2012 Senior College Meeting

1. 2012 Senior College Meeting College Search College Applications Scholarships Financial Aide

2. Introductions and changes in the counseling center • Steve Smith: A-K • Amy Kennedy: L-Z • Michelle Gordon: Counseling Office Manager • Jen Marsden: ASPIRE Program Director

3. This meeting is a follow-up to the Junior Parent meeting last March when we reviewed the 2012 College Handbook Extra copies are available after my presentation for those who didn’t get one last spring

4. Review the senior calendar: Pay attention to deadlines and help your son or daughter with staying organized. • Selection of colleges: College Board Handbook, Fiske, Ruggs, Apply for an ASPIRE Mentor with Jen Marsden, attend college visits on campus. • Senior College Workshop will meet Wednesday, Oct 10, a white day after school in the IVC.

5. ASPIRE brings together community volunteers, students, school staff and parents to help students overcome obstacles in continuing their education. Students can drop-in to the ASPIRE center for help or they can work 1:1 with their assigned mentor to plan and execute their postsecondary high school goals. • At AHS over 120 students and 36 community volunteers are involved in ASPIRE. • Contact Jen Marsden @ 482-8771 ext. 2130. Jen Marsden@ashland.k12.or.us

6. Applying to a 4 year university will require taking the SAT or ACT standardized test. • SAT is a verbal and math reasoning test. • ACT is four content based test (math, science, writing, and reading). • Both tests allow student to choose which scores to be sent to schools. • Certain private schools and some University of California public schools require SAT II subject tests. • 850 four year schools don’t use SAT/ACT scores for admission. Go to fairtest.org to list

7. SAT/ACT have fee waivers for families who qualify. Families who are eligible for the Free and Reduced Lunch program can take advantage of this opportunity. • Four fee waivers (2 SAT / 2 SAT Subject tests). • May also qualify for up to 4 application fee waivers if institution has agreed to participate in this program (Oregon Public Universities defer application fee until payment for enrollment).

8. Schedule of 2012-13 SAT tests dates • Oct 6 (Grants Pass): SAT & Subject Test • Nov 3 (N. Medford): SAT & Subject Test • Dec 1 (N. Medford): SAT & Subject Test • Jan 26 (N. Medford): SAT & Subject Test • Schedule of 2012-13 ACT tests dates • Sept 8 (AHS) • Oct 27 (AHS) • Dec 8 (AHS) • Feb 9 (AHS)

9. Generally pick up to six schools: Less selective, more selective and very selective. • Selectivity is based on the % of applicants that are admitted to the school. Public schools have a high % of applicants admitted, private schools a much lower %. • Stanford accepts less than 10%. • Lewis and Clark accepts 56%. • University of Oregon accept 88%.

10. Public 2 and 4 year colleges in state: less selective. • Public 4 year colleges out of state: more selective. • Private Colleges: selective, more selective and very selective.

11. Factors in determining colleges: size, location, atmosphere, academic offerings, and cost. • Oregon has seven public universities: • SOU, Western Oregon, OIT, Eastern Oregon are small universities of around 5,000 students. • U of O, OSU, and PSU have over 20,000 with PSU the largest. • Applications are basic with admission based on minimum required GPA, C- or better in required classes and taking the SAT/ACT. • SAT/ACT scores may compensate for the GPA for admission. • U of O, OSU, and Portland State all have Honors colleges. All students considering a very selective private college should apply to these schools. • All students should choose at least one public university in Oregon since most of our graduates will attend one of these.

12. Oregon has 17 Community Colleges. • The tuition is ½ of a 4 year public university. • Students who have attended 2 years @ RCC and transfer to a 4 year public university in Oregon graduate with a higher GPA than students who began @ that 4 year school. • Community colleges accept all students who apply. SAT/ACT are not required. We take students to RCC for their placement test in the spring.

13. Oregon Students can participate in the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) program. • 15 Western states allow admitted non-residents in-state tuition plus 50% to attend. • Chico State tuition cost $10,446 with a WUE. • University of Oregon cost $8789 for residents.

14. University of California schools are very selective to non-residents. UC San Diego accepts only 5% of non-residents. • To become a resident you must live in the state for a year and demonstrate your intention to be a resident. • You must have a year of Visual/Performing Arts. • SAT Subject tests may be required. Check individual campus. • Application deadline is Nov. 30. • Consider attending a California Community College @ similar cost as an Oregon Public University and transfer.

15. Private colleges and universities require longer application process. • 456 private and public colleges use the Common Application. AHS strongly recommends use the On Line application process. Students will invite their counselor and teachers to participate using our email address. From this website, we will submit the secondary school report, teacher evaluation, transcript, school profile, and letters of recommendation. • www.commonapp.org/ • Letters of recommendation from 2 teachers and a counselor. Give at least 2 weeks before needed. • The application will require one or more essays. Consider them as their first assignment for college. Very important. We have Essay Books in library.

16. Transcripts are required from the registrar and you must fill out a request form. • Some private schools require the CSS/Financial Aide Profile to determine non-federal student aide funds.

17. The CollegeBoard College Handbook can help determine what makes a student a good candidate for admission. Each college has a profile of last year’s freshman class.

18. To determine what colleges may be a better choice, look at the courses offered and get a feel of what you may be taking your freshman year and beyond. • www.sou.edu/academics.shtml

19. Once you are ready to apply to college, there are 5 choices: • Early Action: Apply early (usually in Nov.) and receive notification in Dec. or Jan. This is non-binding and you can apply to as many colleges as desired. • Single-Choice Early Action: Apply early to just one school but is non-binding. • Early Decision: Apply early to just one school and if accepted, you are obligated to attend.

20. Regular Admissions: Can apply to every school without restrictions. Notification in March or April. • Rolling Admissions: Students have a large window of time to apply, generally from fall through summer. Notified within a few weeks. • Sometimes there is a better chance of acceptance, scholarships, and first choice of housing if a student applies with one of these early options. • Some students want to take a year off (gap year) so if they get accepted by a private school they ask for a deferment.

21. Scholarships: The best chance of receiving a scholarship is from the school that admits you to their school. • Pay attention to deadlines! • Private schools have more money set aside for scholarships which could reduce the sticker price of admission on par to public institutions.

22. The Counseling office posts and updates nationwide scholarships. These are highly competitive. • www.ashland.k12.or.us/High School website. Go to Counseling Center for forms such as recommendation request, transcript request and scholarship information

23. The Oregon Student Assistance Commission (OSAC) is available for students to begin applying for scholarships. • Applications are due as early as mid February after the 7th semester transcript is available and final deadline March 1 2011. • Go to getcollegefunds.org for the catalog of over 400 scholarships. • To be eligible for certain Ashland High School scholarships, you must apply to the OSAC application. This is now done online through an OSAC eApp. • Every piece of documentation will be done online including a transcript that will be requested through our registrar. • Applicants will need to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as early as Jan. 1, 2011 and no later then March 1 to meet the OSAC deadline. • ASPIRE is an OSAC program and the mentors are trained in assisting students complete their OSAC Scholarships.

24. We will have a financial aide night on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 7-8:30 pm with a representative from SOU. We will go over step-by-step the FAFSA which can be completed as early as Jan. 1, 2012. • Online applications can be found @ www.fafsa.ed.gov

25. During the last week of December, a list of our Local Scholarships will be given out to every senior. • They will have till March 1 to complete and turn them into the counseling office. • Last year over $120,000 was awarded to graduating seniors.