Effective legislation to make college expenses tax deductible is long overdue and began with Tax Payer Relief Act of 1997, which Senator Schumer also supported and voted for. The Act created two education tax credits, HOPE Scholarship Credit (maximum $1,500 a year for 2 years), and Lifetime Learning Credit (maximum $1,000 increasing to $2,000 in 2003).

Note: A tax deduction lowers taxable income, and savings depends on filer’s tax bracket. A tax credit directly lowers taxes by amount of credit, dollar for dollar, regardless of filer’s tax bracket.

Although it certainly was a step in right direction, Tax Payer Relief Act of 1997 fell far too short in providing major tax relief for America’s college families, especially in view of soaring tuition costs and other related expenses that families endure year after year to send their kids to college. Nonetheless, real tragedy for America is Tuition and Fees Deduction, which, when taken by taxpayers who qualify for The HOPE Scholarship Credit or The Lifetime Learning Credit, will actually cause them to overpay their taxes by hundreds of dollars each year!

Affluent single and head of household taxpayers whose incomes exceed $51,000, and joint filers whose incomes exceed $102,000, will not qualify for HOPE Scholarship or Lifetime Learning Credit, and are therefore, only ones who actually benefit from taking Tuition and Fees Deduction. Thus, camouflaged as tax relief to offset college costs for all of America’s college families, all Congress actually did was Robin-Hoodwink most lower and middle income families by taking from them and giving to rich! The wisdom of Mark Twain’s words cannot be denied.

This is one of a series of articles by college admissions and financial aid expert, Reecy Aresty, based on his book, “Getting Into College And Paying For It!” For further information including how to obtain complete SPECIAL REPORT on Tuition And Fees Deduction with refund eligibility, please visit www.thecollegebook.com.

A most effective and creative approach is to begin page in middle of a sentence, preferably ending thought by leaving reader in a quandary, i.e. “…because that’s way it was arranged.” Remember that this is page 217 from your autobiography. Open any autobiography, or any book for that matter, to page 217. It probably won’t start with a fresh sentence or a new paragraph. It is also important to leave reader hanging at end of page, i.e. “…As he ran into street, car continued to…”

I often critique essays for students I counsel, but never write essay for them. I cannot advise strongly enough against employing services of a professional essay service or writer! Not only is this first degree cheating, but risk/reward ratio isn’t worth it. The admissions committees and application readers are neither stupid nor naïve, and they’re on to that scam. Students should never take chance of throwing their futures away for want of a better paper! If you’re qualified to get into college, than you’re talented enough to write your own essay.

Some years ago, a wealthy family who chose not to take my advice in this regard, did just that. They apparently felt it would be sure-fire way for their son to get into an exclusive East Coast school. He had good grades, good SAT I scores and would have otherwise been acceptable, but his writing skills were, at best, slightly below average. So, they hired a professional, and their son was accepted to his college of choice.

After third week in English Comp, his teacher couldn’t believe that someone with his limited writing skills could have ever been accepted. The professor went to admissions office and reviewed student’s application and essays. His suspicions were confirmed after reading three much too professionally written essays that were in his file. He concluded that none of them could have been authored by student.

The young man was summoned to Dean’s office and confronted with evidence. Left with no choice, he reluctantly confessed that his parents had hired a professional to do his essay writing. Consequently, he was given option to immediately withdraw from classes – or be expelled for fraud he had perpetrated on school.

Students should also avoid much too popular topics that everyone else usually writes about such as, How death of a loved one or a pet had a profound affect on their life, or How growing up in an Italian neighborhood was difficult because they were from a different ethnic background. Growing up in ghetto or in a refugee camp is a far better topic, because if you did, then you actually did overcome a life-challenging situation – and that will make a far more impressive essay.

Always be sure to adhere to requirements of essay. If a 300 to 500 word essay is asked for, don’t write 501 words! Schools often do a word count if they suspect an essay is over limit, and students should always (I said always) follow instructions!

This is one of a series of articles by college admissions and financial aid expert, Reecy Aresty, based on his book, “Getting Into College And Paying For It!” For further information or to contact him, please visit www.thecollegebook.com.