Are You Procrastinating Your Way To A Higher College Bill?

The end of the school year is fast approaching (for some, you've already reached it). You realize the college application season is just around the corner, but you figure you still have plenty of time.

Does any of this sound familiar?

* You don't have any colleges on your "final list".
* You don't have a clue what the colleges are going to tell you about how much they'll expect you to pay.
* You just got through with the "stress" of finals and you "need a break".
* You've got a family vacation coming up.
* You have a big project due
* You have a family reunion
* You'll start thinking about this next fall because, hey, it's summer vacation.

Essentially, any one of a million excuses as to why you'll get to the college search "later".

Ah. Procrastination. More often than not, this is the greatest challenge I see facing families today. They put things off, thinking they have plenty of time and then they attempt to cram a year and a half of neglected planning into a nine month window beginning in the senior year of high school. Needless to say this rarely produces the results the families expect and need.

They find time for planning the family vacation or researching their next car, but they always seem to find a reaso
NOT to spend enough time planning for college and how they're going to pay for it.

And the consequences can be disastrous. When you put all of this off until the very last minute, it leads to very important decisions being made under stress and missed deadlines, which inevitably leads to college costing you more than is absolutely necessary. Worse, you fail to position your student properly with the colleges and boost your chances to get in and to get more scholarship money.

Just as cramming for tests or a final exam the night before robs you of all chances for success in that class, planning on "how to pay for college" at the last minute will rob you of your hard-ea
ed money.

Your Smart Plan For College Assignment:

You need to recognize if you're in procrastination mode. And, if you are (I'm betting you likely are, even just a little bit), and take actio
NOW. College is just too costly and too competitive to put off. Get answers to these questions and you'll start moving out of procrastination and into action mode.

1. Are we familiar with all of the different admissions options and have a plan to use them?

2. Do we have savings specifically for college? Is it enough for all four years?

3. What is my message for the colleges? How will I communicate what value I bring to campus?

4. What can I do to grab the attention of the admissions officer in the 7-9 minutes they'll spend reading my application?

5. Have we identified cost effective ways to pay our share?

6. Will we recognize an opportunity to appeal our financial aid awards?

7. Should we consider getting help from a specialist in financial aid and admissions?

8. How much can we realistically afford to pay towards college?

9. How much will the colleges tell us we can pay?

10. What's our plan to close the gap between what we actually can pay and what the colleges will tell us to pay?

You are looking at investing anywhere from $93,000 to as much as $240,000 on your child's college education. Given the importance of that education to your child's success, perhaps getting some advice on how to get the most out of that investment makes some sense, right?

If you're not sure how to even begin coming up with an actual strategy, or design a message that will help you stand out from the competition, it's time to get help. Your College Application is one of the main essential pieces of your college plan.

At the end of the day, your application is going to close the deal. You can't afford to miss this critical opportunity. In other words, even the most flawless plan can't produce results if you don't invest the time and effort in the one vehicle that will bring it / together - the application. Your application is the one opportunity to close the deal - together we'll make sure we don't miss this chance by overlooking the seemingly unimportant "little things" that can actually make a big impact.