College Admissions

Juniors: It's never too early to start learning about financial aid

When it comes to financial aid, it’s never too early to start learning about what is a very complex and important topic. All colleges are required by law to have a financial aid calculator (sometimes referred to as a net price calculator) available on their website.  Financial aid calculators can provide an early understanding of what you will be asked to pay at individual colleges and what your aid award might look like.

So as you research colleges now and through the summer, check out the financial aid calculator for each school on your list as you’re surfing the colleges’ websites. Use the calculator to help you figure out what the colleges offer, as well as to start thinking about what you will need to do to make your choices work financially. If possible, try out the calculators with your parents.

Your results— the cost to you and the aid you may receive— may differ fairly significantly from calculator to calculator and from college to college. Just to see how things compare, try out the calculators at a few less expensive colleges and some more expensive ones. It can often be at least as affordable to attend a more expensive college that offers a strong financial aid program. Find out now, so you can select the colleges that work best for you while factoring in price, without ruling out options that might initially seem unaffordable.

College Admission on HerCampus.com

On Tuesday, January 29th, Christine VanDeVelde is excited to be conducting a live one-hour video chat with the High School Ambassadors of Her Campus. Her Campus is the #1 online community for college women. The Her Campus High School Ambassadors are a group of 100 high school girls from around the country and abroad with a passion for media. Every week, they learn a new skill that's crucial to making it in the communications industry -- then they put it into practice. During any given week, they may be writing articles and blog posts; spreading the word about Her Campus via creative projects, contests, and campaigns; and serving as consultants to the Her Campus Team on high school trends and hot topics. Can't wait to see what questions they have in store for us and to see what is on the minds of these juniors and seniors. Thank you, HerCampus.com

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