One of the biggest secrets that Connecticut parents of college-bound students don't know is that by accepting a financial aid award offer from a Connecticut College you are not required that your student attend that college.

Hear me when I say this...

Your child is not required to attend a college simply because you sign and accept an awards offer!

So if you are like the thousands of Connecticut parents who are juggling timelines from many different schools then accept the initial awards if you are worried and then compare the rest as you receive them.

Let's take a look at this example to see how you could get the best of both worlds.

A student had applied and been admitted to four Connecticut colleges. He received a financial aid award offer from College 1 on February 13th. The award contained a $10,000 per year scholarship for the four years of college. The award offer had an acceptance deadline of March 21st. However, the student had not yet received his award offers from College 2, College 3 or College 4. The student then contacted College 1 and requested an extension of time to accept its award letter. However, the college denied his request and restated that the deadline for accepting its award offer and scholarship was March 21st.

The student then contacted Colleges 2, 3 and 4 and asked them to send their award offers to him before March 21st so that he could compare all four colleges' award letters. Colleges 2, 3 and 4 informed the student that they would be unable to send him their award letters until after March 21st. At this point, the student was faced with a huge decision. Should he accept College 1's award offer by March 21st, without knowing what College 2, 3 or College 4 would offer him, or should he wait until he received their award offers and miss the deadline (and lose the scholarship) for accepting College 1's offer?

Fortunately this student's parents had sought the expertise of a Connecticut college consultant and had attended Connecticut college admission counseling and as a result the student then signed and accepted Connecticut College 1's award offer. By accepting the offer, he safeguarded the award offer and scholarship. Nonetheless, the student was not obligated to actually attend College 1. The student then had time to receive the award offers from College 2, College 3 and College 4 and to review and compare the award offers from all four colleges.

If you are concerned about getting the best financial aid package at a college in Connecticut and do not know how to compare them then click on the link below to get dozens of free tips, strategies and insider secrets that will give you the specific knowledge that can help your student.