And then really making sure to understand how to find help. So is that the, [00:37:00] the going to office hours by the professors? Is that taught by a TA? Um, are there other opportunities?

There was a tutoring program that I know, um, my daughter could get some notes ahead of time and some PowerPoints. So organic chemistry, a class coming up, she was actually able to study over Christmas break to be prepared for that. So what are some of those resources? Same with like adaptive services. If your student has a 504, an IEP, one of the first things at orientation, go find the adaptive service office, s- bring them your paperwork, make sure that you go in- You understand what’s needed to get accommodations, things like, uh, small group testing.

Maybe you have a extended longer testing time. All of those things are really important, ’cause you wanna make sure that you know what to do even before problems arise, right? So that way your student can kind of, um, hedge that off before anything really does happen. And then really understanding how [00:38:00] are, how am I gonna use my schedule, you know?

College schedule looks very different than your seven period a day, 8:00 to 2:30 time. So what are some of those self-management strategies, bedtimes, waking up? And just making sure that they get the most out of studying and, and doing well within their classes is really important. Tim, any tips and tricks from, from your side on that?

Timothy Poynton: Yeah, a couple of things. So there’s a, a question in the chat about virtual orientation versus- Mm … um, in-person. I think, um, the virtual orientation can be just as effective. Mm-hmm. Um, i- actually, if they let you turn on the, uh, artificial intelligence note-taking it can even actually be- Oh … more, more effective, because then- That’d be good

you’ll have the computer taking notes for you instead of you having to write them down. Um, so I would say i- if they’re offering it virtually, it’s, it’s gotta, for them, achieve the same objectives as the in-person one. So I would say- Mm … uh, I wouldn’t shy away from it just because it’s, it’s virtual. Um, the other thing I would say, which i- which is noted here, [00:39:00] um, sometimes…

A- and I see this a lot with, with students, um, if a class is full, they say, “Oh, the class is full, I can’t get in.” You can always email the professor and ask. Um, and- Do it over, right? Mm-hmm … I’ll tell you what I, what I would do if I had a class that was full, um, and a student emailed me saying that they wanted to get into it, I would say, “Come to the first class and I’ll make…

I- I’ll let you know then.” Um, and about a quarter of the students actually show up to the first day of class, and I know that they’re motivated and they wanna get in, and they will be an easy person for me to add. Um, the other 75% of the students who didn’t show up didn’t really wanna take the class then.

Mm-hmm. So- Mm-hmm … um, so self-advocacy is, is important f- for, for your student in this process. And, um, the worst that can happen is the professor can say no. They’re not gonna remember your name and give you a bad grade when you take the class later or anything like that. Like, really, it’s just if you ask and they’re not able, they won’t add you.

Um- Okay … sorry. So, yeah.

Amanda Sterk: Um- And, and some classes are capped, you know? Like certain- Yeah … labs or writing-intensive courses, [00:40:00] sometimes there is a cap. But usually i- within colleges, they have a, a few seat window where they can go up three or four seats. Um, especially virtually is, is really easy as well. Yeah.

So, um, I think Tim is spot on. Just, just ask and, and usually-

Timothy Poynton: Yeah. Yep. I mean, sometimes I have to tell students, like, the room literally holds 25 people- Yeah … and there’s 25 people in the class, so I’m sorry, I, I just can’t add you. But if you come to the first day of class and there’s an empty seat, maybe.

Um-

Amanda Sterk: And, and sometimes, as we know, not every student shows up, right? So- Yeah You know, usually seats do open up, so. Yeah, I think really, and, and go to the next slide. I think part of this is really just thinking through the process. So as I mentioned, I’m a big transfer credit, I’m a big dual enrollment person.

And so really understanding how those credits transfer. Do you want them to transfer? What does that look like? And so making sure that you have… You’re sending your AP scores from College Board to the university so they can transfer those credits. [00:41:00] What does that look like? Um, and does that get you ahead?

So again, you gotta advocate. We talked about the 504 IEP, which I think is really important. One of the things that I think is really critical is mental health support. Um, you know, this is a big transition for students. There’s a lot of pressure here. You know, maybe they’re not sleeping the s- the same way.

Maybe they’re not eating the same foods. And, and it can be, you know, you’re living with a roommate that you probably don’t know. So knowing your mental health resources is really critical. As we know, about one in four students will have a mental health issue while they’re in college. Um, and so what, how does the, the college support you within that?

And then also understand that you’re gonna probably change your mind a few times, right? So maybe you’re not gonna be a biology major. Maybe you hone in and you end up being a microbiology major. Maybe you decide not to pick up that minor and do a certificate. Maybe you decide to… I went from business to education.

Maybe you [00:42:00] completely change. Um, and that’s okay, but really advocating for yourself, taking classes, exploring those opportunities, and talking to your advisor, talking to other students. There’s so much out there that you just don’t know, and college is really the opportunity to explore it, um, through clubs, through different activities, through classes.

So definitely do that, and that’s kind of the last one. Clubs and activities can really help you explore some of those opportunities, um, both socially, professionally, personally, and so forth. Tim, anything on that?

Timothy Poynton: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, just a couple of quick things. Yeah. But the clubs, I, I mean, you’ve probably heard this too.

On just about every college tour I go on they say, “If we have a club you don’t want, it just takes five students- We’ll make it … and a faculty advisor, and we’ll make it for you.” Yeah. Right. Yeah. So, um, you know, um, so if, if there’s something not there and the student has some initiative, they can make it happen.

But I want to get, uh, to the question in the chat about transferring colleges- Mm … since we talked about transferring credits. Yes. Um, transferring colleges. Um, so if [00:43:00] you get through the first semester and realize this isn’t the right fit, um, this happens. This is why the retention rate is 80% on average, not 100%.

This is a big part of why. So, um- There’s not an easy answer to this. Uh, it tends to be easier to go from one public college to another, and it tends to be easier to transfer from a private college into a public college. Sometimes the private colleges will have more res- restrictive transfer in policies.

Um, but generally speaking, going from one public university to another in the same state is relatively easy and straightforward, um, particularly during the freshman year when you’re taking mostly, um, introductory kind of general education kinds of classes. When you start getting into your major specific classes, those ones tend to be a little bit more difficult to transfer.

So, um, I hope that answers, uh, I hope

Amanda Sterk: that- And some colleges have articulation agreements. Yeah. So for example, we call that, like, two plus two programs where maybe you’re at a community college and the idea is that you’re gonna then transfer and they actually have a pathway. And sometimes these [00:44:00] universities actually have an advisor on the community college, uh, campus and so they’re making sure you meet those prerequisites and you can jump right into that junior/senior program.

So there are some sometimes very clear, uh, defined articulation agreements and those are really helpful. And like Tim said, sometimes there’s not, you know, because there’s so m- I mean, there’s 42 different colleges and universities throughout the United States. So if that is a possibility, s- like Tim says, staying within that general education, English to English, Math to Math tends to be a little bit easier than having a bunch of, um, unique electives, um, become a little bit harder to transfer in.

But, um, it, it’s becoming more and more common. I think transferring, you know, maybe you just because of how selective some admissions is being today that maybe they start somewhere, they prove themselves, maybe they didn’t have the test scores and they decide to transfer somewhere else. But if you know that that’s the case, talking to other universities and understanding what is best to transfer and what [00:45:00] they’re looking for, um, is really important.

But it, it does happen. Mm-hmm.

Timothy Poynton: So we just mentioned there about changing majors just really quickly. It’s not uncommon for, for people to change majors because to give you the, the upshot of this graphic, essentially people make informed decisions about their career based on knowledge of themselves and knowledge of the world of work or occupational knowledge.

And most high school students don’t have very much of either of these things, and you start learning more of it as you get into college and you start taking classes that are more specific in the thing you’re interested in and then, oh, psychology isn’t exactly what I thought it was, for example. Um, so don’t be surprised if, if your student, um, uh- says that they want to change their major.

My, my daughter actually changed her major recently, so, um, so this, this happens. And I was like, “Great.” And she was nervous to tell me, and I was like, “I’m so happy that you were, that, that you thought, y- that you figured this out now instead of getting another semester or two semesters deep into a major that didn’t fit.”

So, um, so yeah, that’s what [00:46:00] this is getting at, so just be prepared for that. Um, and this is the example academic plan that I won’t write through, that I won’t read through. Um, just know that it can be helpful to have the activities of what you’re doing over the summer versus during the school year to ensure that you can hit the ground running, so to speak.

Um, and then for social in- integration, um, this is really, um, having an honest conversation with your student or asking them to reflect on this for themselves. Like, how do they normally integrate with meeting new people? Um, for, for my daughter, this is not her strong suit. She’s shy. Um, so the orientation program that they had at the college was actually really good at getting people who attend a, a technically oriented college to, to interact with each other.

So, um, so that helped. But, um, you can prepare for this by just starting to think about, think about this. And now some places they have for finding roommates, you can use Instagram, you can use, um- Mm-hmm … you know, various social media to do that. But, um, the colleges are gonna [00:47:00] have a process for how to pick a roommate.

Um, they often have surveys where they try to match students based on their preferences for sleeping habits, cleanliness, that kind of thing. Um, encourage them to get involved with the campus life and activities. That can really make or break a person academically, is what they’re doing outside of class and how engaged they are in just being a part of campus life.

So, um, and even for commuter students, if you’re not living on campus, you can participate in these activities too. Um, it’s a little bit harder if you’re a commuter student, but the colleges are paying attention to this, and a lot of colleges have, like, a commuter center to help commuter students with the social integration in- into college life.

Um, and then preparing for challenges, like who is there to support. As Amanda mentioned, the mental health supports are, are critical. I c- I have yet to visit a college that doesn’t offer at least a handful of counseling sessions to every student. Um, so finding out how to access those and making sure that your student knows how to access mental health supports and other supports, like with [00:48:00] resident assistants, like if they’re living on campus.

The colleges have been doing this for a while, so the support is there. So you need to know as a parent that it’s there to remind your student that if they’re having a tr- having trouble, there is somebody there to help them with any problem that they’re having. And the college really wants to, wants to be supportive and help because they want your student to stay there Through their freshman year, through their sophomore year and graduate because as Amanda said, the colleges are kind of evaluated on this.

Um, so, um, I mentioned about the commuting and then the, the social events and activities for new students. So my daughter at, at, uh, at RPI, they had an optional orientation that you could do. It was like a sleepaway summer camp where they just did, um, fun activities for a couple of days at, at a sleepaway camp, and that was where my daughter made some of

some, some friends that she’s still friends with today and interacts with today. So, um, I know not every college does that, but that was one of the reasons why we chose that college was because they really did pay attention to the social integration of, of students, and that made it a good [00:49:00] fit for her. So, um, with that, we are spot on for time, I think.

Um, did you have anything else to, else to add to this, Amanda?

Amanda Sterk: No. I, I laugh ’cause, um, my daughter, it must have been like February time, and she said, “Mom,” um, she’s like, “Either I can be really good at academics, I can either have a social life, or I could sleep. I can only do two of the, of those three things.”

And she’s like , she’s like, “I can only do two or three.” And she’s like, “I’m choosing academics and sleep for her.” And so she was like, you know … And, and she’s one of those that’s sort of the FOMO, right? Like, I, I wanna be there. I wanna do it all. I wanna get involved in everything. And it was good for her because she’s realizing what she needs.

She already was full in terms of social stuff. Like, she really had more going on than she needed. And so learning to pare back a little bit, that I don’t have to do it all, that I need to prioritize my health and make sure I’m, I’m good and I’m getting my sleep, was really important. And so, you know, I … And I commended her for that.

I [00:50:00] said, “That’s exactly what you need to be learning about yourself as you navigate this experience, is what does your body need to be, uh, mentally ready to …” Because really academics obviously should be number one. Um, but I, I … Uh, when she said that, I’m like, “Okay, you’ve been listening,” right? ‘Cause, um, she had to scale back on some things so she could do everything in a, in a t- in a better way.

So, um, so yeah. But yeah, social integration. All of it’s just so important and like I s- I think Tim and I, what we really just wanna emphasize is that students have to have an intentional plan thinking through these things because if we’re not talking about them right now, when an issue arise, when you can’t pay that financial aid bill, you don’t know what’s going on about scholarships and, oh, I didn’t know there was a club fair.

When, when you’re not tuning into that, that’s when students miss those really key opportunities that make college the experience it can be. So being intentional, and it’s [00:51:00] reflective. Every year you should come back to your- You know, social, academic, and financial plan and say, “Okay, what did I do last year?

What do I need to do this year?” So even if you have a sophomore or junior, it’s time to reset, to think about it again, and then continue leveling up. Are there additional opportunities? Because you’re growing that student, right? You’re growing that experience. Your freshman experience should not look like your senior experience.

So just really diving in a little bit deeper, being a little more intentional, um, is, is really important. And so hopefully this gives you some tools and things to think about and some conversations to have, um, with your student now that you’ve selected your school. Julie, do we have… I know we’ve been answering some questions.

Yeah, there’s the social plan. Um-

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yes, keep, keep going, and then we’ll see. If anyone has, uh, questions- Yeah … before we end, put them in the Q&A so we can, we can get to them. But yeah.

Timothy Poynton: Just, um, yeah, just really quickly, [00:52:00] have students check email regularly. Yes. I just set my son up with his Bridgewater email and he’s already not checking it, so- Um, yeah.

It’s, it’s important. That’s how colleges communicate. Yeah. It’s not how my kids communicate. Yeah. Yeah. So,

Amanda Sterk: um-

Timothy Poynton: Can’t

Amanda Sterk: text them … it’s important. So- More are doing texting. I mean, they are trying some different things, as Tim and we’ve said that, you know, colleges are learning. They’re a little bit slower than some of the rest of us.

But we are seeing more texting in groups and, and they’re trying to engage students much sooner, um, than waiting until that kind of first w- week. Um, so you, over the summer you’re gonna see those opportunities happening. And so, but yeah, tell your kid, “Check your email.” Um, very important. Yeah. Check

Timothy Poynton: your email.

And some, some schools, um, if you wanna have some questions that you think your, your, uh- Mm-hmm … school counselor or guidance counselor might, might help with, some schools do have counselors in at certain points over the summer. Mm-hmm. So see if, see if that’s an option. Um, and then of course continue to support your student advocating for themselves [00:53:00] because you’re not gonna be there with them, hopefully.

Mm-hmm. Um, a- as they transition into college. So just some, um, before we turn to the questions here, um, info@collegeunmazed if you wanna contact us here at College Unmazed, and then here’s, um, some MEFA information. I’ll also say MEFA is a fantastic resource, so if you have a financial aid question, contact MEFA, call MEFA.

Like, people answer the phone and they get back to you. So- Um, it’s a really wonderful, and I do appreciate MEFA and all that MEFA does through programs like this. Um, they take… I- it’s, um, it’s not, it’s not a profit, a for-profit corporation, so they give all the money back that they’re making from the loans and put it into real programs and s- and services that help students and families.

So I, I appreciate that. Um, and uh, it’s a, it’s a fantastic, fantastic resource. So if you wanna connect with MEFA, here’s, here’s MEFA’s, um, information. But yeah, we’ll see if there’s any other questions that folks has.

Julie Shields Rutyna: So, so we have one. You mentioned the [00:54:00] importance of opening your email, right? Mm-hmm. Having the student look at that email and, uh- Parents too upfront if the, um…

But someone asked this question, which is true, “My daughter has a portal login,” right? So a lot of colleges sort of communicate through that- Mm-hmm … portal, and they’re wondering if the parents usually get one. But I, I believe there’s just one for each student. It’s-

Timothy Poynton: So-

Julie Shields Rutyna: Right?

Timothy Poynton: In my experience, so the only time that a parent gets access to the portal is to pay the bill.

Um- They don’t get access to the other information. But if you wanna, if the student wants to give you permission to pay their bill for them, they can do that, but the student has control. Because the student is an adult, um, the colleges treat them like, like an adult, and so they won’t t- I’m not aware of any colleges that give a, a parent portal login except to pay the bill, uh, a financial aid, um, you know, bursar kind of account.

But, um-

Amanda Sterk: And, and I’ll go even a step further. So that’s called FERPA. So there’s actually a federal law- Yeah … that colleges cannot release that information to parents. It’s different than the [00:55:00] K-12 world where the parents are sort of in charge of the educational records. Here, just kinda like HIPAA, um, the student, so the student actually has to, a lot of times, sign a document or do something to give you access to even talk to the university on their behalf.

Um, so I know my daughter let me sign in one time, you know, and, you know, it, it is hard. And so as a parent, you don’t have access to their LMS and their grades and that. And that’s why having these conversations about what your expectations are, what should be shared with you, um, is really critical. But yeah, no, you do not get except to pay the bill.

Yeah.

Timothy Poynton: And the student has to give you permission to do that. Yeah. You can’t just do that. They don’t automatically set that up. The student has to set that up for you. So yeah- They gotta put your information in … to your point. And it is related to FERPA, 100%.

Amanda Sterk: It is. Yeah. It is. So-

Timothy Poynton: Yeah …

Amanda Sterk: it is, it is important.

Um, and so those are the kind of the things that are new and different as parents not having that access, uh, [00:56:00] feels a little different sometimes. And so, um, you know, that communication piece is so important, and understanding, again, like I said, under- talking about your expectations as a family, uh, and is, is gonna be key in this.

They all get through it.

Timothy Poynton: Yeah.

Julie Shields Rutyna: And so we have a, a big thank you there. Um, anything else before we all-

Amanda Sterk: Yeah …

Julie Shields Rutyna: continue on with our evening?

Amanda Sterk: Great. So like, you know, so it’s a super exciting time. I mean, I think that all of us have learned something new and different. Um, we’ve helped literally thousands of students go through this process, and being able to, you know, do it with our, our own children and our own, you know, as parents, it- it, there’s an emotionality to it, right?

You’re, you just are not expecting that. We, we expect as kind of researchers and educators we can sort of, uh, you know, go into this a little more informed. But it is hard, you know, [00:57:00] even for the top-notch kids, and it- it’s a hard transition. So really as parents, um, listening and being non-judgmental, you know, providing, again, if we set the, the groundwork for some of those resources and how to make sure that they’re successful once they get to college is really the, the biggest thing that we can do right now.

And, um, but it does take planning, for sure. Tim or Julie, anything else? Yeah.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Thank you. I just wanna thank you both for that was a wealth of terrific information, and we’re h- we’re receiving some thank yous from people- Of course … yeah, lots of them, so that’s good. Great. Thank

Timothy Poynton: you all for-

Julie Shields Rutyna: So, and thank you to all of- Yeah

all of you- Yeah … and your good questions as well. Mm-hmm. And good luck with it all. And, and please do reach out to MEFA if you have questions, and we’ll be happy to help you going forward, too. Yeah. All right.

Timothy Poynton: Thank you. All right. Thank you,

Amanda Sterk: everybody. Thank you,

Julie Shields Rutyna: everyone. Have a great [00:58:00] night.