There's a not-so-silent financial aid killer, lurking in the shadows, awaiting hapless families looking to apply for college financial aid this year.

This assassin appears to have targeted middle class and upper middle class families with college-bound kids.

Who-slash-what is this criminal?

The federal Department of Education.  The Department has revamped its financial aid eligibility rules for the first time in 40 years.  The press has called these changes "tectonic."

I call them, "sh-tty."

Parden my francais, but I calls 'em like I sees 'em.  And in a few minutes, I'll be doing just that when we go live:

I'm doing a last-minute, quickie webinar on the changes -- and my thoughts and strategies on how to cope -- if you're applying for financial aid this year and beyond.

Here's some of what's on tap tonight:

*Rules changes for families with more than one child in college

*Rules changes for business owners

*Rules changes for divorced families

*Rules changes for how...

Everyone knows that the cost of college is waaaaaay of hand...

...except the Department of Education, it appears.

This year, they're implementing the largest overhaul of the rules about financial aid eligibility in 40 years.

I've seen these new rules, and they ain't pretty, for the most part.  Actually, they're pretty damn anti-middle class.

One of the changes that hits close to home for me, personally, is the one that pulls off the table the credit, or "discount" in the rules for families with multiple children in college.  I have three kids in college, which is why I'm taking this personally.  But it's not just me, 60% of families have more than one child in college.

Under the old rules, if you had two in college, your eligibility would be DOUBLE that of someone with the same income, savings, etc. but only one child in college.  

Now, both families are eligible for the same amount.  Even a family with quintuplets would be treated the same way as...

At 7:31 am I was on a morning news show that Pearl and I couldn't figure out how to watch, discussing the pending changes in financial aid, including the elimination of the "sibling discount."

As usual, I didn't have enough time to delve into all of the items I felt were important, possibly because the producers didn't want to put their audience to sleep.

So I decided to throw together a last minute, quickie webinar on the new rules of financial aid and what they mean for you, tomorrow night, to walk you through what you need to know if you're applying for financial aid for the upcoming year and/or beyond.

Here's some of what's on tap for tomorrow night:

*Rules changes for families with more than one child in college

*Rules changes for business owners

*Rules changes for divorced families

*Rules changes for how contributions from grandparents or others are treated in the financial aid formulas

*Changes in the timing of when you file

*The effect of the changes on...

Yesterday I swapped a few texts with a mom, a successful architect, about signing up her son for our upcoming SAT prep class (starts tonight).  

She was a repeat client, which isn't unusual for a business like ours. What was unusual, however, was the story of her older daughter, Mary.

When Mary enrolled in her prep class with our head tutor, Marissa, hopes were pretty low.   She was a little down and out, having taken the ACT four times, failing to hit the score the rowing coach said she needed to be recruited to her top choice college.

The more she tried, the worse things got.  Marissa and I figured that Mary was suffering from a classic case of Test Anxiety, but the weird thing was that Mary was a competitive athlete, used to performing under pressure.

I personally thought Mary should have opted for 1:1 tutoring to focus on her specific issues, instead of taking a full-blown, basic review, but I kept my thoughts to myself.

Weeks...

Happy Sunday. I'm back from the office where I was torturing, um, overseeing a client take a practice test.  Kudos to him for spending a sunny Sunday morning to bone up on his test taking skills in advance of his next exam.

Even if his mom forced him.

Quick announcement about our online, GUARANTEED SAT prep class.   It kicks off tomorrow Monday, 8/28.  (Followed by the ACT class, which starts in September.)   

If you sign up for the SAT or ACT prep course now, you can qualify for an instant,  $115 "scholarship" (discount) with the coupon code CRUSH2023 while we still have availability.

The classes are more like "group tutoring" sessions because they're EXTREMELY small. 

Here's where to learn more about the class, the puttin' our money where our mouth is, no-risk First Class Guarantee, more:

Online Group Tutoring

- Andy "Sunday Special" Lockwood

P.S.  We also offer 1:1 tutoring, subject to availability.  Those...

I'm sad to report that I've had 4-5 conversations lately about last minute "emergencies."   None of these exchanges involved actual, bona fide, life-threatening emergencies of course.

First, I'm a college advisor.  Not a cardiologist.  Or bail bondsman.  Those guys have real emergencies.

My fauxmergencies involve sudden realizations that, yes, the school year is starting and all best laid plans 'o mice and kids of getting college applications, essays, or doing well on the SAT or ACT have gone awry. 

But wait, there will be more fake emergencies, right around Early Decision, Early Action and financial aid deadlines, and frantic phone calls and emails requesting help.  Some will come in the day of said deadlines.  (We don't bother to return those calls.)

Harken unto me and listen to my best possible advice I can give anyone in 12th, 11th, 10th grades or younger:  there are no surprise deadlines.  All colleges publish...

Good morning!

I'm in the midst of three college drop-offs over a grueling,10 day stretch, but wanted to tell you about two financial aid-related stories that caught my bleary eyes over the past couple of days.

The first was about alleged price fixing among elite colleges.

The second related to incredible, nauseating amounts of cash spent by public universities on the most STUPID stuff.

Sadly, neither of these stories is breaking news. This stuff has been going on longer than the 21+ years I've been a college advisor.  

The first story was about U Chicago paying $13.5M to settle allegations of financial aid price-fixing.  I'm embarrassed to say that I don't quite get the plaintiff's point. According to the summary I read, it looked like the allegation was that U Chicago colluded with 16 colleges, including Brown, Columbia, MIT and Duke. 

But the collusion was not about U Chicago sharing their applicants' files and coming up with identical awards, they way the...

If you like money, you'll want to watch the interview I just did with my friend and colleague, scholarship search expert and bundle of energy Jean O'Toole.

Here's the scoop on what we covered:

• What's the deal with those weirdo, gimmicky, obscure or just plain wack-a-doo special scholarships that everyone talks about?
• Which scholarship search websites are actually worth spending time on?
• How to sniff out a scholarship scam and avoid getting ripped off
• The best time to start your search for scholarships (this will surprise you)
• The oddball reason corporations need you to take their scholarship money
• How to win a scholarship for an "Invisible Disability"
• A ninja way to "raid" high school scholarships -- Pretty sneaky, sis!
• Are there really scholarships for families who don't qualify for financial aid?
• The biggest mistake families make in the scholarship search process
• More

This was a high energy, high octane interview, so I hope you check it out and get ready to take a whole lotta...

ACT and SAT Group Tutoring

Coupon Code: PREVIEW23

BREAKING -- the Common Application is out today!  

I haven't been this excited since the new phone books arrived (bonus points if you got the movie reference).

Putting my giddiness aside, today's the day when Class of 2024 college-bound kiddos can get a clickin' and a clackin' on their little computers and officially start the college application process.  Some thoughts:

• There's no race.  Even for rolling admissions colleges.   
• However, there's no need to wait until hours before deadline to start your applications.  These easily avoidable faux emergencies occur in November and December.  Today's August 1, but those deadlines will sneak up on thousands. Maybe even some of my readers (not you of course :)
• Generally, the Common App is straight forward. The parts that require some thought and strategy are 1. the personal statement, 2. supplemental essays and 3. the Activities Section.  Work...

Why should you take the SAT or ACT if colleges are test-optional?

If you don't submit your SAT or ACT, how do admissions officers decide whether to accept or reject?

Should you submit your scores to some colleges but not others?

Do some colleges prefer one over the other (SAT v ACT)?

How do you know "Which Test is Best"...for your son or daughter?

Is it ok to sing a sad song with an upbeat tempo?

These (except one) are just some of the near-daily questions our head tutor, Marissa U and I get here at our college advisory firm.  This is just tip tippity-top of the iceberg, too.

That's why we're doing a live and unplugged open (and free) webinar tomorrow night, Monday July 31, where you can get these and your other questions answered, time permitting.

Here's how it works:

1. Sign up (click that large blue button, below)
2. Answer the 1-question survey about your "burning question" that you want answered (optional)
3. Show up Monday night (you'll get the link once you sign up)

It's...