Bottom Line

by Michelle Barton

With a poverty rate of over 12 percent in the United States, it is often difficult to find a way to achieve economic mobility. One way of doing so is earning a college degree.

According to a 2016 study by Georgetown University, the majority of the jobs still go to bachelor’s degree graduates. Reporting on the study, CNN Money noted that “of the 11.6 million jobs created after the Great Recession, 8.4 million went to those with at least a bachelor’s degree.” While getting a college degree is a solution to landing a higher-paying job, it is not easy to do.

This challenge disproportionally impacts Black and Latino males compared to their peers. Only 37 percent of Black males and 47 percent of Latino males who started at a four-year public institution in 2010 completed a four-year degree within six years, compared to 60 percent of all students. Exacerbating these challenges, young men of color often face prejudice and a wide range of systemic barriers that limit their choices including school discipline and policing policies that target this population.

One of the greatest barriers to college completion is cost. For students who come from low-income backgrounds, the cost of college can seem impossible. With the amount of misinformation regarding college affordability – misunderstandings about which colleges are affordable, the belief that giant student loans are unavoidable, continually changing processes and deadlines – many students don’t know where to start.

While students are busy applying to college, they are also faced with the task of applying for aid – a bureaucratic process riddled with punitive deadlines and confusing paperwork. Financial aid is integral to the success of the students we serve. We have found that many students leave college because they cannot afford it – and it is our mission for our students to not only get into college but to graduate with a degree. Beyond that, we want them to achieve economic mobility after college, something made very difficult if a student is left with significant debt.

Our Access program is primarily focused on affordability because the aid process is challenging to navigate alone, and choosing an affordable school is a marker for college success.

College affordability is a more significant barrier for Black and Latino students than for other students. Recent research shows that 49 percent of Black students and 36 percent of Latino students defaulted on their college loans at least once over the course of 12 years, compared to only 21 percent of White students and 11 percent of Asian students. Black and Latino students also had higher college loan balances over time than other students. Black students owed an average of 113 percent of the amount initially borrowed after 12 years, and Latino students owed an average of 83 percent while White students owed just 65 percent.

This context provides the impetus for Bottom Line’s collaboration with JPMorgan Chase’s The Fellowship Initiative (TFI), a program that supports the educational development of Black and Latino young men from low-income communities in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York City. As a college access and persistence organization, Bottom Line is well-positioned to support these young men in persisting through college. The results of a randomized control trial of our model demonstrate that our program has significant impacts on college and persistence rates for Black and Latino students. Across our three service areas in Boston, New York, and Chicago, we currently serve over 1,600 Black and Latino male college students.

So, how do advisors and students work together to make affordable college choices?

The first service we provide our students is to review the list of colleges they are interested in and make suggestions for additional schools to research based on the student’s academic profile, interests, and preferences. Part of this process also involves reviewing the family’s financial information.

We suggest schools that are likely to be affordable for the student based on last year’s award letters for students with similar financial profiles. The FAFSA uses family size, income, assets, and benefits to calculate an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) for each family. The majority of our students have a 0 EFC, which means that they qualify for the maximum amount of need-based financial aid.

We prioritize schools that will ask the student to invest less than $8,500 over their EFC from FAFSA (including loans). We have found through analyzing data that students who tried to pay more than $8,500 over their EFC were significantly less likely to finish their degree. This often means recommending full-need colleges and/or low-cost commuter schools for the students who may not qualify for full need-based financial aid. We give every student an estimate of how much each college on their list will ask them to invest for their first year and encourage them to apply to a variety of colleges we feel confident they will be accepted to and be able to afford.

The next step in our process is to collect the financial aid deadlines and requirements for each of our most popular colleges for the upcoming academic year. This can be a time-consuming process, as it can be challenging to decipher how up-to-date the information might be on the individual college’s websites. Many of our team members work together to divide up schools and call financial aid offices to ensure we have the correct deadlines for each piece of the financial aid process. This step has become even more critical now that FAFSA is available beginning in October, rather than January, of each year. More and more colleges are moving their financial aid deadlines to December, or even November. Making sure we have all of this information compiled by the end of October means that we can help students make a plan for submitting financial aid applications before their earliest deadline, and helps our advisors see which of their students need to receive financial aid services first.

We know that affordability services do not stop with FAFSA completion. We hold ourselves accountable to verifying that each FAFSA is fully processed after submission and that students and their families receive support in completing all other steps of the financial aid application process. We do our best to make sure that students understand what is expected of them and their families, and collect income documents as early in the year as possible to minimize delays in submission. Additionally, all financial aid applications that are completed in our office go through multiple layers of quality control where a specially-trained employee reviews each application, in addition to the student’s advisor.

Once our students begin to receive financial aid letters, we often find ourselves acting as advocates for them. We double-check that they have received all of the need-based aid they are eligible for and help students follow up with financial aid offices they are waiting to hear back from. It is essential to highlight that this is not the first time we have talked to our students about affordability.

While we have occasionally seen students have luck appealing for more aid or applying for scholarships in the Spring, the reality is that these options are unlikely to turn a $25,0000 balance into a $2,500 balance, which is why we insist that they apply to multiple schools that are likely to ask for a reasonable investment.

At this point in the process, our role is to make sure each student understands the total “free money” (grants and scholarships), loans, and out-of-pocket payments each college is expecting for the year. We provide our students with tools to have conversations with their families about how much they can sustainably afford and explain their options for payment outside of a lump-sum, like a payment plan.

Our data suggest that Bottom Line advising does lead Black and Latino male students to make more affordable choices: Black and Latino males in Bottom Line’s Access program tend to apply to affordable colleges more often than to unaffordable colleges. Specifically, Black and Latino males served by Bottom Line’s Access program class of 2017 applied to an average of 6.3 more affordable colleges, compared to an average of only 1.7 less affordable colleges, and 2.7 least affordable colleges. The majority of Bottom Line students also get accepted to and choose to attend more affordable colleges. Of the 2017 Bottom Line Success Program class, 80 percent of Black and Latino males enrolled in schools that Bottom Line deems more affordable. Another 14 percent attended less affordable schools, and only 6 percent enrolled in schools that were deemed least affordable

Bottom Line believes that affordability begins with a solid college list and early conversations with our students about maximizing the number of affordable options. We work tirelessly to help our students fulfill every one of their colleges’ requirements ahead of the deadlines, and advocate for them to ensure they receive every penny of financial aid they are eligible for. Our individualized approach to decision-making means that each student can commit to a college confident that they will be able to afford the school not just for one year, but for their entire college career.

by Steve Colón

As the leader of an organization that works alongside students as they get into and graduate from college, having the top news stories focus on the college admission process is exciting. The story circulating, unfortunately, exposes the unspoken and illegal practices that help a few very privileged students gain acceptance to college, especially the most selective and competitive ones.

While the media is right to focus on this scandal, a more significant and pervasive issue requires equal if not more attention. Right now, hundreds of thousands of students from low-income backgrounds are navigating their own postsecondary journeys, facing hardships perpetuated by an antiquated education system which is not designed to give ALL of them the tools they need to overcome the barriers they’ll face. They strive for the same opportunities as their wealthier peers, to develop their interests and talents into a career, but their path to success is disproportionally cluttered.

Education is an engine of upward mobility. A college degree is the single most effective intervention to poverty. Students from low-income backgrounds who obtain a college degree are five times more likely than their peers to find financial health. People with a college degree will earn $1M more over the course of their lifetime than those without. We see these results with students we serve – the average starting salary for Bottom Line’s most recent graduates is two times the amount of the average family income of our student population.

The sad truth of the current news story is that, while the alleged actions of these families were blatantly illegal, their children already benefit from many advantages. Students from high-income backgrounds are:

• more likely to have access to rigorous college preparatory coursework and robust early college programs (AP, IB, Dual Credit)
• more likely to have access to additional academic support, extracurricular activities, and SAT /ACT prep
• more likely to have dedicated college counselors to help with the process of getting into a postsecondary institution
• less likely to need to work during high school and college
• more likely to have personal networks that support them in finding quality first destination jobs regardless of college, academic major, or GPA

Just by helping students navigate the current system, the Bottom Line model gets excellent results. We expect over 96 percent of our high school seniors will commit to a college by the end of May, and 77 percent of those students will earn their degree within six years through their dedication and hard work coupled with Bottom Line’s step-by-step and personalized guidance.

While it is easy to shake our heads at the cheating scandal, I ask that we also extend our hands to students whose talent can easily get lost in a flawed process. Let’s make sure that all students – regardless of socio-economics, skin color, or other marginalized identities – get a fair shot at achieving their dreams and create a ripple effect that will uplift our communities.

“I choose Bottom Line because they make it happen. They practice what they preach – you can see it. They tell you they can help, and they do it, and they’re honest. They make things work with very little. It’s an organization that backs up what they say, and I’m thrilled to be a part of that.”

Rich Pierre joined Bottom Line when he was a teenager attending Boston Latin Academy.

Going into senior year, I was mainly focused on athletics — football and basketball. Sports were my passion, and I didn’t consider college until a BLA classmate mentioned that she knew someone who had worked with Bottom Line and had positive results. I explored Bottom Line because of her suggestion, and it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

At Bottom Line, I found a vibrant community of advisors, peers, and mentors who all wanted me to find success. While my parents were invested in seeing me do well, going to college had never been pushed very much. It was at Bottom Line that I realized the importance of a college degree, and what that could mean for my future.

My advisor, Sarah Place, was the catalyst to encourage me to look at some schools. Sarah was willing to work around my busy athletics schedule and made sure I had no excuses as I weighed my options.

“Rich struggled with finding the time to work on applications during the fall. He was playing on his high school’s football team, so he had practice almost every day and even had games on Saturdays, so it was difficult to meet in person. We did some work by phone and email and then when football season was over he came in almost every week for six weeks until he finished all his applications,” said Place.

Sarah’s motivational phone calls helped alleviate my concerns and kept me accountable. Her patience helped draw my college essay out of me – teaching me how to express myself. Her mentorship and guidance through all aspects of the application process allowed me to apply feeling confident.

When he got his acceptance letters and financial aid awards, he concluded that he wanted to go to Bentley, but the cost was a little restrictive. His parents wanted him to consider UMass Lowell because he would have had almost a $0 balance, but he was determined to make Bentley work.

“He applied to dozens of scholarships. Fortunately, that year Bottom Line was managing a scholarship through the Hayden Foundation, and we nominated him for a $4,000 scholarship which made Bentley possible for him to afford. He never lost sight of his goals, and his determination paid off,” said Place.

Rich continued working with Bottom Line throughout his college journey.

The mentorship and guidance I found from my advisors were integral. I knew that Bottom Line would always have my back. One of the supports that stuck out most was the open phone line that Bottom Line had. I could call the office, and talk to someone – anyone – and they were willing and ready to answer my questions.

Bottom Line also supported me as I applied for a scholarship to study abroad in Barcelona, a life-changing experience. I hadn’t traveled over the Atlantic ocean at that point, but the challenge I found as I learned about new cultures and people took me out of my comfort zone and taught me that I could push myself further than I had ever known.

While in college Bottom Line helped Rich work in five different internships – giving him valuable career experience that he could use to his benefit upon graduation. Rich worked in a few different roles right out of college, and his career path led him to attend grad school at Bentley. He now works for PAREXEL International as a Senior Analyst.

When I was younger, I thought I was going to be in the NFL or NBA. In the neighborhood I grew up in, you’re taught that athletics or rapping were the way to get out. Bottom Line smacked me in the face with reality. This may not be the career path I expected, but I am grateful for where I am today.

Rich continued to choose Bottom Line after he graduated, becoming a Go Far volunteer, a Board of Visitors member, and now a Regional Board member. 

I continue to choose Bottom Line to this day because I want to show students and future board members that the Bottom Line model works. Sometimes students don’t want to listen to their advisors, but I hope that sharing my story will motivate students to find the same success I have. Bottom Line has confidently gotten me to achieve what they told me I would. It’s not a lie. I want to share that story.

I choose Bottom Line because they make it happen. They practice what they preach – you can see it. They tell you they can help, and they do it, and they’re honest. They make things work with very little. It’s an organization that backs up what they say, and I’m thrilled to be a part of that.

by Justin Strasburger and Steve Colón

The Boston Globe’s special report, The Valedictorians Project, brings light to an important issue across the nation. As a community, we’re failing to support students in high school on the path to pursue a college degree and a fulfilling career. We have a personal connection to The Valedictorians Project through the 26 Bottom Line students among the 113 valedictorians profiled. Of those 26 students, 24 have earned a Bachelor’s degree. One works for us today.

The education system in the U.S. has remained largely unchanged for nearly a century. Working hard STILL doesn’t predict success for all students. Students are left behind based on their race, their experience with poverty, and/or their family’s educational history. The broken pathway between high school, college, and career is the challenge Bottom Line has been addressing for years through one-to-one coaching. We believe deeply in the potential of these students and the life-changing impact of a bachelor’s degree.

While focusing on top students underscores the issue in our community, we must view these stories as a window into the experience of a larger group of students with equal potential and realize the opportunity for our community when we invest in talent. We must commit to our students that we will arm them with the skills, support, and access to networks that are proven to drive success in both college and career, but have been inaccessible for too many students simply because of their backgrounds.

A degree is an essential credential to fuel social and economic mobility, but students also need to be able to use their degree to launch their careers. Over two-thirds of college graduates struggle to start their careers and for those who find jobs, the overwhelming majority (85 percent) land jobs through connections. Research indicates that the first job (or first destination) is critical – those who start in a job for which they are overqualified are five times more likely to remain underemployed after five years.

Though we’re embarking on new work, we’ve seen the impact of what happens when we set our expectations high. Over the last two decades, the Lewis Family Foundation in Massachusetts helped us grow to serve more students in the most under-served areas of Boston. They’ve challenged us and other grantees – as well as the corporate community – to be accountable to our student outcomes in the job market, with success. Their most recent report shows they exceeded their 2018 jobs goal, demonstrating the importance of issuing an ambitious vision for students. There is no reason we can’t replicate this in New York, Chicago, and other cities across the country.

Lasting change requires the collective effort of a community united by a common purpose. At the end of the day, no one finds success without support. It is up to all of us as a community to provide support and guide students to it for our communities and industries to thrive. This year as students across our cities walk across the stage to receive their diplomas, let’s work together to ensure that each and every one of them has access to resources that help them achieve success as they navigate their future.

Bottom Line – Chicago’s Margy Brill shares her perspective on integrating data into student counseling.

When you think about technology in the context of college access and persistence, a new platform or an app may come to mind. At Bottom Line, we see technology as less of a stand-alone solution and more of a tool that facilitates collecting and analyzing data to help low income, first generation students get into college, graduate from college, and go far in life. Harnessing technology to create carefully monitored data-driven outcomes is central to our DEAL curriculum for college persistence. As a result, it was an enormous honor for College Board President David Coleman to announce Bottom Line as the Personalized Learning Award of Excellence recipient at the National College Access Network (NCAN) 20^th Anniversary National Conference based on our data-driven DEAL model.

One person beaming from the audience while Bottom Line Chief Operating Officer Greg Johnson accepted the award was Chicago Senior Success Counselor Margy Brill. A two-year Bottom Line veteran, Margy counseled students in Bottom Line’s Worcester office before joining the founding Bottom Line – Chicago team. “Our DEAL model isn’t rocket science, but it’s how we as an organization have held our counselors and staff accountable for measuring and achieving very strong college persistence outcomes with our students,” Margy said, reflecting on the significance of NCAN recognizing Bottom Line’s approach to ensuring college persistence.

Of course, Bottom Line’s participation in the NCAN conference wasn’t limited to the awards ceremony. Margy delivered a presentation called Power In Numbers along with Justin Strasburger, Bottom Line’s National Success Program Director. The session focused on using data to make informed decisions and drive results for student success.

“We want organizations to make sure that their programs are actually working, and the best way to do this is to effectively and efficiently measure, collect, and analyze data.”

Since joining Bottom Line in July 2013, Margy has used data to determine if students are on track to graduate and go far in a way that provides a high level of organizational accountability. On a day-to-day basis, for Margy that means meeting and talking with students, documenting those interactions, and monitoring outcomes. “Through this process I can ensure that I prioritize contacting students who are facing the most challenges. Using data also helps me be more efficient, which in turn increases my capacity to serve my students better.”

After a year of helping low income, first generation college students in Chicago, the Kalamazoo College alumna is proud of the progress that the Chicago team has made. Many of the higher education administrators Margy had initial conversations with a year ago were surprised by how much data Bottom Line counselors track and measure for each individual student. “One specific question I remember getting a lot was how we were able to keep students engaged with our program. Administrators kept wondering what kind of incentives we gave our students, such as a scholarship. When we explained the level of in-person, individualized support we have the capacity to give each student, they were able to see how we’re able to help students and maintain strong relationships with them without incentives.”

We believe that this intensive, one-on-one approach delivered by our full-time, trained counselors makes all the difference. In Chicago, it already has. Last year, 100% of our inaugural class of high school seniors in the Access program were accepted into college. 97% were accepted to a 4-year college compared to 29% of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students, according to a report released from the Urban Education Institute at the University of Chicago in December 2014. In the Success program, 96% our first cohort of college freshmen persisted into their second year of college. Nationally, 84% of students in Bottom Line’s Success program graduate from college in 6 years or less, which is more than four times the 14% college graduation rate for CPS students.

Bottom Line – Chicago’s inaugural 2014-2015 class of over 150 low income, first generation students came from 70 Chicago high schools and 50 different neighborhoods. During our second year in Chicago, we have more than doubled the students served to almost 350 with ambitious plans to serve over 2,500 Chicago students by 2020.

Over the past 10 years it’s become clear that the work to increase the public high school graduation rates and lower drop-out rates has had an impact, as 80% of students from the high school class of 2012 earned their diploma as the US Dept. of Education reported in their April 2014 report. However, these improvements have not translated to college success for students from low-income households. For almost 40 years the college graduation rate for low-income students has remained flat at about 20%.

Bottom Line has been squarely focused on the issues of college access and success for low-income students for almost twenty years. We know that the solution to improving the college success rate for low-income students won’t come easily. We are pleased to see more attention being paid to the disparity between the “Rich and the Poor”, as in this week’s Wall Street Journal article, Big Gap in College Graduation Rates for Rich and Poor, and the recent study, Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States published by the University of Pennsylvania and the Pell Institute for Study of Opportunity in Higher Education.

As with the improvement of the national public high school graduation rates, the factors that relate to college success are complex. There is no quick fix or low-cost intervention that will solve the problem. However, we have identified one key differentiator that we believe leads to long-term college success and that is the importance of having an experienced family member, mentor or counselor to whom students can turn to when faced with a challenge.

Through nearly two decades of work supporting students through college, we have learned that virtually all of the challenges faced by low-income college students fall in to four categories:  Academics, Career Development, Affordability, and Social/Emotional.  Our DEAL Model for college success is built around this framework. When students are faced with challenges from one or more of these categories, they need a trusted resource to provide guidance, and a strategy as they work to overcome the challenges they face. Bottom Line can be that resource for some or many of those students, but we need a national investment of time, talent and resources to help.

Questions? Thoughts? Share them with us here!  

Nearly 100% of Bottom Line high school seniors from Boston and Worcester have been accepted to college and more than two-thirds of these students will be attending one of our Success colleges.

In the interview below, Tommy Suen, a current senior at the John D. O’Bryant High School in Boston, explains how his Bottom Line counselor, Laura, helped him get into college and why he’s looking forward to having Bottom Line’s support once he starts college in the fall.

Tommy and his Bottom Line Counselor, Laura

Name: Tommy Suen
High School: John D. O’Bryant
College Attending: Boston University

Why did you apply to Bottom Line last spring?

My older brother was a Bottom Line student, so from the time I was a freshman in high school he kept telling me that I had to sign up for Bottom Line. He would say, “if it weren’t for Bottom Line, I never would have gotten into college,” so I always knew how important it would be to have Bottom Line’s help applying to college. I also knew I wouldn’t have a lot of help navigating the application process at home. My mom really wanted me to go to college, but she had never been through the process before.

Can you describe how your Bottom Line counselor, Laura, supported you this year?

Laura was a huge help! It made a huge difference to be able to have individualized support throughout the application process. For a long time, I thought that I was Laura’s only student. I was shocked to learn that she was actually working with fifty other students like me; she was just always available to help me.

When I first started the college application process I struggled a lot with organization. There are so many things to remember and I was having a particularly hard time writing my college essay. Laura really helped me organize my thoughts and after several drafts I emerged with a college essay I was really proud of. She also helped me analyze my financial aid award letters and helped me choose a school that was both affordable and a good fit. Laura always went above and beyond, she even helped me get the part-time job I have working at Bottom Line’s front desk. I have worked at Bottom Line for a year, and I have noticed that all of the counselors really go above and beyond to help support students.

May 1^st was College Decision Day. Where will you be attending college next year? How did you feel when you found out you got into college?

I applied to nine colleges and I was so nervous that I wouldn’t get in anywhere. I was so excited and relieved when I found out that I had been accepted to my first choice, Boston University and it would be affordable for me to go there. It was so rewarding to have all of my hard work from high school pay off in that moment.

That must be a relief! How are you and your family feeling about college now?

I am the youngest in my family and my mom worried a lot about whether or not I would get into college. She was so proud of me when she found out I had been accepted to Boston University that she dropped everything she was doing and took me out to eat in order to celebrate. Both of my brothers went to Boston University, so they are very excited to have the legacy carried on.

Are you excited about staying connected to Bottom Line? What are you looking forward to the most next year?

Yes! I am looking forward to staying connected to Bottom Line and having a counselor visit me on campus. Living away from home for the first time and having to manage my own schedule is going to be a huge transition. I am pretty nervous about balancing everything next year, but it makes me feel better knowing that Bottom Line will continue to be there for me. I am really looking forward to meeting new people on campus and taking classes in business, accounting and finance.

What would you tell a high school student who is just starting the college application process with Bottom Line?

Don’t take your Bottom Line counselor for granted. Listen to your counselor’s advice and be prepared to edit your college essay several times. Oh, also, your Bottom Line counselor works with 49 other students, but you would never know it.

For the third straight year, we are proud to announce that 100% of Bottom Line-New York’s high school students have been accepted to college. The path from college application to acceptance is never easy to navigate, and so our full-time counselors met one-on-one with almost 300 high school seniors this year to help them every step of the way. Below, Azza Awad, a current senior at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn, explains how her Bottom Line counselor Deborah helped her throughout the entire process.

Azza and her Bottom Line-New York counselor Deborah announcing that she plans to attend NYU next fall.

Name:  Azza Awad

High School: Clara Barton High School

Why did you apply to Bottom Line last spring?

My parents left everything in Sudan to come to the U.S., invest in my education, and give me a better future than we would ever have back in Sudan. I joined Bottom Line because I needed someone who could help me with the college application process. Knowing that it would be the most stressful and difficult time of my high school career, I needed someone to guide me, and there was no one at home who had been through it before.

Can you describe how your Bottom Line counselor Deborah supported you this year?

The first thing Deborah did was to help me zero in on a collection of colleges that fit my personality and academic interests. Then we made sure that I had some reach schools, some colleges that I was likely to get in, and some schools that were a shoe-in on my list. Bottom Line also helped me write not only my main college essay, but all the other supplemental essays for schools that required them.

Deborah also took me step by step through my Private School, CUNY, and SUNY applications, helping me to highlight the best version of myself so that colleges could see why I’m a strong candidate. The opportunity to have not just my Bottom Line counselor, but also other counselors in the office check over my applications made me feel special, like I had a support system that really cared.

When it came time for paying for college, Bottom Line helped me with all the paperwork required for financial aid. It was really confusing! They asked about my parents’ income, tax returns, and other financial documents that I wasn’t aware of. Having someone there to help me through it made all the difference!

Azza speaking at the Bottom Line-New York Spring Reception on May 7, 2014.

May 1^st was College Decision Day. Where will you be attending college next year?

This fall, I’m going to NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering and will major in Computer Engineering. I’m really excited because I want to be a computer programmer when I grow up. Also, I won’t be paying a dime! I got a full scholarship, thanks to Deborah.

That must be a relief! How are you and your family feeling about college now?

My family feels relieved because this pressure has been lifted. They don’t have to worry about their daughter getting a quality education, and they don’t have to worry about the financial burden that most students have. My father is a taxi driver, and recently whenever he has customers and a conversation comes up, he always tells them how proud he is of me getting into NYU. Getting into NYU Poly, with the help of Bottom Line, is a huge accomplishment for me and my family and will give us all a brighter future.

This winter, Bottom Line-New York counselors have already helped over 250 of our high school students submit their financial aid applications. Financial aid can be daunting for any student – there are many steps in the process, with various tax documents and specific forms needed along the way. For perspective on some of the financial aid challenges that one student encountered and the ways that she worked with her Bottom Line counselor to overcome them, read Valeria’s account below.

  Name:  Valeria Inamagua

  High School: Talent Unlimited HS

  Number of Colleges Applied To: 17

  Top Choices: SUNY Stonybrook, Syracuse, and Swarthmore

  Why did you apply to Bottom Line last spring?

My mother wanted to help me with college applications, but she cannot because she didn’t go through the process herself and she doesn’t speak English. When I heard about Bottom Line, I immediately wanted to join. In the future, I want to be a role model for my younger sister, both by going to college and by helping her when she starts applying for college.

What was the hardest or most surprising part about the financial aid process so far?

My father doesn’t live with us and so I had to keep reaching out to ask him for information. I didn’t realize that colleges were going to ask for that, but they did and it was challenging. On top of that, I kept getting different requests for different forms from different schools in addition to the FAFSA and CSS.

What’s one way that your BL counselor has helped you with financial aid?

Jonathan went through the details in each application and each form. He didn’t just tell me what to write; he explained what each form meant and why they were asking for this information. I feel like it’s important that students know what they’re filling out. It’s going to pop up in the future and I need to know what to do after this year.

One piece of advice for students currently filling out financial aid:

To have all important documents ready in advance (even the ones that you don’t think they’ll ask for), so that you can input the information all at one time.