Now is a Great Time to Reevaluate Spending

October is a good time for you to help your student reevaluate his or her budget. By this time in the semester, most students have a somewhat set spending pattern, so this is a good time to look at the following expenditures to make sure they fit into your student's original budget.

Meal Plans - Is your child using more of the meal plan that you expected? If it looks like he may run out before the end of the semester, it may be time to add some funds to the meal plan or discuss ways for him to economize what funds he has left. Students can save money by scrutinizing how they spend their meal plan and cutting out extras such as snacks, high cost soft drinks or coffees, or maybe he can switch to eating a quick breakfast in his room or apartment three days per week instead of buying breakfast on the way to class.

Fun Money - Everyone needs a little extra money for going out to movies, or for meals, but if it looks like your student will run out of fun money by November 1st, that's NOT fun. Students should explore the numerous free or low cost activities on campus by reading the campus paper or watching campus advertising and social media. Programs sponsored by residence halls and the activities boards are always popular as well. Students can still go out with their friends, but attending free events or going out for an ice cream or a coffee instead of an entire meal can save a lot of fun money over time - more fun for less money!

Money Leaks - This is a great time to look for money leaks and fix them before the end of the semester. Depending on your student, money leaks can take the form of just about anything. Maybe he's downloading too many $1.99 apps or games (those add up!), maybe she's buying too many t-shirts, or maybe he's spending too much on gasoline by driving instead of walking, riding a bike, or taking the bus. This is where parents can help their child understand budgeting and work on a plan to control spending.

Student Health and Property Insurance

Does my student need personal property insurance on campus?

This is another one of those “grown-up” issues that students will need to be aware of before they head to campus. It is estimated that students bring between $5,000.00 to $10,000.00 worth of personal property with them to campus and when you combine all those easily carried valuables with the laid-back, open atmosphere on most college campuses, you have a recipe for property loss. In fact, larceny is the most reported crime on most college campuses. With this in mind, insurance is a must, but what kind?

Most homeowner’s policies will cover students’ valuables if they are living on campus and still list the family’s home address as their permanent address.  Even so, it is always a good idea to confirm your coverage and its limitations with your insurance agent before your child leaves for college. Also keep in mind that if your child makes claims against your homeowner’s policy, it could negatively affect your rate and ability to maintain coverage.

Another option is renter’s or student insurance. Renter’s or student insurance can cover a specific amount or just specific items and is usually very affordable. It will also not adversely affect your homeowner’s policy of your child makes a claim. Most major insurance companies offer renter’s insurance so speak to your current agent for the best rate.

What about health insurance?

If there was ever a hot-button issue in the United States today, this is it. The cost of healthcare and insurance is staggering and although healthcare and coverage is usually the last thing on your student’s mind it is essential that you discuss the ins and outs of your policy with your child.  Imagine your dismay and frustration when you discover that your child went to an out-of network emergency room or clinic for a broken wrist when an in-network hospital was just a few more miles down the road.  The difference in the bills could well be in the thousands so it is important to discuss your policy with your child and determine where the in-network facilities are located near campus. The last thing either of you want is to pay for out-of-network medical bills instead of tuition.

Most medium to large campuses have their own health service centers or walk-in clinics on campus, and many times campus clinics are cheaper for certain services due to grants and subsidies. But, it is still a good idea to compare costs for routine visits, physicals, and prescriptions before he starts college.

Scholarship Application Advice

Honestly, nothing bugs me more than sloppy scholarship or award applications. Considering that the organization or donor is willing to hand you hundreds or thousands of dollars in free money you need to have enough regard for yourself and the committee to put forth your best effort. So, here’s my super honest advice for students about submitting scholarship applications.

1.     Make sure your application is typed and in a legible font. Applications that are handwritten or in illegible fonts WILL stand out, and then they are usually shredded without any further consideration. If you are turning the application in on paper and not electronically, make sure that the application is neat and not creased or wrinkled. If the application must be submitted electronically, follow the submission instructions, or if there are no specific instructions, submit it as a PDF, with your name and the scholarship’s name included as part of the PDF’s name.

 2.     Make sure your application is complete, and follow the instructions to the letter. If the instructions specify that an official transcript be attached, then attach an official transcript. Not a copy, not an unofficial transcript, not a screen shot of one from your phone, but an official transcript.

 3.     Submit the application on time. I’m sure that everyone has legitimate excuses for why they miss deadlines, but as a scholarship administrator I’m more concerned with scoring the already huge stack of applications that were submitted on time.

 4.     Proofread your application, then have a professor, tutor, or a trusted friend proofread it, then proofread it again. Remember, we want to give you free money; the least you can do is proof your work.

 5.     Tell your story. Usually, the selection committee only has about 3-10 application pages to figure out who you are and why we should give you the award. Tell your story honestly and as thoroughly as possible. Don’t dismiss activities as unimportant because you think they’re not grand enough to impress us. We are just as impressed by students who volunteer to read to preschoolers as we are by those who write research grants.

I have scored numerous scholarships over the past two decades and I can tell you that the students who get scholarships are the ones who submit clean, completed applications, before the deadline, and who take the time to have their applications reviewed for errors. Students who put forth the extra 10% of effort to submit well-prepared applications are usually the ones who win the awards, and the best thing is, once you’ve completed a few scholarship applications, they get easier and easier to submit.

Students need to look at scholarship applications from the selection committee’s perspective. The committee is usually comprised of volunteers who are already extremely busy and each person on it only has a few sheets of paper in your application to decide whether or not to give you a $1,000.00 or more, so make a good impression!

After you receive the scholarship send at brief thank you note or letter thanking the committee and giving us an update on how the scholarship will help you attain your educational goals. We do remember these letters and we may even score another one of your applications or remember you when we serve on another committee.

College Parenting 101: Why we can't just "let go"

If you attended college any time before 1990 there were probably no parent orientations, parents’ associations, or family weekends at your college. In fact, if your parents ever spent any time at your college beyond move-in day or graduation you were part of a small minority. Obviously, things have changed dramatically over the past few decades, and colleges and universities are ramping up programs for the parents and families of their students that were completely absent 30 years ago. Some reasons for these changes in programs are:

1. College costs much more. I mean, much more, than it did 30 years ago.  I know I don’t need to tell you this since you are still swooning from the sticker shock you have undoubtedly experienced in the past several months. With these higher costs come higher expectations, especially from parents who are footing most, or at least more, of students’ college expenses.
2. We live in the age of twenty-four hour per day, seven day per week , three hundred and sixty five day per year communication and information. With cell phones, video chat, and social media readily available to almost everyone, we have come to expect the ability to find information and contact anyone, in any place, at any time immediately. This means that when students have even small problems they can immediately call a parent for advice instead of having to wait to find a phone. Years ago, waiting to find a phone, and the time to call one’s parent, meant that we had the time to process problems and decide whether or not they were worth discussing with a family member, which they usually weren’t.
3. Constant access to news media from around the world also means that any crisis that occurs at any college in the country, or anywhere in the world seems like it happened next door and is surely a crisis where our child attends. We fear that it is threatening them personally, instead of an isolated incident. We no longer have the comfortable insulation of time and distance to temper these sensational news stories and safety is always on our minds.
4. Our generation of parents has had fewer children than previous generations, and we have been more involved in their lives both in and out of school. In other words, we have a lot of time, money, effort, and love investing in our 2.06 children and their success. We have been told since they were in utero that we are 100% responsible, both socially and legally, for their care and behavior. Now, all of a sudden when they enroll in college, we are supposed to simply let go of this “adult” who it seems was just yesterday hitting a baseball off a tee. Letting go of your child is easier said than done, and most of us, and our college-bound children face a steep learning curve in these lessons of letting go.