Dear Teachers and Lay College Advocates:

Happy holidays. December goes by so quickly, so please help kids with their college and scholarship applications. There is still so much we can do to help these amazing kids.

Note: I spoke at LA Cash for College December 7 and 8. You can access presentations from dozens of presenters at http://www.lacashforcollege.org/home.html

Find similar events in your cities or regions.

Here are ten college access tips to get you through the rest of 2011.

1. More applications. You have survived many public application deadlines, but there are numerous private college and scholarship deadlines coming up. Please encourage your students to apply for these. Private colleges are desperate for interested under-represented minority and first generation students. Center for Student Opportunity has a great guide of colleges friendly to these students and has an Opportunity Scholarship for them. http://www.csopportunity.org/

2.  Free applications. Did you know that there are multiple ways for students to apply for free to private and many public colleges?

• Free or reduced lunch gets kids four free apps on the Common Application. They can apply for free to lots of out of state public colleges.
• NACAC provides fee waivers that most colleges accept. The forms require official stamps. Trio programs can provide these stamps. http://www.nacacnet.org/studentinfo/feewaiver/Pages/default.aspx

3. Educational Opportunity Program. Please assist and encourage students to complete their EOP applications and applications for other support programs at college. Each college, including CSU, has a separate deadline. http://www.csumentor.edu/admissionapp/eop_apply.asp

4.  Scholarships. Scholarships. Scholarships. There are multiple ways for first generation and under-represented students to pay for college. The Hispanic Scholarship Fund is due December 15. Many colleges have specific scholarships. Encourage students to find national, state, local, and college specific scholarships. USC for example has the USC Norman Topping Fund that provides scholarships. It is due February 10. http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/ntsaf/prosp_overview.shtml. Undocumented students: Dated but still working links: http://www.maldef.org/leadership/scholarships/2010_Scholarship_List.pdf

5.  Test scores. Students need to send their test scores. Make sure they send them as soon as they can. Students with free or reduced lunch get to send scores for free to eight colleges. If they can’t afford to do this, you can contact a college and see if you can fax the scores to the college for the students. Remember, the UCs and Cal States allow scores to be sent only once. Cal States: CSU Mentor for SATs and ACT Score Manager for ACT. UCs: Just send to one campus and the scores will be distributed.

• January SAT: The next SAT, which can be used for Cal States and UCs, is January 28. Registration is December 30.
• February ACT: Next ACT is February 11. Kids must register by January 13.

6.  Essays. Kids need to keep write powerful college and scholarship application essays. Remind them, they can use essays more than once. They need to push themselves to write specific, empowering essays.

7.  Recommendations. Please, please write as many great, specific letters as you can. Students needs these letters and often ask you rather late. But they need these to get into college and EOP and to receive scholarships. Short letters don’t work. Give specific examples from their assignments, so you may need students to give you their former graded work to remind you. If you don’t have something nice to say, then perhaps refer them to someone else.

8.  Alumni. Remember, your alumni are back in town and eager to help. Ask them to wear their college sweatshirts and to be able to describe how they manage their workloads, social lives, and more. Sophomores are ideal as they have already navigated freshmen year and are not so embedded in upper level experiences yet.

9.  Application Crunch Game. With your younger students, begin to do college access work with your younger grades. USC just released a game. It’s relatively cheap. Perhaps someone can get you this game for a holiday present. http://interactive.usc.edu/2011/09/07/application-crunch-reviewed-on-play-this-thing/

10.  Enjoy your holidays. Please, please help students with any last minute college application questions. Perhaps hold an application party during the break. They shouldn’t wait to the last minute, but they do.

Again, you are the best at what you do. Your students are so lucky. Enjoy this time of year!!! Let me know if I can help in any way.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Rebecca Joseph

www.getmetocollege.org

rjoseph@calstatela.edu

FB: getmetocollege freeadvice

Twitter: getmetocollege

Accepted Early Decision?: Five Things to Avoid  To Keep Your Spot

Congratulations for getting accepted Early Decision (ED) to the top college of your choice.  You deserve knowing that you have found your match college so early. YET, every year I work with students who lose their ED spot, because they enter what I term the “black hole of senior year.” If you mess up, a kid from the school’s waitlist will thank you.

Students: Truly, keep working hard. Mild senioritis is normal. Extreme is not. Enjoy your summer after graduation. Stay committed to high school.

Parents: You need to keep a keener eye on your Early Decision child than ever before. Contact the school once a month to keep track. Contact teachers and ask for any notifications of lower grades or conduct.

Please read and these examples and avoid THEM!!

1. Do not let your grades fall!! Kids ask all the time, can I let my grades fall now that I’m in to college. NO. What college would want you to slack off so much that your grades go down more than 1/3—B+ to B; A to A-? You must keep up the hard work. KEEP YOUR GRADES UP.

Faith got accepted to her top school. Then she chilled beyond belief in the spring and got two Ds. Her college contacted her and withdrew her acceptance. She had to go to summer school and is now back in but on a provisional basis with a GPA expectation.

2. Don’t skip class or start getting to school late.. Your teachers get very offended if you stop going to class. They can take action in more than just lowering your grade. GO TO CLASS.

Two years ago, Steven decided to start skipping some of his classes. His English teacher gave him a D third quarter, which he raised to a B. He received a C in another key class. In the meantime, his English teacher contacted his college, which withdrew his acceptance. He had to fly there and beg for forgiveness. Not wanting someone who couldn’t take his responsibilities seriously, the college made him take a year off and do an approved program.

3.  Don’t get suspended for pranks on campus. You may feel you’re safe and can do things you’ve never tried before. Don’t even do a senior ditch day if your school has severe consequences.

Orren decided to push authority with a major prank on campus and got suspended. His school contacted his ED college, which required him to submit a series of letters proving his maturity to keep his spot. Are you kidding me?

4. Don’t do stupid things off campus. Again, your college will find out. If you get in trouble for drinking or doing something truly ridiculous on a school trip or event, trouble will follow.

Jenny had too much fun at an off-site school dance. She got busted by her school, which suspended her, and ED colleges require notification. Her high school notified her campus, which has a no tolerance policy. She now attends a community college.

5. Don’t drop classes. You got accepted to your ED college on the presumption your schedule would stay the same. You can’t drop a tough class without replacing it with another one.  You must notify your ED campus of any class changes that you did not put on your application.

Mark got into college ED and decided to drop his math and foreign language class. When his counselor submitted his end of year report card, his college contacted him and said unless he took the classes over the summer, he was out. What a rotten summer Mark had.

Ten tips for Working from Deferral to Acceptance

Getting deferred from a college are good and bad things at the same time. It is good because the college is still interested in you and has put you into the regular applicant pool. It is good because the college can now see your fall grades and learn more about you. It is bad because the odds of deferred admissions are lower than applying regular, and waiting another four months for a potentially negative answer is agony. So these tips are all prefaced on the assumption that you are submitting other outstanding other applications. You will find a college that suits you and makes you happy!!!!

1.  When your first trimester or semester grades come out, write an updated email/letter of interest to the school.

• Highlight your fall accomplishments and stress how these grades reflect your true commitment to academics.
• You can mention a project or paper of which you are very proud.
• Also stress any other updates…such as leadership, athletic or other fall updates.
• In the letter stress your renewed interest in the college.

2.  Make sure your counselor sends in your fall grades along with a mid-year report.

3.  Ask a senior year teacher, who has not already written you a letter to this school, to write you a letter of recommendation. This letter should really emphasize all your talents and reasons why you belong at deferred school.

4.  If possible, put together a portfolio…of one special talent

5.  Get an updated letter of recommendation from your guidance counselor or even have counselor contact the school personally.

6.  Contact your alumni or campus interviewer–if you think you had a good interview…Thank the interviewer again and then ask for any advice about moving from deferral to admissions.

7.  Do not ask people who do not have major contacts with school to contact school. Do not have anyone other than school teachers and officials write letters. The only other exception would be someone for whom you did a major project this year…volunteer leader, youth group…only someone who can attest to new work this year and who knows you really, really well.

8.  If possible, visit the institution one more time and revisit the admissions office to remind them of your interest.

9.  Basically, do at least one new contact with the school per month until April.

10.  Remember, now also focus on the other schools on your list and devote significant time to those applications. There is more than one great college option for you!!!

November College Readiness Tips for Teachers and Lay College Advocates

1.      End of senior year testing reminders.

• November 11 is the new deadline to register for the December10 ACT. http://www.actstudent.org/regist/dates.html).
• November 8 is the deadline for the December 3 SAT. http://sat.collegeboard.org/registerhttp://sat.collegeboard.org/register
• Remember kids can take each test twice for free and send four test scores for free per test.

2. Good news for undocumented students:

• In October, Governor Brown signed AB 131 into law enabling undocumented students to qualify for California financial aid. Bad news. It doesn’t go into effect until the 2013-2014 school. Year.
• Earlier this summer he signed AB 130 into law that allows undocumented students to qualify for private scholarships at public universities. That goes into effect January 1, 2012.
• So tell your undocumented students to have patience and to apply for scholarships from this list. http://www.scholarshipsaz.org/collateral/scholarships.pdf. For high school seniors attending public school in Los Angeles, there is a $500 scholarship available. Students must attend a workshop on November 12.  Students can download the College is For Everyone (CIFE) application and get more info at the CORE website at http://www.ca-core.org/resources.

3.  The UC applications can be submitted November 1- November 30. Remind students to apply for EOP. It doesn’t require an extra application. Just a short explain why. Low-income students (including undocumented students) can apply to four UCs at no charge. Remember, students can send test scores to one UC, and that UC will send the scores to the other UCs on the students’ lists.

4.   The Cal State applications are due November 30. The EOP application is separate. http://www.csumentor.edu/admissionapp/eop_apply.asp/ Please remind them to provide details in the EOP short answers. Low-income students (not undocumented) can apply for four Cal States for free. Students can send SAT scores to CSU Mentor and ACT scores through ACT Score Manager.

5. Essays, essays, essays!!! Tell your students to spend time on their essays. This is the only way they can differentiate themselves in the application process. They need to tell specific stories and make clear their leadership and initiative. I have attached my 10 tips for writing powerful college application essays below. Ideally, in at least one essay, students should describe the world they come from and show how they have made a difference in it.

6.  Scholarship applications. Many scholarships are due this fall. Please beg your students to apply to as many scholarships as possible. The Hispanic Scholarship Fund is a great place to start.  Students can reuse essays that they write for their college applications. http://www.hsf.net/.

7.  Private colleges. Encourage students to apply to four or five private colleges. Again, these applications are free for low-income students. The Center for Student Opportunity has a list of colleges that are friendly to first generation/under-represented students. http://csopportunity.org/. Many private colleges offer full scholarships to top undocumented students. For a list of these schools, go to http://getmetocollege.org

8. Remind kids to keep their grades up. Private colleges see fall grades. The UCs and Cal States don’t see grades until the end of the year, but they take away acceptances from kids whose grades fall and who receive any Ds or Fs.

9. Encourage kids to get ready to apply for financial aid. Kids need to apply for financial aid. Attend Cash for College events in your area and other events to encourage kids to apply for financial aid. The LA Cash for College is December 7 and 8. Book a bus to take your students to this great event. http://www.lacashforcollege.org/home.html

10.  Plan alumni visits. Please invite kids who are attending college to come visit your classrooms in November. Many can come in the Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Ask them to describe what makes college so fun. Ask alumni to mentor a student or two in your class.

Specific College Policies Regarding

 Undocumented / AB 540 Students

This is a list of colleges and their policies towards undocumented students. We end this list with all major California colleges. These colleges were selected because they promise to offer mostly grant aid (free money!) and limited loans.  However, some do not provide this assistance.  See the details for each college below.  We are still waiting to hear from the college if no information is provided. 

Schools with ©s by their name offer some full rides to undocumented students.

There are many different types of college admissions. Keep track of college acceptance types and make sure you don’t apply too early if you need to wait for higher test scores and fall grades.

Some colleges have specific deadlines, while others accept students as they apply or who meet certain minimum criteria. Some have binding early decision options, while some let you get in early and then still apply to other colleges. Many state colleges have only one fixed deadline. Be smart in choosing how you will apply to a college.

Early Action (EA)- Many colleges enable you to apply Early Action in November-December, and you receive a decision by mid-December (or January). Early Action is NOT binding. You can apply to as many Early Action schools as you like. You have until May 1 to accept.

• Pros- 1. You can get an early acceptance to a great college before the winter holidays and eliminate some colleges from your list. 2. You don’t have to accept the EA college.
• Cons- 1. Colleges don’t see your fall senior grades or late November-December test scores. 2. Early Action doesn’t really offer any increased chances of admissions.

Early Decision (ED)- Many private colleges offer Early Decision which is an early BINDING route to college admissions. You apply in early to mid November to ONE college, and you find out by mid-December. You must attend if you get accepted.

Some schools even offer Early Decision II which means you apply in January and find out in February. You should really investigate this college in person by visiting it or meeting with college representatives in your city. You should contact admissions officers, alumni, and classmates who attend this college. Take this decision very seriously.

• Pros- 1. If accepted, you know where you will go to college by mid-December. 2. Colleges deny it but there are distinct advantages to applying early especially if you have a connection to the college or a true passion.
• Cons- 1. You must go. You cannot accept another college if you are accepted Early Decision.2. You cannot always get the best financial aid package as financial aid forms aren’t due until January. So Early Decision is not for those students whose financial resources are iffy. 3. Early Decision colleges don’t see your first semester senior year grades or late November to December test scores.

Note Brown allows ED students to apply to Early Action schools. We think this is because they reject so many ED students that they want these students to have other options. Check to see whether an ED school will let you apply EA to other schools.

Early Response or Notification- Many public colleges are now offering Early Response or Notification which is very similar to Early Action. You submit your application in the fall and find out within a couple of months whether or not you are accepted.

• Pros- Same as Early Action.
• Cons- Same as Early Action.

Guaranteed Admissions-Many public universities offer automatic admissions to students who meet certain academic and/or test scores requirements. Students must still apply but get admissions offers earlier than other students. Some state colleges accept all students who meet certain guidelines. Some guarantee admissions to schools in local service areas or at certain sets of colleges. UC eligibility is now for students who are in the top 9% of their high school class and who meet UC admissions requirements. They are guaranteed admissions but not to any particular campus.

• Pros- You know early on where you can go to college.
• Cons- Really strong kids not in the top % set by a college have a harder time getting admitted.

Priority Applications- Some private universities send priority applications to highly qualified students reducing some application requirements and guaranteeing earlier admissions. They reduce or waive application fees.

• Pros- You can get a great scholarship to such a college.
• Cons- These schools may be too easy for you.

Priority Deadlines- If you apply before this deadline, you have a higher chance of getting admitted and/or receiving a scholarship to a public university. Many state and/or public universities use priority deadlines to encourage early applications. They do not guarantee admissions to those who apply afterward the priority deadlines but do accept some of those applications. The University of Maryland, for example, has a November 1 Priority Deadline.

• Pros- You get a greater chance of receiving a scholarship and getting admitted to competitive majors and programs.
• Cons- Earlier application preparation. Same as Early Action.

Regular Admissions- This is a set deadline for applying to a college. You apply by one date-usually January 1-February 1 for freshmen and February-April for transfers. You find out in March-April for freshmen and March-June for transfers whether you get admitted. Freshmen must let the college you accept of your decision by May 1. Some major public universities have fall regular admissions deadlines. The University of California and the Cal States have a November 30 deadline for freshmen and transfers. The University of Texas has a December 1 deadline.

• Pros- 1. You get to submit your fall grades and all fall test scores. 2. You get to apply for Financial Aid and compare offers. 3. You get stronger consideration if too many kids from your high school are applying early. 4. You can ask a senior teacher to write a recommendation.
• Cons- You have to wait until springtime to find out.

Restrictive Early Action or Single Choice Early Action-These are the same as Early Action-early deadlines and not binding. ONLY, you CANNOT apply to another other school Early Decision or Early Action. Harvard and Princeton just re-introduced this option.

• Same pros and cons as Early Action.
• Two additional Cons. 1. Also a risk for kids in very competitive classes as you may get deferred, and regular admission may be the way to go for stronger consideration. 2. You can’t apply to another other private college Early Action or Decision.

Rolling Admissions- Many public universities and some private colleges offer Rolling Admissions. You apply as soon as you can and within a few weeks you can find out whether or not you get in. This goes on throughout most of the admissions cycle for a college. Once your application is complete, you can get a decision. Some of these colleges do defer students to see fall grades.

• You can get an admissions decision really early.
• If you apply really early in the fall, schools won’t see fall grades or test scores. Kids at really big public high schools sometimes have a challenge getting all the paperwork work in early.

1. Finalize summer and fall plans to focus on leadership and initiative. Be busy this summer.-Spend-at least 20 to 30 hours per week taking classes, working, volunteering, doing internships, and more. Take leadership roles this fall in and out of school and really push the initiative factor.
2. Make a resume. Focus on your major accomplishments in each listing.
3. Do all you can to prepare for fall standardized tests. There are three ACT and three SAT dates you can take this fall. Hire a tutor if you really need to improve your scores.
4. Really refine your college list. Have a range of schools that match your interests and abilities. Don’t have only reach colleges on your list. Use Naviance’s scatter-grams to help show you your likelihood of getting in or other online tools. The Fiske Guide is great as is Unigo.com to help you learn about colleges.
5. Book fall trips and arrange interviews either here or there. Plan to meet with professors, students, and other campus representatives that interest you. See if you can stay in a dorm and eat in the cafeteria.
6. Start writing your major essays—for Common and UC applications. They are the same as last year. Tufts (http://admissions.tufts.edu/?pid=195). Connecticut College (http://www.conncoll.edu/admission/11189.htm), and Johns Hopkins (http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays.html) share essays that real admitted students wrote. I can send you others. Only write stories that are unique and interesting to read.
7. Begin completing the Common Application on August 1 when it goes online (USC is now on it). Follow the yellow dots-only they are mandatory to fill in.
8. Save all passwords on your computer and your phone.
9. For artists, musicians, etc…collect all audition requirements. Begin preparing audition materials and developing repertoire lists as well as specialized resumes.
10. First gen, Latino, and African-American students should apply for some free fly-in programs to top colleges this fall. Applications go online this summer and early fall. Undocumented students can apply for most of these programs.
11. Research the scholarships that are due in the early fall–Questbridge, etc. and start preparing their requirements.
12. BUY MY ALL COLLEGE ESSAY IPHONE AND IPAD APP THAT LISTS ALL COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY REQUIREMENTS. BUY IT NOW FOR $1.99. THE COMMON APP AND UC ESSAYS ARE THE SAME. ONCE THE NEW SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS COME OUT YOU WON’T NEED TO BUY THE AGAIN.

I am a second semester senior. Life is good. That is all.

Actually, just kidding. J There’s a lot more to it than that. Why? Because even though I am a second semester senior and even though life is good, there’s still a little thing called school work that doesn’t just disappear because I’ve finally reached the final moments of my high school career. Realistically speaking, I must admit that this semester I have not worked as hard as I usually do—nevertheless my grades remain solid. Sometimes it’s hard to find motivation to keep up with school work, but it is absolutely necessary. Senioritis must be crushed.

Sheryln

It really is all about attitude. In order to keep your grades up and stay motivated, you first have to DECIDE that you are going to do it. Once you’ve made a mental commitment, you can then proceed to set standards (which may or may not be slightly lower than your usual standards, but not by much J would be my suggestion). You can let loose once in a while—just remember that balance is key.

I loaded my schedule with all Honors and AP classes this year. Inevitably, this means that school work must still be completed. Although sometimes it feels like my teachers are smiting me with all that work, I have to remind myself that they are simply following the College Board’s AP curriculum—I chose this, after all. When my motivation reaches an all time low and I am tempted to give into the seemingly sweet temptation that is senioritis, I remind myself that I will be taking an AP test at the end of the school year which could potentially allow me to place out of college introductory courses. Invest a little work now and save room in my college class schedule to explore new interests!

Of course, don’t forget that there’s a lot of value in simply learning for the sake of learning. Enjoy your classes—get interested. I am currently taking AP Comparative Government. While I do plan on taking the AP exam at the end of this school year, I find that this course is highly applicable to real life. I read articles on nytimes.com and economist.com before class every other day and try to apply what I’m learning to how those countries currently interact with each other and with their people. I am now more informed about international news than I’ve ever been! Maybe even explore a new interest: take that art class you never thought you’d be good at just for the fun of it!

Moreover, as a scholarship recipient, my grades still remain important. For some, keeping your grades up second semester senior year could even allow you to obtain a scholarship depending on what college you choose to attend. These grades do matter.

So yes, second semester senior year is meant to be fun and exciting and everything you always dreamed of. But it is possible to keep your grades up and remain motivated through this wonderful closing to this wonderful phase of our lives.