Awards You Pay For

It's that time of year, when many of our students are invited to become members of national award societies, or to attend various summer leadership conferences across the country. The invitations and “awards” look very impressive and allude to the great honor it is for the student to have been included. Prices range from $60 for a “one time membership fee,” or $500 to as much as $5000 for a conference fee that usually doesn't include travel expenses. Some are “free” to put your name in a book, but then, when they have all your information, pressure parents to buy the book along with other memorabilia at extraordinary prices.

Parents often ask if these are legitimate awards for their students. They also want to know if we think students should attend these conferences to give them a competitive edge with college or scholarship applications. And they want to know who nominated their students in the first place.

The answers to these concerns are complex – here are "Frequently Asked Questions" on this topic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will attending or joining this society, conference, camp, summit, etc. help my child get into college?

College admissions officials and scholarship selection committees have told us they are not impressed with awards or honors that parents purchase. Hundreds of thousands of students are nominated each year for honors, memberships, conferences and leadership training.

College and Scholarship competition is much more powerful if students have received awards that mark them above the norm in something they have actually earned, such as the Rocklin High Distinguished Community Service Award.

Paying for a conference might provide a beneficial experience, but it should not be considered an award.

This conference is at my son’s first choice college. Will it help him get accepted there? 

Probably not. Beware that many summer offerings held on college campuses, actually have no affiliation with the college. Some organizations rent college facilities to hold their conferences, and loosely use the college name with promises of earned college credits or admission recognition.

Did the school send in the nomination?

Your school probably did NOT submit a nomination for your student – that’s against most school confidentiality policies.

How was my student nominated?

Students may have been invited or nominated simply because they registered for the SAT, ACT, applied for a scholarship, or something similar.

An issue to consider is that once you have registered with a conference, society or “award,” you can expect to receive a plethora of mailings, since these organizations often sell their mailing lists to similar vendors.

My student really wants to attend. Is there a way to check it out?

Contact the registration office for the event and ask for local references (names and phone numbers) of Rocklin students, who have attended previous conferences. See if they can get a previous camper to contact you. Find out things like: Did someone meet your student at the airport? Were the meals good? The rooms clean? Did you feel safe? How did you get back to the airport? What other costs were incurred that were not outlined in the brochure? Do you think it was worth the expense?

Should we spend the money?

I never tell parents how to spend their money. There is absolutely no way to guarantee this is a good value.
If students are ready to navigate a national airport in a strange city on their own, and will benefit from the program, make your decision to attend based on as many facts as you can gather.

What have other Rocklin High students said about these opportunities?

Over the years many Rocklin High students have attended these kinds of conferences; some of them thought it was a great experience while others thought it was a “rip off.”

Celebrate the New Year with FAFSA

Everyone wants the kind of financial aid that you don’t pay back. In college planning, we call it "gift aid."

Gift aid includes grants, merit awards, and scholarships. Filing a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the most comprehensive way to access merit based gift aid, entitlements, need based awards, work study and student loans. If students and parents choose to borrow money for college, federally subsidized loans are usually the best choice, since repayment and interest do not begin until the student leaves college.

Filing for federal and student aid for college (need based and/or merit based) begins with filing the FAFSA; and the FAFSA filing period begins January 1st.

The FAFSA (www.fafsa.gov) is used to calculate the federal government’s idea of how much the family must pay toward education.

The formula is something like this: Cost of Education - Family Contribution = Need

The cost of the education is determined by many factors including tuition, fees, housing, books, supplies and even travel expenses. Based on the methodology of how need is determined by the feds, sometimes students actually pay less out of their own pockets if they attend a higher priced school. This is why it’s so important to file a FAFSA regardless of income, family size or neighborhood rumor.

The family is the parent or parents with whom the child lives. In shared custody, it’s the parent with whom the child spends the most time. The family income of the parent must include the spouse’s income. The family size includes children and step-children in the home where the student lives. Unmarried parents do not include non-related members in the household.

Need is demonstrated once the family contribution has been calculated by a formula called the Congressional Methodology. Families are expected to pay school costs equal to the family contribution. The demonstrated “need” becomes the basis for need-based aid.

Don’t disqualify yourself! Regardless of your family’s financial success it is wise to file the FAFSA form.  FAFSA information is used for work study jobs, subsidized loans and sometimes even college merit awards (money given based on something other than financial need) begin with information on the FAFSA.

The federal government offers a variety of funding possibilities, and California students also have access to Cal Grants, offered by the State of California. Students apply for both federal and state money with the FAFSA. Cal Grants require a supplementary grade point verification form, which must be completed by the school registrar. Cal Grant filing periods are January 1 through March 2 of each year, so while the FAFSA can be submitted after the March 2 deadline, California kids should always submit the FAFSA and the Cal Grant g.p.a verification form prior to March 2nd.  I always recommend that students set a FAFSA filing deadline of Valentine’s Day. This gives us plenty of time to resolve any questions or issues that might arise in filing. We all love money – so Valentine’s Day is a great way to remember to file on time.

The FAFSA is available January 1st each year on-line www.fafsa.gov . Be certain you are on the official FAFSA website, since at the dawn of the internet years ago, some very clever entrepreneur purchased fafsa.com  which is a for-profit site that files the FAFSA for you, (after you’ve filled it out) for about $100! Always remember the first word in FAFSA is FREE!

To file a FAFSA takes about a half hour. You’ll need your 2012 income tax forms, your social security number, the names of the colleges where you gave applied, and a personal identification number for your electronic signature, which is issued on the FAFSA website. Parents, who have more than one child in college, will file the same information for both children, but on different forms; and be sure it’s the same information!

Your children must also file FAFSAs individually. Students will need their 2012 income tax forms, their parents’ and their own social security numbers, and an electronic signature PIN number. Students and parents must file a FAFSA for each year of college.

After filing, students will receive a Student Aid Report which tells what kind of aid they qualify for. Following that, the schools where students have been accepted will send financial aid offers which include a list of different types of aid. Students can then compare which college is actually the best value as they decide where to attend.

So if you’re a future college student, or parent of a future college student add one more item to your New Year’s resolution list - Get started on the FAFSA.

www.fafsa.gov            Filing period January 1 – March 2, 2012