As you navigate the college application process, you may have heard the term "test-optional" in relation to SAT or ACT scores. Test-optional admissions policies allow students to choose whether or not to submit standardized test scores as part of their application. Going Merry has compiled answers to common questions that students and parents have on how test-optional policies work, and how they impact you.

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The new golden child of tech is ChatGPT, the AI-powered chatbot that can parse complicated instructions to write anything from short banter, through to full-blown essays. As a result, school districts around the U.S. have already started banning the software/website on school computers, while more enterprising teachers find a way to incorporate the new tech into their lesson plans. We thought we’d put ChatGPT to the college admissions test: How would the AI fare when asked to fill out all the short responses & short essays in the Stanford college admissions application? Let's find out.

The post We had the AI bot ChatGPT write Stanford college app essays. Here’s what happened. appeared first on Going Merry.

Receiving your financial aid award letter can be an exciting time when you’re prepping for college. You can see how much financial aid you’re eligible to receive per college you’re accepted to. But it can also be confusing – what do the numbers mean? What is the financial aid award letter, and do you need to act on it? Which college has offered you a better “deal?” We’re breaking all of this down for you.

The post Making Sense of Your Financial Aid Award Letter: What do the numbers mean? appeared first on Going Merry.

Increasingly, the “9-to-5” doesn’t represent the landscape of American jobs. Over 10% of the American working population is self-employed, and 16% report working on some sort of freelance or online gig job. But these “unusual” job setups can make it complicated to fill out the FAFSA®. So we’re here to break down how to report parent (or student) finances if you’re self-employed or own a small business.

The post Completing the FAFSA® for self-employed or small business owners appeared first on Going Merry.

Our team knows the FAFSA®–and the common mistakes made on it. Over the last 3 years, we’ve helped thousands of students fill out the form (using our FAFSA® Made Easier), and walked countless confused parents through how to correctly report their complicated home/financial situation. Here are the top 14 most common FAFSA® mistakes we’ve seen, in rough order of most common to least common.

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If you see any kind of federal student loan (Direct, Stafford, or PLUS) listed in your college's financial aid award package/letter, then you might be wondering: What are they? How do they work? We break it all down for you here.

The post Federal student loans: What are the different types, How much can you borrow, and What are your repayment options appeared first on Going Merry.

The average college graduate comes away with a degree – and $29,000 of student loan debt, requiring an average monthly loan payment of $393. That ends up being a really high percentage of new graduates’ salaries. The problem is: once you’re behind, it can be even easier to get more behind. We’re here to help you figure out how to not let that happen to you. How do student loans work? How do you know how much you can afford to borrow? How do you choose the right (cheapest, most flexible) loan? And how do you best manage the costs?  We'll get into all that, and more!

The post How student loans work: The definitive guide to borrowing responsibly for college appeared first on Going Merry.

If you’ve been scrolling through scholarship listings for a while now, you’ve probably noticed most applications are due in the fall and winter — even though summer is when many students actually have the time they need to write all those application essays. Luckily, we have a list of summer scholarships ready to go! Whether you’re looking to pay for summer classes or simply get help covering your next semester of studies, these scholarship opportunities are a great place to start.

The post 25 Summer Scholarships to Fund Any Semester of College appeared first on Going Merry.

About one-third of college-bound high school seniors don’t fill out the FAFSA® – and therefore miss out on an average of $14,000 per year in financial aid. Even more students don’t fill out their state financial aid forms – despite states granting students an average of $1000 in additional financial aid. Maybe it’s because high school students often don’t realize there’s an extra step beyond the FAFSA®. That’s why we’re here to explain how the state financial aid process works.

The post Your Complete Guide to State Grants and Financial Aid appeared first on Going Merry.

In 2019,  NACAC (the National Association of College Admission Counseling) invited us to deliver an online demo of our scholarship platform. So Going Merry co-founder and CEO Charlie Maynard led high school counselors through how the scholarship platform works and how it benefits counselors: “It’s one place where students can come and get matched with hundreds of scholarships, based on their profile eligibility,” Charlie said.

The post Why high school counselors say they love using Going Merry appeared first on Going Merry.