Anika has a special announcement about a new format we will be implementing beginning in episode 109.

In this week’s episode you will hear

In the News (13:20): an article from Forbes, “The Year’s Top Ten Educational Stories” (Part 2) by Michael Nietzel. Mark’s lifelong friend, Dr. Williams serves as the co-host for this episode. Mark and Dave discuss news stories 6-10 of the 10 biggest higher education news stories in 2019 according to Forbes (Length 22:37)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2019/12/21/the-years-top-10-higher-education-stories/#8b5ab7941823In

Chapter 108 of 171 Answers (35:57): We are in Chapter 108 of 171 Answers and Mark and Dave discuss, What is the CSS PROFILE and how does it differ from the FAFSA.

(Length 13:42)

This week’s question (49:39) is from a dad named Dave in Massachusetts who asks,

how much emphasis should we put on graduation rates when building our college list. (Length 10:54)

This week’s interview (1:00:33) Our interview is with best-selling author and financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz on the topic, How and when you should appeal for more money if your financial aid award doesn’t meet your needs. Mark Kantrowitz has served in many impressive roles over the last three decades but he currently is the VP of Research and the Publisher of the website, “savingforcollege.com”.

In part 2 of our interview, I ask Mark about some common expenses such as Parent student loans, elderly care, a special needs child, one parent refusing to pay their fair share; and he lets us know whether they are likely to be the basis for a successful aid award appeal. Mark also explains what the dependency override is and he explains how a dependency override can impact your aid award Mark discusses the competitor aid award appeal; when is this likely to be successful and when is this appeal likely to be denied We discuss what Preferential packaging is and how this can impact aid award appeals. (Length 27 minutes)

Mark’s recommended resource of the week (1:09:24) is How to Appeal for More College Financial Aid: The Secrets to Negotiating a Better Financial Aid Offer … and Getting More Financial Aid in the First Place! By Mark Kantrowitz

College Spotlight: The University of Oklahoma: http://www.ou.edu/

Don’t forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com

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Anika and I are excited to give our listeners a chance to play a role in shaping what topics we discuss, and what guests we have on our podcast. You can let your voice be heard by completing this survey. Just put the following link in your browser and give us your honest feedback. Anika and I would like to thank you in advance.

https://tinyurl.com/YourCollegeBoundKid

Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button “See exactly what 171 Answers covers”.