Navigating the Ongoing College Admission Process

In this episode you will hear:   (01:56) In The News A mom asks a very important question, Should you ever skip optional questions. Hillary and Mark start out discussing this question but they bounce around and cover a lot of topics including, about 15 minutes discussing “why it is so important for a college to know which students are coming   (28:44) Interview: Frequently Asked Questions about 529 Plans, Julie Shields-Rutyna and Jonathan Hughes from MEFA, Part 3 of 4     Preview of Part 3 ·         S Julie answers the question, what happens if a family saves money and then the student decides that they do not want to go to college, what options does the owner of the 529 plan have? ·         Jonathan and Julie answer the question, Is it true that parents should first take care of their own retirement before they fund a 529 plan? ·         Jonathan tells us where our listeners can learn about their 529 plan options. ·         Jonathan talks about the difference between direct sold vs advisor sold 529 plans ·         Julie tells us how 529 Plans are handled from a financial aid standpoint, and she talks about how this differs from a Coverdale or UTMA and UGMA. ·         Julie also talks about the recent changes in how grandparent-owned 529 plans are assessed ·         Jonathan talks about how you can roll over an UTMA or UGMA to a 529 Plan ·         Julie talks about the rate that the 529 plan is assessed in the asset calculation compared to other savings options ·         Jonathan tells us when a family should start investing in a 529 Plan ·         Julie talks about some of the differences between the 529 Plans and the UTMA, UGMA and Coverdale plans ·         Jonathan tells us whether a parent should still contribute to a 529 when their child is in college ·         Julie and Jonathan talk about whether there is an income cap that restricts high income families from contributing to a 529 Plan   (47:10) Question from a listener:  Lisa and Lynda answer a question from an anonymous listener, “after you hit submit, what else do you need to do”. Lisa and Lynda.”       Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast.   You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day.   To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses.   Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions:   Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live. You can ask questions on Twitter that he will answer on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed. Twitter message is also the preferred way to ask questions for our podcast:   https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast   1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript   We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK.   Please subscribe to our podcast. It really helps us move up in Apple’s search feature so others can find our podcast.   If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful!   If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live.   Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends:   Check out the college websites Mark recommends:   If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link:     If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa or Lynda, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at or Lynda at Lynda@schoolmatch4u.com. All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/