Hi!

We are still out here in the Atlantic - it feels like it's been forever! But we are closing in on our destination and will arrive in just a couple of days. Thank you to everyone who has checked in to see how it's going!

Quick correction first. Last issue I told you Columbia was test-optional. Well, four days later they announced they’re going back to requiring the SAT or ACT, the last Ivy to drop the pandemic-era policy. It kicks in for the 2027-28 cycle, so this fall’s seniors are still test-optional there. This is the part of the job where the ground moves faster than I can write the newsletter.

On to the theme tying together every question I’m fielding this June: families trying to buy an admissions edge that isn’t actually for sale.

It shows up first in the summer plans. Should my kid take the job or do the paid program? Nine times out of ten, get the job.

A teenager who clocks in, deals with a rude customer, and learns to be useful to a boss is showing colleges real responsibility, something a glossy $6,000 pre-college program rarely can. If the work points toward what they care about (a STEM education center, a lab that needs a gopher, a marina if they love the water), even better. But the busser job counts too.

That said, the paid program isn’t a scam, and if it’s genuinely new and exciting, go for the experience. Just don’t do it for the edge. Unless it’s one of the handful that are both wildly selective and (tellingly) free or close to it, like RSI or the Telluride seminars, it won’t move the needle. The ones that impress are selecting for the student, not the tuition check.

Other questions I've been getting are about the scholarship hunt. Yes, the databases have some good ideas (Fastweb, Scholarships.com, BigFuture), and yes, you’ll find money if you work for it. But most awards are small, and here’s what nobody mentions: many colleges count your hard-won outside scholarship against the aid they already offered. It’s called scholarship displacement, and roughly half of students who win outside scholarships see their aid reduced. You win $3,000, the school trims your grant by $3,000, net zero.

However, there are a handful of states that have banned this practice. Like everything with the admissions process, your strategy will depend on numerous factors. Plan a meeting with me soon if this is something you are concerned about and we can come up with a strategic plan.

So where’s the money actually hiding? In your list! The most reliable way to get aid is to be in the top 25% of a school’s admitted profile, which usually means looking at less selective schools than your kid’s stats might otherwise reach for. Which is the hardest truth of all, and I’m speaking to families without demonstrated financial need here (if you have need, the math flips, and a meet-full-need elite school can be the cheaper option). For everyone else: you can have prestige, or you can have affordability, but rarely both. The service academies are free and specialty schools like Webb Institute are as well, but those are the exceptions. Pretending the tradeoff isn’t real is how a 21-year-old ends up with six figures of debt.

One bright spot. A top student at a less selective school is often a lock for the honors college: smaller seminars, priority registration, personalized and attentive advising, a research track. A higher-tier experience at a lower-tier price. For a lot of kids, that’s not the consolation prize, it’s the better return on investment.

Whether or not you agree with how colleges run their businesses, the reality is the consumer doesn't yet have the upper hand here. Your best bet overall to improve admissions and reduce financial burden is to focus on chasing authentic and realistic experiences - not just an edge.

Until next time…

Nikki