Class of 2008
Newsletter
Fall 2006
College Information:
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Make sure you sign up to take the SAT/ACT sometime
during the spring semester!
Go to www.collegeboard.com to register for
the SAT
- Go to www.actstudent.org to register for
the ACT
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Take a free official SAT practice test and
receive a score and skills report by going to: collegeboard.com/satready
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You may also want to
take the SAT II. Check with the colleges you are planning to apply to see if
this test is required.
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Register to take the
SAT in the Spring, 2007
Class of 2008
SAT/ACT Test Dates
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TEST DATE |
REGISTER BY |
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ACT |
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ACT |
My 4, 2007 |
Summer checklist:
*Visit college campuses. Be
sure to call ahead to participate in a guided tour. Do a virtual school tour by
visiting: www.eCampusTours.com
*Explore college majors and
careers by visiting:
www.collegeboard.com
www.vaview.vt.edu
*Narrow your college list to
4-6 colleges.
*Start researching
scholarships. In this newsletter we have supplied you with many scholarship
search web sites.
*Complete your activities
and awards file. If you don’t already have this information written down, do
it!!
*Make sure that you select
the right courses for your senior year.
*Register to take the SAT
I/SAT II during the spring administration 2007
(see dates above).
*Review college applications
on college Web sites for applying on line.
September 2007
*Visit the guidance office
regularly to look through scholarship files and to sign up to meet with college
representatives visiting GHS.
*If you are an athlete
planning to continue playing a sport in college, register with the NCAA
Clearinghouse at: www.ncaaclearinghouse.net
*Create a master list or calendar that includes:
-tests you need to take,
their fees, dates and registration deadlines
-college application due
dates
-financial aid application
forms required and their deadlines
-other materials you will
need i.e.; transcripts, letters of recommendations etc.
Scholarship Search Web
Sites
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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. |
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www.fastweb.monster.com: has a data base of 600,000
scholarships. |
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www.collegeboard.com:
offers a data base with 2, 3000 sources of funding. |
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www.nextstudent.com: offers students a free scholarship search,
student loans, and loan counseling |
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www.collegeview.com: is still another of the major online free
scholarship searches. |
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www.srnexpress.com: has a data base of over 8,000 programs and 150,000 awards. |
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www.collegenet.com/mach25: allows you to search 600,000
awards. |
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www.collegeanswer.com: offers free scholarship searches |
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www.scholarships.com: will match your profile against 900,000
scholarships |
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www.fastaid.com: is another free scholarship
search service. |
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www.princetonreview.com: is offered by the test prep and
college guide organization of the same name. |
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www.scholarships101.com: has a data base containing more
than 600,000 awards. |
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www.eduprep.com: maintains a data base of more than 2.5 million awards. |
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www.supercollege.com: maintains a free scholarship search data base. |
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www.collegescholarships.com: provides scholarship searches and
personalized scholarship application letters. |
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www.petersons.com: is maintained by the well known
college guide publisher. |
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Clubscholarship.com Scholarship Search: is part of the
Collegiatefunding.com network, and lists more than 500,000 awards. |
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StudentAwards.Com: maintains a large scholarship
search data base. |
Other Important
Websites and Telephone Numbers
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
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!
(If you have misplaced the Community Service
Information Packet you received last year, please see your counselor)
Virginia Public
Colleges
Virginia Military Institute www.vmi.edu
Virginia Polytechnic Institute www.vt.edu
There is nothing wrong
with applying to several long shot schools! However, make sure you pick a few
sure shots as well!!!
What You Need to
Get into
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GPA- average |
SAT- average |
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3.4 |
1165 |
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n/a |
1260-1420 |
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3.3 |
1170 |
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n/a |
1080 |
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3.3 |
1078 |
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2.3 (minimum) |
800 |
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3.3 |
1080 |
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2.83-3.42 |
950-1120 |
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3.67 |
1226 |
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Based on SAT |
1280-1490 |
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Rank in top 1/2 |
900 minimum |
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3.3 |
1091 |
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Virginia Military
Institute |
3.39 |
1164 |
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2.64 |
830 |
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Virginia Tech |
3.8 |
1231 |
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
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
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.
High School Career Planning
Resources
- The Guide to Career Prospects
in
Topics include: career search, career statistics, links to career advice, résumé guides, job search
http://www.vaview.vt.edu/
Topics include: financial aid, after high school, military, job search preparation, teens, internships, summer jobs- R U Ready?
High School Hotline for
http://www.readyva.com/
Topics include: choosing a career, educational paths, paying for your education, the job search - Virginia Career Resources
Network:
VACRN provides a student focused portal to information about career planning and job opportunities in
College and University
Search and Information Sources
- State Council of Higher
Education for Virginia
http://www.schev.edu
http://www.explorevirginiacolleges.com/
Topics include: colleges and universities in
http://collegeboard.com
Topics include: planning for college, taking admissions tests, finding the right college, getting into college and paying for college.
Students may apply to 500 colleges on-line, get vital financial aid information, and register and prepare for the SAT. My Organizer, a new feature, offers each student an individualized home page that can be updated and used throughout the college search and application process. Key dates and deadlines can be found more easily.
- Collegexpress
http://www.collegexpress.com/
Topics include: college search, admissions advice, financial aid, student center, sports source, parents’ corner
- Collegenet
http://www.collegenet.com/
Topics include: college search, financial aid, scholarship search, college recruiting, college resources, virtual bookstore, college applications
GoCollege
http://www.gocollege.com/
Topics include: updated SAT and ACT test dates, crime statistics in colleges around the
- The Independent Higher
Education Network
http://www.fihe.org/
Link to 667 private colleges and universities in the
Topics include: corporate programs, college search, and what’s new
- Princeton Review
http://www.princetonreview.com/
Topics include: score improvement from the test prep experts, tools to find and apply to the right schools, school search, financial aid comparison calculator, career assessment, inside scoop on admissions, getting the money you need, and eye on test prep
- U.S. News College Education
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/cohome.htm
Topics include: colleges rankings and comparisons, looking beyond the top 20, surfing for schools, the price of advice, volunteering for credit
Interactive tools include: Fiske campus profiles, college search, college comparisons, college forum, community college search, application organizer, scholarship search, college planner, grade calculators, class scheduler, admission tips, international students, study abroad, Canadian schools
- Peterson’s Thomson
Learning
http://www.petersons.com/
Topics include: colleges and universities, graduate programs, summer opportunities, adult distance learning programs, career education/guidance, study abroad, college search tool, career colleges, free practice TOEFL test
- Schools in the
http://www.schoolsintheusa.com/
Topics include: business, engineering, health and nursing, teaching, distance studies, learn overseas, 4 year colleges and international students
Test Preparation for the SAT and ACT
The Virginia Department
of Education is pleased to announce statewide availability of a test preparation
module through Virginia Mentor at www.virginiamentor.org. The
Virginia Mentor Test Prep feature provides easy-to-use tutorials for each
subject area covered by the ACT, the SAT, and the Graduate Record Exam
(GRE). This new feature on the Virginia
Mentor Web site is funded through the Commonwealth's National Governors
Association (NGA) Honor States grant and is available to all students preparing
for these key tests.
Students may establish
accounts on the site by pressing the "Create an Account" button under
the Virginia Mentor logo at the top of the main page. Students will then have access to customized
test preparation courses. The Web sites
feature a series of tutorials covering all the subject areas and/or question
types seen on the various tests. Each
tutorial provides between 30 and 90 minutes of instructional material. Students are able to refine their academic
skills by working through practice questions in each subject or question
type. Practice sessions dynamically
adapt to each user's response patterns, providing questions that are tailored
to each student's ability level. At the
end of each practice session students receive a percentile ranking.