Bottom Line

While finally picking a college and mailing out a deposit is relieving, there’s plenty left to do to ensure that a student can officially begin college. Fulfilling final requirements to enroll in the fall and planning for the transition to college should be a top priority. Here’s the steps a student should take over the summer to successfully begin freshman year:

-May–
Set up your email account and online system log in. Your school has probably already started to send you important emails at your school account! Make sure you are aware of them. If you have trouble logging in, call your college’s IT department.

Sign up for on-campus orientation. This may be your first chance to meet classmates, become familiar with your campus, and get excited about college! While orientation is often mandatory, it will introduce you to the college life and help you feel more comfortable there come September.

Complete housing forms (if you will live on campus). This paperwork ensures that your dorm and roommate are good matches for you. Housing forms should be mailed to you by your college. Contact your school’s Residential Life office if you do not receive them.

Sign up for a payment plan (if necessary). A payment plan will help you manage your bills and ensure your tuition is paid on time. These plans can typically be set up online, but call your Financial Aid office if you need assistance.

-June–
Submit a final transcript and any AP score records. These documents should be sent to your college’s Admissions Office by your high school guidance counselor. For that reason, try to get this done before school is out for the summer.

Schedule a doctor’s appointment. Required health and immunization forms must be completed by your doctor and submitted to your college. These forms should be mailed to you, but they can also be found on your school’s Health Services webpage. Be sure to tell your doctor that you need a check-up for college since he/she will need to sign several forms.

-July-
Finalize your payment plan. Make sure you know how you will pay your bill for the fall semester and the remainder of the year. Payment plans can typically be changed online or through your Financial Aid office.

Complete loan paperwork. If you have loans, you need to fill out the appropriate forms to release the funds to your college. Completing this now will ensure a balance isn’t left on your account when the semester begins.

Complete health insurance paperwork. Whether you will receive health insurance through your college, the state, or your family’s policy, you need to inform your college of this decision. These forms can typically be found on your college’s website or at the Health Services Center.

Take any required placement tests. Many schools require students to complete math placement tests. This ensures that you will be enrolled in a class level that suits your current abilities rather than a course that you may find overly challenging or under-engaging.

Apply for work study jobs (if applicable). Work study is a great way to earn some money on campus. These jobs fill up quickly, so apply ASAP! Work study jobs are typically listed on your school’s website.

-August-
Prepare for move-in day. If you are living on campus, you will need to go shopping for dorm room supplies. While this can be stressful and costly, don’t forget to have fun as you prepare for your new life!

It’s financial aid season! That means time for college students to fill out FAFSAs and CSS profiles. Applying for financial aid can be daunting and confusing, particularly if you’re from a family that is unfamiliar with the process. Since applying for financial aid is somewhat complex, there’s many misconceptions about how paying for college actually works. Below are the five common myths that Bottom Line counselors often debunk for students.

1) My family doesn’t have any money, so I can’t afford to go to college.

All college students are eligible for financial aid, which will help you pay for college! To determine how much you and your family pay for your education, colleges and the federal government have you calculate your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This lets them know about how much you are eligible to receive in financial aid, based on you and your family’s income, savings, and other indicators. So the less money your family has, the more aid you should expect to receive for college.

2) My dream college costs nearly $40,000 a year—I can’t afford that!

Just because a college has a high price tag doesn’t mean that you can’t afford it. For some colleges, you will only have to pay the amount calculated for your EFC. For other colleges, there will be a gap between your EFC and the college’s price tag. If there’s a gap, you can always advocate with the college’s financial aid office and apply for outside scholarships.

3) Public colleges are always more affordable than private colleges.

On the contrary, some private colleges award “full need” financial aid packages. That means they provide students with enough grants and low-interest loans to make up the difference between their family’s EFC and the school’s cost of attendance.

4) The only way I can get money for college is by having perfect grades.

Colleges and the federal government award scholarships, grants, and low-interest loans based solely on financial need—that’s what financial aid is! Merit-based scholarships and grants are awarded separately from financial aid packages.

5) I was awarded $5,000 in work-study, so the rest of my tuition expenses are covered.

Not so fast—work-study is money that you have to earn throughout the semester… by checking students into the dining hall, logging packages in the mail room, or answering phones at an administrative office. You can’t subtract this money from the bill that’s due at the beginning of the semester, since it will take you all semester to earn the money. In addition, you only get paid for the number of hours that you work. While you’ve been awarded $5,000 in work-study, you may only have time in your schedule to earn $4,000 of this award.

Greetings from UMass Lowell!

As a brand new target college for Bottom Line, UMass Lowell presents some unique challenges for college counselors. Our inaugural class here is comprised of eleven students, all of whom are first-years. Each student is assigned to one counselor, Rachel Smith, who has very busy days when she visits campus at least once a month.

Bottom Line student Leon Shaw gives a tour of UMass Lowell

For many of our students, going to college is a huge step and one that is not always easy to take. Our first-year students often require a lot of support and we devote a great deal of our time to making sure that the transition is as smooth as possible. Today we are on campus to make sure all of our students have a study plan for finals and have registered for spring semester classes.

I am on campus today to support Rachel so that we can see all eleven students. I just finished meeting with Jamal Grant who was one of my high school students last year. It was great to see Jamal. He just finished his first ever season of crew and enjoyed himself despite the early wake-ups and cold mornings on the Merrimack River. He is also doing well in classes despite a difficult major: Mechanical Engineering.

Many of our students here are majoring in engineering fields, which means lots of science and math classes. (As a political science graduate, this sounds awful to me!) But our students here are dedicated and doing their best to connect with the academic resources they need to succeed.

Since UMass Lowell was a new school for Bottom Line’s College Success Program, it was important for our staff to learn the campus and develop connections with the various academic and administrative departments so that we can best serve our students. Over the summer, a team of Bottom Line counselors visited UMass Lowell and met with representatives from a variety of offices, including Financial Aid, Health Services, Academic Support Services, and Career Services. The staff members we have met in these offices have proved invaluable over the course of this semester. Countless times, Rachel has given Christine Robbins a call to discuss a student’s financial aid issue or emailed Maureen Souza to help a student find a work-study job. Having people on campus who understand Bottom Line’s program and mission makes our jobs much easier because it allows us to get fast answers to student problems.

We’ll be checking in with our UMass Lowell students again after the semester ends to assess their progress and address any challenges they’re facing. Hopefully we will hear good news about their semester grades!

Check back soon for more updates from the field.

Justin Strasburger
Transition Coordinator