The official e-newsletter of The Equestrian College Advisor.

From the blog:

True confession time, readers:

I’ve seen Disney’s Tangled way (way!) too many times for a person whose only formal parenting responsibilities extend to four-legged children and not actual human bipeds.

What can I say? I like breezy kids’ films that often use humor designed to appeal more to the adults in the audience than the children. I also firmly believe that the idea of a horse like Maximus being smarter than an entire regiment of soldiers isn’t all that far-fetched, despite the fact that we’re talking about a cartoon here. Conclusion: Maximus is definitely a warmblood, despite his Spanish-influenced conformation. Read More

There are four pervading myths about the ACT and SAT practice tests.

Here they are.

Is a college education vital for future entrepreneurs? Does it help or hinder their progress?

Read the discussion.

Time to Talk: Financing Your College EducationForget the birds and the bees, if you’re sending a student to college in the next fewyears, one of the most important talks you can have is about money – how muchcollege costs and who in your family will be covering them in the coming years.The challenge:Many people are fortunate to have savings to help minimize the amount of aid needed, but even with those funds, most families can’t afford to cover a student’s direct cost of attendance out of pocket. This means that families will rely on financial aid either from the school itself (in the form of scholarships and/or grants) or from outside sources (scholarships or student loans).Who is responsible?Some parents wish to financially support every facet of their student’s education andothers want the student accountable. Regardless, it’s vital that parents are clear withtheir students from the very beginning of the college search regarding exactly what their financial responsibilities will be so that the final costs of colleges on the short list are fully considered in terms of how it will financially affect the every member of the family.What types of aid are best?Both scholarships and grants are “free” aid, in that neither source requires repaymentafter graduation. Scholarships, however, typically come with a set of requirements that must be met in order to retain or renew them (a minimum GPA that must be met every semester, for example) and many grants are based on a student’s performance or on a family’s financial situation remaining stable over time. Changes to income or to a student’s academic status can influence future grant awards.Student loans are financial aid that must be repaid. Federal loans are the most common, as many private lenders moved away from student loans in the last decade. Loans often get a bad rap in the news, but if students weigh potential loan debt against projected earnings, they may discover that some loans will help more than they will harm.The bottom line:When selecting the right fit college for your student, financial considerations must be a big part of the conversation from Day One. Only by talking about money early and often can you prevent problems when it comes time to select a school and the numbers don’t crunch correctly.

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