Many states have connected their scholarship programs to the FAFSA. It makes it easy to apply for a state scholarship through the FAFSA, as long as you make the deadline. Review the 2016-2017 document to see the deadlines for your state.  Don’t miss out! Set your calendar to submit by due dates. Finding the Due Dates

1. My family makes too much money to qualify for financial aid. This is one of the biggest myths out there. You may not qualify for aid at one school, and qualify for lots of money at another school (see blog How Do You Get Money for College?)   2. It costs more to go

Many changes were made to the October PSAT. A test for sophomores (the PSAT 10) will be offered by some schools between the end of February and early March.  Now your PSAT/NMSQT  scores are made available online.   To make the most of the PSAT, here are your next steps: Click here to set up your

When you complete and file a FAFSA, you include which colleges to send your FAFSA to. Then the colleges will download your financial information, using it to make a financial or merit award decision. Therefore it is important to get the information to the colleges as soon and orderly as possible. To maximize your options,

It is financial aid forms time. If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to complete the FAFSA (FREE Application for Federal Student Aid).  You might also be completing a College Board Profile or other college financial aid forms too. Check on Requirements! Check on FAFSA codes for colleges Check for requirements for

Did you know sometimes you can SAVE your family money when attending a Private College.  How is that possible? See Jack’s story below.   Jack Awesome Jack is a student living in Los Angeles. He has applied to several colleges, both in state and out of state.  He has applied to CSU Los Angeles because

Juniors! The college admissions process is closer than you think… January equals the mid-point of your junior year. NOW is the time to review your MID-YEAR JUNIOR CHECKLIST. This is an exciting but busy year for you. 1. Meet with High School counselor Review PSAT scores with counselor and parents Ask for recommendations for summer

January equals the mid-point of your senior year.  Depending on how you feel about it, it’s exciting or depressing! NOW is the time to review your MID-YEAR SENIOR CHECKLIST. Don’t postpone- there are a lot of time sensitive deadlines in the next few weeks. 1. Meet with High school counselor Request copy of your seventh semester

Did you take the PSAT in October? Interested in learning how you did? You can now access your scores from the Oct. PSAT. Here are the directions for viewing your scores: 1.  View your scores on the My Score Reports webpage for CollegeBoard. 2.  You will need to login to see your results. 3.  The attached image is a

Start the New Year with these New Year’s resolutions: 1.  Make it a date on your phone!  Use your phone to track your school and personal life deadlines. 2.  Learn about yourself.  Take a personality or learning styles survey.  Find free online or ask your counselor for links to surveys. 3. Use social media responsibly.

sen·ior·i·tis ˌsēnyəˈrītis/ noun humorous a supposed affliction of students in their final year of high school or college, characterized by a decline in motivation or performance. (Google) Do not let Senioritis get the best of you… Now that your first semester is under your belt, it is tempting to take it easy during your second

  It’s high season for college applications. Students are polishing off college essays, waiting on final test scores, pushing for that last GPA point. Meanwhile, parents are biting their nails and wrestling with financial aid forms. So let’s talk about postponing college. What? Is that insane?! Not at all. This is the perfect moment to

Do you dream about finding the perfect prom dress? Or the perfect hamburgers (In and Out comes to mind)?  How about the perfect college?  How do you know which college is perfect? You need to know what is important to YOU. Here are the Top 10 factors to consider for your “Perfect” college: Academics: How important is

Paying for college is often compared to paying for airline tickets. No two people pay the same price. What will your costs be at college? How much you pay for college depends on so many factors.  Knowing what those factors are, and how college will look at your family’s financial situation, will help you know

How competitive for admissions will you be? This is based on several factors. Some factors are more measurable in the college applications process than others. The easily measured factors include: Your GPA Your tests scores on ACT, AP, SAT or Subject tests Less measurable, but equally important in your college application process are: How hard

As we get closer to the November 1st college admissions deadline, here are 4 ways for seniors to keep sane during these last few days before the early applications are due!   Set up Application Plans. Know what is needed to make a complete application at each college you are applying to.  Need recommendations? Transcripts?  Essays?

You are signed up and ready to take the ACT or SAT test!  Here are 5 tips to make getting ready for the test easy.  Ace the test by starting off on the right foot. Have everything you need ready when you leave to take your test on a Saturday morning. 5 Test Day Tips 1. Get

With the best host, Lourdes Ubieta! Find the full show here…   First part of the Show:     Second part of the Show:

Just published, here are the essay prompts for the Coalition Application, which will become available this Summer of 2016! Essay Prompts The prompts for the 2016-17 application year are: Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it. Describe a time when you made a

The Financial Aid process just had a much needed face-lift! Approved by President Obama recently, colleges will now work with tax information from families not from the year before, but from two years ago, and filing will start on October 1st! Not January 1st, October 1st! What exactly does this mean in numbers? Let’s give

A whole new college application will be launched this fall of 2016, one more change that the class of 2017 will endure! But change is not always bad, in fact, the new Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success has launched a new Application. More than 90 prestigious higher education institutions have joined in the effort

During the recent conference of the Southern Association for College Admissions Counseling, SACAC, we had the opportunity to discuss athletic recruitment with other counselors who have worked in this area. Here are some of the conclusions we drew from the presentations and discussions: Going to college as an athlete requires a very important commitment, students

2016-17 Applicants to the University of California system schools… Here are the new essay prompts that you will need to choose from to complete your application for the next admissions season! The changes are intense. Applicants are now required four essays with a 350-word limit. Freshman applicants will choose from eight different prompts, whereas transfer

First and foremost, congratulations are in order! You have been accepted to college- the hard work has paid off! But if you have received multiple offers, you might now be faced with choosing which college to go to. For some that may the hardest part of the entire application process, but don’t stress! Here are

Nuestra entrevista con Aldea Musical, navegando el tema de la educacion desde la edad temprana hasta la admision a la universidad e inclusive a maestrias. Disfruten! http://aldeamusical.com/claudine-vainrub-eduplan-ven/

Esperamos disfruten de nuestra entrevista con Mario Andres Moreno en Radio Caracol acerca de admisiones universitarias, ayuda financiera y educacion para nuestros hijos! INFORMACION DEL PROGRAMA DE ADMISIONES UNIVERSITARIAS La directora de EduPlan, Claudine Vainrub, comparte informacion importante sobre el proceso de admisión a la universidad. La nota completa la puede consultar en la dirección

Escuchen aqui nuestro nuevo segmento acerca de Ayuda Financiera, en Actualidad Radio 1020 AM con la fabulosa Lourdes Ubieta. Actualidad Radio y Claudine Vainrub – 26 de Enero 2016

Our teens require excellent writing skills for their high school years, for their college admissions process, and most importantly, for life! The sooner they start enjoying to write, the faster they will improve as writers, in support of their career goals. By demand, EduPlan brings you our first group Writing Workshop. The workshop consists of five interactive 90-minute

Join EduPlan and Claudine Vainrub this Sunday, February 21st of 2016 at the Miami National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling – NACAC. Ms. Vainrub will be discussing Standardized Testing – ACT/SAT/TOEFL among others required for the college admissions process. Students and parents will have the opportunity to learn about

The Financial Aid Application You Need to Fill Out NOW! It’s that time of the year when you need to submit the CSS Profile… Here is some information that you will find useful regarding the financial aid process and this application. The College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile is an application process designed to assess the eligibility

  Remember when you were a kid and summers seemed to last forever?  Now that high school is over and you are heading off to college, this summer probably feels like it’s flown past in the blink of an eye.  In a matter of weeks you will have moved into student digs and started classes,

After months of preparing essays, a resume and the many requirements for your college and graduate school admissions process, you might think all work is done. You’ve sent out your college and financial aid applications, and now the replies are starting to roll in.  All your requests for financial aid have been accepted, but there’s

  We all want to be accepted. Accepted by friends, accepted by family and now, accepted by the colleges where you optimistically sent your applications a few months ago. April 1st, no joke, the envelopes are going to start filling your mailbox, and hopefully many will be big, fat letters of acceptance! While it feels

You are a unique human being with a story to tell.  You are more than just the application forms you have sent out to college admissions offices.  You are you and there is only one real way to separate yourself from the thousands of other college applicants – attend an interview.  Not all colleges offer

By Claudine Vainrub, Principal of EduPlan With the beginning of a new year, we make resolutions, think of our goals towards the future and hope for great things to come. One of the tools to make all things happen is a resume. It is a professional way to present ourselves and help others understand our

Finding the Perfect Match Between Demand, Skill and Interest By Claudine Vainrub, MBA If you are unemployed, a student, or at a time in your life when you are in doubt of your current career path, the time could be right to make a bold move in a new direction. Finding a new career path

By Claudine Vainrub As we approach the end of the year, we consider our resolutions for the next. There are many things we can do in the future to support our career and educational goals. If you have not taken some of these steps, here is my top 20 list of favorite things to consider

‘Tis the time of year when the Florida Bright Futures application becomes available to all Florida seniors. Why is this important? Because this scholarship program can save you a great deal if you are a Floridian, attending a Florida public college or university. Here are the application links and some information on this spectacular scholarship program:

By Claudine Vainrub It’s not too late yet to push that button, and it’s definitely not too early to click “submit” on your Common Application file. With the Regular Decision application deadline of January 1st (11:59pm) just around the corner, you should be wrapping up your college application, checking it twice and preparing to send

At this time of year it’s not just Christmas presents you should be wrapping up, but also your college applications.  Deadlines are looming and it is not advisable to leave it to the last minute to submit your applications.  Ideally, if you are applying Regular Decision, you will have completed all the necessary forms and

 Students in China and South Korea who took the SAT on Oct. 11 will have their test scores delayed Here is an interesting article from Time Magazine: “All students living in China and South Korea who took the SAT on Oct. 11 will have their test scores delayed and reviewed because of allegations of widespread

According to a new article in TIME magazine, a redesigned SAT due out in the spring of 2016 will no longer reward students for the rote memorization of semi-obscure word definitions, but instead emphasize “high utility” words they’re more likely to encounter in life “Graduating seniors can throw their flash cards on the celebratory bonfire

Last week I visited a school, Philadelphia University (aka “PhilaU”), which is difficult to consider within the context of college rankings. PhilaU has some very interesting programs that combine design, engineering and business education as well as a five-year Physician’s Assistant degree. There are some traditional majors; you can earn a Bachelor’s degree in Biology,

They say that practice makes perfect. It makes perfect sense, therefore, that students hoping to get a perfect score on their SAT (and who wouldn’t want a perfect score?) should take the PSAT once or twice to prepare for the real deal. Geared towards high school sophomores and juniors (though you can take it earlier than

EdX was created for students and institutions that seek to transform themselves through cutting-edge technologies, innovative pedagogy, and rigorous courses. Through its institutional partners, the xConsortium, along with other leading global members, we present the best of higher education online, offering opportunity to anyone who wants to achieve, thrive, and grow. Thousands of students around

Steps in the Admissions Process you Cannot Afford to Miss!   Now that you have submitted your applications, you are in the finish line for college admissions! It is time to work hard to be able to meet all college deadlines in full. The following requirements are essential in the application process and must be addressed in order to successfully

Levy Forchheimer took an unconventional route when he decided to go 5,000 miles from his home in New York to study at IDC Herzliya’s Arison School of Business in Israel. Unlike many students who go abroad, his journey wasn’t for a semester or even for a year. It was for the long haul. He received

Let’s assume that a Chinese family, anxious to provide their child with a world-class education, searches the web to determine where to start. They also base their search on anecdotal reports of friends, among numerous other factors. But the Chinese family is unlikely to visit the United States to participate in an extended college tour

Ever heard of being in the right place at the right time? When it comes to college admissions, applying at the right time can increase your chances of getting accepted. Early Action or Early Decision? Both are similar names for the same thing, an accelerated college application process in which students usually complete their applications

The 2015 college application season has officially opened. But in our desire to help our kids navigate this land-mine-fraught road, we might actually be doing some things that harm them. Lynn O’Shaughnessy, a nationally recognized college expert, author of “The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price,