Because Spring Break came later than usual this year, lots of college-bound seniors were still trekking around their short-list of colleges on Good Friday in hopes of making a smart decision. While they were talking to professors and students, parents were meeting with financial aid to counselors to see how their student was awarded, and if the college could do anything to make it more affordable.

More often than not, the college had already made their best offer based on the information they had at the. If your student didn't qualify for a merit scholarship or need-based grant due to a high Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and a recent change in your financial circumstances that will impact your ability to move forward, be sure that you make that fact known to the financial aid office.

More Forms

With the deposit sent in, the next steps are completing enrollment forms, housing and meal plan forms, health forms, scheduling a physical, apply for student loans, and gosh knows what else! Just get them done and out of the way and sent to the college as soon as you can.

You Already Have $6,000 for College

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that you already have some cash laying around for college that you may not have thought about. I'm sure you already know this, but I write this newsletter for a lot of parents, and there may be one or two who haven't had the time to realize this: if you are married and earn under $160,000, you will receive a tax credit of $2,500 in the spring. If you are single and earn under $80,000 you get the same deal.

Also, if you are already paying at least $350 per month on your student's board and expenses, you will spend that next year anyway-- but you will send it to the college instead of spending it yourself. Thus, over ten months you have $3,500 plus the educational tax credit of $2,500 and that's six grand you don't have to worry about. Again, if you already knew this, my apologies.

More On The Wait List

This year Harvard received 4,511 more applications than last year, and they weren't the only ones to see such staggering increases. Trinity College (CT) had a 47% increase. Case Western Reserve University (OH), a 45% increase. Along with more applications comes declining acceptance rates.

With so many qualified students, some colleges are now in the position to wait-list more students. When a student is selected from the wait list, the odds of that student receiving financial aid are low. There are two reasons. The first is that the college has little incentive to offer funds to a student coming off of the wait list, as they are more than likely to enroll regardless of cost. Second, the college can be need-aware when choosing which students from the wait list. Need-aware means the college considers ability to pay when deciding which students to offer admission.

What should your student do if wait-listed? Contact admissions to find out what they are looking for, so you can strengthen their application and enlighten them to what your student been doing since the initial application was submitted. A one page letter-- or a video of 60 seconds or less-- letting admissions know how strongly your student wants to attend, and why, should also be sent.

But sometimes this won't help. There might be, for example, a surplus of English majors, not enough engineering students, or too few students from Oklahoma. Or there might be an unexpected shortage of French horn players. A student can't know this.

It is also important to keep in mind that if your student is eventually offered enrollment, the wait could be as late as August so hang tough!

High School Juniors (please share with your rising high school senior)

If you have a high school junior and you haven't gone through this before, you will want them to begin their college search now. Having a working list of schools by the end of June or early July will provide enough time to learn what will be needed to complete their application. If you're going to take some time for summer visits, having a well researched list will eliminate wasting time and money by avoiding inappropriate colleges.

Finding colleges that are a good academic and social fit can also be a good financial fit, so learn about the scholarship criteria at each school. Because merit or free money is often based on SAT/ACT scores, GPA or both, you'll know in advance if your student will qualify for these funds. If their scores are close, a test prep course may help bring them up to qualify.

P.S. If you find this newsletter helpful to you please share it with other parents like yourself!

Q.My business has suffered during the past few years and my credit along with it. Even though it was business debt I am personally responsible. The problem is I'm going to need to borrow to pay for my son's college education but am concerned that I won't be able to get a loan. What options do I have?

A. You are not alone and I know that doesn't help you pay for college. Options include applying for a Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS), being turned down and then having your son apply for an unsubsidized Stafford or Direct Loan (same thing) for $4,000. If that won't be enough-- and it probably won't-- if you can find a co-signer, your troubles are over.

Until recently, an adverse credit history didn't always mean you would be turned down on appeal. Now that colleges are processing loan requests for the government, it is to be determined if they will exercise the same discretion as the lenders that used to participate in the Federal Family Educational Loan Program (FFELP) before the Obama administration dissolved it.