Financial Aid Awards, D3 Athletics, and Summer Planning

On the latest episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, guest host Sally Ganga covers how to compare financial aid award letters, Division 3 athletics and admissions, and summer planning. Comparing Financial Aid Award Letters Kathy Ruby joins Sally to discuss how to compare financial aid award letters. These letters can vary from college to college, making them confusing for families. Kathy explains what to expect and stresses that you should not be afraid of asking clarifying questions of the financial aid office. It is important to read each letter carefully, and Kathy provides some great tips on how to navigate these letters to make sure you are truly comparing apples to apples. D3 Athletics and Admissions Sally welcomes her next guest Jordan Brown, Admissions Officer and coordinator of student athletic recruitment at Occidental College. This segment covers the first steps of recruitment through to the decision process. They also discuss how your interest in playing sports at the college level impacts your college process and how to develop a college list given all of your priorities. It may feel like the athletic recruitment process is starting earlier and earlier, but there is good news at the D3 level – it is totally appropriate to initiate this process in the junior year of high school. This is a wonderful segment for all high school athletes, whether or not you want to go down the recruitment path. Summer Planning for High School Students Summer may seem far away with freezing temperatures covering most of the U.S., but Kara Courtois joins Sally for the final segment to discuss summer planning. Kara explains that it is important to start thinking about this now, because some programs have deadlines coming up. Summer programs can serve a lot of roles for a student – exploring a passion or diving into something they don’t have time for during the school year or experimenting with independence by living away from home. Summer is a great time for students to push past their comfort zone, explore, and grow. This is a wonderful, in depth conversation that can help you and your child identify what opportunities are right for them. On the next episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, we will cover how to most effectively communicate with colleges, how demonstrated interest factors into the admissions process, and how to appeal a financial aid offer.