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[00:00:00] Okay. All righty. Can you see participant stuff? Yes. Looks great. All righty. We’re getting there. Thanks, Steph. Thanks so much. Okay. All right. Thank you and welcome. Um, we had a couple, uh, technical issues here this morning. So thank you for being patient and thank you for joining today’s webinar, uh, college admissions and MEFA pathway.

My name is Jennifer Bento Pinion. I am director of K 12 services at MEFA, and I’ve been at MEFA for almost 11 years now, helping families such as yourselves, uh, Plan, uh, helping students plan for post secondary success. And today we are going to go through the college admissions process and how you can use MEFA Pathway as a tool to support [00:01:00] that process.

So just a few logistics before we start. Uh, we are recording this session, so if you need to leave, uh, before we conclude, uh, no worries. You’ll be able to, uh, view the recording. Uh, this session is a part of our MEFA Institute and eligible for one PDP, uh, so you’ll get this information, uh, in our follow up email, uh, and we’ll leave some time at the end for questions, uh, and you can put those right in the Q& A, um, everyone is on mute throughout, uh, and we are going to go through a lot of, uh, information, so, um, you know, you don’t have to hold your questions till the end, but we won’t, um, look at them until the, until the end.

very much. Uh, just a little bit about MEFA, uh, MEFA is a state authority, uh, started over 40 years ago with a mission that stays strong, uh, in helping, uh, families plan, save, and pay for college. Okay, so as I mentioned, uh, as I go through the [00:02:00] presentation, I’ll be highlighting Features in MEFA Pathway that support the college admissions process.

Uh, MEFA Pathway is a cost free web portal. It’s available for students in grades 6 through 12, supporting all post secondary plans. So whether that is a two or four year degree, uh, certification, uh, Advancing in a trade. Um, so MEFA pathway really embraces all of those different paths. Currently, we have well over 200 schools across the commonwealth that use MEFA pathway as their premier college and career planning tool.

And if you want more information about how you can become a participating school, we can connect following the webinar. So as you can see from this slide, MEFA pathway does offer a number of a variety of. of, of tools and activities. But again, we’ll be focusing on those that apply to the college admissions process.

All right. Uh, [00:03:00] today we are, uh, going to talk about, uh, current trends in the college admissions process. We’ll be, uh, looking at how students can create, uh, their college list, uh, the importance of that, the importance of campus visits. Uh, we’ll talk about the application process itself, uh, a little bit about financial aid.

And then throughout we will, uh, highlight, uh, different resources as we move along. Alright, so let’s start with talking about current trends in college admissions. Uh, so students are beginning to think about college admissions now earlier, um, in their junior year or even earlier than that. Students are applying to a greater number of schools of colleges.

So according to NACAC, the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, uh, that is what they’re saying. Um, now I know when I, I was applying to, to college, uh, obviously, uh, many moons ago, I lived in New Hampshire, applied [00:04:00] to three state schools and, and that was that. So now some, some students are even applying to 10, 15, even 20 colleges.

So this is certainly increased. Um, most, most counselors now recommend applying between six and eight, uh, but the list, uh, you know, but more if the list is comprised of the Ivy leagues or highly competitive schools, um, or even if a student is interested in a, in a selected major. So as a result of.

Students applying to a greater number of schools. Schools are having a more difficult time making that those admissions decisions. Therefore, this makes our next factor here, the students indicated interest in a school that much more important. So many colleges are paying attention to and keeping track of students interest in them.

Not all colleges do, but some do in [00:05:00] fact keep track. So what is demonstrated interest? So many different, so many different ways a student can show demonstrated interest. Did a student take a tour of the campus? Are they opening the emails? Uh, have they spoken to someone in admissions? Uh, students should follow the colleges, um, on social, uh, so of those that they are really interested in.

Um, so if a, if a, if a college comes to the high school, uh, you know, make sure they visit. If a student can’t connect with a, with a college in person, those virtual tours are, are really important. Following up with an email. Uh, to the admissions office. Um, schools want to know that students are excited about their, about their college, uh, and because, again, many pay attention to that, um, and do keep track, it may make a difference, um, when it comes to admissions.

Um, our next piece here, um, social media. Social media is huge, as we all [00:06:00] know, uh, so according to NACAC, uh, 70, 97 percent of, of schools, uh, use social media in, uh, for online recruitment and, uh, for marketing efforts, uh, so they can, this can be used to remind student of deadlines, uh, information sessions, um, and those colleges may not check, you know, Facebook or Twitter, you know, Instagram or whatever for every applicant, a student’s social media presence, uh, is as well as how he presents himself can be considered part of the application.

So it’s really important. And to drive home to students to make certain that their social profiles are clean, appropriate, professional, uh, just in case. The college checks, uh, you know, maybe have the student school with themselves, uh, just to see what, see what pops up. And I always say, um, it’s, if it’s, if it’s not something that you’d want your grandmother to see, uh, then, you know, take it down.

[00:07:00] So, uh, something to remind students to, to keep, um, you know, keep that, those, um, social profiles nice and clean. All right. Cost. Um, we’ll go into that a little bit more in depth later on in the presentation. Uh, ways to connect with colleges virtually. Uh, there are many more ways to connect and interact with colleges virtually.

Uh, during COVID, colleges were forced to kind of up their virtual game, and that stuck. Uh, and we’ll talk a little bit more about that later on too. Uh, we will go into, um, But in more in more depth, um, test optional. Um, so more and more colleges are test test optional. So we have over 2000 currently. So this is resulting in more students applying, you know, because people because students don’t have to worry about a test score.

So this. You know, tends to be less stressful. Um, students of course can, can still submit their test scores. [00:08:00] Um, if, if they feel good about that, those scores. Um, and then also, uh, we’re, we’re seeing longer wait lists as well, another trend. And we’ll talk about that more down the road. Okay. Staying organized is so important for students to stay organized.

As students research the schools, they want to keep track of all their admissions deadlines, all their financial aid deadlines. This is, we’re showing here, MEFA has a great application manager. I know when my daughter was going to college, we just used a simple spreadsheet, an Excel spreadsheet. So however it’s done, just Super important to to stay on track with the details and deadlines.

Okay, so now we want to talk about research, researching colleges. So students want to focus and find colleges that will be the best match for their [00:09:00] needs. So it’s really important that students do their research, um, you know, applying to college is expensive. So they want to make sure that every college on their list is a good fit.

So there are a number of ways that students can search for colleges. Um, the college navigator is, um, we have the links here and you will receive again the, the slides. So you’ll have the links to all of these, um, resources. Navigator where students can search with admissions, academic and cost information.

We have the college scorecard. So this includes, um, includes the average net price of student debt, graduation rate and alumni salary. And then also Big Future, which is sponsored by College Board, so students can search with information on academics, applying, and paying. And then we have our MEFA Pathway tool.

So, MEFA Pathway has a robust college search, [00:10:00] where the student can, um, We have a feature actually, it’s called Match Me, where students can go through each page, identifying factors and criteria that, um, that they identify and will then populate a list of colleges based on those preferences. So from here, the student can look at details of the college, such as cost, Academic information, different programs that are offered, and then they can save those colleges to their college list and then come back to them at a later time so they can filter by GPA, they can look at how they fall in the range with their SAT or ACT scores, acceptance rates, so they can really get a lot of great information.

Uh, per college on, um, on MIPHA pathway. So again, they’re, they’re doing the search, they’re building out that, um, criteria and then they’re, um, maybe, you know, maybe they have a pretty extensive college, you [00:11:00] know, college list, but then they come back and they can then read out, um, Those colleges that they actually want to apply for.

We also have a college compare tool on on me for pathway so the students can add up to five colleges to that and build out a chart so they can really look at again. Um, how they fit into, um, that particular college. Um, so it’s important that the student, um, develop a relationship with all their colleges that they may apply to, stay in touch with the admissions office, uh, attend a college visit at a high school, and of course, you know, visit the college if they, if they can.

So, yeah, so check out, um, check out any of these. resources here to start researching colleges for students. Okay, different college factors to consider. So we want to look at each college’s size and location and see if they match up with the student’s preferences and also how they [00:12:00] fit academically within the school’s profile.

Looking, finding out what colleges offer, maybe the potential majors that they are interested in, their intended major. It’s important to think about, students think about learning style and how this ties into the size of the school. Does the student learn more effectively in a smaller class environment or do they thrive in a larger class environment?

Uh, the campus culture is, is important, uh, to consider, uh, does the, does the student share values, uh, traditions and behavior that may help shape their college experience. So all things for, for students to think about. Uh, activities are, are activities that the student is interested in and available. On campus, you know, do they want to be, uh, on the debate team, or does the school have a rugby club, uh, just, just think more things to [00:13:00] think about, uh, if they are interested in, uh, a study abroad program, you know, if the school doesn’t offer that, they may not want to apply to that school, uh, and also important for students to look into a career and internship services, uh, you know, many students are interested Uh, taking more advantage of internships and developing connections, um, which may, you know, in turn lead them to more, uh, career, career choices.

And of course, we always want to think about the finances and the affordability, um, but also important to remember that students may pay a much less price, um, than their sticker price. Due to financial aid. Okay, so now let’s talk about campus visits. Campus visits are invaluable if students can take advantage, either informally or formally.

It can mean the difference between applying to a college or not. I’ll use my daughter [00:14:00] again as an example. When we were when she was looking at colleges, you know, we we had the we were able to go to a number of campuses on site And, you know, there were a couple that she just couldn’t see herself at, and so that, you know, that was very, very important to experience, you know, experience the visit.

So, informal visits are, um, you know, when students can, um, they can just, you know, pop on to the, pop on to the, the campus, you know, take a walk, uh, they can get a good, uh, You know, idea of the size and the setting and the culture of the school, uh, they can do, uh, you know, maybe do a drive by go to a basketball game, attend a play, uh, observe the students to the students seem happy and engaged, uh, and then the we have the formal the formal visits.

Where students can typically go right on to the college website, uh, and [00:15:00] sign up for a formal visit. Uh, so formal visits are usually a guided tour. It can be by someone maybe in the admissions office or maybe even a student. Uh, so you want to. You know, you want to ask questions if when you go on these formal visits, certainly ask questions, you know, how, what, what do you if it’s a student?

What do you like most about the school? What do you like least? Uh, you know, you want to look at, um, ask about academics activities, you know, maybe they’ll go through the dormitories. Uh, so, It’s important to if you are an educator and going with a student on a campus visit, asking them, how do you feel when you’re on the campus?

Does it seem like a good fit to you? And we are so fortunate in Massachusetts that we have within a half day’s drive, we can visit all types of institutions, public, private, community colleges, we can rural, urban, large, small. Um, so [00:16:00] it’s, it’s great to take advantage and even. If, you know, your student may not want to go to school in Massachusetts, maybe there’s a college that they can visit that’s comparable to a college that’s far away that they actually can’t visit, so something to, um, to consider.

Uh, so, you know, if you go on the formal visit, maybe the students get off the beaten path and take a little walk, go to the student union. Um, so just so these are, you know, these are, are these visits are, are again, quite. Invaluable. I’m in a lot of a lot of schools now will offer virtual campus visits. So that’s, you know, on the newer side, kind of kind of a since COVID thing.

All right, so let’s talk about college fairs. College fairs are great way to learn about different college options. They can be a little overwhelming because the bigger ones have, you know, they can have upwards of like 200 colleges or so that attend. [00:17:00] So sign up for your college fair review. The list of colleges beforehand and have a plan of attack before starting, you know, so if there’s a map of the where everyone where all the colleges are going to be kind of have a plan of attack to see the booths that you’d like to visit, we have, you can even schedule one on one meetings with colleges and yes, certainly take advantage of the informational sessions that are offered.

Uh, you know, if you if you make it attract to one of the college fairs, you know, certainly take advantage of all that’s offered and then you can visit. We have these websites here. You can visit, um, uh, NACAC fairs or NACAC. org for upcoming events for a list of full list.

All right, so now let’s talk about, uh, prospects for admission. So, students will need, uh, a, a, a rounded [00:18:00] list of probable, likely, possible, and reach schools. So, the student could very likely end up attending one of their likely schools and, and be very happy about it. So, all of the schools that are on the schools list, they, If they get into any of them, they will be happy to go there.

Um, so the, the most important thing, um, is to determine the right probable schools so that the student, again, would be happy if they get into, you know, only those likely or probable schools. Um, so make sure there’s a college, a likely college that’s affordable, uh, and again, would be happy to attend. Uh, you want to check, uh, the admitted, the admitted school profiles on the college websites to fit to see where they would fit in best to determine those likely possible and reach schools.

Um, so again, you can use me for pathway that that college compare tool to help. Determine that. [00:19:00] So how many schools should be on the list? This is, you know, a family decision and may differ based on the students intended or major program. So anywhere from 5 to 8 schools seems to be the new norm. 9 is the national average.

But as we. Talked about earlier that number has increased a bit. Um, so again, every school that the student applies to should be one that the student wants to attend. Um, the student should know why they want to apply to each school. You know, applications, um, are expensive. So, you know, keep, students should keep that in mind.

Great. Okay. So now let’s talk about college application types. So we have, um, different, different application types here. So we have our early action. So these deadlines tend to be, uh, in November, December, these are not a binding agreement. Uh, we have our early [00:20:00] decision. Uh, so early decision is, uh, also an earlier Application deadline, but this is a binding agreement.

So students really want to, um, you know, think hard and fast about applying ed because that is that binding agreement. And, um, if they get into that school. Early decision, they will have to rescind any other applications out there. So important to think about, um, early action is, um, is being more widely used nowadays.

Um, just for a number of reasons, you know, students, um, you know, they’re, they’re getting those applications, you know, kind of out of the way early. So they’re hearing earlier, uh, those decisions, they’re getting their financial aid offers earlier, but then they also early, you know, early action, they don’t, you know, Have to make that final decision until, until May, May one, so they can still, you know, [00:21:00] have the leeway of even applying to, um, you know, schools, regular decision and acceptance rates for early programs can, um, you know, they, they come, obviously they, they come, they come earlier and it’s advantageous for colleges too, because, um You know, they can, um, kind of, you know, spread out that, that decision making as well.

Uh, regular decision is usually in early January with an early January, February deadline. Um, so, uh, if a student too, um, they could get deferred if, for, with early action, um, into the regular pool. That’s something to, to consider. Um, maybe some students are applying regular because they want their, uh, second quarter grades to be, you know, maybe they, To be included in that application.

So that’s something to think about. Um, and then rolling, rolling Admissions, uh, is when the application process opens and then the, the [00:22:00] colleges accept, um, pools of students as as it goes, um, as the season goes along. And then once they’ve, uh, accepted the number of students and they, they, they shut off that, um, those admissions.

And then open admissions is when they students can apply. at any time. So most of our community colleges offer that open admission option. Okay, so now let’s talk about the application forms. Uh, of course, when, when students are applying to colleges, they’ll want to see what colleges accept what. So we have the Common App, which is the, probably the most widely used.

Uh, there are, it was established in 1975 and has Well over 900 member institutions, uh, we’ll talk a little bit more in depth about the common app and, um, the essay for the common app. Uh, there’s also the universal college app, uh, that was established in 2007 and has far less, [00:23:00] um, roughly nine, uh, member institutions.

And then that coalition application, uh, and schools are still offering, colleges are still offering the, um, Right directly on their website, you can apply. Um, and then of course there’s the good old paper app. Okay, so college application components. Uh, there are certain components that are required with each application.

So the applications, uh, may include, uh, the actual form of course, uh, the high school transcript. Uh, standardized test scores. If, um, you know, they again could be either test optional, or maybe they require those test scores, uh, letters of recommendation, uh, the activity list or resume, and we’ll go into more in depth of these different components, um, Maybe a school is offering an interview audition or portfolio [00:24:00] if they’re applying maybe to an art school.

So you want when students are looking at each college, they’ll want to see the required components of that each college. So students important to treat your the application like a work of art, you know, make sure everything is, you know, when you’re submitting, you have all it seems silly to say, but you know, Capitalization grammar.

You just definitely want to preview everything before before submission. It’s advised to keep copies of the application after you submit it. You even may want to bring if you’re doing an interview, bring a copy to the interview. And so we we also MEFA offers as resources. We have many blogs and webinars that really.

You know, get into more details about the this, um, the application options. All right. So let’s talk a bit about academic [00:25:00] readiness. Academic readiness is still the most important component in college admissions. Uh, rigor, or the challenging nature of the student’s coursework is important to colleges rather than just grades alone.

We often get the question at MEFA about grades and challenging classes. Is it better to get a B and an AP class than an A and an honors class? Uh, AP is As you know, college level work, uh, so and oftentimes if the student takes the, um, AP exam, they could get college credit. So the, these AP classes prepare, you know, prepare the student, um, for that college, um, coursework.

You know, in the level you want to check with the colleges to see if those AP classes translate into into college credits. So colleges, you know, they they want to look. They want to look to see how well a student has [00:26:00] challenged themselves based on academics offered at their particular school. They want to see that, um, maybe they, you know, maybe they started off a little rough in the, in the earlier years of high school and that they improved over time, uh, colleges, they, you know, they look, they definitely look at that.

They want to see how, um, see that the exceeded, that they exceeded those minimum requirements. Uh, they want to see that the subjects in high school, uh, matched if possible, like the students indicated intended program of study in college. Uh, it’s also important, you know, sometimes students think, Oh, I’m in my senior year.

You know, it doesn’t really matter, but senior year grades are still very important. Uh, it’s, you know, and it’s important for students to know that. Uh, don’t, don’t let those senior, senior year grades drop. Um, colleges do have the right [00:27:00] to rescind admission to a, you know, to a student if their senior grades aren’t satisfactory.

And then we do have our, uh, sliding scale for mass, uh, public colleges and universities.

All right, so let’s jump into talking about our standardized tests. So typically, the PSAT is taken first as a practice and students can, uh, you know, sign up for that in, you know, grades nine, 10. Oftentimes, you know, the schools offer the PSAT. So, Uh, then the student can also, uh, take the SAT and or the ACT.

So, what’s the difference between the SAT and the ACT? The SAT, uh, tests, uh, for more analytical critical thinking, whereas the ACT is curriculum based, uh, and, and tests science knowledge. So, which [00:28:00] one should the student take? If, if they’re not sure, try both. And see which one maybe they did. They did better on, uh, so the if the student does not, and we’re talking about test optional schools again if the student does not submit their test scores at test optional schools, other parts of the application are weighed more heavily, and you can see down at the bottom of the screen.

Here we have a link to fair test, which provides a list of of the like I mentioned earlier over 2000 test optional schools. Test prep is, is super important. Um, Khan Academy offers a free test prep, uh, on the SAT website. So students can, uh, take advantage of that. You know, so this is a, you know, free, inexpensive test prep, free being an expensive test prep, uh, resource.

Uh, so research has shown that. Typically, the test scores [00:29:00] usually improve over a second try, but, but usually do not improve after, after, after three tries. So, again, students can, you know, take each of the SAT, ACT, C, which they might do, do better in, and then also assess, you know, those, those test optional scores, and if they do well on the, on the test, on either test, send the scores to the colleges, and if not, you know, they don’t, they do not have to.

So let’s talk a little bit about, uh, our activity list. So this is an important component of the college application. Uh, as you can see here, uh, we have on the screen we have, um, MEFA Pathway offers a, a resume tool so students can start building out their profile in the younger grade levels and keep track of all of the great things they’re doing both inside and outside of school.

So once they get to that. Junior senior year when [00:30:00] they are starting to really put together their activity list or a draft of a resume for a college. It’s all there right in the platform. So students can add, you know, clubs, sports, honors and awards, any certifications they’ve earned, uh, volunteer work. So, so colleges are are looking for.

When they’re looking at these resumes, they’re looking for leadership, resilience, family responsibility, that sort of thing. So, students sometimes get stumped. What do I put on my list? You know, think about what you do outside of school. You know, after three o’clock, what are you, what are you doing in your, in your, in your outside time?

Uh, colleges, again, really certainly want to know of any, uh, leadership and initiative, uh, that students have taken in their activities. You know, are you, um, captain of the, [00:31:00] captain of the soccer team? Uh, working part time certainly counts. As an extracurricular and colleges want to see that passion behind the extracurricular rather than just, you know, a list, a list of activities intended to impress so students can really, you know, put put some some thought into creating those lists and use me for pathway to do so.

Check that out. Okay, the essay. Um, here’s some, here’s some great tips. Uh, you know, the essay is not a research paper. A lot of students think, oh, you know, I have to do this and, and they’re so used to writing in, in that manner, you know, research paper wise. It’s, it’s more of a personal story. Uh, colleges want to, want to, to, to hear about something meaningful, uh, what the student has learned.

What their, what their dreams are, maybe some adversity that’s, that’s been encountered. Uh, the [00:32:00] application essay does say a lot about the student. Uh, it’s important for students to start writing this early. Don’t, you know, certainly don’t wait until the last minute. Uh, you know, start at junior year and, and, and get, you know, get, get feedback from folks.

Uh, read it out loud to a friend to, to, to see if it sounds genuine, uh, and personal to the student. Um. If the student is, if an essay asks why the student is applying to that specific school, uh, talk about that, talk about that school, um, not just the city where it’s located or public versus private, um, you know, students should really show that they’ve, they’ve done their research.

You know, try different topics and different approaches. Uh, colleges take plagiarism very, very seriously. Uh, a student certainly ensure that the essay is their own work. And, and colleges have ways of, of, you [00:33:00] know, of, of, of, you know, running it, running it through a program to see, um, to check for plagiarism.

So that’s, that’s, you know, very serious. Uh, so you, they want the, um, you know, the, of course, the essay to be specific to, to them. Um, and leave time for careful proofreading, of course. Again, something that is, um, you don’t want to rush. All right, so here are the Common App prompts for the fall 2026. Ideas.

Admission season. And these are accessible now so students can start looking at them now if they’re juniors. They can start thinking about what a, you know, a question that they might want to write about, you know, maybe they write about a couple of them and, and then really see which one works for them.

What those are available now. Okay, letters of recommendation. These are really important. Uh, on each of the colleges [00:34:00] website, you can see how many are required and how many are optional. You know, colleges do not want to receive more than the, than the required letters. And if they do, they’re probably not going to read them all.

Uh, so you, uh, important for students to just send as many letters as are required or optional for, for those colleges. So. It’s suggested that students start thinking about those teachers that they want to ask in May of junior year. Um, so they can maybe, um, ask the teachers and then the teachers have plenty of time to think about it.

Maybe over the summer. Um, some schools have high schools have certain, uh. Processes for requesting letters, uh, it’s helpful for students to, uh, seek out those teachers that, uh, taught them in core subjects, uh, and especially those teachers, uh, that they’ve had honors [00:35:00] and AP courses. It’s also helpful for students to seek out teachers who taught them in a subject that they plan to major in.

So they’re, you know, they’re seeking out those teachers that know them well. Suggested to ask junior year teachers, possibly, if they, because they have just had the teacher, excuse me, the student for that entire academic year. And also something to consider is, uh, asking teachers, uh, who are likely to get their recommendation done on time.

So teachers are, you know, they’re very, very busy. So keep students keep that in mind when they are asking those teachers just to give them plenty, plenty of leeway. And it’s also, um, you know, it kind of should go without saying, but To for students to send a little, a little thank you. You know, follow up with a thank you because teachers do put a lot of, um, time [00:36:00] and effort into these, into these letters.

So it’s, um, it’s good for that to be just to be thanked. Okay. Talking about interviews. Another, uh, potential aspect of the Application. Uh, not all colleges offer interviews, but if they do, it’s a great way for students to make a positive impression and get that face to face advantage. So two types there.

We have an informational interview. So this is where your students can go in and ask questions and learn more about the school. And then we have a values of where this is where The admissions folks ask questions of the student as part of their decision process. So if a school encourages an interview, students should certainly, certainly take advantage of that.

Um, respond immediately to interview [00:37:00] questions, um, if, if that’s the case. Um, so to some tips for students is to be prepared to answer open ended questions. Uh, no, Um, your reasons why you’re applying to that particular college. Ask thoughtful questions. So that would be, you know, maybe not asking, you know, how many students are on this campus where they could easily just look that up.

Um, so being prepared with thoughtful questions is important. Uh, and just try to. You know, they can be a little stressful, but students just try to, uh, try to be yourself, you know, try to relax, maybe do a little practice session at home, and, um, yeah, just try to be yourself. Easier said than done, right? Okay, now let’s talk about the admissions decision.

Uh, so we have, um, four different types. We have admitted, so that means, yay, the student’s gotten in. [00:38:00] Um, we have deferred, where this is where potentially if the student has applied early, uh, they may be, uh, considered in the regular applicant pool. Uh, denied being that the student has not been accepted and then wait listed.

So more and more students are being, um, put on the wait list, uh, and, and the wait list is, you know, potentially, you know, there’s not enough seats even for the best of students. So this is increasing in popularity. Uh, some schools have a, a very, a very long list. Uh, so if you’re, if a student is. Put on a wait list, it’s important that they have a backup.

So they may not get, they may not be removed from that wait list. So they have a school that they can send their, you know, send their, send their deposit to. So if they are on the wait list, Um, some tips, um, [00:39:00] and if it’s a school that they really want to, you know, be admitted to, um, some tips, uh, maybe write a short note to the admissions counselor.

You may want to send updated grades, uh, or any awards that have been received. Uh, so yeah, so the wait list, you know, hundreds of schools use them and, um, some schools do have more students on the wait list, uh, that are, uh, that are accepted. So again, important to have, um, important to have that, that backup and deposit deadlines are usually May 1 to secure a spot at the school.

And also important for students to certainly, um, you know, make sure that they have access to the college’s, uh, web portal, uh, because many of the, uh, colleges will send their, uh, decisions through that, um, through those means. Okay, so understanding college affordability, uh, what is the cost of attendance?

Uh, cost of attendance is for [00:40:00] one year, uh, tuition, fees, housing, um, meal plan, books, personal expenses, uh, maybe health insurance included in that. Uh, most students will not. Pay the full cost of attendance due to, uh, you know, financial aid offered from many sources. So important to keep the financial aid deadlines and requirements in mind.

So students, again, back to that. Application manager, however you’re doing that, just make sure students are keeping track of all of those deadlines. Don’t want to, don’t want to miss a deadline. Um, and this is also a really good time for parents to have conversations with their students about what the family can afford in regards to college costs and student loan debt.

And, um, you’ll see that, um, need BA based aid versus merit based aid, you know, again, potentially different deadlines. So, [00:41:00] uh, you know, keep, keep those in mind and students can start looking for private scholarships. Um, so that’s what another thing that they can do. Um, at this time, just a little bit about net price calculators.

Uh, net, net price calculators, uh, every college has, has, has one on their college website. So you can go right onto the college website and access the, their net price calculator. Uh, so the information that’s put into this calculator is only as accurate as the information that’s put in. So, uh, different schools have different questions on their, on their calculators, ask questions about, uh, family finances and student academics, uh, the provides personal, um, and es and then estimated net college price.

Um, so the net price calculators do include the full cost of college, um, so commuter so if you’re commuting, you will see that housing cost, so you might want to just Be aware that that is included, [00:42:00] um, and we also, um, and merit based aid may also be calculated on that. Um, and just to point out that MEFA has, um, helpful tips on how to use the net price calculators on our, um, on our website too.

Okay, so applying for financial aid, uh, so we have the free application for federal student aid, otherwise known as the FAFSA, uh, so for the 26 27 season, that will be available on October 1 of 2025, and we’ll be asking for 2024 income. Really important that all students fill out this form. Um, you know, some, um, some colleges require it for some of their merit aid.

So the super important, um, some colleges, uh, require the CSS profile. So approximately 200 colleges and scholarships require it. This is an, uh, additional, uh, financial. Application that some schools [00:43:00] require. So this is also available on October 1, 2025 for the 2627 season and also asking for that 2024 income and then some colleges have college specific financial aid applications.

So you’ll just want to make sure students will just want to make sure that they are, um, looking at each college to see what is required of them. Also in Massachusetts, we have some really amazing programs offered in in Massachusetts. Um, mass transfer. So this is where a student can start at a community college and transfer to a four year mass public college.

Uh, it’s it makes. The four year experience, definitely more affordable, uh, and some of the benefits include, um, credit transfer, tuition credit, and a freeze on tuition. Uh, MassEducate, another great program, um, covers tuition and fees for all community colleges, [00:44:00] uh, college students in Massachusetts. Uh, tuition break.

Another great program. So it has a reduction on out of state tuition tuition costs at New England colleges for certain programs. And then we have our mass tuition equity law that allows undocumented students to receive mass state financial aid and intuition rates. So, um, you can get more information on these programs.

But, you know, again, in Massachusetts, we have so many wonderful programs for our students. makes college affordable. Uh, so you can use, students can use a MEFA pathway to search for scholarships. Really important that students, uh, start applying. We have, there’s so many scholarships that go unawarded each year because students don’t apply.

So MEFA pathway makes it really easy for students to You know, take a kind of an overwhelming, uh, you know, search and really break it down. So [00:45:00] students can search for scholarships, uh, based on specific criteria. So that might be an area of study, uh, the state of which they live, uh, type of school, uh, you know, is the parent in the army, that sort of thing.

So they build out, uh, that, that list of based on the criteria. And then they can start adding those scholarships to their my scholarship list and manage that those, um, those scholarships from there. If they’re interested, if they’ve applied, if they’ve received that award, so again, in most of the scholarships, so they’re just under 5000.

National scholarships available in the database and students can, if a school is utilizing MEFA pathway, they have the option to add local scholarships, which students would be able to see. So again, uh, encourage students to, to really take advantage of applying to scholarships, because it’s free money. I think, I don’t know that a lot of students realize that [00:46:00] too, it’s money you don’t have to pay back.

All right, so staying on track through senior year. Here we have a little rundown of of the timeline here. So through spring and summer, students are researching their colleges, visiting campuses, going to their college fairs, asking teachers for their letters of recommendation, maybe taking that SAT and ACT, starting to write the college essay.

Then the fall of senior year, they may retake the, the, those, uh, those tests, secure their letters of recommendation, they’re finalizing their college essay, uh, completing their, their applications, submit it, get, submitting the FAFSA, submitting the CSS profile if that’s required. And then come the winter of their senior year, they’re starting to, um, you know, depending on when they’ve applied, starting to receive those decisions, uh, and applying for the scholarships.

Maybe they [00:47:00] need to send in mid year grade reports to colleges. Uh, and then spring of senior year, super exciting time, of course, looking at graduation. Um, but receiving those application, you know, those decisions and financially financial aid offers, uh, and then attending the college house open, open house program.

So maybe they have, you know, they have a couple colleges that they’re kind of wavering between and going to the. Another visit to the college may help them make that, that final decision. And then of course that final decision, uh, you know, by May 1st. So MEFA, if you’re, you know, on our, um, our guidance curriculum, which you probably are, if you’re attending this email, um, you’ll get timely, timely emails.

Families get emails that help, help them keep on track as well. And again, visiting the college website. Each college website for details on deadlines, um, is important as well. [00:48:00] Okay. So staying connected with us on social media, um, is, is, you know, we can’t, uh, that’s, that’s how MEFA stays, um, in touch with, with.

Families and students and educators as well. So a number of different ways to keep up. Keep up with us on social Facebook Instagram. We have linked in. We have so many great videos on YouTube. We have an amazing podcast with all kinds of different topics, but first let me just check to see if there are any questions here in the chat.

Let me get over to the chat. Let’s see, I don’t see any questions at this time. If anyone has any chest questions, just pop them right in the chat. Let’s see. And then I will also mention that, um, educators, uh, if you go onto [00:49:00] MEFA. org and you go to our counselor page, we have all kinds of resources for you.

We have our, uh, MEFA Institute. So we’re always adding to that. Various topics. Uh, we have our ambassador program. If you are a school that would like to take advantage of having one of our ambassadors come out to your school to do a presentation. Um, you know, you can connect with them right from that page.

So many, many different resources. We have, uh, We have a financial aid 101 webinars. We have a myriad of different topics that you can either take advantage of yourself or send your your families to. So if there aren’t any any questions. Oh, let’s see here. See if you have any questions. All right. Uh, [00:50:00] there’s a question.

If you want, if schools want essays to be tailored to them, I’ll cover letters. How do you recommend navigating the common app? Prompts accordingly. Uh, well, many of the schools have a supplemental essay as well. Uh, so I guess it would depend on the, on the college. Uh, so you might have to tailor your, your, your common app essay to, you know, to, to the colleges.

So, um. That would be something. The other question is, do you offer any type of FAFSA or CSS profile walkthrough webinars? Yes, so we do have a number of, uh, both. Uh, so there are recorded, uh, recorded webinars that will go through the whole process, but we also offer, uh, we offer, uh, one on one appointments for any, uh, students or families that may need help, uh, navigating that.

We have a virtual Uh, events. [00:51:00] So we have virtual FAFSA events. Um, FAFSA day mass actually offers those. There are two per month. Um, so you can go right on the website and, and, and, and look for those, uh, in, in summer live and upcoming and some are recorded so you can take advantage of those at any time.

Okay. Well, if there aren’t any other questions, I think we’ll wrap it up for today. I thank you for joining and here is our contact information if you have any follow up questions or if you want to send any of your students or families to us if they have questions around you know any of any of the college application components process you know don’t hesitate to reach out that’s what we’re here for and thank you so much for for joining today and enjoy the rest of your day.

Okay, take [00:52:00] care.