Top 5 Articles of the Week – June 21, 2013

It’s been a few weeks since we last did our round up here at YesCollege, but we’re officially back on track! Summer is in full swing, and in addition to getting some sun and relaxing, current and prospective students should still spend some time preparing for the upcoming school year both academically and financially. It’s never too early to start thinking about how to make your next year of college more affordable!

College Admissions and Prep

• Web Essay: Mastering college-application essays – Holly Asposto at Democrat and Chronicle.com has written a fantastic piece on mastering college application essays. When applying to college, the essay can be incredibly daunting. Knowing what to expect from prompts and how to tackle them is a huge advantage.
• 5 Things High School Seniors Need to Do This Summer –
  Alyssa McCloud at The Huffington Post offers some smart and practical advice for high school seniors. As mentioned in our opening paragraph, Summer is a great time to get ahead and think about the application and admissions process. Tasks like searching for scholarships, thinking about your essay, considering campus tours, and more are all great ways to get a head start.

Student Loans & Financial Aid

• How the Government Calculates the Cost of Student Loans – US News offers up an interesting article via Equal Justice Works. We spend a lot of time talking about student loan debt on an individual level, but how does the government calculate the cost of student loans? How does that factor into future student loan interest rates and availability? These are crucial issues that this article helps address.
• Look who doesn’t deserve financial aid at NYU – Lynn O’Shaughnessy at Moneywatch writes an article that covers the shocking story about a person who didn’t “deserve” financial aid at NYU. NYU has come under fire recently for what is seen as exorbitant spending and one of the most indebted graduate pools. Stories like this only add fuel to the fire.

Affording College

• Get In-State Tuition at Out-of-State Colleges – Another entry from US News, this time from author Kelsey Sheehy details a great way to lower your tuition. It’s no secret that going to an out of state college can be incredibly expensive. However, students with their heart set on a specific state school should consider taking a gap year and establishing residency in the state to save thousands on tuition!

That’s everything for today, have a wonderful weekend!