Class of 2008 Newsletter

March, 2006

 

Pre-College Information:

-         Sign up to take the PSAT in October 2006 for more practice and to try to qualify for National Merit Scholarships.

-         Make sure you sign up to take the SAT in April, May or June, 2007.

      Go to www.collegeboard.com to register.

-         Take a free official SAT practice test and receive a score and skills report by going to: collegeboard.com/satready

-         You may also want to consider taking one or more SAT II subject tests in May or June of your junior year. Check with the colleges you are planning to apply to see if this test is required.

-         Sophomores enrolled in Chemistry may want to consider taking the Chemistry SAT II subject test in May or June 2006.

-         Attend college fairs whenever possible.

 

Summer checklist:

*Complete “Summer Packets” for any “Advanced or AP Courses you are signed up for.

*Do some “Volunteer” work in the local community and document what you do.

*Consider getting a “summer job”.

*Start looking at colleges. Do a virtual school tour by visiting: www.eCampusTours.com

*Explore college majors and careers by visiting:

            www.collegeboard.com           

            www.vaview.vt.edu

            www.princetonreview.com

 

*Develop a list of colleges you may want to visit (Spring Break 2007 is a great time to do this).

*Start researching scholarships. In this newsletter we have supplied you with many scholarship search web sites.

*Update your activities and awards file. If you don’t already have this information written down, do it!!

*Make sure that you have selected the right courses for your junior year.

*Register to take the PSAT in September/Early October through your lunch blocks ($15.00).

 

September-December 2006

*Take PSAT and review score report in December and work on your weak areas.

*If you are an athlete planning to continue playing a sport in college, register with the      NCAA Clearinghouse near the end of junior year at: www.ncaaclearinghouse.net

 

January-June 2007

*Take the SAT in the spring

*Work hard to maintain or improve your grades. Remember, your junior year grades are the most current ones the colleges will be reviewing. Show them your very best!

*Start thinking about your post secondary options: community college, 4 year college, technical or professional school, apprentice programs, the military, or going directly into the work force.

*There are over 2500 colleges to choose from….start narrowing down the options.

 To help you do this visit:

collegeboard.com

princetonreview.com

(College search programs)

 

Scholarship Search Web SitesBack to top

 

www.allscholar.com: is a free scholarship search resource for students, parents, and educators. All Scholars’ free scholarship search tool offers simple, concise, and easy scholarship searches.

www.fastweb.monster.com: has a data base of 600,000 scholarships.

www.collegeboard.com: offers a data base with 2, 3000 sources of funding.

www.nextstudent.com: offers students a free scholarship search, student loans, and loan counseling

www.collegeview.com: is still another of the major online free scholarship searches.

www.srnexpress.com: has a data base of over 8,000 programs and 150,000 awards.

www.collegenet.com/mach25: allows you to search 600,000 awards.

www.collegeanswer.com: offers free scholarship searches

www.scholarships.com: will match your profile against 900,000 scholarships

www.fastaid.com: is another free scholarship search service.

www.princetonreview.com: is offered by the test prep and college guide organization of the same name.

www.scholarships101.com: has a data base containing more than 600,000 awards.

www.eduprep.com: maintains a data base of more than 2.5 million awards.

www.supercollege.com: maintains a free scholarship search data base.

www.collegescholarships.com: provides scholarship searches and personalized scholarship application letters.

www.petersons.com: is maintained by the well known college guide publisher.

Clubscholarship.com Scholarship Search: is part of the Collegiatefunding.com network, and lists more than 500,000 awards.

StudentAwards.Com: maintains a large scholarship search data base.

 

Other Important Websites and Telephone Numbers

 

Best College Deals

www.bestcollegedeals.com

 

FAFSA on the web

www.fafsa.ed.gov

 

Federal Student Aid Hotline

1-800-4FED-AID (1-800-433-3243)

www.fafsa.ed.gov

 

Scholarship Resource Network Express

www.srnexpress.com

 

Wired Scholar

www.wiredscholar.com

 

Campus Dirt.com

www.campusdirt.com

 

GRAFTON HIGH SCHOOL

AP & SOL TESTING SCHEDULE 2006

 

DATE

Morning AP Exam

(8:00 a.m.)

Afternoon AP Exam

(12:00 p.m.)

SOL Test

Monday, May 1st

 

 

French Language

Biology, Chemistry

Tuesday, May 2nd

Computer Science A

Computer Science AB

Spanish Language

Statistics

WHI, WHII

U.S. History

Wednesday, May 3rd

 

Calculus AB

Calculus BC

Music Theory

 

Algebra I

English RLR

Thursday, May 4th

English Literature

(AP English 12)

French Literature

German Language

 

Algebra II

Geometry

Friday, May 5th

United States History

 

European History

Studio Art

(Portfolios Due)

SOL Make-ups

 

Monday, May 8th

Biology

Physics B

Physics C

SOL Make-Ups

 

Tuesday, May 9th

Government & Politics:

United States

Government & Politics: Comparative

SOL Make-Ups

Wednesday, May 10th

Chemistry

Environmental Science

Psychology

SOL Make-Ups

   

Reminder to students in the Honors Program

20 hours of community service are required as part of this program. Some examples of community service are as follows: tutoring sponsored by the National Honor Society, volunteering at a nursing home and cutting grass for an elderly neighbor. These hours are to be accumulated outside the regular school day and no money may be accepted for services rendered. You have from the end of your sophomore year through the first quarter of your senior year to fulfill this requirement.

 

Students MUST SUBMIT completed community service documentation to their Guidance Counselor following the below schedule:

BLUE Community Service Log- due January, 2007

YELLOW Community Service Log- due June 2007

GREEN Community Service Log- due November, 2007

 

***Please note that the appropriate colored form must be turned in on time even if no community service was completed for that time period!

 

These packets will be distributed to all sophomores in the Honors Program in June before they leave for summer break

 

Virginia Public Colleges

 

Christopher Newport University                                        www.cnu.edu

College of William and Mary                                             www.wm.edu

George Mason University                                                    www.gmu.edu

James Madison University                                                  www.jmu.edu

Longwood University                                                            www.lwc.edu

Mary Washington College                                                  www.mwc.edu

Norfolk State University                                                     www.nsu.edu

Old Dominion University                                                    www.odu.edu

Radford University                                                               www.runet.edu

University of Virginia                                                          www.virginia.edu

Virginia Commonwealth University                                  www.vcu.edu

Virginia Military Institute                                                  www.vmi.edu

Virginia Polytechnic Institute                                            www.vt.edu

Virginia State University                                                    www.vsu.edu

 

 

Take a look at your GPA and Extracurricular and Volunteer Activities and work to improve your college resume now!!!

 

          What do I need to get into a four-year college?

                 Profile of 2003 First-Time Freshmen of 20 Virginia Schools

 

Average

75%

25%

Average

75%

25%

Christopher Newport University

3.3

3.6

3

1140

1180

1040

College of William & Mary

3.97

4.25

3.75

1340

1410

1255

George Mason University

3.17

3.43

2.95

1060

1150

980

Hampton University

3

3.5

2.6

1020

1090

920

James Madison University

3.59

3.77

3.33

1170

1240

1090

Longwood University

3.2

3.5

2.9

1080

1140

1000

Mary Baldwin College

3.02

3.5

2.8

1040

1120

882

Norfolk State University

2.3

3.14

2.29

800

952

767

Old Dominion University

3.09

3.43

2.8

1020

1110

930

Radford University

3

3.27

2.75

990

1070

900

Randolph Macon University

3.08

3.44

2.76

1090

1162

1020

Roanoke College

3.22

3.65

2.78

1110

1200

1000

University of Mary Washington

3.7

3.85

3.45

1220

1290

1150

University of Richmond

 

4.01

3.49

 

1350

1240

University of Virginia

3.97

4.17

3.77

1320

1410

1230

University of Virginia @ Wise

3.28

3.64

2.96

950

1040

860

Virginia Commonwealth University

3.03

3.42

2.69

1030

1140

940

Virginia Military Institute

3.23

3.6

2.98

1130

1220

1040

Virginia State University

2.6

2.79

2.2

800

860

690

Virginia Tech

3.58

3.79

3.38

1180

1270

1100

Virginia Union University

2.3

2.8

2.2

750

850

680

Virginia Wesleyan College

2.87

3.26

2.43

990

1070

870

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            *75%/25%: These numbers represent the 75th and 25th percentile scores.*

 

 

Glossary

 

Award letter-A means of notifying aid recipients of the financial aid assistance they are being offered by the college/university.

 

CB code-A four digit College Board number that students use to designate colleges or scholarship programs to receive their SAT score reports. High Schools have a CB code as well. Grafton’s is: 472-504

Early Action-A program in which the student receives a decision earlier than the standard response date but is NOT required to accept the admission offer or make a deposit before May 1st.

Early Decision-A program that commits participating students to enroll at the college if admitted and offered a satisfactory financial aid package. Application deadlines are usually in November or December, with a mid-to-late December notification date.

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)-A form completed by all applicants for federal student aid. The FAFSA is available on the Web at www.fafsa.ed.gov. There is no charge for completing this form. They will be available at the high school and may be filed any time after January 1, 2006 .

NCAA Clearinghouse-The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires all prospective student athletes to register with its central clearinghouse. The clearinghouse determines an incoming freshman’s eligibility to participate in Division I or Division II college sports.

Open admission-A college admissions policy of admitting high school graduates without regard to conventional academic qualifications, such as good grades and acceptable admission test scores. Under open admission virtually all applicants are accepted.  

Rolling admission-An admission procedure by which the college considers each student’s application as soon as all required credentials, such as school record and test scores, have been received. The college usually notifies an applicant of its decision without delay.

Transcript-A copy of a student’s official academic record, listing all courses taken and grades received.

 

Wait list-A list of students who meet the admissions requirements but will be offered a place in the class only if space becomes available.