On my second installment of senior year advice for parents, I’d like to talk about getting applications in early. Our college financial planner told us how important it was to apply early to colleges for the best scholarships. Of course my main motivation for getting applications in early was to get life back to normal as quickly as possible so we could all start actually enjoying senior year. We finished up in by mid-October, and though it was a lot of work getting it all done that soon, it felt really good.
When the acceptance letters started rolling in a few weeks later, that’s all they were, acceptance letters. Some more personal than others, but nothing in any of them that even hinted at scholarship money or otherwise. Then, to our surprise, we came home from church late last Wednesday night to an envelope from my son’s number one college pick. He’d gotten his acceptance letter from them a few weeks earlier so we knew it wasn’t that. We opened the envelope and were amazed to read that he’d been awarded two scholarships for a total of $8,000, renewable for up to 4 years. We were so excited and so grateful. It made immediate believers out of us that applying early is the way to go.
But it makes sense really. Schools have a certain amount of scholarships available each year. It just makes sense to award them not only based on merit, but also on a “first come, first serve” basis. Colleges are looking for serious students who know what they want to do and where they want to go. Turning in a quality application well before the cut off date speaks volumes to the ones making the decisions about who gets the money.
Once scholarship money is given out, that’s all there is. Financial aid packages and final financial letters come our after FAFSA forms are completed in January, but the dollars that don’t have to be paid back can be awarded well before that date. So, in this sense it really does “pay” to apply early.
Receiving a scholarship doesn’t obligate you to a particular school, but it does make the decision making process so much easier. In our case, it’s confirmation that we’re on the right track as far as his top pick. It gives us one more reason to believe the place he’s already chosen appreciates him for what he’s accomplished in high school. It’s pretty clear he’ll be more than just a number, and that’s what we’re looking for.
So, as you look ahead and make lists of what you need to do as senior year approaches, put “apply early” somewhere near the top. If we weren’t sure how important it was when we started, we certainly are now.
