Navigate the maze

Liesha Huffstetler
Posted 6/7/18

College Admissions

Lisa Baghdady knows her way through the maze of college applications. She’s successfully helped her four sons.

The former Dutch Fork High teacher and founder of Dutch …

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Navigate the maze

Posted

College Admissions

Lisa Baghdady knows her way through the maze of college applications. She’s successfully helped her four sons.

The former Dutch Fork High teacher and founder of Dutch Fork Homeschool Resource Center said parents should start navigating the twists and turns early.

Confusing acronyms like SAT, ACT, FAFSA, and a plethora of forms can be challenging, she said.

“College application and scholarship hunting can be incredibly nerve-racking, but do-able, you just need to do your homework, devise a plan, and work the plan, making sure not to miss deadlines.”

She recommends researching colleges, touring college campuses, and checking websites to find out requirements for recommendation letters, transcripts, SAT scores, and be sure to note deadline dates.

“I suggest people start working on everything needed for successful admission as early as their junior year, possibly even sooner,” she advised.

Your choice of technical or traditional college – big or small, public or private, instate or out – are important life decisions.

Selecting a career choice and course of study are part of the adventure.

Midlands Technical College requires your child to make an acceptable score on the Accuplacer test, a copy of transcripts, and a meeting with an advisor.

How to pay for college is a big question. Researching for scholarships is part of the process. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used to get grants, work-study funds, and loans and needs to be filled out in October of the senior year.

This form is free for needs-based and merit-based students. Some colleges use this form for an in-house scholarship. You can find more information at fafsa.ed.gov.

She advised “having your children be responsible for their own finances. Knowing that they cannot attend if they do not have the money to pay for it, makes them a responsible, conscientious student, who studies hard to maintain good grades.”

The Mommy and Daddy Scholarship program doesn’t work as well.

The journey to find the right college is a way for parents and students to work together, as they weigh all options before making that critical college decision.

Two helpful websites you can check:

Fastweb.com is - a free scholarship search engine where students create a profile and have scholarship opportunities sent directly to their emails

https://www.che.sc.gov/ - S.C. Commission on Higher Education - shares what you need to know about how to qualify for the scholarships offered in this state.

With 2 Clemson graduate sons, 1 at Lander and 1 starting his college adventure, Lisa Baghdady can sit back and smile.

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