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"Tips For Completing Financial Aid Forms"
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By: Gen Tanabe co-author of Get Into Any College: Secrets Of Harvard Students, Get Free Cash For College: Scholarship Secrets Of Harvard Students, and co-founder of SuperCollege.com where you'll find more tips, secrets, and strategies. Copyright 2000.
At the end of Chapter 11 of our
book, Get Into Any College: Secrets Of Harvard Students is a letter that
explained the financial strain of having a parent laid off which convinced
Harvard's Financial Aid Office to increase their offer of financial aid to a
student by thousands of dollars. While most students will not have this kind of
experience, there are effective ways that you can make your needs known to the
financial aid officers. The best way is to complete the myriad of forms
carefully.
Be Thorough. By this we mean both making sure that you
complete every blank and that you include as much information as you have.
Be Honest. You don't want lies about your financial aid
application coming to haunt you as a student. And trust us, you won't be a
student for long if this happens.
Show That You Need Aid (If Indeed
You Do). If you are in need of support, which is the case for most students,
demonstrate it. In the space provided on the application or in a separate
letter, explain any factors that you think might affect your family's ability to
pay. Make sure to note any extenuating circumstances that the government or
colleges may overlook. Such circumstances include unusual medical or dental
expenses, costs for a sibling's education, or a parent's recent
unemployment.
Make Copies As Cheat Sheets. After you have
completed all of your application forms, make sure that you make copies of them.
You will be using some of this information when applying to other scholarships
and also when applying for aid for the following year. You've been through the
grueling process once, make it easier for yourself the next time by having your
photocopies to use as cheat sheets.
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Thank you for visiting,
Al Brouillard
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