The following April, college sent out its letters of acceptance and rejection. His friends, who had all applied around same time but not online, received their notices, yet he was still waiting. Just to be on safe side, he called admissions office, but alas, it was too late! He was politely informed that there had been an unfortunate computer glitch at time he applied, and that his application was among several dozen that had been permanently lost!

Needless to say, family was devastated. How such a thing could happen, how often accidents like this occur, who or what was responsible, and all of apologies in world make absolutely no difference whatsoever – you’re still up creek without a paddle! Just learn from this and act accordingly.

Another submission problem that should be mentioned here is, if for any reason you can’t make deadline, student, not parent, must call school in advance of deadline and give a valid reason why it will be impossible to meet it. They will almost always extend it another two or three weeks. Admissions officers are not totally without compassion. However, I strongly suggest that student ask for a written or email confirmation and write down name of person who granted extension. As I have said in many of my articles – leave nothing to chance!

OK. You’ve prepared all your stuff, completed all requirements, checked and re-checked that everything is letter perfect, mailed all applications and have confirmations that everything was received by each school applied to. Take a deep breath, but don’t get too comfortable. It’s time to prepare for student interview.

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.

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.