Students – Networking With Adults Is CRUCIAL To Your Success!

Freshmen, Sophomore, and Junior year high school students need to realize teachers and counselors are crucial to their success in getting accepted to college and for receiving scholarships. Students need to establish respectful, hard working relationships with adults; these are the people you will ask for recommendations and they must know you and your work well enough to write great letters of recommendation. This includes recommendations for both admission to college and for scholarships.

Your high school counselor plays an especially important role in your success for earning acceptance to college. Virtually all private colleges and most public colleges REQUIRE high school counselor recommendations (often called Secondary School Reports). You need to get to know and impress your counselor as much as possible. Visit your counselor during your pre-senior years to build a positive relationship and to share your college plans.

Become well-acquainted with your favorite teachers and have them become familiar with the quality of your school work and involvement with extracurricular activities. Do extraordinary in these teachers’ classes and earn top grades – no teacher will write a favorable recommendation for a student who does poorly or displays a poor attitude.

If you have a part-time job, an internship, or do volunteer work, give it your strongest effort and be outstanding. Your bosses and advisors may be people you will ask for letters of recommendation next year . . . but only if you do an excellent job for them.

Plan ahead and get your recommendations lined up; this way when you need a recommendation letter, the adults that write them will happy to do so and will primed to write outstanding letters on your behalf.

For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org

Plan to Visit Colleges and Universities Without Your Parents

Plan to visit colleges and universities that have accepted you without your parents; stay overnight in the student dorms. Overnight stays will give you a unique opportunity to check out all aspects of dorm life, experience campus activities first-hand, observe the types of students attending that college or university, and see the campus and the social scene at night.

While on campus, attend a class and note the quality of teaching and classroom discussions. Visit with college students, ask questions, and try to get a “feel” for the college. Ask yourself, “Will I fit in at this college next year?” Bring a notebook so you can write down your impressions. Overnight visits are very helpful when making the final decision between two or more colleges on your acceptance list.

Contact college admissions offices a couple of weeks (or more) ahead of time to make overnight arrangements. Some colleges designate specific weekends for student applicant overnight stays. Call admission offices to determine the weekend dates.

For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org

Tip Of The Iceberg

My last blog detailed the great success of a few MyCollegeCalendar students with whom I correspond. These students’ success with receiving large recruitment scholarships from their top choice colleges is terrific; however, it is only part of their story.

For these MyCollegeCalendar students, I think they have seen only the tip of the iceberg of success. The scholarships received thus far are only the initial offers of financial aid and are based only on student academic achievement (referred to as “merit-based” scholarships). Still to come are potential offers of Federal grants, State grants and scholarships, need-based scholarships and grants from the colleges, additional merit-based awards from the colleges, college-department scholarships for incoming freshman, local scholarship awards, and possibly national scholarship awards.

Furthermore, not only have these students had success with top private universities, they also were accepted to excellent State universities. These State universities were the students’ safety schools for both admission and financial aid (it should be noted some decision letters from State universities are still pending). Students applied to State universities to gain acceptance to public college in case no private university accepted them for admission or awarded them significant scholarships and grants. If a student did not receive any scholarship or grant money from a private school, then the State schools would be the most affordable and the students would enroll at those institutions.

However, a lack of scholarship money is not the issue for the students subject of this writing. These students have planned ahead, worked hard in high school, followed the steps recommended to maximize opportunities for college admission and scholarships and, as a result, are in the enviable position of having many options for attending an affordable college or university.

The final chapter in this story will unfold when these students receive their Financial Aid Award Letters in March-April 2009. At that time, the total financial aid packet will be outlined by each college, adding even more scholarship and grant money to the recruitment scholarships already received.

Is there a down side to all of this? I think not . . . but there is the wonderful problem of deciding which college to attend. With acceptance to numerous colleges and great offers of financial aid, these students will have some challenging times ahead weighing the pros and cons of each college and making the final decision on which school to attend. This is a problem, but what a nice problem to have.

For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org

Huge Scholarships For MyCollegeCalendar Students

Every year I ask several students who use MyCollegeCalendar for feedback on how to improve the content and functionality of MyCollegeCalendar. Student feedback allows us at MyCollegeCalendar to improve the online admission system, update information, and document new procedures to help next year’s college-bound students. The students providing feedback used the Early Application Calendar and followed most (all?) of the advice and guidelines provided.

The good news? The students received decision letters notifying them of acceptance to their top choice colleges and universities in December and January.

The better news? They all received significant scholarships.

When I hear about students’ acceptance to their favorite colleges, I ask them about success in receiving first-round recruitment scholarships. This is important information for me because, after all, getting accepted to top choice colleges AND receiving scholarship money is the true gauge of the effectiveness of MyCollegeCalendar.

The following scholarships have been awarded in the first round of awards to the MyCollegeCalendar students with whom I have been in contact. The effect of these scholarships (for the most part) is to lower each family’s financial responsibility to a level comparable to, or less than, that of public colleges and universities.

Furthermore, more money undoubtedly is on way for these students; additional scholarship and grants will be outlined on the Financial Aid Award Letters sent by their colleges in March-April 2009. Congratulations to award recipients!

The awards listed below cover all four years of college.

Evan B. - 4.0 unweighted GPA
$80,000 – Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, CA)
$72,000 – Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles, CA)
$56,000 – Gonzaga University (Spokane, WA)

Mary Cait H. – 3.92 unweighted GPA
$48,000 – University of Portland (Portland, OR)

Sarah L. – 3.79 unweighted GPA
$56,000 – California Lutheran University (Thousand Oaks, CA)
$40,000 – University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
$38,000 – Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA)

Rachel M. – 3.64 unweighted GPA
$44,000 – California Lutheran University (Thousand Oaks, CA)
$24,000 – University of Portland (Portland, OR)

Lisa M. – 3.44 unweighted GPA
$70,200 – Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, CA)
$70,000 – University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
$60,000 – Seattle University (Seattle, WA)
$60,000 – Drew University (Madison, NJ)
$52,000 – University of Portland (Portland, OR)
$26,000 - University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA)

Preparing For The SAT and ACT . . . Worth The Time And Effort!

I know the LAST thing high school juniors want to think about is preparing for this spring’s standardized admission tests (the SAT and ACT). But doing well on these tests is so very important that it’s worth the time and effort to prepare. Ideally, you should sign up for classes that teach valuable test strategies and test-day time management; if you cannot take a class, do some online preparation. You’ll be glad you did.

I recommend juniors take the SAT Reasoning Test and ACT at least two times and the SAT Subject Tests one or two times (as appropriate). The schedule of SAT and ACT tests is such that test dates are staggered so with a little planning, taking all tests this spring and in the coming fall is possible. Start planning and preparing and increase your chances for getting accepted to college and earning scholarships.

MyCollegeCalendar’s junior year Early Planning and Regular Planning calendars provide reminders and instructions on SAT and ACT preparation and registration for you.

For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org

Forget The Required Student Vaccinations And Forget Living On Campus Next Fall

Numerous colleges and universities REQUIRE incoming freshman to receive Hepatitis B immunization. Immunization against other illnesses also will be required, but at this point in time receiving a Hepatitis B vaccination is of utmost importance! This is because Hepatitis B vaccination is given in three doses over a 5- to 6-month period; the first shot in the series should be received as soon as possible so there is adequate time to receive the entire vaccination series before leaving for college in fall 2009.

Ask you doctor if you need to be immunized against Hepatitis B and if you do, check the vaccination requirements of the colleges you are likely to attend to see if Hepatitis B immunization is a requirement for living on campus (and maybe for enrolling!). After four years of rigorous high school study, working hard on your extracurricular activities, and completing the complex and difficult college admission process, you don’t want something like missing a vaccination to keep you out of college. Talk with your parents and doctor and take action!

For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org

Applying Late To College? MyCollegeCalendar Has Your Plan.

If you missed regular application deadlines and still wish to apply to college, there’s still time to do so. Hundreds of colleges and universities accept late or rolling applications; you need to identify colleges of interest that accept late/rolling applications and dedicate yourself to completing the application process without delay.

But how do you complete the application process at this late date? The answer is to follow the MyCollegeCalendar late/rolling application system starting February 1. All late application tasks are scheduled with complete instructions so you can successfully apply.

Simply go to MyCollegeCalendar.org and click on “MyCalendar”. Go to “settings” on the page upper right. Edit your school year and select “High School Senior”. Next, edit your calendar and select “Rolling Application”. Return to “MyCalendar” and see the Late/Rolling Application schedule and all required tasks with instructions on the February 2009 calendar.

It’s never too late to plan your future. If you want to attend college this coming fall but haven’t made any plans, use the ONLY application system that guides high school students through the Late Application process: MyCollegeCalendar.

For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org