Hello, second semester, senior year. After the last few months discussing college applications, the focus now shifts to financial aid applications.

Parents often ask whether these applications are worth the time and trouble. My short answer:  Yes. These applications offer the possibility of funding a college education -- grants, loans, and scholarships. (A number of colleges use the FAFSA and CSS College Profile along with the student’s file to determine merit awards or scholarships.)

As Michelle Obama recently said to northern Virginia high school students and their parents, “Don’t leave money on the table.”

The applications

FAFSA—Every college, from a local community college to a very selective private college, requires the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The FAFSA determines a student’s eligibility for any federal aid, whether grants, subsidized loans, or work-study funds. The application is free; the 2014-15 school year version became available January 1, 2014.

Seniors, are you experiencing any of the following symptoms?

·       A lack of motivation in the morning

·       Feelings of apathy about AP Calc

·       Missed tests

·       Making the party but not the athletic practice

·       A general slacking off in and out of the classroom

If so, you may be experiencing senioritis.

Warning:

Your senior year is important to colleges. Acceptance letters are contingent on your finishing the year at the same performance level as when you applied -- same classes, continuing good grades, same extracurriculars.

Directions:

Keep your focus and stay fully engaged -- both in the classroom and on campus.

Dangerous interactions:

If slacking off gets out of hand, it can have serious consequences.  Admission can be denied or rescinded for significant changes in grades or disciplinary action for behavioral issues. If you are waitlisted, a dip in grades or lapse in judgment can work against your being admitted. (Manufacturer's warning: We're having a little fun here with our format. But this is serious stuff. Follow directions accordingly.)

Call the admission office immediately if you experience the following:

Courtney Skerritt is committed to single sex education. She attended a women's college, an all-girls summer camp for ten years, and today is Associate Director of College Counseling at The Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas, the largest independent girls' school in the country. 

"There is something special about girls' schools that is hard to put into words, but when you walk across the campus you can see it and feel it. I see an inspiration in them. They've been given the okay to believe in whatever they want to believe in and from that comes an amazing confidence. It's not for every girl, not for every student," says Skerritt. "But what I hear from my students is how much they really appreciate the ability to focus on their academics. Our girls have an active social life and they're dedicated to their friendships but when they're here, they're here. "

The engineering major asks, "How does it work?"

The accounting major asks, "How much does it cost?"

The liberal arts major asks, "Would you like fries with that?"

Yea, yea… Not so fast.

Wherever we speak across the country, we're asked by parents how to find out about outcomes for graduates. They want to know how they can justify a Classics or English or Art major when STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields are a sure thing with sizable salaries. And if you only read the headlines in the New York Times and other fashionable news outlets, you'd think that the liberal arts degree was experiencing death by a thousand cuts. One recent headline: "There's no place for the liberal arts in the job market."

Writing in the Wall Street Journal last year, Jane Shaw opined: “Many liberal-arts graduates, even from the best schools, aren’t getting jobs in large part because they didn’t learn much in school. They can’t write or speak well or intelligently analyze what they read.”

So what can you do with THAT degree?