Before you know it, little Johnny will be 16. There'll be a pile of college catalogs in his room and your free time will be taken up with campus visits. This one is the best school in the world to study government policy and biotech all in one; this one has a three-time champion rowing team; this one has the ratio of male to female students that any guy would love.

It sounds great, but are you ready to pay for the attractions your college-bound teenager wants?

A college education is the second-largest purchase you are ever going to make, after your home. And if you have two or more kids headed for college, we could be talking well into six-figure amounts. Certainly, education is an investment with returns you can't measure in anything so trivial as dollar figures, though hopefully it will launch your young students into careers that are both rewarding and remunerative.

Dolan Smart Money Move: That being said, you should still shop for a college as shrewdly as you'd shop for a stock, a house, a car, or anything else that someone is trying to sell you. Because campus recruiters, like brokers and sales reps from any industry, are in the business of selling this particular college. The idea is to get the kid hooked on the idea that this is the school for me — then, if he or she is accepted, the haggling over financial aid and scholarships begins.

If you can shell out the bucks for four years at Harvard with no problem, read no further. But all other parents should know this: It may be possible to get financial aid even if your family income and assets place you above what appears to be the qualifying range.

Our friend Kal Chany, author of Paying for College Without Going Broke (which we highly recommend!), says most parents have serious misconceptions about financial aid for college. Well, keep reading and you won't be among them. Kal has shared with us the top falsehoods parents and kids harbor when it comes to financial aid.

Up Next: Myth #1

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