• Be organized as you start college
• Top 10 characteristics to consider during colleges visits
• Visit with Mapping Your Future, College Goal Sunday during ASCA Conference
• Mapping Your Future supports national effort to help students, parents plan for college

Be organized as you start college

Although more and more of what we do in life, such as shopping, communicating with friends, travel planning, applying for financial aid, etc, can be done online, we still receive a lot of paper. It can become overwhelming and fill our lives with clutter.

Want to start college on the right foot? Here are some tips for getting organized:

• Mail - Handle each piece of mail as soon as you receive it. Mail can pile up quickly, and something important can be overlooked when it is mixed in the junk mail. Open your mail as soon as you receive it and throw away anything that doesn't require you to take action.
• Receipts - Save credit card receipts until you can match them up with your statement. Once you're reviewed your statement, discard the receipts, unless you will need them for taxes or other reimbursement. It that case, file them immediately.
• Financial aid - If you have or will receive any financial aid to attend college, make sure you save copies of all paperwork. If you take out a student loan, make sure you have all the documents that indicate the name of your lender, servicer, and/or guarantor. This paperwork will be important when repayment begins.
• Magazines - Magazines can pile up quickly, especially if you receive several a week or month. You might want to end some subscriptions. You also can scan the table of contents when you receive a magazine and read only those articles of interest. If you have magazines that are several weeks or months old, you probably should just discard them. (Are you really going to find the time to read them in the future and, if you did, would you want to read magazines that old?)
• Billing statements and invoices - Sometimes these can come in handy if you need to reference them for prior billing or a record of service. Up to two years worth could come in handy, but it isn't necessary to keep paperwork on anything you no longer own.

Remember, if you need to discard something with personal information on it (your address, Social Security number, account numbers), shred the document first.

Top 10 characteristics to consider during colleges visits

10. Size of the school and classes - Do you want to attend a school whose classes could have a class size of 200 students during freshman year? Or do you prefer small classes where the professors may be able to pay more attention to you?

9. Location, location, location - Is the school located in a small town (more of a rural setting) or a large city with a more urban feel? Also, is the school located in a different weather climate than where you currently live?

8. Homesickness - How far is it from the school to your home? Will you be able to go home on a moment's notice, or are you only going to be able to go home during holiday and summer breaks?

7. Coed or single-gender - Is the school a coed or single-gender school? Which do you prefer?

6. Campus environment - Is the school categorized as a "walking campus?" Does it seem to be a supportive environment?

5. Housing situation - Are you going to live on or off campus? What are the dorms like? Is off-campus housing plentiful and affordable?

4. Social activities and clubs - What social activities and student clubs are currently organized on campus? Does the school offer intramural sports?

3. Facilities - What are the facilities like? Will you feel comfortable sleeping, studying, and/or learning here for the next several years?

2. Jobs- Are there jobs available (on or off campus) if you need to work part or full time?

And the number one characteristic to consider during colleges visits is . . .

Financing - After receiving your financial aid award letter (including grants, scholarships, work, and loans you're eligible to receive) from the school, what costs can you expect to pay for the year? Can you afford this school? Does another institution offer the same characteristics important to you at a lower cost?

Visit with Mapping Your Future, College Goal Sunday during ASCA Conference

Mapping Your Future and College Goal Sunday will exhibit at the American School Counselors Association (ASCA) Annual Conference, to be held June 28 - July 1 in Atlanta, Georgia.

If you plan to attend the conference, stop by the booth to say hello and learn more about how Mapping Your Future and College Goal Sunday can help you and your students with career and college planning, including financial aid information and assistance in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

From educational sessions to networking events, pre-conference workshops to inspiring keynote speakers, ASCA’s conference helps professional school counselors across the country meet their professional development needs. Conference sessions allow attendees to take away solid, practical ideas they can put to work tomorrow, make valuable contacts in the school counseling field and discover the latest techniques in school counseling. For more information about the conference, visit www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?pl=325&sl=129&contentid=182.

Mapping Your Future supports national effort to help students, parents plan for college

Students and parents, who may be concerned about college costs and the availability of financial aid, can find help with the newly re-designed Going2College.org website.

The website, developed in conjunction with Mapping Your Future, provides college and career planning tools to students and families throughout the country and features an improved look, better navigation, and more information. Visitors just click on their state to learn where to get help in filling out a FAFSA, the types of federal and state scholarships and grants available, and which organizations and schools offer programs to help young students prepare for postsecondary education.

Mapping Your Future provides the web development and technology support for this website, developed as a part of the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs’ (NCHELP) College Access Initiative.

“Mapping Your Future’s mission is to empower students to lead successful lives,” said Cathy Mueller, executive director of Mapping Your Future.  “Our support of Going2College.org coordinates well with our mission, and we believe it is an important step in helping students and families.”

The College Access Initiative, a mandate in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, formalized one of the roles guaranty agencies play in promoting access to postsecondary education.  Guaranty agencies are state and nonprofit entities that, through their administration of the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, inform students and parents of educational and financial aid opportunities and administer loans to borrowers.  As part of their public service mission, guaranty agencies provide an extensive range of services and programs that increase awareness of the importance of higher education, the opportunities available, and the financial support offered.

Mapping Your Future is supported by the 35 guaranty agencies in the FFEL Program.  Working with the Going2college.org website was an additional service and benefit the organization provided not only to the guaranty agencies, but also to students, families and schools that use Mapping Your Future services.

NCHELP represents a nationwide network of guaranty agencies, secondary markets, lenders, loan servicers, collection agencies, schools and other organizations involved in the administration of the Federal Family Education Loan FFEL Program. NCHELP members promote student access and choice for post-secondary education and training. Over the past 40 years, NCHELP members have provided more than $600 billion in student loans. More information is available at www.nchelp.org.

Mapping Your Future, based in Round Rock, Texas is a national collaborative, public-service organization of the financial aid industry - bringing together the expertise of the industry to provide services online. Since 1996, Mapping Your Future has received a number of awards, including recognition for its excellence in content and innovation in technology services.  Mapping Your Future provides step-by-step instructions on college planning, financial aid, and career selection. In addition, the site offers Online Student Loan Counseling, financial literacy information and tools, and online customer service for schools and their students.