Chalk Beat – Jamaal Abdul-Alim
“Even though he had regular access to a guidance counselor at his 500-person private Catholic high school in Cape Girardeau, MO, 18-year-old Joseph Beggs found her advice to be lacking (to say the least). Beggs said she provided only the most basic information and bypassed the more highly rated colleges altogether. “Most of the kids in my high school don’t apply to selective schools, so she didn’t think it was worth mentioning that some schools have additional requirements,” Beggs explained in a phone interview from Grinnell College, the top-rated school where he is currently a freshman. “She honestly did not give me any useful information besides the basics, like that the FAFSA is required for financial aid,” Beggs said, referring to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. “And she didn’t tell us what the CSS Profile was,” he said, referring to an online application for nonfederal student financial aid used by nearly 300 colleges and universities — including Grinnell. Beggs actually credits his admission to Grinnell College to Chloe Collins, a virtual adviser he met on the internet during the beginning of his senior year.”(more)