have to think about academic milestones, what should a student be learn inging. >> you have long histories within the montgomery county school system. your book which you wrote in 2011, i believe, i read it the other night, a great read. it really made me feel old and thankful i'm not going through this process again but great tips for parents and students, too. from a financial standpoint, when is it too early or what is too early to start?

>> in the book i say as soon as the doctor says congratulations, you're expecting, it is time to start financially planning. you know, colleges are $15,000 all the way up to almost $70,000 a year. it takes time for parents to decide where they're going start planning whether it's a college savings plan, a 529 or whatever savings they're going to do for their child's tuition. they need to start early. >> you've got a good chapter in here on financial aid and scholarships. do you find the pool is getting bigger or shrinking. >> due to the economic crisis, it's shrinking. students need to be competitive for the financial aid scholarships available at the college, merit-based scholarships that are available, making sure they're involved. they're going to have to put their best foot forward when you're talking about getting the

scholarships for college that they need. >> student loans, we hear about this for years and years after graduation from college, that students still have them hanging over their heads and from all walks, whether they're doctors, lawyers, whapt ever the profession may be. so many take out college loans and it seems like the interest keeps going up and up. i guess the government is a little less forgiving these days. how do you counsel people on taking out loans and college loans? >> i tell parents -- i start with a plan a, b, c and d. plan a is that college where your child really wants to attend but it's well out of your budget. i believe parents should have a conversation with their children early on maybe in their ninth and tenth grade year to say okay, let's look at these colleges. plan a, that college that's very expensive, if you want to attend this collegel]? have to bring a significant

amount of merit-based scholarship money from the college that's renewable every year and we'll help you with the rest. plan b is that state college that may be less expensive and we'll help you with but you're also going to have to bring some of that merit aid money. you will tell your children you have a part to play in this as well. plan c is starting at a two-year college which is fine. >> and a lot more students are doing that now. >> exactly. >> stay within your budget is what i tell parents. plan d is working full time going to college part time or vice versa. it's all based on the budget of the family. if you stay within your budget, i think college can be what affordable. >> you counsel so many students and parents too. you get them early. and that i would think budget affects the list that they come up with, whether it be in ninth

tenth, 11th or 12th grade. >> the list changes a lochlt historically as i would look at what they said in the ninth grade it changed for various reasons, but to keep the focus, yes, on the financial. my part is also the academic part so that they are eligible for merit scholarships. even when we talk about early ones elementary and middle, the issue there is to do well in school so that they get the discipline, so they get the grades and then the merit scholarships will come in, interesting. >> got to take a quick break. as we do we're going to put up two web addresses if you'd like to learn more. if you're thinking about going to college soon or if you have a son or daut who are is thinking about it maybe not so soon, here are the addresses. a lot more to get to on "viewpoint." stay with us.

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welcome back to "viewpoint" this morning. our focus is preparing for college not just for students but parents, too. how do you make your resume pop? we are living in a region chocked full of incredibly smart students, great school systems. it's competitive at the high school level. it's also competitive getting into the best colleges they want to attend. how do you make your application stand out or pop? >> first of all, you look at things that will distinguish you from others. basically start first with quality. it's not quantity. i can remember having students who would hand me a list their senior year of 20 activities and they couldn't tell me anything they did in those activities once they took the yearbook picture. we get back to quality what have you done, where is the consistency? what things distinguish you from another student. i've worked with students who had quite a comprehensive resume, very impressive. however sometimes i would go in

and we would edit it because there were things they could take out because there were other things again, as i said, distinguishable other students hadn't pursued them. so that's what you look at. colleges are aware of that, also. they're looking at what you can bring to their community. but they also know that you couldn't do everything in 24 hours and do it well. >> you talk about in your book things that are extracurricular the service the things that make you stand out, because not everybody has straight as but so many do. it's more than the ap classes. it's more than the grades. talk a little bit about what they can be doing to pump up their resume. >> they can be involved at their high school. it's very important for students to get involved in some type of extracurricular activity the honor society if they're interested in sports some type of leadership, the newspaper. there's so many different

things. say, for example a student needs tutoring at an elementary school. high school students will get service learning hours for that, but they can also get a lot of different things that they can write in their journal about how they felt that they affected that child. and it could lead them to a great scholarship if the college wants to know what have you done in your community? >> they could probably continue mentoring in college and make money towards education, too. that's very interesting. >> you mentioned something during the break which i thought was very interesting about geography and don't limit yourself tower region or the northeast for that matter. >> correct. i always say change your zip code. don't be afraid to move out. first of all, maryland does not have as many colleges as some other areas. i've been to some states where many times, and i still have not seen all the colleges even some cities. colleges are looking at geographic diversity. so take a chance. move out of the comfort zone and

consider some of these places because they may find not only flexibility in admission, but flexibility with some financial aid because if during the admissions committee, when they are reviewing and evaluating, if they see a student they would really like this is an opportunity to entice them to come. but really what happens many times is there's this limit list of colleges that they're looking at maybe only the ivys or highly selective schools and they're not aware of what's out there that could be as comparable and even more comparable. the point is they're getting a good ed cakes and most important it's a good fit. >> exactly. you just came back from stanford which is on the other coast, too. >> yes. >> let me ask you the flip side argument, i can remember reading it in your book, too, changing the zip can help you get a

better school than perhaps you could have gotten into. it gets a little more expensive if you're far away from home, does not? >> sometimes it does. sometimes those colleges are looking for students who are out of state and will give students more money to come. i have students who received maryland state scholarships and then they applied to states that were out of our area. the schools out of the area gave them more money than the local. it depends on the student's resume, on their academics and how -- what they will bring to that campus. so the student that i remember, student who i remember he did attend the school that was well out of state that ended up giving him more money than the local college here would have. >> that's encouraging. >> all right. you've got it all out there. the world is your oyster. don't limit yourself is the important thing. much more to get to. as we go to break, we want to put up the web addresses, if

you'd like to learn more about preparing your child for college. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ yoplait. with a smooth and creamy taste your whole family loves. don't miss yoplait's exciting new flavors -- creamy caramel and cookies 'n cream.

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they're magically delicious. ha! very funny, kyle. welcome back to "viewpoint." again we're focusing on college preparation for students and parents too. ms. goode you've visited almost 200 colleges the past several years just took a west coast trip. you say it's never too early for students and parents to start visiting colleges even middle school. >> i think sometimes people misinterpret what that is geared for when we're talking about younger students. we're not saying they will complete an application submit it this weekend and mat trick late in the fall. it's just exposure, see the campus. we live in an area filled with college campuses. many parents take their kids to a sporting event or a fine arts

event. well unconsciously that's exposing the child to a college campus. i took my grandsons to a sweet 16 game at the verizon center just to see the community. when you're doing that, that's giving exposure. that's what it's about. it could be some enrichment programs and those start in elementary and middle schools. it's just to see them and they get a base to work with. >> ms. davis when you take a trip to a college campus as a student or parent, what should you be looking for and asking about, maybe when we're talking junior, sophomore year and seriously honing in on your list of schools you want to attend, what should you be looking for on these campus visits? >> i tell students to first look at the campus when you go on campus how do you feel? do you feel like you're a part of the campus? talk with the people who are on your tour, ask them about their classes, ask them about how many people are in their classes, what's the largest class size?

ask them about, say, for example, if you're interested in science, how often do they change the equipment? how old are the microscopes if they're still using microscopes those things you really want to ask. talk with students who are not on the tour with you so that you can get a good idea of maybe the good, bad and the ugly of the school. you want to visit the dorm room, the freshman dorm room where you will be staying when you go in. of course you want to know about the cost and things like that. i think that's a good start for students. of course, you also want to make sure that you are planning those four years to be there on that campus. it's very important for you to know that this is the right place for you and have more than one option. >> and more than one. you cover every campus size, but some people love a smaller school. some people love a middle-sized

school and some people like a big campus and a big state university. how do you decide what is right in your experience for a particular student? every case is different depending on majors, budgets and things like that, too. >> a lot of things can dictate the size. for example, if a student presents a college list to me and i detect that these are places that have, let's say, very popular athletic programs. if they're d-1 they're probably large. they're there as a spectator. what happens when that's over the classes and so forth? it requires self-searching. how comfortable is an environment meeting new people, may have to navigate oneself independently and not relying on others. it is a different life from high school. that can help them decide. some, as they get closer realize maybe i need the smaller place. sometimes if the transcript -- the academic profile is a little

shady but there's potential, we may need to visit, consider a smaller school that might take a little bit more time with that academic profile and get to know the student a little more personally than one where there's larger groups of applications and so there may not be that much time for intro spekt. >> because this is a team effort, let's bring the parents back in on this again. what if a parent wants their child to go to a smaller school or the parent wants them to go to a larger school or one with sports teams. do you find that parents maybe put a little too much pressure or guidance in one direction which they prefer? >> yes. well, sometimes. when i talk with the parents and the students together, it's funny that sometimes one is sitting at one end of the table and the other one is sitting at my end of the table they're not looking at each other. so we tried our best to work with both of them to kind of just understand what the student wants and some of the things

that the part wants. i have always tell parents, just because a school was a great fit for you doesn't mean it's a great fit for your child. so it's very important to listen to your child because they are the ones who are going to school. we know you are the ones that are going to be paying. there's got to be a way that both of you -- both the parent and the student can come to some agreement with those colleges. >> a lot has changed in that 20, 25 years when the parents went to college certainly. >> all right. we've got much more to get to after this short break. stay with us on "viewpoint."

welcome back to "viewpoint" again, preparing students and parents for college. let's talk a little bit -- we've talked about early intervention and how important it is to go to college campuses. every student learns differently

and some more differently than others. what options are out there for them? >> there are students who have an iep or 504 plan. there are colleges that have programs that help them with their transition to school and help them so they can be successful so it's a level playing field. there are some schools actually, i call them 24/7 that's their entire population. then you have some that even with other universities the traditional have a program within it rather large. like arizona state has the salt program and others around the country and lynn university where they have programs that will focus for these students. when these students are visiting, that should be a part of their agenda, to visit the service -- sometimes it's called a disability center, they have various names, talk to whomever is in charge, find out what is required as it's evaluated during the admission process. the issue will be, of course,

whether or not they wish to disclose this as they apply. that's always left up to the family, but i feel that this is very important. even for students who may not have these services available to them, these authorizations many colleges have some type of academic support on campuses anyway. >> that's great. that's encouraging. >> your book deals in large part on financial aid. when should students and parents start applying or filling out that application for financial aid? >> right now it's available for students who are seniors. it opened january 1 for one parent and the student to apply for fafsa at fafsa.gov. it's very important to know the website. if you are on a website that asks you for money at the end, you are on the wrong website. so fafsa.gov.

wun student, one parent in their senior year. in this area, march 1st is the deadline for maryland. in washington, d.c. i believe it's june. in virginia i think it's the same. but it's always important for the family to know the college fafsa deadline because it may be before the state deadline and you don't want to miss any of that, $150 billion that's available. so parents will always ask me, you know should i full it out? maybe i'm not eligible. i always say fill it out just in case because you never know. a lot of colleges especially our private schools have institutional money. they can use their money a little differently than the federal government's money. i always tell parents just take a chance and fill it out just in case. there's also a way for parents to know what their forecast could be on fafsa.gov, there's

also fafsa4caster.gov. >> real quickly, interviews and things like that, recommendation letters, how much weight given to them. >> if i were to put it on a scale, that would be the lower level. however i encourage students -- i was a counselor for 30 years, get to know your counselor. you want your counselor like your teacher to be able to say something other than what's on a profile. >> thank you both for sharing your wisdom with us. we feel prepared and a lot wiser on this front. "news 4 today" is next. stay with us.

grab your winter coat, the hat, the scarf, the gloves, everything. that arctic blast is here. >> storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell will tell us how long these cold temperatures will last. we're also keeping a close eye on the roads. wow it is brutal out there. good morning and welcome to "news 4 today" on this sunday. i'm adam tuss. >> i'm angie goff. we want to get straight to chuck on this. stuff is blowing sideways last night, chuck. everyone talking about it. >> it sure was. as advertised old man winter came and landed on us with both feet last night, cranked out a quick one to in some places two to three inches of snow and then a flash freeze across the