Q.  I want to go to college, but I can’t afford all the testing and application fees.  Is there anything I can do to make the application process cheaper?

A.  Absolutely!  The cost of attending college is high enough already.  And when you add in the fact that it costs something just to apply to each school, financial concerns can be a barrier to college for some.

While most are aware that federal financial aid is intended to help pay for college itself, many are not aware there are ways to reduce the cost of applying to college.  The three major costs involved in getting into college are testing, applying and visiting (campuses).  Each offers opportunities for savings.

In the area of college admission testing, I would suggest you use two strategies.  First, be efficient in the number of times you take the test(s).  I think you should definitely plan to test more than once, but how many times you take the test(s) can be minimized.  If you test without being prepared, you know you’ll have to test again.  And if your plan to raise your score depends solely on repetition, you’ll need to take the test several times to improve.  So prepare before you test and you’ll do better and have to take fewer tests.  There’s plenty of free information available on the Internet and from your high school counselor, and a test prep workshop from a reputable company or individual can really help (and usually doesn’t cost too much).  Don’t spend the money on a test prep book you won’t use, but the twenty bucks one costs can definitely help if you’ll use it.  Also, if you start taking the tests early (at least by Spring of Junior year) you’ll be spreading out the cost and it will feel less expensive.

Second, both ACT and the College Board (the people who put out the SAT) offer test fee-waivers in certain circumstances.  So if the cost of testing is preventing you from doing so, visit the following web sites and discuss the subject with your high school counselor.  You may be eligible for a waiver.

http://sat.collegeboard.com/register/sat-fee-waivers

http://www.actstudent.org/faq/answers/feewaiver.html

College admission applications are another cost that can be significant.  More on that and ways to save on visits to college campuses next week…

Submit your questions to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.collegeanswerguy.com and www.collegeprep101.com.