Let me start by saying you never know how much a college is actually going to cost until you get the college’s financial aid award. That’s when you really know if a college is affordable. But there are indicators that some colleges are more likely to be affordable than others. Knowing these indicators mean that you can make sure you apply to colleges more likely to meet your financial needs. That doesn’t guarantee they will because we are talking averages here. But it does improve your chances. Continue reading
Recent Blogs
9 Ways to Improve Your Chances of Playing College Baseball-Part 2
I’ve already listed four of the nine things that you can do that will improve your chances of playing baseball at the college level in a previous post. These tips aren’t going to make a D2 player into a D1 player. They will give the D2 player a better chance at actually playing college baseball on a D2 team. These are the things you can do off the field that will set you apart from other players. It isn’t just about having the best skills; it’s about making it as easy as possible for coaches to know that you have the skills and choose you over another player. Continue reading
Parents and College Application Essays: How to Help, Not Hinder
(This is a guest post by College Essay expert Randy Levin.)
I am well aware that what I suggest below will sound counter-intuitive to most parents. All I can say is that I’ve helped close to 1000 students get into their top choice schools with this exact philosophy. Continue reading
5 Rules About Paying for College Most Parents Don’t Know: Rule 1
Rule 1: The FAFSA is NOT the key to paying for college.
50-50 Highlights: Best Colleges for Merit Scholarships
(I thought it was time to update this list from two years ago.)
Students with high Expected Family Contributions (EFC) who want to pay less for college need to find those colleges most likely to provide generous merit aid. One way to do this is to identify colleges that have a high percentage of freshman without need who receive merit aid. The higher the percentage, the more likely students are to qualify for merit aid. Continue reading
9 Ways to Improve Your Chances of Playing College Baseball-Part 1
Here are nine things that you can do that will improve your chances of playing college baseball. These aren’t about improving specific baseball skills, although that may happen. It’s about giving you the edge over another player who has the exact same stats and ability ratings as you do. In other words, these suggestions aren’t going to make a D2 player into a D1 player. It is about making it as easy as possible for a college coach to recruit you from the hundreds of other players that he has to choose from. Continue reading
Getting Exposure, Getting Attention, and Getting Offers: Why the Difference Matters
Want to learn about the most important element of the recruiting process?
Then you don’t want to miss the upcoming Facebook Live Session with Darrell Coulter on the Play College Baseball Facebook Page.
Part 3, will be on Monday, March 5th, 7:30 pm central time, I’ll be hosting Darrell Coulter, founder of S.T.A.R.T.T. Pitching and PitcherMatch.
Darrell with be discussing “Getting Exposure, Getting Attention, and Getting Offers: Why the Difference Matters.” The focus in Part 3 will be on tools for targeting coaches and programs.
Part 3: Getting Offers
Part 2: Building Relationships
Part 1: Getting Exposure
5 Ways You Can Undermine Your College Chances After Submitting Your Application
Most high school seniors are ready to breathe a big sigh of relief reaching their spring semester. Unfortunately, the college admissions process doesn’t end just because you submitted your applications. In fact, even after completing all the college applications and submitting test scores, there are five things high school seniors can do to ruin their chances of attending college in September. And they don’t all have to do with being accepted-there are things other than rejection that can keep you from starting classes in September. Continue reading
50-50 Highlights: 42 Public Colleges for Merit Aid
(I’ve updated this list. It started with 46 in 2015, 33 at the end of 2016, and now an increase to 42.)
Merit scholarships from colleges aren’t simply a way for schools to reward students for accomplishments, it’s part of the supply and demand of paying for college. Colleges use merit aid as a way to increase the supply of “accomplished” students at their schools. This is why the most competitive colleges in the country such as Princeton and Harvard don’t offer merit scholarships–they have no problem attracting high achieving students to their schools. Continue reading