What Is Student Positioning? And Why Is It As Important As Properly Completing the FAFSA?

Student positioning is a financial solution to the problem of how to get the best financial aid package from a college. Student positioning is more closely defined, however, as applying to those colleges where you are wanted as a student.

When a college receives a student's application, the student is compared to all other applicants and "positioned" according to his SAT or ACT scores, his GPA, and other criteria that make him eligible to attend that college. Each college sets its own range of SAT/ACT scores, and incoming students are expected to fall within that range. The closer to the top of that range a student's scores are, the more financial aid he will receive. A college wants a student who's scores indicate that he is going to succeed in his academic endeavors, and it is willing to give a student funds to help him attend that school. Thus the student needs to position himself so that a school wants him to be part of its student body.

The goal of the college admissions office is to build a community that fosters the development and nurtures potential of the student population. Student positioning is about matching the right school to the right student. Finding a school that is as interested in you have to offer to the community they are trying to build.

Keep in mind two things in reference to student positioning.

1. The positioning of a student by the college is always reflected in the award package that he is offered. A good GPA and SAT score are reflected in a meet-the-need financial aid offer. Lower grades and SAT scores are reflected in a lower-than-need financial aid offer.
2. Due to the number of graduating seniors in the next 12 years, the competition for financial aid among college students will be high. It is very important that a student look for colleges where he is wanted. He should apply to at least six schools so that he can compare the awards offered and can decide which school has positioned him so that he receives the best financial aid offer.

If you are a parent, you must know what schools will offer your child the best financial aid package based on student positioning. To find out more information on how financialaidsupersite.com help your family with student positioning, feel free to contact us or enroll in our financial aid services.