Repaying Your Student Loans

Repaying your student loan is a great way to build good credit. Even though many student loans are deferred until after you graduate, it's a good idea to plan ahead.

Tips for successfully repaying student loans:
Keep your student loan documents together in a safe place so that you'll be able to find them when you need them. This includes promissory notes, cancelled checks, notices of disbursement, letters, and other communications about your loan(s).
Students: Set aside a little money each week to make sure that you will have enough to be able to begin your payments when your grace period is over. Saving as little as $10 every week while you're in college will turn into $2,000 when you graduate! And if you find a great job immediately, you'll have a ready-made emergency fund.
Paying back your student loans on time is important! You can use student loan debt to your advantage by creating a good credit history. When you're ready to borrow in the future, other banks and lenders will see that you are a good risk for a loan.
Whenever possible, use online banking or ACH automatic debits to ensure that payments are made on time.
Make sure that you keep your lender informed about changes - your address, your legal name, school enrollment, transfers to a different school, graduation.
Read your student loan promissory note and Truth-In-Lending disclosure statement. They may not read like bestsellers, but you'll be ahead of the game if you know the terms of your loan. If you need help understanding some of the information on these documents, please contact us for assistance.
Do everything you can to avoid default on your student loans. It can be frightening and upsetting to have financial difficulties that make it difficult to meet your loan payments. If you think you can’t make a loan payment, talk with your lender as soon as possible about your options. Default can lead to any of the following:
Your student loans can be turned over to collection agencies and you can be sued for the entire loan amount.
You'll still owe the full amount borrowed, and you can even be charged with collection and court costs.
Your wages can be garnished. This means that a portion of your paycheck will be automatically diverted toward loan repayment.
You will cause damage to your credit rating and have difficulty borrowing money in the future for things like mortgages, car loans, and graduate education loans.
You may be unable to renew professional licenses.
You'll be ineligible for federal financial aid (for yourself or your kids someday), deferments, and federal interest benefits.

This article was found on our friends over at MEFA's (Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority) website

What you can do while waiting for college acceptance offes

Now that the hard work of filling out applications and writing essays is over, you may think all that's left to do is to wait anxiously for an admission decision about your college future. Even if you've turned everything in, however, there are still some things you can do to improve your chances of admission, and to keep your mind occupied while you wait.

Monitor the college acceptance process

Colleges won't make an admissions decision about you if they don't have everything they need, so you may want to follow up with schools to make sure they have all your paperwork. If you don't receive postal or electronic notification that your application is complete, check your colleges' Web sites or call to ask about the status of your application.

During mid-winter and early spring, colleges are often still awaiting mid-year high school grade reports, a teacher recommendation letter, an official SAT/ACT report, or other various forms. You may need to do some careful prodding of others to make sure your application moves forward.

Keep working hard in your classes
Continue to work hard and keep up your grades as they are the most important on-going factor in the admissions process, and could mean the difference between a college acceptance, a waiting list, or a flat-out rejection. The mid-year report from your high school will include your most recent transcript and grades. Make sure this report goes out from your high school, and consider updating the college yourself about your academic progress, especially if you have strong grades and good comments.

Know what you can do to impact the admission decision

A letter from you in February or early March may help, too. Discuss your academic progress, any particular activities you are enjoying (extracurricular and otherwise), changes in your schedule, or any classes or projects you would like to highlight.

Most importantly, emphasize your continuing interest in the colleges and be as specific as possible about why you are interested in a particular school. This might include highlighting which academic and extracurricular programs are most appealing to you, and why you believe the college is a good match for you. Continued interest, along with strong academic performance, are two key factors colleges are looking for from you at this stage, and it may help with the admissions decision.

Sometimes it makes sense to send an additional letter of recommendation from a senior year teacher. You should, however, only do so if it would really give an added boost to your application. You may also want to consider sending a sample of strong senior year work, such as a graded paper from English, a science report, or an art portfolio or music recording.

Add positive elements to your application that you may increase your chances of receiving a college admission letter, but don't distract the admission committees from good work you did previously by adding unnecessary elements to your file.

Talk to alumni or college representatives if possible
Colleges that maintain alumni interviewing opportunities may contact you for an interview. Once they have your complete application, the college usually forwards the information to an alumni committee that automatically gets in touch with you by phone or e-mail. You might check the colleges' Web sites to see how the process works, and to request an interview if it is not clear how the process works.

Take advantage of these types of opportunities to learn more about the colleges and to demonstrate your interest in them. Yes, this might be a tipping factor to help you receive a college admission letter, but the effort could also help with your decision-making process in April if you are fielding multiple offers of admission.

Don't forget about money
An often-overlooked task during January and February is filing for financial aid. Talk with your parents or guardians. If you think you might need financial aid to help pay for college, then complete the financial aid process as soon as possible. File the FAFSA and PROFILE forms, as well as any additional financial aid forms required by individual colleges. The worst they can say is "no," but if you don't file for aid early in the winter, you might be excluded from potential assistance.

If there are extenuating circumstances that could affect your family's ability to pay for college, you should write a letter directly to each college's financial aid office, supported by any necessary documentation, to add to their decision process about your aid package.

Help your college acceptance chances

For seniors, January through March often seems like it's all about waiting for college admission letters, but these are some of the things you can do to remain engaged in the admissions process and help your chances. Avoid that senior slide as much as possible and stay committed. This strategy will have the greatest chance of helping you to open up choices in the spring.

By Howard and Matthew Greene, hosts of two PBS college planning programs and authors of the Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning series and other books.

This article can be found on the Peterson's website http://www.petersons.com/college-search/waiting-college-acceptance-offers.aspx

SAT Prep Program at North High School

Looking for some help on boosting your SAT scores? This spring North High School is going to be hosting an SAT prep program for local high school students in conjunction with our friends at Let's Get Ready.

Not sure who Let's Get Ready is exactly?

The people at Let's Get Ready envision a world where students from all socioeconomic backgrounds have equal access to the support they need to reach higher education. The mission of Let’s Get Ready is to expand college access for motivated, low-income high school students by providing FREE SAT preparation and college admission counseling. Let’s Get Ready accomplishes this mission by mobilizing and training college student volunteers to be the "Coaches", mentors, and role-models who provide not only SAT instruction and college admissions guidance, but the encouragement and inspiration students need to succeed.

How do you sign up for the class?

Priority is given to students who attend Worcester Area High Schools and who have demonstrated economic need and are first generation college bound. Space is limited so you must complete and submit an application. You can find the applications in the GEAR UP office or with your guidance counselors.

When and Where?

The Spring 2012 program will begin in early February and run until early May. Students will prepare for the May SAT. One night will be dedicated to Math and the other night to reading and writing. You can choose to participate in one or both classes.

Days & Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 5.30-8.30 PM

Location: North High School, 140 Harrington Way, Worcester MA 01604-1898

We hope to see you there!

What is College Goal Sunday?

FAFSA Day Massachusetts, a College Goal SundaySM Program, is a non-profit, volunteer driven program in its 8th year providing free assistance to students and families seeking to complete the FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

What should I bring if I am planning to attend?
Students and parents* should EACH bring the following:
FAFSA Pin (www.pin.ed.gov)

Social Security Number
Driver’s License number
Most recent federal tax return
Most recent W-2 or year-end pay stub
Untaxed income records
Bank statement(s)
Business and investment records
Alien Registration Card (if not a U.S. Citizen)
*Students who were born before January 1, 1989 do not need to bring parental information.

When and where is College Goal Sunday happening?
Sunday January 29th, 2012 at 2pm at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, MA

Registration is recommended http://www.fafsaday.org/registration.php

What do I need to complete my FAFSA?

Financial Aid season is in full swing! For someone completing a FAFSA for the first time, it can feel a little bit overwhelming. The best place to start is to gather all of the supporting information that you will help you to fill out the FAFSA. Here is a quick list of some of things you will need

Student Information:
2011 W2 form (or last paystub of 2011)
2011 Income tax form (if you file)
Social Security number
Alien Registration number (if not a U.S. citizen)
Date of birth
Account balance for checking, savings and CD's
Amount of social security benefits
Parent Information:
2011 W2 form (or last paystub of 2011)
2011 Income tax form (if you file)
Social Security number (both parents)
Dates of birth (both parents)
Date they were married, separated, divorced (whatever happened most recently)
Amount of Social Security benefits, unemployment benefits, welfare benefits, Veteran's benefits, Military or Clergy benefits
Amount of child support paid or received

*If you have a legal guardian as determined by the State you will not need to complete the parents section and will complete the student portion as an independent student.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the start to their Thanksgiving break. This is a great time to reflect on what we are thankful for, get some much needed rest and relaxation and eat some good food! For seniors this is also a good time to take a serious look at where you are in the college admissions process. Most of you should be well on your way to completing all of your applications, but just in case you aren't- here is a great list (compliments of College Board) to help you stay on track.

§ Narrow your list of colleges to approximately five to eight, and review it with your counselor. Get an application and financial aid info from each. Visit as many as possible.
§ Make a master calendar and note:
§ Test dates, fees and deadlines
§ College application due dates
§ Required financial aid applications and their deadlines
§ Recommendations, transcripts and other necessary materials
§ Your high school's deadlines for application requests, such as your transcript
§ Ask for recommendations. Give each person your resume, a stamped and addressed envelope, and any required forms.
§ Write application essays and ask teachers, family members and friends to read first drafts.
Decide Whether to Apply Early Action or Early Decision
§ November 1: For early admission, colleges may require test scores and applications in early November. Send your SAT® scores.
§ Ask if your college offers an early estimate of financial aid eligibility.
Get Financial Aid Info
§ Attend financial aid info events in your area.
§ Talk to your counselor about CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE® and learn about completing the PROFILE.Use Scholarship Search, review scholarship books, and ask your counselor about local and state

Tuition Break for New England Residents

Have you ever thought of going to school outside of Massachusetts but decided it might be too expensive? If so, you might want to check out the tuition break for New England residents through the New England Board of Higher Education.
What is Tuition Break?
NEBHE's Tuition Break program, the New England Regional Student Program (RSP), allows thousands of New England residents to enroll at out-of-state New England public colleges and universities at a discounted rate. Students are eligible for the RSP Tuition Break when they enroll in an approved major that is not offered by the public colleges and universities in their home-state.
The RSP Tuition Break program not only saves students thousands of dollars in college tuition, but also enables the six New England states to expand educational opportunities for their residents, while avoiding duplication of costly academic programs.
The tuition break program offers Associate, Bachelor and Graduate degree's. For a complete list of programs available to Massachusetts residents check out this like on the New England Board of Higher Education's website:
http://www.nebhe.org/wp-content/uploads/2012-13_Tuition_Break_Massachusetts_Brochure.pdf