College. The one word all teenagers look forward to in their young life. After all the stress of applications is over, it seems that everything else falls into place…or does it? College applications are just one step in the long procedure that is the college admissions process. In this economy, more and more teenagers, and their families, are looking to universities that supply a proper financial aid packet. However, with so many competent individuals in competition with you, it seems that the chance of even obtaining financial aid is slim. Although daunting, getting started is easier than it looks. Follow these tips from Jerry Slavonia and the CampusExplorer.com team to help you get started and on your path to academic success.
Tip #1: Leverage your strong points and position yourself. There isn't going to be a discussion about tuition options until you've been accepted. Give yourself a couple of good options, all of which will suit you. Then make the school want you! A significant number of students are accepted but never attend. Private colleges need students to survive. Leverage that knowledge.
#2: Do your homework (this time). Do as much research as you can on each of your top selections. Try to narrow your focus so you can dig in on each school. How's the weather during winter? Do you like the surrounding community? Do you believe they offer the areas of study you are most interested in? How much is it going to cost? Tuition dependant colleges (private schools) will discuss tuition arrangements with you once you've been accepted.
#3: Give yourself options: You can't negotiate without leverage. Options = leverage.
#4: Be straight forward: Once you've been accepted, establish a relationship with the admissions staff. Identify your target admissions person. Don't beat around the bush. Tell them you want as many options as they have to lower your out of pocket tuition expense in order to make your decision on where you'll attend.
#5 Be realistic: If the schools published tuition is $30,000 annually, you're not going to knock off $20,000. But you may find yourself knocking ten, even twenty percent off by being persistent and working the system so don't hold back. You can knock off even more if you fully investigate grants, scholarships and work study programs. So don't assume anything when it comes to negotiating lower tuition costs at private schools.
Thanks to Jerry and the CampusExplorer.com team for the tips!
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