Featured Posts
Why We Are So Bad at Buying Happiness

Why We Are So Bad at Buying Happiness

"Those who say that money can't buy happiness aren't doing it right."  Have you heard that joke before?  Well, it turns out that there is more than a kernel of truth in there. People are generally bad at buying happiness because: 1. We buy to keep up with the Joneses / ...

Read More

Hair, Hair, Everywhere – the Recession Edition

Hair, Hair, Everywhere – the Recession Edition

I wrote a hair post in both 2007 and 2008, so I suppose it's only appropriate to continue the tradition in 2009! This post is dedicated to recession's impact on hair budgets. The recession is a major reason why I've been neglecting my hair a bit during these past several months: ...

Read More

Experience, Not Stuff

Experience, Not Stuff

Experience, not stuff: I've decided to make this my mantra to live by. It'll be hard, because I like nice things (ex: shoes), but guess which of the following I remember the most? (a) A $100 leather jacket purchased in Buenos Aires, that I've worn ONCE in 3 years. (b) A $45 hour-long horse ride on ...

Read More

What Sex And The City Taught Me About Love, Life, and Money

What Sex And The City Taught Me About Love, Life, and Money

Sex And The City: The Movie is coming out in May! I am so, so excited, and I'm betting that many Sex And The City feel the same way. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda - you ladies have been missed! (By the way, I love the photo below - head-to-toe ...

Read More

5 Year Travel Plan: Making Your Travel Dreams a Reality

5 Year Travel Plan: Making Your Travel Dreams a Reality

I've been struck by a bad case of the travel bug lately... I haven't been out of the country since 2007, which seems like a long time. CB and I are saving for Galapgos, but we also want to travel quite extensively in the intervening months before our Big Galapagos ...

Read More

Graduate School: (When) Should I Go?

Graduate School: (When) Should I Go?

Graduate school is a significant undertaking both in terms of time and money. During the last few months, I've felt some pressure from concerned family members about going to graduate school. I know they only want the best for me, but I'm glad I followed my gut instinct and ...

Read More

Should Parents Pay For College Education

Should Parents Pay For College Education

A college education has, for a large percentage of society, become the de rigueur entry-level degree. "Should parents pay for college education" is a question where the answer is always, "it depends." In today's economic climate, I imagine that many parents are having the difficult talk with their kids ...

Read More

Free GMAT Study Resources

Free GMAT Study Resources

Taking and prepping for standardized tests isn't cheap, fortunately, there are many free study resources available online. I've taken advantage of most of these resources when I was preparing for my test last year. Hopefully you will find them helpful as well. Free Online Study Materials The GMAT Uncovered by ManhattanGMAT: A ...

Read More

7 Steps In Overcoming Rejections In Job Search

7 Steps In Overcoming Rejections In Job Search

Rejections during job search are disappointing, to be sure. Nobody likes to be told that they were qualified candidates, but the management has decided to go in another direction. In this environment, however, rejections are common-place through out the job search and interview process. After the initial disappointment wears off ...

Read More

How to Host a Dinner Party On a Budget

How to Host a Dinner Party On a Budget

Hosting a dinner party is always fun, but right now I need my get-togethers to be budget-friendly as well. Remember when I made crab cakes? That was for a group of 5 or 6 friends. The crab cakes were delicious and everyone loved them, but, crabs are expensive! Two pounds ...

Read More

Pure Altruism - Does it Exist?

Pure Altruism - Does it Exist?

Every time the holidays come around, feel-good human-interest stories surface. This is a time to give to others, help those in need, and realize that the world is not as cutthroat or as competitive as we may believe. But is it true? Can people be purely altruistic? The authors of Superfreakonomics (the ...

Read More

The Price of Addiction To Argentine Tango

The Price of Addiction To Argentine Tango

It's happened. I fell for the sultry dance, hard. (I even made its own category!) I leave class with a big smile on my face. I read Argentine tango forums and blogs. I fall asleep thinking of boleos and molinetes. I'm not sure how my wallet feels about the possible financial ...

Read More

Old Cars: Unsung Heroes of Personal Finance

Old Cars: Unsung Heroes of Personal Finance

New Cars are shiny, gleaming, loaded with the latest technology and features. New cars get the big commercials on TV, where they swerve confidently in snow storms, zoom down idyllic country lanes, and maybe even dance a little to the sound of a state-of-the-art in-car sound system near a trendy ...

Read More

Disney World Recap

Disney World Recap

I realized that I haven't really talked about my Disney World adventure (aside from the Dining Plan review) on this blog yet... and well, that oversight must be rectified! If you have any specific questions about Disney World, please ask away and I'll do my best to answer. We Got To ...

Read More

Job Fairs: How to Prepare So You Stand Out

Job Fairs: How to Prepare So You Stand Out

Job fairs can be a great opportunity for applicants to interact with many different companies. But if you don't prepare adequately, job fairs can be a disaster. Last week, I attended a job fair - prior to the event I debated whether I should go. I had heard the horror ...

Read More

How To Practice Safe and Responsible Credit Card Use

How To Practice Safe and Responsible Credit Card Use

Wait, you mean you never had a credit card education class in school? Okay, me neither. The quality of education these days! But there's no reason that high schools or colleges shouldn't offer a class like this. After all, credit card education isn't an awkward topic like the other type of ...

Read More


College Applications Season – Are You Ready?

by WellHeeled on December 2, 2006

I went to a very competitive public high school. For a couple of students, it’s Stanford or Shut up, Berkeley or Bust, Dartmouth or Die. I had pretty good test scores but could’ve had better grades. Nonetheless, some lucky star must’ve been shining down on me and I got into a top-20 school. Every year since I’ve been at my college, our SAT and GPA median and number of applicants have been growing by leaps and bounds. I’m just happy I got in when I did… ’cause the incoming kids are truly frightening. See Exhibit A. It’s easy to understand why parents and students are more and more wiling to pay big bucks for a consultant to walk them through the process.

I didn’t use an admissions consultant service, but my parents spent a fair amount during the application process. I applied to 14 or 15 colleges, got a couple of fee waivers, so 13 schools at $50 application fee per school = $650. I didn’t visit any schools on my own dime. I took SAT classes (my counselor got me into a free class offered at school) and SAT 2 classes ($500-$600 total). I also took 5 or 6 AP tests at $90 a pop = $540. And then there are all the prep books that I bought ($100). So in all, my parents spent almost $2,000 before I ever set foot inside the hallowed halls of higher education. And THEN they had to shell out $25k to $30k per year for tuition and room/board. I bet Mom saw the irony in that. ;)

True, paying for college admissions consultants and to a lesser extent, SAT prep classes, are somewhat controversial. I don’t know how many PF bloggers would feel that spending a couple (or more) thousand dollars on their kids’ college application season is worthwhile. (I say yes to the $1k prep classes, am a bit iffy on the $15k consultant packages). From my personal experience, I am so glad that my parents let me decide what schools to apply to, wrote me checks when I asked, and were generally supportive without being overbearing.

You May Also Want To Read :

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

Kira December 2, 2006 at 6:54 pm

If you’re looking at a school which decides scholarships based on SAT scores, it might actually pay a good return to take those classes and boost your score. I would have gotten one of those, except the school I went to gave automatic scholarships based on your class ranking, not your GPA – and I went to a school similar to yours and with a 3.75 was only in the top third. But if I had gone to Univ of Dayton (which offered me a ranked scholarship in 10th grade!) I would have gotten a full scholarship had my SAT been 60 points higher, so that would have paid off handsomely.

Reply

Golbguru December 3, 2006 at 11:06 pm

Your parents did an awesome job and I am pretty sure you deserved it :) ..sometimes I wonder..if most parents do it..it might just save a whole generation from student debt. Of course I am talking about those who can afford to do it.

Reply

strange bird December 4, 2006 at 9:17 am

Thank GOD I started the college application process last century ;) . When I see how competitive kids are now, I don’t feel like I would have had a chance. My grades were great but I wasn’t the valedictorian, and my SAT scores were high but I was no 1600-er, and I managed to get my undergraduate education for free… now I would have been lucky to be admitted to some of the schools that were offering me money to study with them only seven years ago!

Now that I’m applying for graduate schools, it’s much harder… I felt that I had no choice but to fork over $1250 for LSAT prep classes (which seems to have paid off…), and apply to 13 different schools just to make sure I had a chance somewhere strong. Maybe we’re all imagining it, but it seems that it’s harder than it ever was and requires more of an investment BEFORE EVEN STARTING than it ever did.

Reply

AliceRouland January 24, 2007 at 7:38 pm

I just find out there’s nothing to be worry about. Everything is ok. My SAT tests is good enough. And so will yours. Take Care

Reply

Leave a Comment

CommentLuv Enabled

Previous post:

Next post: