Your College Dreams Down the Drain?
By Quetzal Mama • August 7, 2017
Copyright Roxanne
Ocampo 2017
Avoid These 3 College Application Catastrophes! In
less than 90 days, high school seniors across the U.S. will submit college
applications. Some focus on the name and
prestige of a college, ignoring whether their profile is aligned with admission
success. Others base their application
behavior on which option seems “least expensive” oblivious to critical factors
that impact their bottom line. And,
others pick colleges close to home, believing that they will save money in the
long-run.
Each
of these 3 scenarios is seriously flawed.
Let’s look at each one to uncover myths that can sabotage your college
career and your bank account!
#1 – El
Loco Soñador. Picking schools because
you’re impressed with the name and prestige of a college is going to cost you. Unless your academic profile is closely
aligned with the entering Freshman profile of candidates admitted to this
campus, you are throwing away application fees,
loads of time (these colleges typically have many supplemental,
required documents), and missed opportunities for admission
to other colleges. Wake up bell! Only applying to schools like Stanford, MIT,
or Georgetown, is great if your academic profile is right up there with the
typical admitted student. If your
profile doesn’t match, turn your energy, application fees, and resources toward
other colleges where you have a solid chance of admission. These top schools don’t play, and neither
should you.
#2 – La Miedosa Price
Checker. Lots of students get scared when looking at
the total costs of attending a preferred college. That’s because the costs for tuition, fees,
housing, meal plans, books, and miscellaneous expenses might seem out of reach. With prices in the $50,000 – $70,000 and up
range for many private colleges, students see these “sticker” prices and
scratch them off their list. They
quickly turn to other colleges that are less expensive. This might be a costly mistake! The reality is many “expensive” colleges have
funding (“endowments”) to give scholarships, grants, and other financial aid to
students. And, while some colleges might
seem to be the “cheapest,” they could actually be most expensive in the
long run. There many overlooked factors
that impact student’s financial bottom line.
What
are these factors? You need to factor in
(a) percentage of students who graduate; (b) how long it takes to graduate; and
(c) what types of financial aid are available to students like you. Quetzal Mama’s next blog article will cover
these factors and also provide excellent online tools to help you compare your
potential college choices.
#3 – Thinks El
Hogar es Donde Está el Corazón. It’s great to be close to home, right? You can take a bus or train to your local
college and be home in time for Dad’s grilled carne asado tacos, verdad?
This might work if you live close to a competitive university. But, the reality is many Latinx familias live
in under resourced communities that do not have nearby colleges with (a) high
graduation rates; (b) your academic major; (c) resources for first-generation
college students; and (d) graduation rates in less than 6 years. For these 5 reasons, it might not be strategic
to pick a college close to home.
Follow this blog so you don't miss Quetzal Mama's straight forward, no-nonsense, competitive strategies for your #CollegeDreams. In next month’s blog article Quetzal Mama breaks down the real college costs and provides real-time statistics on some popular college campuses. If you'd like one-on-one expert college advising, contact Quetzal Mama at quetzalmama@gmail.com. Or, get your copy of Quetzal Mama's strategies delivered to you from Amazon here.