This post is sponsored by Discover Student Loans
So, I officially have a kid headed to college. That feels even weird to type. I truly don’t understand how these parenting stages go so incredibly fast. I literally feel like he was crawling yesterday now he’s driving and looking at colleges while planning his entire future. Also, is it weird that I wish my kids could just live with me forever?! I just wouldn’t mind! Ha!
I mean honestly this is such a bittersweet time for our family. There is a sadness that comes with letting go after taking care of someone for their entire life and what feels like half of yours.
On the flip side, there is also a great sense of joy and pride.
You have raised this human and tried to teach them the best you can to be a good person and live with purpose and now it’s time to launch them into the world. To win, and fail, and learn lessons from it all.
Watching him turn into an adult, having more in-depth conversations and thinking about the future are some great benefits of the relationship changing as they grow.
My oldest has picked some of his favorite colleges and has said for years he would like to major in Engineering so finding the colleges (that aren’t too far) with great programs has been a top priority. Also, in PA it’s cheaper to go in-state so he is exploring that option more than others.
This year, we are going to put heavy focus on applying for colleges, researching loans and educating ourselves the best we can as we go through this process.
We found some really great tools and resources from Discover Student Loans to help us prepare such as My College Plan. This tool can help families compare college costs, possible careers and earnings to determine the potential return on investment for a student’s college education, and a scholarship search tool which lets you search three million scholarships (money you don’t have to pay back) worth more than $18 billion! We are also going to be looking into the FAFSA®* (Free Application for Federal Student Aid, opens Oct. 1) which offers families access to the largest source of federal financial aid to help pay for college. CollegeCovered.com, created by Discover Student Loans, is another great resource for tips on filling out the FAFSA and managing college applications.
That all said, preparing for college is pretty stressful for students and parents, not to mention making some major life and financial decisions. I am so excited to see what my oldest does with his life, how he follows his dreams and makes this world a better place.
Click here to learn more about Discover Student Loans and here to learn more about College Covered.
*FAFSA is a registered trademark of the U.S. Dept. of Education and is not affiliated with Discover Student Loans.
