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How to Cut College Costs Before Freshman Year (Mainstreet)
It’s bad enough that tuition for a four-year college can cost north of $100,000 – but that’s all the more reason parents should take a hard look at not just college costs, but also at the cost of preparing for college. With SAT tests, study guides, tutoring and advanced placement exams, not to mention fees for applying to any one of the 3,800 colleges and universities in the U.S., the cash expended just in your hunt for the perfect college can really add up.
What can you do about such costs? Let’s look under the hood . . .
Aim for the right number of campus visits. High school students should begin their college search halfway through their junior year in high school – that leaves plenty of time to file the financial aid forms, hunt for scholarships and visit attractive college campuses. When you embark on the latter, keep the number of school visits manageable – aim for 10 or 12 at the most. Better yet, keep those colleges as local as possible. If you live near Boston and are planning in visiting U.C.L.A, get ready to shell out big bucks for air travel, car rentals and potential hotel costs. If you do want to travel long distances for a campus visit, see if you can get a family friend with a high school student interested in the same school – then split the costs for the trip. Also, contact the school beforehand to see if you can stay in a campus dorm overnight, or at least get a hotel discount (many colleges will give you some deals or point you in the right direction).
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