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Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes.mp3 | And so in that case, although it was a great essay, it was not great for this purpose. Students who are creative will sometimes think that they should have a more visually appealing essay. And so they'll create their essay to be in the shape of something that represents who they are. You know, it can be hard to read an essay that's shaped like a chalice, let's say. I've also seen students take the approach of a letter to a roommate or their presidential acceptance speech that they're gonna give down the road, thanking Georgetown for the opportunity. And I think sometimes the ploy can take over the essay and you can't get past sort of the tool that they've used and you don't actually get to the student. So I think it's better to write a simple, heartfelt essay than to try to put too much time into crafting something that you think will stand out or catch our attention. |
Sal Khan's story Paying for college.mp3 | And I remember thinking, you know, there's no way I'm going to be able to go to a school that could, you know, at that time cost $10,000 or $15,000 a year. Now those same schools cost $30,000 or $40,000 a year at least. That's the stated price for tuition. You know, my mom was a single mom. She kind of, you know, sometimes worked as a manager at a convenience store, she did a bunch of series of jobs to kind of make ends meet. We were on, depending on the year, free or reduced lunch. And so I just imagine, look, my only option is, you know, either go to a local school or get a full ride scholarship if I can. |
Sal Khan's story Paying for college.mp3 | You know, my mom was a single mom. She kind of, you know, sometimes worked as a manager at a convenience store, she did a bunch of series of jobs to kind of make ends meet. We were on, depending on the year, free or reduced lunch. And so I just imagine, look, my only option is, you know, either go to a local school or get a full ride scholarship if I can. But then my sister opened my mind. She was three years older. She applied to Brown University, which at that time the tuition, the stated tuition was I think already in the high teens, thousands if not $20,000 a year. |
Sal Khan's story Paying for college.mp3 | And so I just imagine, look, my only option is, you know, either go to a local school or get a full ride scholarship if I can. But then my sister opened my mind. She was three years older. She applied to Brown University, which at that time the tuition, the stated tuition was I think already in the high teens, thousands if not $20,000 a year. And when she applied, she then applied for financial aid. And I didn't even know this thing called financial aid existed. And so she got some federal grant money, she got some federal subsidized loans, Brown gave her some grant, gave her some loans. |
Sal Khan's story Paying for college.mp3 | She applied to Brown University, which at that time the tuition, the stated tuition was I think already in the high teens, thousands if not $20,000 a year. And when she applied, she then applied for financial aid. And I didn't even know this thing called financial aid existed. And so she got some federal grant money, she got some federal subsidized loans, Brown gave her some grant, gave her some loans. Then there was some small parent contribution and she also had to do work study. But they made a package for her so that she was able to go. Now it wasn't easy. |
Sal Khan's story Paying for college.mp3 | And so she got some federal grant money, she got some federal subsidized loans, Brown gave her some grant, gave her some loans. Then there was some small parent contribution and she also had to do work study. But they made a package for her so that she was able to go. Now it wasn't easy. She had to do some work study. My mom did have to do some contribution. She did have to take on some debt. |
Sal Khan's story Paying for college.mp3 | Now it wasn't easy. She had to do some work study. My mom did have to do some contribution. She did have to take on some debt. But she was able to go. So that completely opened up my mind. So when I applied to college, I didn't let that be a constraint on me. |
Sal Khan's story Paying for college.mp3 | She did have to take on some debt. But she was able to go. So that completely opened up my mind. So when I applied to college, I didn't let that be a constraint on me. I said, let me just figure out where I really want to go to college because I knew this financial aid thing existed. And what a lot of people don't realize is that some of the most selective colleges that have at least, you know, the stated tuition is high, actually have some of the best financial aid programs. They're very, very generous with their financial aid. |
Sal Khan's story Paying for college.mp3 | So when I applied to college, I didn't let that be a constraint on me. I said, let me just figure out where I really want to go to college because I knew this financial aid thing existed. And what a lot of people don't realize is that some of the most selective colleges that have at least, you know, the stated tuition is high, actually have some of the best financial aid programs. They're very, very generous with their financial aid. And so I applied and I got into MIT and then I did the financial aid process. And it was incredibly good, I thought. It made it very, you know, I left MIT with about, I think on the order of about $30,000 in loans. |
Sal Khan's story Paying for college.mp3 | They're very, very generous with their financial aid. And so I applied and I got into MIT and then I did the financial aid process. And it was incredibly good, I thought. It made it very, you know, I left MIT with about, I think on the order of about $30,000 in loans. I had to do some work study. But overall, it made it affordable, very doable. And for me, that $30,000 in loans, you know, I couldn't imagine a better investment in my future. |
Sal Khan's story Paying for college.mp3 | It made it very, you know, I left MIT with about, I think on the order of about $30,000 in loans. I had to do some work study. But overall, it made it affordable, very doable. And for me, that $30,000 in loans, you know, I couldn't imagine a better investment in my future. So, you know, I would say you have to be careful. You don't want to get too far in debt. You definitely want to weigh what you're going to take on in terms of debt and aid versus what you might be able to make and career possibilities. |
Student story Overcoming family obstacles to college.mp3 | In my country, most people didn't leave their homes at 18. It's very communal. People live together until they're married, and especially women don't really leave the house until they are married, of course. And so it was really weird and hard for my parents to understand why in America kids moved away at 18. I think part of the fear was that they would never come back or that they were leaving the nest. But it wasn't like that in my family. I assured my mom that this was a four-year thing, that I would be back, and I did come back. |
Student story Overcoming family obstacles to college.mp3 | And so it was really weird and hard for my parents to understand why in America kids moved away at 18. I think part of the fear was that they would never come back or that they were leaving the nest. But it wasn't like that in my family. I assured my mom that this was a four-year thing, that I would be back, and I did come back. But that college was going to be a really life-changing experience, and that sometimes community colleges won't give the same experience as going to a four-year university where you can get really immersed, especially if you have the financial means. That's when they were concerned about finances. They said, if we can provide enough, if we can find enough money, then we'll let you go. |
Student story Overcoming family obstacles to college.mp3 | I assured my mom that this was a four-year thing, that I would be back, and I did come back. But that college was going to be a really life-changing experience, and that sometimes community colleges won't give the same experience as going to a four-year university where you can get really immersed, especially if you have the financial means. That's when they were concerned about finances. They said, if we can provide enough, if we can find enough money, then we'll let you go. So financial obstacles were actually matched with cultural obstacles, but it helped for them to trust me that they had done a good job of raising me. And I had to talk to them. I had teachers talk to them. |
Student story Overcoming family obstacles to college.mp3 | They said, if we can provide enough, if we can find enough money, then we'll let you go. So financial obstacles were actually matched with cultural obstacles, but it helped for them to trust me that they had done a good job of raising me. And I had to talk to them. I had teachers talk to them. I had people who had sent kids to colleges of their same cultural background also talk to them to look at the pros and cons. And after a few years of going to college, they actually did see how it really helped me to leave the nest and realize how much I actually loved and appreciated home that made me want to come back, because I missed them so much. And so it actually worked out for their benefit, too. |
Student story Extracurriculars that carry over from high school to college.mp3 | And we were really good in high school. And so when I got to college, I didn't want to be on the actual team, which they call the varsity team. I wanted to be on the club team. So it's less of a time commitment, but still a time commitment. So the club team, we typically travel, we play tournaments at different schools. I've been to Georgia, Delaware, Virginia, and we are not as good as like my high school team was. And so I'm still a captain on that team. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | And today we're going to talk about brainstorming. When I'm working with students, one of the things I most frequently hear is, I don't know what to write about, nothing big or interesting has happened to me. Well, I just don't believe that. I know that every single senior has a story to tell. But the real challenge is just trying to find that story. We know ourselves, but sometimes we just can't see our own strengths. What the brainstorm exercises will help you do is to find what those strengths are, identify the stories, and then move forward to develop the essay. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | I know that every single senior has a story to tell. But the real challenge is just trying to find that story. We know ourselves, but sometimes we just can't see our own strengths. What the brainstorm exercises will help you do is to find what those strengths are, identify the stories, and then move forward to develop the essay. We're going to look at three different ways to brainstorm. You can do them all. You can try one. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | What the brainstorm exercises will help you do is to find what those strengths are, identify the stories, and then move forward to develop the essay. We're going to look at three different ways to brainstorm. You can do them all. You can try one. Oftentimes, students will say to me, well, I know what my strengths are. I'm great in math. I love drama. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | You can try one. Oftentimes, students will say to me, well, I know what my strengths are. I'm great in math. I love drama. I'm a great athlete. Those are really your talents. Those are things you do well. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | I love drama. I'm a great athlete. Those are really your talents. Those are things you do well. What we're trying to find are strengths or underlying qualities. So you might be great in math and science because you're able to take complex information and make sense of it. Or you might just be really observant. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | Those are things you do well. What we're trying to find are strengths or underlying qualities. So you might be great in math and science because you're able to take complex information and make sense of it. Or you might just be really observant. You might be more of a quiet type person who can really see things that others might not see and can make connections. That's a strength also. It's a strength, in fact, of many artists. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | Or you might just be really observant. You might be more of a quiet type person who can really see things that others might not see and can make connections. That's a strength also. It's a strength, in fact, of many artists. So no surprise, our strengths and what we love to do often relate or are intertwined. But for this essay, what we want to do is find where you really shine. The first one, we'll use an online tool. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | It's a strength, in fact, of many artists. So no surprise, our strengths and what we love to do often relate or are intertwined. But for this essay, what we want to do is find where you really shine. The first one, we'll use an online tool. And it's a personality trait tool that relies on the Myers-Briggs type indicator. One of the things that I think is great about the online tool is that oftentimes we know some of our strengths. And it's a great way to taking what you know is true about yourself but going way beyond that. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | The first one, we'll use an online tool. And it's a personality trait tool that relies on the Myers-Briggs type indicator. One of the things that I think is great about the online tool is that oftentimes we know some of our strengths. And it's a great way to taking what you know is true about yourself but going way beyond that. And it gives you a whole new set of language and ideas. Oftentimes when I'm working with students and we use the tool, they'll take the online diagnostic and they'll say, wow, that's me. Oftentimes we know what our strengths are. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | And it's a great way to taking what you know is true about yourself but going way beyond that. And it gives you a whole new set of language and ideas. Oftentimes when I'm working with students and we use the tool, they'll take the online diagnostic and they'll say, wow, that's me. Oftentimes we know what our strengths are. I know that I'm a creative type of person. But sometimes it's hard to articulate them. The test tells them things that they know about themselves deep in their heart or in their mind, but it gives them a whole new way of expressing it. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | Oftentimes we know what our strengths are. I know that I'm a creative type of person. But sometimes it's hard to articulate them. The test tells them things that they know about themselves deep in their heart or in their mind, but it gives them a whole new way of expressing it. Let's review the results from one high school senior that I coached recently. When he took the online personality test or diagnostic, his type came back as ENTJ. And that stands for, in the Myers-Briggs language, extroverted, intuitive, thinking, judging. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | The test tells them things that they know about themselves deep in their heart or in their mind, but it gives them a whole new way of expressing it. Let's review the results from one high school senior that I coached recently. When he took the online personality test or diagnostic, his type came back as ENTJ. And that stands for, in the Myers-Briggs language, extroverted, intuitive, thinking, judging. Here's what the tool said about ENTJs. They push their goals through with sheer willpower. With their extroverted nature, they're likely to push everyone else right along with them. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | And that stands for, in the Myers-Briggs language, extroverted, intuitive, thinking, judging. Here's what the tool said about ENTJs. They push their goals through with sheer willpower. With their extroverted nature, they're likely to push everyone else right along with them. Energetic. They enjoy leading teams forward, implementing plans and goals. So those are the strengths of that type of person. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | With their extroverted nature, they're likely to push everyone else right along with them. Energetic. They enjoy leading teams forward, implementing plans and goals. So those are the strengths of that type of person. So the next step we did was we took those strengths and then worked to identify when those may have showed up in his life, when they were manifested. And the more specific he could be, the better the stories that were resulting from it. For the student I was coaching, there were two traits that seemed to have the biggest, richest stories associated with him. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | So those are the strengths of that type of person. So the next step we did was we took those strengths and then worked to identify when those may have showed up in his life, when they were manifested. And the more specific he could be, the better the stories that were resulting from it. For the student I was coaching, there were two traits that seemed to have the biggest, richest stories associated with him. One was his strength of being strong-willed. The other was charismatic. Both those strengths really came into play when he was starting a new club at school, a ping pong club. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | For the student I was coaching, there were two traits that seemed to have the biggest, richest stories associated with him. One was his strength of being strong-willed. The other was charismatic. Both those strengths really came into play when he was starting a new club at school, a ping pong club. He wrote about how he gathered students in each grade to become club members, about finding a teacher who could be the champion or their advocate on campus. They needed to raise money to buy the equipment. They needed to find a place to set up the tables and organize the fundraisers. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | Both those strengths really came into play when he was starting a new club at school, a ping pong club. He wrote about how he gathered students in each grade to become club members, about finding a teacher who could be the champion or their advocate on campus. They needed to raise money to buy the equipment. They needed to find a place to set up the tables and organize the fundraisers. They did a student-teacher ping pong match to raise money for a local charity. All of those facts showed that he had a strong will. He was determined. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | They needed to find a place to set up the tables and organize the fundraisers. They did a student-teacher ping pong match to raise money for a local charity. All of those facts showed that he had a strong will. He was determined. At first when he wanted to start the club, the school said, there's plenty of clubs. We don't need it. But he found a way to make it happen. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | He was determined. At first when he wanted to start the club, the school said, there's plenty of clubs. We don't need it. But he found a way to make it happen. And that shows his strong will. He never explicitly uses those words in his essays, but by telling a story, he's able to let those strengths show. But he also realized that he was charismatic. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | But he found a way to make it happen. And that shows his strong will. He never explicitly uses those words in his essays, but by telling a story, he's able to let those strengths show. But he also realized that he was charismatic. He inspired other people to get involved. He inspired adults, the teacher, to get involved. He inspired parents to do ping pong championships and tournaments with the kids. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | But he also realized that he was charismatic. He inspired other people to get involved. He inspired adults, the teacher, to get involved. He inspired parents to do ping pong championships and tournaments with the kids. And so those were his strengths. And the story of the ping pong club helped showcase those strengths. It's important to recognize you don't need to summarize and say, I'm charismatic. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | He inspired parents to do ping pong championships and tournaments with the kids. And so those were his strengths. And the story of the ping pong club helped showcase those strengths. It's important to recognize you don't need to summarize and say, I'm charismatic. I'm strong will. If you find yourself saying, that's when I realized, or that's when I learned, or the most important lesson was. That's not necessary. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | It's important to recognize you don't need to summarize and say, I'm charismatic. I'm strong will. If you find yourself saying, that's when I realized, or that's when I learned, or the most important lesson was. That's not necessary. In fact, it takes away from your story. Let them draw those conclusions. Let's do brainstorm number two. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | That's not necessary. In fact, it takes away from your story. Let them draw those conclusions. Let's do brainstorm number two. It's called my three words. What you want to do is identify six to eight people who know you well. Think about people from different parts of your life, maybe two friends, a parent, a teacher or two, a coach, an older sibling. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | Let's do brainstorm number two. It's called my three words. What you want to do is identify six to eight people who know you well. Think about people from different parts of your life, maybe two friends, a parent, a teacher or two, a coach, an older sibling. Ask each of them the same question. What three adjectives best describe me? You can ask them in person, by phone or text. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | Think about people from different parts of your life, maybe two friends, a parent, a teacher or two, a coach, an older sibling. Ask each of them the same question. What three adjectives best describe me? You can ask them in person, by phone or text. The key is write down exactly what they tell you. Here are the results from one student that I coached in Seattle. The next step is where things really get interesting. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | You can ask them in person, by phone or text. The key is write down exactly what they tell you. Here are the results from one student that I coached in Seattle. The next step is where things really get interesting. We're going to map out the findings. Her findings clustered around three main themes, builder, problem solver, free spirit. We brainstormed a couple possibilities. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | The next step is where things really get interesting. We're going to map out the findings. Her findings clustered around three main themes, builder, problem solver, free spirit. We brainstormed a couple possibilities. She began to focus in on one example where her strengths really did shine. She worked in a summer daycare center. She was in charge of a lot of four to five year olds. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | We brainstormed a couple possibilities. She began to focus in on one example where her strengths really did shine. She worked in a summer daycare center. She was in charge of a lot of four to five year olds. The center had two clear rules, no TV, no technology. Her challenge was how do you entertain or keep occupied a lot of little kids without any sort of devices. She started building things with them. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | She was in charge of a lot of four to five year olds. The center had two clear rules, no TV, no technology. Her challenge was how do you entertain or keep occupied a lot of little kids without any sort of devices. She started building things with them. She used the constraint of no TV and no technology to figure out a work around. She had all the kids gather things around the room and each day they'd do a different project. What this showed as she started to brainstorm that idea was that she is a problem solver. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | She started building things with them. She used the constraint of no TV and no technology to figure out a work around. She had all the kids gather things around the room and each day they'd do a different project. What this showed as she started to brainstorm that idea was that she is a problem solver. She figured out a way to have the constraint not be an impediment. She found solutions around it. She wants to study childhood psychology. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | What this showed as she started to brainstorm that idea was that she is a problem solver. She figured out a way to have the constraint not be an impediment. She found solutions around it. She wants to study childhood psychology. She had the added benefit of having a story that showcased her strengths, i.e. problem solving and reinforced that interest or her area of study for college. The story is about who she's going to become. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | She wants to study childhood psychology. She had the added benefit of having a story that showcased her strengths, i.e. problem solving and reinforced that interest or her area of study for college. The story is about who she's going to become. Your essay is not a rear view mirror and a reporting of a job that you had or an event that happened in your life. You need to show development and where you're going and who you want to become. That helps the admissions officers see the type of student you will be when you're at school on their campus. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | The story is about who she's going to become. Your essay is not a rear view mirror and a reporting of a job that you had or an event that happened in your life. You need to show development and where you're going and who you want to become. That helps the admissions officers see the type of student you will be when you're at school on their campus. Now let's look at a third brainstorm. If your results don't prompt ideas, a good way to get things moving is to do free write. For one or two weeks, my recommendation is to do free write in a journal. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | That helps the admissions officers see the type of student you will be when you're at school on their campus. Now let's look at a third brainstorm. If your results don't prompt ideas, a good way to get things moving is to do free write. For one or two weeks, my recommendation is to do free write in a journal. If you'd like to see some prompts that can help you get started on those free writes, we've included them in a separate article within this resource. Once you've got your ideas mapped out as part of the brainstorm, you're going to want to start sharing them in story format and eventually write them in story format for your application. One of the great things to do is to think about the story and start to share those, socialize them, tell your friends the story, tell your parents, tell a teacher, and you'll start to see what parts of the story begin to resonate with people, where they laugh, where they say, wow, that sounds like you. |
Brainstorming tips for your college essay.mp3 | For one or two weeks, my recommendation is to do free write in a journal. If you'd like to see some prompts that can help you get started on those free writes, we've included them in a separate article within this resource. Once you've got your ideas mapped out as part of the brainstorm, you're going to want to start sharing them in story format and eventually write them in story format for your application. One of the great things to do is to think about the story and start to share those, socialize them, tell your friends the story, tell your parents, tell a teacher, and you'll start to see what parts of the story begin to resonate with people, where they laugh, where they say, wow, that sounds like you. And you'll start to be able to shape that story and give it greater strength. So we all know that the essay is a key part of your application and it's the one area that you've got total control over. Hope these tips have helped. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | But if you do end up taking out loans, it's important to discuss what comes next. Specifically, you have to pay these loans back at some point. So today, we're going to talk about that payback process and how you can make sure it's manageable. On that note, we're very, very lucky to have personal finance expert Beth Kobliner here with us today. Beth is on the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans, and she is also the author of the book Get a Financial Life. So Beth, thanks so much for being here with us today. It's really great to be here. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | On that note, we're very, very lucky to have personal finance expert Beth Kobliner here with us today. Beth is on the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans, and she is also the author of the book Get a Financial Life. So Beth, thanks so much for being here with us today. It's really great to be here. All right, Beth, let's dive right in. Most students are worried about taking on too much debt for college. Are students really taking on that much debt? |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | It's really great to be here. All right, Beth, let's dive right in. Most students are worried about taking on too much debt for college. Are students really taking on that much debt? And if so, how can I as a student make sure that the debt I take on is manageable? Right. Well, the numbers can seem really scary. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Are students really taking on that much debt? And if so, how can I as a student make sure that the debt I take on is manageable? Right. Well, the numbers can seem really scary. Most kids are taking on debt. You know, 70 percent of kids who graduate from college these days do have student loans, and they're leaving school with about $30,000 in debt, both federal and private student loans. To some extent, taking on debt is unavoidable, but it's not an awful thing either, because if you are able to get federal student loans, the interest rates are lower and you have more repayment options. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Well, the numbers can seem really scary. Most kids are taking on debt. You know, 70 percent of kids who graduate from college these days do have student loans, and they're leaving school with about $30,000 in debt, both federal and private student loans. To some extent, taking on debt is unavoidable, but it's not an awful thing either, because if you are able to get federal student loans, the interest rates are lower and you have more repayment options. And I think that's a key for a lot of people to be aware of. Great. So let's talk about these loans. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | To some extent, taking on debt is unavoidable, but it's not an awful thing either, because if you are able to get federal student loans, the interest rates are lower and you have more repayment options. And I think that's a key for a lot of people to be aware of. Great. So let's talk about these loans. And if I'm, you know, a student who's gone through college and I'm about to graduate, I've taken federal loans, what do I need to know about the repayment process? The first thing you want to know is as you're about to repay your loans, when you have federal student loans, is you want to figure out how much you owe and to whom you owe it. You probably got a new federal loan each semester, and that interest rate is fixed. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | So let's talk about these loans. And if I'm, you know, a student who's gone through college and I'm about to graduate, I've taken federal loans, what do I need to know about the repayment process? The first thing you want to know is as you're about to repay your loans, when you have federal student loans, is you want to figure out how much you owe and to whom you owe it. You probably got a new federal loan each semester, and that interest rate is fixed. But then the next year when you get a new loan, that interest rate is also fixed. So you have a bunch of loans out there for many different years, often at several different interest rates. So you want to see what's out there and see who you owe. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | You probably got a new federal loan each semester, and that interest rate is fixed. But then the next year when you get a new loan, that interest rate is also fixed. So you have a bunch of loans out there for many different years, often at several different interest rates. So you want to see what's out there and see who you owe. And there's a good site, the National Student Loan Data System, nslds.ed.gov. You can click on financial aid review to find out what you owe and the company you need to pay, which is known as the loan servicer. Gotcha. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | So you want to see what's out there and see who you owe. And there's a good site, the National Student Loan Data System, nslds.ed.gov. You can click on financial aid review to find out what you owe and the company you need to pay, which is known as the loan servicer. Gotcha. And that's because each of the times you take out a federal loan, it might not actually be from the same loan servicer? Correct. And the interest rate will be different and the amount will be different. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Gotcha. And that's because each of the times you take out a federal loan, it might not actually be from the same loan servicer? Correct. And the interest rate will be different and the amount will be different. But one thing you can do is consolidate all your loans at that point, which is basically mush them all together through this program called direct consolidation loan program. And it allows you to make one payment each month at a fixed interest rate. And to get more information, you can go to studentaid.gov slash consolidation. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | And the interest rate will be different and the amount will be different. But one thing you can do is consolidate all your loans at that point, which is basically mush them all together through this program called direct consolidation loan program. And it allows you to make one payment each month at a fixed interest rate. And to get more information, you can go to studentaid.gov slash consolidation. And the way consolidation loans work is it's simply the average of the interest rate for the loans you're combining rounded up a tiny bit. Great. So the consolidation actually lets me take all of these different federal loans that I've taken over the course of maybe four years, put them all together into one loan that has an average of the different interest rates, and then I can pay that back. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | And to get more information, you can go to studentaid.gov slash consolidation. And the way consolidation loans work is it's simply the average of the interest rate for the loans you're combining rounded up a tiny bit. Great. So the consolidation actually lets me take all of these different federal loans that I've taken over the course of maybe four years, put them all together into one loan that has an average of the different interest rates, and then I can pay that back. So I have a single payment every month as opposed to making a bunch of different payments to different people. Is that right? That's right. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | So the consolidation actually lets me take all of these different federal loans that I've taken over the course of maybe four years, put them all together into one loan that has an average of the different interest rates, and then I can pay that back. So I have a single payment every month as opposed to making a bunch of different payments to different people. Is that right? That's right. And it's good because you limit your chance of risking missing a payment and getting into deep financial trouble, which really is, of all of this, probably one of the most important thing is you want to make your payments in a timely way. All right. So we've been talking about repaying or consolidating loans, but I may graduate and not be able to find a job right away. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | That's right. And it's good because you limit your chance of risking missing a payment and getting into deep financial trouble, which really is, of all of this, probably one of the most important thing is you want to make your payments in a timely way. All right. So we've been talking about repaying or consolidating loans, but I may graduate and not be able to find a job right away. So if that's the case, is there anything I can do or am I out of luck? Well, the fact is this is a realistic problem for a lot of young people. And the good news is for most federal student loans, you don't have to start paying them back actually until at least six months after graduating or leaving school. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | So we've been talking about repaying or consolidating loans, but I may graduate and not be able to find a job right away. So if that's the case, is there anything I can do or am I out of luck? Well, the fact is this is a realistic problem for a lot of young people. And the good news is for most federal student loans, you don't have to start paying them back actually until at least six months after graduating or leaving school. But even at that point, if you can't make the payments, maybe you can't find a job or you've gone back to school, you know, grad school, you should then apply for what's called a deferment, which lets you off the hook from paying back your loans for three years or more among some other benefits it offers. If you don't qualify for a deferment, you may still get a break by applying for something called forbearance, which allows you to, you know, reduce or stop making those payments for up to 12 months at a time. That's less than deferment, but it's still a definitely helpful option. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | And the good news is for most federal student loans, you don't have to start paying them back actually until at least six months after graduating or leaving school. But even at that point, if you can't make the payments, maybe you can't find a job or you've gone back to school, you know, grad school, you should then apply for what's called a deferment, which lets you off the hook from paying back your loans for three years or more among some other benefits it offers. If you don't qualify for a deferment, you may still get a break by applying for something called forbearance, which allows you to, you know, reduce or stop making those payments for up to 12 months at a time. That's less than deferment, but it's still a definitely helpful option. You want to check out studentaid.gov slash deferment dash forbearance to get the details. Great. Well, it's wonderful to know that there is some flexibility out there if I can't begin immediately paying back those loans. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | That's less than deferment, but it's still a definitely helpful option. You want to check out studentaid.gov slash deferment dash forbearance to get the details. Great. Well, it's wonderful to know that there is some flexibility out there if I can't begin immediately paying back those loans. But when I am ready to start paying them back, what exactly do I do? Right. So this is where it gets kind of interesting. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Well, it's wonderful to know that there is some flexibility out there if I can't begin immediately paying back those loans. But when I am ready to start paying them back, what exactly do I do? Right. So this is where it gets kind of interesting. You're automatically enrolled in the standard repayment plan, which basically requires that you make the same payment every month for 10 years until the home loan is paid off. This is generally the least expensive option when it comes to paying back loans. But if you can't afford that, there are other repayment plans to choose from. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | So this is where it gets kind of interesting. You're automatically enrolled in the standard repayment plan, which basically requires that you make the same payment every month for 10 years until the home loan is paid off. This is generally the least expensive option when it comes to paying back loans. But if you can't afford that, there are other repayment plans to choose from. And the best place to go to figure this all out is studentaid.gov slash repayment dash estimator. This is a really great source because you could just plug in your information to figure out which repayment plan really makes the most sense for you. Great. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | But if you can't afford that, there are other repayment plans to choose from. And the best place to go to figure this all out is studentaid.gov slash repayment dash estimator. This is a really great source because you could just plug in your information to figure out which repayment plan really makes the most sense for you. Great. Well, can you tell us a little bit more, since the standard plan is sort of the default that people are placed in, and as you said, if you can afford to do it, it tends to be the least expensive overall. Can you kind of give us an example of how it would work? Absolutely. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Great. Well, can you tell us a little bit more, since the standard plan is sort of the default that people are placed in, and as you said, if you can afford to do it, it tends to be the least expensive overall. Can you kind of give us an example of how it would work? Absolutely. So with the standard repayment plan, you basically pay off your loan over 10 years. And let's take an example of a student named Gabe. He's a recent graduate, and say he owes $30,000 in direct federal loans. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Absolutely. So with the standard repayment plan, you basically pay off your loan over 10 years. And let's take an example of a student named Gabe. He's a recent graduate, and say he owes $30,000 in direct federal loans. So let's assume, I'm just making some assumptions here, his interest rate is 4.7%, which is the current rate for direct loans. With the standard 10-year repayment plan, Gabe would owe $315 per month. So over 10 years, he would have had to pay back the $30,000 plus an additional $8,000 in interest. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | He's a recent graduate, and say he owes $30,000 in direct federal loans. So let's assume, I'm just making some assumptions here, his interest rate is 4.7%, which is the current rate for direct loans. With the standard 10-year repayment plan, Gabe would owe $315 per month. So over 10 years, he would have had to pay back the $30,000 plus an additional $8,000 in interest. So his total cost of the loan is $38,000. Now remember, these are just rounded up numbers that we figured out, but it generally gives you a good idea of what that standard repayment plan would cost you. Great. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | So over 10 years, he would have had to pay back the $30,000 plus an additional $8,000 in interest. So his total cost of the loan is $38,000. Now remember, these are just rounded up numbers that we figured out, but it generally gives you a good idea of what that standard repayment plan would cost you. Great. So I can get this sort of information on the repayment estimator. And in addition to the standard repayment plan, what are some other options for Gabe if that $315 a month doesn't sound realistic, particularly right when he's graduating from college? Exactly. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Great. So I can get this sort of information on the repayment estimator. And in addition to the standard repayment plan, what are some other options for Gabe if that $315 a month doesn't sound realistic, particularly right when he's graduating from college? Exactly. So there are several others. But remember, these are all for federal loans only. But one's called the graduated repayment plan. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Exactly. So there are several others. But remember, these are all for federal loans only. But one's called the graduated repayment plan. And this is good for people who can't afford that monthly payment of $315 per month, but they're pretty sure that their income is going to increase over time. So with graduated repayment, payments start very low and manageable, and then jump up a notch every two years until it's paid off in 10 years. The downside is you're going to pay a little bit more interest over time. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | But one's called the graduated repayment plan. And this is good for people who can't afford that monthly payment of $315 per month, but they're pretty sure that their income is going to increase over time. So with graduated repayment, payments start very low and manageable, and then jump up a notch every two years until it's paid off in 10 years. The downside is you're going to pay a little bit more interest over time. So in Gabe's case, with graduated repayment, he'd pay just $180 a month for the first two years, but $530 a month for the years nine and 10. So you compare that to the $315 Gabe would pay every month with standard repayment, and clearly it's less at the beginning and more at the end. So with graduated over 10 years, he'd pay back the $30,000 plus an additional $10,000 in interest. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | The downside is you're going to pay a little bit more interest over time. So in Gabe's case, with graduated repayment, he'd pay just $180 a month for the first two years, but $530 a month for the years nine and 10. So you compare that to the $315 Gabe would pay every month with standard repayment, and clearly it's less at the beginning and more at the end. So with graduated over 10 years, he'd pay back the $30,000 plus an additional $10,000 in interest. So his total cost for the graduated plan would be about $2,000 more than standard repayment, or the total cost for the graduated plan would be $40,000. Gotcha. So for that $30,000 loan for Gabe, it sounds like if he can afford the standard repayment plan up front, he can save a little bit of money over the long term. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | So with graduated over 10 years, he'd pay back the $30,000 plus an additional $10,000 in interest. So his total cost for the graduated plan would be about $2,000 more than standard repayment, or the total cost for the graduated plan would be $40,000. Gotcha. So for that $30,000 loan for Gabe, it sounds like if he can afford the standard repayment plan up front, he can save a little bit of money over the long term. But if he needs the flexibility of low payments in the beginning, he could take the graduated plan and then pay a little bit more overall. That's exactly right. Great. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | So for that $30,000 loan for Gabe, it sounds like if he can afford the standard repayment plan up front, he can save a little bit of money over the long term. But if he needs the flexibility of low payments in the beginning, he could take the graduated plan and then pay a little bit more overall. That's exactly right. Great. So are there any other options that Gabe should consider, particularly if he doesn't have a very large income at the start of his career after graduating from college? Right. Well, there are other plans called income-driven repayment plans, and they basically look at your income and how much money you owe to figure out whether you can make very, very low monthly payments at first based on your income if you have a low income. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Great. So are there any other options that Gabe should consider, particularly if he doesn't have a very large income at the start of his career after graduating from college? Right. Well, there are other plans called income-driven repayment plans, and they basically look at your income and how much money you owe to figure out whether you can make very, very low monthly payments at first based on your income if you have a low income. The thing about these income-driven plans is that after a set number of years, your debt is actually forgiven, which is a good thing. But realistically, the best way to think about these plans is that they're a temporary option to help you while you're young and really not making very much money. But as your salary grows over time, you're probably going to have to switch back to the standard repayment plan. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Well, there are other plans called income-driven repayment plans, and they basically look at your income and how much money you owe to figure out whether you can make very, very low monthly payments at first based on your income if you have a low income. The thing about these income-driven plans is that after a set number of years, your debt is actually forgiven, which is a good thing. But realistically, the best way to think about these plans is that they're a temporary option to help you while you're young and really not making very much money. But as your salary grows over time, you're probably going to have to switch back to the standard repayment plan. Great. And that makes a lot of sense. And so, you know, speaking of income, there are obviously some career paths, you know, particularly ones that focus on public service that tend to pay less. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | But as your salary grows over time, you're probably going to have to switch back to the standard repayment plan. Great. And that makes a lot of sense. And so, you know, speaking of income, there are obviously some career paths, you know, particularly ones that focus on public service that tend to pay less. How does that factor into taking out college loans? And are there any options to sort of help people who decide to go into those sort of professions? Right. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | And so, you know, speaking of income, there are obviously some career paths, you know, particularly ones that focus on public service that tend to pay less. How does that factor into taking out college loans? And are there any options to sort of help people who decide to go into those sort of professions? Right. So if you are a do-gooder or somebody who just wants to help others, there's a program called public service loan forgiveness that you have to look into because it can be really advantageous in that it completely wipes away your remaining debt after 10 years. But to be eligible, you need to commit to a long-term job or career in teaching, public health, law enforcement, military, and you have to do so for 10 years. So with this plan, the strategy would be if you're going into public service, you'd want your monthly payments for the first 10 years to be rather low so you're not paying so much up front. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Right. So if you are a do-gooder or somebody who just wants to help others, there's a program called public service loan forgiveness that you have to look into because it can be really advantageous in that it completely wipes away your remaining debt after 10 years. But to be eligible, you need to commit to a long-term job or career in teaching, public health, law enforcement, military, and you have to do so for 10 years. So with this plan, the strategy would be if you're going into public service, you'd want your monthly payments for the first 10 years to be rather low so you're not paying so much up front. And then you're, you know, after the 10th year, if you owe a lot, the good news is with this kind of program that those debts are forgiven, which is really a great, you know, great thing for somebody who has really committed themselves to public service. If you're doing public service but you're not committing for 10 years, fewer than 10 years, say you're going to the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps or teaching in a low-income area or the military, there are other student loan forgiveness programs. You can check out studentaid.gov slash forgiveness and you can get a sense for what your options would be. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | So with this plan, the strategy would be if you're going into public service, you'd want your monthly payments for the first 10 years to be rather low so you're not paying so much up front. And then you're, you know, after the 10th year, if you owe a lot, the good news is with this kind of program that those debts are forgiven, which is really a great, you know, great thing for somebody who has really committed themselves to public service. If you're doing public service but you're not committing for 10 years, fewer than 10 years, say you're going to the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps or teaching in a low-income area or the military, there are other student loan forgiveness programs. You can check out studentaid.gov slash forgiveness and you can get a sense for what your options would be. Great. So it sounds like there really is some flexibility for folks who decide to take paths that maybe don't pay as much as far as student loan repayment is concerned. Right. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | You can check out studentaid.gov slash forgiveness and you can get a sense for what your options would be. Great. So it sounds like there really is some flexibility for folks who decide to take paths that maybe don't pay as much as far as student loan repayment is concerned. Right. And help others, which is sort of a nice thing that there's some payback there. Great. And Beth, the last question I want to ask you is I've heard that there are some potential tax breaks for students who are paying back their loans that I should be aware about as I'm graduating from college and starting to repay my loans. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | Right. And help others, which is sort of a nice thing that there's some payback there. Great. And Beth, the last question I want to ask you is I've heard that there are some potential tax breaks for students who are paying back their loans that I should be aware about as I'm graduating from college and starting to repay my loans. Right. Well, probably the most important is you may be able to deduct up to $2,500 of the interest you pay on your student loans each year and that would be on your taxes, on your tax return. So it definitely is worth checking it out. |
Paying back your loans.mp3 | And Beth, the last question I want to ask you is I've heard that there are some potential tax breaks for students who are paying back their loans that I should be aware about as I'm graduating from college and starting to repay my loans. Right. Well, probably the most important is you may be able to deduct up to $2,500 of the interest you pay on your student loans each year and that would be on your taxes, on your tax return. So it definitely is worth checking it out. Great. Well, Beth, thank you so much for taking some time with us today to talk about student loan repayments and we really appreciate your time. Oh, thank you so much. |
Student story Admissions essay about personal identity.mp3 | So I actually do remember what I wrote because it was some of the piece of writing that I'm most proud of, partly because it was edited so many times. One of which was about my relationship to writing. So I'm an English major now, so I guess it's pretty fitting that I wrote about writing back when I was applying to colleges. And basically how I came to terms that good writing isn't necessarily about using big words or anything like that, but it's actually about communicating ideas efficiently and kind of coming at it from a very like political and like social justice angle, if you can have that in English. So I actually wrote about that for one of them. And it was very important for me to communicate to the admissions committee like what my academic interests were at the time. So I think that particular topic was a helpful way to be like, I'm really interested in English and like thinking about how English functions as like a political tool. |
Student story Admissions essay about personal identity.mp3 | And basically how I came to terms that good writing isn't necessarily about using big words or anything like that, but it's actually about communicating ideas efficiently and kind of coming at it from a very like political and like social justice angle, if you can have that in English. So I actually wrote about that for one of them. And it was very important for me to communicate to the admissions committee like what my academic interests were at the time. So I think that particular topic was a helpful way to be like, I'm really interested in English and like thinking about how English functions as like a political tool. So like that was what the first paper was about. The second paper was about, this is very silly and it sounds very silly saying it now, but I wrote about what I call the I do calculus dress. Funny I still remember this. |
Student story Admissions essay about personal identity.mp3 | So I think that particular topic was a helpful way to be like, I'm really interested in English and like thinking about how English functions as like a political tool. So like that was what the first paper was about. The second paper was about, this is very silly and it sounds very silly saying it now, but I wrote about what I call the I do calculus dress. Funny I still remember this. And the I do calculus dress was a dress that me and my friend saw at JCPenney that was super ugly. And we had an ongoing joke that only people who do calculus would ever dare wear such an unfashionable thing. And like the I do calculus dress in my paper ended up becoming sort of this metaphor symbol for how I kind of grew into my status as a nerd at my high school, which was very uncommon. |
Student story Admissions essay about personal identity.mp3 | Funny I still remember this. And the I do calculus dress was a dress that me and my friend saw at JCPenney that was super ugly. And we had an ongoing joke that only people who do calculus would ever dare wear such an unfashionable thing. And like the I do calculus dress in my paper ended up becoming sort of this metaphor symbol for how I kind of grew into my status as a nerd at my high school, which was very uncommon. And how I learned to stop being ashamed of the dress that fit me so well, but actually wear it proudly and be like, yeah, I'm a nerd and I'm okay with that. And I'm okay with showing that off and flaunting that. So again, this is also spoke to a little bit about how I came to be comfortable with who I was and how I was intellectually stimulated and curious. |
Deciding whether to retake the ACT.mp3 | Okay, so deciding whether to retake the test or not. A majority of students do improve their test scores when they take it a second time. In my experience, students relax a little bit more. You've seen it once already, so you tend to do a little bit better on that second time through. So, should you retake it? A couple questions you may want to ask yourself and it probably comes to maybe four different points. The first point is, you know, look at how you did and then, you know, compare that with some of the schools that you're really interested in. |
Deciding whether to retake the ACT.mp3 | You've seen it once already, so you tend to do a little bit better on that second time through. So, should you retake it? A couple questions you may want to ask yourself and it probably comes to maybe four different points. The first point is, you know, look at how you did and then, you know, compare that with some of the schools that you're really interested in. Let's use UCLA as an example. A 25 is in their 25th percentile score and a 31 is in their 75th percentile score. That basically means that 25% of the students score below a 25 and 75% score below a 31. |
Deciding whether to retake the ACT.mp3 | The first point is, you know, look at how you did and then, you know, compare that with some of the schools that you're really interested in. Let's use UCLA as an example. A 25 is in their 25th percentile score and a 31 is in their 75th percentile score. That basically means that 25% of the students score below a 25 and 75% score below a 31. So, let's say you scored a 22 on the ACT. That's your composite score and you want to go to UCLA. Well, 22 puts you in the bottom 25% of students, so you may want to consider, you know, taking the test again to improve your chances at UCLA. |
Deciding whether to retake the ACT.mp3 | That basically means that 25% of the students score below a 25 and 75% score below a 31. So, let's say you scored a 22 on the ACT. That's your composite score and you want to go to UCLA. Well, 22 puts you in the bottom 25% of students, so you may want to consider, you know, taking the test again to improve your chances at UCLA. If you scored a 30 on the ACT composite, then you are between the 25th and the 75th percentile, meaning the score is very competitive for UCLA. Another point to consider is how high was your initial score? Typically, it's easier to bring up a lower score than it is to get a few extra points at the high end. |
Deciding whether to retake the ACT.mp3 | Well, 22 puts you in the bottom 25% of students, so you may want to consider, you know, taking the test again to improve your chances at UCLA. If you scored a 30 on the ACT composite, then you are between the 25th and the 75th percentile, meaning the score is very competitive for UCLA. Another point to consider is how high was your initial score? Typically, it's easier to bring up a lower score than it is to get a few extra points at the high end. Another point to consider is, you know, how did you do on your test compared to what your expectations were? So, if you've been taking a lot of practice tests, doing a lot of studying and you got about the score that you thought you would get, you may be very happy with that. If, by chance, you were doing a lot better on your practice test, you probably have some room to improve and you may want to consider taking the ACT again. |
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