6 Things for Parents to Know About Winter Break

December is here and its around the time when your children are coming back from college. For some of you parents out there, this might be the first time your kids might be coming back and for those parents here are some things that you should know: 

1. Your kids will have changed

The first thing you will notice will a stark change, both in physical shape (freshman 15) and in their overall confidence. They will sound more mature (some will also have a feigning accent) and most importantly you might face attitude thanks to the new found confidence of completing a new semester

2. The Holiday Frenzy is not for anyone

Some teens are happy to get caught up in all the family traditions while others suddenly scoff at them. Discuss what yours is up for.

The underlying issue usually involves having enough time with friends rather than an outright rejection of you or the festivities. Alleviate some stress by highlighting the activities and events where you require your teen’s presence and the ones they can choose whether to attend.

3. Post Holiday Blahs

After New Year’s Day, everyone in your household will head back to work or school—except your college student. They’ll still be staying out late with their friends, sleeping until noon and coming and going on their own time (unless they have a job). Talk with your teen about how this will all work, especially if everyone will be sharing cars or your house has a few light sleepers.

4. When Boredom Sets In 

As most of their friends return to college or the ones who commute start their second semester, your freshman might complain, “There’s nothing to do here.” They’ve had their fill of home cooked meals, sleeping in and a pile of clean laundry always at the ready. At college, there’s rarely time to get bored and always someone around to talk to or hang out with. Not much you can do but offer suggestions, but I can tell you now, the one about cleaning their room probably won’t go over well.

5. Some kids don’t want to go back

For any number of reasons, college wasn’t what they expected and they’re thinking of transferring for next fall. Make a point of discussing with your freshman what didn’t work out to determine how to find a better fit. Keep in mind that if next semester goes better, which it often does, your teen may decide to stay put.

6. Grades come in online

When we were in college, semester grades arrived in the mail via USPS. There was no hiding the results from our parents. Today, like everything else related to college, grades are sent electronically, within days after final exams, to your student’s account.

Ask your teen to pull up their grades online and go over them together. Reviewing the results could lead to a constructive discussion. Who knows, you might be pleasantly surprised by what you learn.

With some flexibility and a willingness to negotiate on both sides, winter break can turn into more of the fun time you hoped for.

Financing your Education with Student Loans

One of the biggest challenges with studying abroad is funding your education. As application numbers are increasing there are a decreasing number of scholarships available for international students. Taking out a loan is a great option to fund your education. However, Indian banks only give a limited amount of money which is usually not enough to cover the high costs a foreign education, and loans in forged countries becomes challenging since you have no prior documentation in that country. 

Unless you have a guarantor in the country you’re going to, the chances that you can get a loan are slim (though some universities have loan offices which do lend money). Another option is through up and coming Fintech companies. Here are three companies that are great options for get loans from and in our experience, have been quite pain free!

Avanse Education Loans 

Avanse is a new age education finance company and an associate company of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL). International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank holds 20% equity stake in Avanse and promises a litany of services than any other Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFC): 

• 100% Tuition Fee as determined by the Institute or University

• Living Expenses including purchase of Books, Computers and other expenses essential to complete the course (up to 75% of total living cost though not exceeding 20% of the total tuition fee)

• Caution Deposit / Building Fund / Refundable Deposit supported by Institution Bills / Receipts but not exceeding 10% of the total tuition fee.

• Travel expenses / passage money up to Rs. 75000/- for students traveling abroad.

Learn more here 

The Paras Education Foundation

Another Indian based fintech company that gives students a lot of autonomy . 

• 100% loan for the amount certified by the school

• Pre-approved loans to avoid processing delays while you decide on the best school

• 3% to 6% per annum interest rate

• Repayment tenure of up to 10 years

To know more, go check out their page 

Prodigy Finance (Great for Grad Schools)

Prodigy Finance, a crowdlending platform launched in 2008 by Cameron Stevens (current CEO) and two of other INSEAD MBA students, who, being from South Africa and Slovenia, had experienced first-hand the difficulty of financing their post-graduate education across borders. They created Prodigy Finance, a lending marketplace which breaks new ground in cross-border lending and community lending.

Prodigy Finance focuses on the crème de la crème: facilitating loans for students enrolled in post graduate programs at 104 of the top schools of the world. The qualifying programs include: MBAs, Masters in Management or Finance at business schools like Harvard, INSEAD, London Business School, HEC, Stanford and Wharton; as well as Masters of Law, Public Policy, Public Administration and MS Engineering degrees at top US schools and universities.

Prodigy Finance does not require from borrowers a co-signer or collateral. To gauge the loan risk, the company analyzes standard data points such as credit reports. But its main competitive advantage in the underwriting process lies in its unique knowledge of the asset’s risk. Prodigy Finance owns 10 years of statistical data and analysis of the financial outcome and loan default rate of each academic program and type of international student.

Loans are offered in dollars, pounds and euros, depending of the school the student is going to.

Prodigy finance is a true community lender, rather than an open crowdlender. Wealthy alumni, alumni-related family offices and the school themselves brings the bulk of the funds used to finance the loans. Credit Suisse acted as a conduit to reach this community in 2014, raising $25 million for an Education Bond to finance loans on Prodigy Finance. Further, the company invests by issuing bonds on the Irish stock exchange with a committeemen in impact investing that bring social benefits. 

To know more, click here.

Parents: Here's how you can involve yourself in the college process

Post-secondary education is an ever-evolving field. It’s generally understood that someone who applied to college in the 1950s or ‘60s encountered an admissions environment very different from the one you’ll find today, with different application processes, different admission standards, and tuition rates that seem impossibly low from today’s perspective.

What you might not realize is that even if you went to college more recently, in the ‘80s or ‘90s, your experience also doesn’t reflect the current state of college admissions. Acceptance rates, standardized tests, admissions requirements, and college costs have all changed significantly within the space of a generation. At the same time, it’s more important than ever before that young people go to college—the career and income benefits are substantial.

If you’re a parent who is currently helping a student navigate the world of college admissions, and especially if that child is your first to go through the application process, it’s important that you update your expectations and assumptions about what that process will hold. In order for your child to successfully get admitted to a college that’s a great fit for them, they’ll need your informed help. Here’s our advice for what you need to learn and how you can get up-to-date.

The Changing Face of College Applications

Now more than ever, a bachelor’s degree is a highly valuable asset when thinking about career opportunities. You yourself may have come of age in a world where attractive career prospects didn’t necessarily require a college education, but the country is changing. Employers are raising their educational requirements for entry-level jobs, both because those jobs now require additional skills, and because the competitive job market allows them to be more choosy.

With more students applying to more colleges, and applicant pools at top-tier schools continuing to grow, it’s also gotten harder for a student to get into their college of choice. 

For example, in 2016, Stanford University, currently the most selective school in the nation, accepted fewer than 5% of undergraduate applicants, less than one in twenty. Compare this to the 1995-1996 application season, in which Stanford accepted nearly 16% of applicants—still highly selective, but quite a different figure.

One important takeaway is that there’s always some element of chance to elite college admission. Competitive schools have to turn down many qualified applicants simply because of space constraints, and your child may very well be one of them. There’s simply no way to be sure, so you’ll need to be realistic about your expectations and help your child be realistic about theirs.

 Overall, the college application process is just more serious than it used to be. Parents and students routinely spend considerable time and money perfecting applications, preparing for standardized tests, and piling on extracurriculars, leadership positions, specialized summer programs, and other enrichment experiences. Today’s aspiring college applicants tend not to get much unscheduled free time. 

The stakes are high, and there’s a lot of pressure involved. Many college admissions advisors, including those here at EdBrand, encourage today’s applicants to think strategically when applying to college. It’s no longer just about finding a few schools your student likes—it’s about compiling a carefully chosen list of schools to maximize your student’s chances of getting admitted somewhere that’s a good fit for them.

How you choose to approach this new set of realities is up to you and your student. However, you need to both be aware that getting accepted to a top-tier school is difficult, and your student will be competing with applicants who have put this kind of concentrated effort into making themselves compelling candidates for college admission.

Paying for College: The New Realities

Many different factors come into play when figuring out which colleges might be strong matches for your student, but one of the most significant is cost. Need-based financial aid, scholarships, and loans can help make a college more affordable, but the bottom line is that without a way to pay for a college, your student can’t attend.

You’ve probably already heard that the cost of getting a college education has gone up dramatically over time, and that’s true even within the last few decades. In fact, college tuition increases have outpaced inflation, meaning that not only is the dollar amount higher, but it’s actually harder for the average family to afford college than it used to be.

The average cost of tuition plus room and board at four-year colleges was $23,600 for the 2014-2015 school year, compared with $7,602 for the 1990-1991 school year. As of 2017, at a few especially expensive colleges, the yearly estimated cost of attendance for an average student is nearing $70,000.

For top-tier colleges, it’s close to impossible for most students to pay their own way based on savings and part-time or summer income, as many students did in the past. Financial aid can help a great deal, but most well-regarded colleges award financial aid based at least in part upon the family’s financial need, so your income and assets will be taken into account when assessing your student’s aid eligibility.

What does this mean for you as a parent? It means that if you make assumptions about college costs based on your own experiences from two decades ago, you and your student likely won’t be adequately prepared for the realities of college costs today. Updated information is essential if you’re going to make informed decisions about saving for college, seeking financial aid and scholarships, and choosing colleges your family can afford.

Top Tips for Parents: Getting Up to Date and Helping Your Student

If your established notions about college admissions process were formed a long time ago, you may feel a little overwhelmed by the amount you need to learn. However, many resources exist to help get you on the right track. Here’s a selection of our best advice for getting informed, adapting to the current state of the admissions world, and helping your child make wise choices throughout the application process.

• Get informed. Acknowledge that the system has changed, and use all the resources available, from websites to info sessions to meetings with guidance counselors, to gather information about applying to college today, especially regarding the schools your child is interested in. Don’t assume—look it up.

• Talk to other parents. Parents whose children are slightly older than yours and who have been through the process recently will have valuable information and personal insight to share. Ask them what they wish they’d known.

• Start early. Many application tasks, especially those that are research-related, can be started well in advance of your child’s senior year. Your plans don’t need to be set in stone years in advance, but it’s a good idea to have a sense of direction.

• Stay realistic. It’s okay for your child to have big dreams and apply to some reach schools, but you should help them manage their expectations about application outcomes and match their accomplishments to appropriate colleges. You probably think that your student is pretty great, but admission to selective colleges can be brutal, and many qualified applicants are rejected. Think practically, and have a backup plan.

• Help your child build a strong applicant profile. Starting early in high school, ask questions and offer opportunities for your child to figure out what subjects or career paths interest them most. Encourage them to maintain strong academic performance and extracurricular involvement, and address academic or other problems early before they become major obstacles.

• Openly discuss paying for college. You may be uncomfortable talking to your child about money, but it’s essential that your child knows what the family can afford. Like it or not, cost is a major factor in choosing a college, and your student needs to know which schools are practical possibilities and how much financial aid might be required.

• Be prepared to deal with practical tasks. During application season, you may be able to help in innumerable small and large ways, from arranging for tutoring and assistance to checking in about deadlines to helping to gather information. Individual needs depend upon your student—talk to them to figure out where you can be most helpful.

• Always offer personal support, encouragement, and love. You’re a parent, not an admissions coach, and your close personal relationship with your child is important. While you may have to push your child to be focused and responsible sometimes, you also need to look out for their health (mental and physical) during this stressful time, help them build good habits, and respect their need to make independent choices (and sometimes mistakes) about their intended adult path.