The Leg Up Newsletter

What's the old Chinese curse? "May you live in interesting times."

Well, readers, I think we're there. By t he time you open and read this month's newsletter, there's a chance some of the information about college applications or college policies may have changed dramatically between my writing and your inbox. That seems to be the natural state of things right now. But we continue to plan for application season (which officially begins on August 1!) and hope for better things to come. 

Planning is the name of the game in this newsletter. Read on!

July 2020 Updates

Randi C. Heathman

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Why Your EFC Should Be How You Start Your College Search

by Michelle Kretzschmar

What is EFC?

To start your college search, you need to be able to answer this question. If you’re like most parents starting the college search process, you don’t have a clue what EFC means. In fact, most parents don’t understand until they are well into the college application process which is not a good thing.

So what is EFC? EFC stands for “Expected Family Contribution” and is the term used by the Federal Government and colleges to state how much parents are expected to pay for their child’s college education.

Your EFC appears on your Student Aid Report (SAR) which you receive by submitting the FAFSA form. FAFSA stands for the “Free Application for Federal Student Aid” which students must submit to qualify for any federal financial aid and many state financial aid programs. Whether or not you think your student will qualify for financial aid, there are good reasons to complete the FAFSA anyway.

Submit FAFSA – get EFC. With me so far?

EFC: Financial Aid Theory

Colleges use your EFC to determine how much financial aid to award you. Let’s go over what this means in the ideal world first. Assume that your EFC is $15,000. (This probably isn’t going to be a realistic number for most families but more on that later.) Each school has a COA, Cost of Attendance, which includes tuition, fees, and room and board. Your financial need would be COA-EFC.read more>>>

U. of Michigan’s New ‘Test-Flexible’ Policy Is Causing Confusion. Let’s Examine Why.

By Eric Hoover

Since March, Jim O’Hara has been closely watching the parade of test-optional announcements. One by one, dozens of selective colleges have said that they would drop their ACT and SAT requirements for fall-2021 applicants because of the widespread disruptions caused by Covid-19.

O’Hara, director of guidance at Rye High School, in New York, was especially eager to see what the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor would do. After all, it’s been the most sought-after out-of-state public university among his students for the past few years.

But when Michigan finally published changes in its testing policy online last week, O’Hara didn’t like what he saw. “Just horribly disappointing,” he wrote in one tweet. “Talk about sending the wrong message,” he wrote in another, “just brutal.” Several other high-school counselors and college advisers around the nation also panned the university’s new “test-flexible” policy, calling it confusing, unrealistic, and unfair.Kim Broekhuizen, a spokeswoman for Michigan, said the revised policy is meant to provide flexibility to students whose lives have been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Applicants would not be “held accountable,” as she put it, for what they’re unable to include in their applications.read more>>>

Clients' Corner

Juniors

Don't worry about test preparation this summer!

Find meaningful activities to fill your time and begin to contemplate potential careers/college majors.

Seniors

The schedule in Custom College Plan is updated - you may resume booking online!

Essays, essays, and more essays. Get those Google docs to Randi!