Hi Seniors!
Below are some college updates, resources, and information for you to use if you applied to four-year colleges. Be sure to contact your guidance counselor if you have any questions!
-MVRHS Guidance Team
FAFSA Fun!
For many families, completing the FAFSA and then getting your SAI has been a challenge. Here are two links to get help!
After You Apply/After You Are Accepted: The Financial Aid Process
Yay, you were admitted to a couple of colleges! Now you have to decide which one to attend. A big part of this decision is calculating the financial offers each school has provided your family to determine what your net cost of attendance will be. Which one is the better deal? Use the links below to get to the MEFA (a trusted resource) website to get more information.
Please email your guidance counselor if you or a friend needs help with these important steps!
Wait Lists/Deferrals
If you are not accepted by a college, but instead you are deferred to a regular decision round or are offered a spot on their waitlist, be sure to read your emails thoroughly and check your college application portals! You may need to indicate that you want to accept the deferral or waitlist spot.
National College Decision Day
May 1 has traditionally been designated as National College Decision Day. This date represents your deadline to accept the offer of admission at the four-year college or university of your choice by making a deposit (see below). That means you have some major thinking to do if you haven’t already honed in on where (or if) you want to go to school next year. Because of the FAFSA delays, some colleges have moved their decision days. Check your favorite college website or use THIS LIST to see which colleges may have moved their decision deadlines.
Deposit Deadlines
Accepting an offer of admission to a college usually means you need to make a financial deposit to the college to “hold your spot”. The deposit usually ranges from $200 – $500. Check with your specific college(s) to determine the deposit amount.
*The college reps strongly encourage families to be transparent and ethical when making a deposit to a college, indicating to them that you are committing to that school. They asked that you not ‘double-deposit’ at two colleges because it isn’t fair to other candidates or potential future classmates, and it can have a negative reflection on our high school as well.
Campus Tours
Some of you have applied to colleges that you haven’t visited yet. The good news is that in-person campus visit information is easily accessible on their websites. If you have been accepted to a college, they will likely invite you to an accepted student event. This is a great option to visit that college, or visit again, and ask some in-depth questions.
Deferral/Gap Year Options
If you are accepted to a college but want to wait a year to attend, you may be able to defer your acceptance for up to one school year. Check the college’s website for information about how to request a deferral. Here is a link from our MVRHS Guidance webpage to help explore alternative post-high school options: Alternative Post-Secondary Options
Once you figure out where (or if) you are going to college…
You need to update your admissions results from colleges – acceptance, denial, deferred, and waitlisted in Naviance. You need to do it for each college you applied to in your “Colleges I Am Applying To” list, not just the ones you will attend. All of the anonymous information you supply will help future students, just like it helped you over the last couple of years (remember the scattergram?). Email Cindy if you have questions.