On the latest episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, guest host Sally Ganga kicks off our first segment, by welcoming College Coach finance expert Michelle Richardson to discuss the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as the FAFSA. They cover the basics, like what info the FAFSA requires and who should complete it, as well as more nuanced questions regarding divorce and other family situations, plus the logistics of just how colleges receive this information.

You might assume that college essay supplements are merely an opportunity for a college to learn more about its applicants; that they are known to students only after they’ve made a decision to apply to a particular university; that they are rooted in some important academic or cultural aspect of the institution with which they are associated. For nearly every college, you’d be right.

But not so for the University of Chicago.

While both the well-established Common Application and its 2-year old rival the Coalition enable students to apply to college, there are countless variations between the two platforms. And for students (as well as parents and school counselors) who are familiar with the characteristics and structure of the Common App, be prepared that many of the features you know and love (and probably take for granted) on the Common App are regrettably absent from the Coalition. But fear not! Our 10 top tips below highlight our favorite suggestions for students applying to college with the Coalition Application.

There is a scholarship (or many scholarships) out there for everyone. Every student has some skill, interest, experience, or characteristic that may make them an attractive candidate for one scholarship or another. And while we often refer to scholarships as “free money,” scholarships don’t actually come for free. It takes work to thoughtfully consider your strengths and research the scholarships that might be most appropriate for you. While the effort that goes into finding and winning scholarships may be akin to a part-time job, we at College Coach want to make your job a little easier. This on-going scholarship series highlights a new scholarship each week. Check out the below, along with the other posts in the series, and you may discover a funding resource that will make covering that college bill a little (or a lot!) easier.

This scholarship may provide a Columbus Day gift for students of Italian heritage who have proven academic track records and are leaders in their communities. The renewable scholarship helps students with demonstrated financial need partially cover college costs.

Scholarship: Columbus Citizens Foundation Scholarship

The Princeton supplement is one of the most varied in terms of tone. One prompt asks for a long, thoughtful response, while the others are brief and informational rather than introspective. Let’s start with those short ones!

On the latest episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, Elizabeth Heaton is in the host seat and here to talk about early action, supplemental essays for Georgia Tech and Emory, financial aid at Northeastern University.

In case you haven’t heard, financial aid application season is now upon us. Not quite sure when you should be applying for financial aid? Check out this installment of the brand new College Coach video series, We Can Explain, where we answer the question, “When Should You Apply for Financial Aid?”

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school!

School Spotlight: Susquehanna University
Selinsgrove, PA 

There is a scholarship (or many scholarships) out there for everyone. Every student has some skill, interest, experience, or characteristic that may make them an attractive candidate for one scholarship or another. And while we often refer to scholarships as “free money,” scholarships don’t actually come for free. It takes work to thoughtfully consider your strengths and research the scholarships that might be most appropriate for you. While the effort that goes into finding and winning scholarships may be akin to a part-time job, we at College Coach want to make your job a little easier. This on-going scholarship series highlights a new scholarship each week. Check out the below, along with the other posts in the series, and you may discover a funding resource that will make covering that college bill a little (or a lot!) easier.

This scholarship was created to help students who have survived cancer. It provides financial assistance to students attending college full time and is renewable annually. Students experiencing health issues while enrolled may request a leave of absence and their scholarship will be put on hold for up to one year.

Scholarship: Cancer for College Scholarship

Last week, the Wall Street Journal and Time Higher Education released their second annual college rankings. While I appreciate some differences in their methodology from what we see each year from the US News & World Report, I didn’t have to look much further than their page introducing the Top 10 to be reminded of the many reasons I feel frustrated by college rankings in general. The way university rankings are covered as a horse race—MIT moves up to second, Stanford falls to sixth—belies the reality that colleges and universities move much more like oil tankers than thoroughbreds; they stay on a course without much change except over very long periods of time. Annual rankings, which purport to show changes in institutional quality year over year, can’t really say a whole lot when the methodology draws heavily on factors that are largely fixed, except for microscopic changes in hiring or from student survey responses. This is why schools in the Top 10 are nearly always in the Top 10, and why you’ll never see a school jump 20 slots in a single year.