I’m going to tell you about something that may save you thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars on your child’s college education.

Most families take a completely “backwards” approach when searching for money for college.

Normally, the process goes something like this….

In the child’s junior (or even worse), senior year of high school, they start picking schools they may be interested in going to, and that they believe they can get into based on their grades, SAT scores, extracurricular activities, etc.

Many students pick a grouping of “safety” schools which they know they can get into, “middle of the range” schools which they have a good shot of getting into, and “reach” schools which they would love to attend, but have a slim chance of getting into.

The next step in the process is that the student starts requesting literature from all of these schools (usually towards the end of their junior year of high school or in the summer preceding their senior year).

Once they receive the literature, most families start planning weekend trips to visit one or more of the schools the student is interested in applying to.

This is how most students and families get a “feel” for each college campus, and determine if they would feel comfortable being a student there.

Just in case you haven’t noticed…