College Counselor's Blog

COLLEGE VISITS HERE AND AROUND TOWN

2009-09-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

The representatives that colleges send to meet with you on the HHS campus are often the very people who read your admission applications. Students from all grade levels are invited to meet with college reps when they visit our school--just be sure to get a pass from your teacher if the visit is scheduled during class time. This is your chance to ask specific questions about a college and for the reps to get to know you as well. Representatives from colleges around the country will start their visit schedule in the fall, so keep checking this site for college rep visits to Hollywood High.

Some colleges cannot afford to send their representatives to every high school, so they have Information Sessions in strategic parts of town, usually at a hotel or school--it's a "We can't come to you, so you come to us" affair, usually at night or on a weekend so parents can come with their students to ask questions. Also colleges host fairs and Open Houses on their campuses so you can see the campus first-hand. These events will be posted on this blog and updated frequently for events in the Los Angeles area.

Every Wednesday from 8-10 AM Mt. St. Mary's College will have a representative in the College Center.

Every other Tuesday Santa Monica College will have a representative in the College Center from 11:30-1:30 PM.

Every Monday from 12 noon-3 pm and every Friday from 9-3, Cal State LA will have a representative in the College Center.

Every other Thursday LA Valley College will have a representative in the College Center from 10-12:30.

Every Monday and Wednesday LA City College will have a representative in the College Center from 9-1.

Tues. Aug. 4 Colleges That Change Lives will hold their 40 college event at the Universal City Hilton at 7 pm.

Registering for SAT and ACT test

2009-09-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

Seniors! You need to take you SAT and/or ACT by December of your senior year---that means you have three times in the fall to sign up for the SAT (and the SAT Subject Tests if you are applying to UC's or highly selective colleges). Most colleges want your tests to be taken by December, and some want them taken even sooner, so check with the colleges to which you are applying to make sure you are taking your tests on time.

Juniors! Ideally you should take your SAT's and ACT's in the spring of your junior year, and if you are not happy with your scores, you have 3 more chances in your senior year to take them (see above).

Sophomores and Juniors--the best way to get ready for the SAT's is to take the PSAT in October. Check with Ms. Campbell in the College Center about signing up for the PSAT.

You can find out your SAT scores online before they are mailed to you! Scores for the tests you have taken are usually available about three weeks after the test.

If you are taking the ACT (an alternative to the SAT accepted by most colleges) you need to sign up for the ACT with Writing. Although the SAT and ACT are rival test companies, they never schedule their tests on the same day, so you can take both tests on different Saturdays.

When you sign up to take an SAT or ACT, be sure to list our school code (051615) and choose 4 colleges to receive your scores. If you are applying to CSU's, the code 3594 will send your SAT scores to all 23 Cal States. If you want to play sports in college, send your scores to the NCAA Eligibility Center, code 9999.

If you are on the federal lunch program (you get free or reduced price lunch tickets), you can get fee waivers so that you don't have to pay for your SAT or ACT tests in your junior and senior year. If you need a fee waiver, see Ms. Campbell in the College Center (room 404) to get one.

The easiest and fastest way to sign up to take these tests is online (www.collegeboard.com or www.actstudent.org) which you can reach through the college counselor website on wwww.hollywoodhighschool.net. You can also mail in a registration bulletin, but it takes longer to find out your test site. Hollywood High is not a test site, but nearly schools such as Marshall, Immaculate Heart, Los Angeles HS, Marlborough, and Harvard-Westlake are test centers. Choose a center that is close to your house, because you will be getting up early on a Saturday morning to take these tests.

There are free test prep sites on the internet that I have linked in the College Counselor website (www.number2.com and www.studentedge.com) and study materials can be picked up in the College Center. Also LACER is offering free SAT prep classes beginning 5 weeks before each test in the HHS library after school from 3:13-5:13 Mon-Thurs.

The best time to take an SAT subject test is right after you’ve finished a course in that subject—usually in June—when the material is still fresh in your memory!

The Personal Statement for the University of California

2009-08-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

"In reading your application, we want to get to know you as well as we can. There’s a limit to what grades and test scores can tell us so we ask you to write a personal statement.

Your personal statement—consisting of responses to two prompts—is your chance to tell us who you are and what’s important to you. Think of it as your opportunity to introduce yourself to the admissions and scholarship officers reading your application. Be open, be honest, be real. What you tell us in your personal statement gives readers the context to better understand the rest of the information you’ve provided in your application.

A couple of tips: Read each prompt carefully and be sure to respond to all parts. Use specific, concrete examples to support the points you want to make. Finally, relax. This is one of many pieces of information we consider in reviewing your application; an admission decision will not be based on your personal statement alone.

Instructions
Respond to both prompts, using a maximum of 1,000 words total.
You may allocate the word count as you wish. If you choose to respond to one prompt at greater length, we suggest your shorter answer be no less than 250 words.
Stay within the word limit as closely as you can. A little over—1,012 words, for example—is fine.

Prompt #1 (freshman applicants)

Describe the world you come from – for example, your family, community or school – and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

Prompt #1 (transfer applicants)

What is your intended major? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had in the field – such as volunteer work, internships and employment, participation in student organizations and activities – and what you have gained from your involvement.

Prompt #2 (all applicants)

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?
Tips and Techniques
Start early.
Allow time for reflection, thoughtful preparation, and revision.

Choose a topic for each essay.
Look critically at the information in your application: your grades, awards, activities and work experience, family and income. Anticipate questions an admissions evaluator will have after reading your application. The personal statement is your opportunity to answer those questions.

Compose your personal statement in a word-processing program.
Don't type it directly into the application. This way, you will have the opportunity to print copies for review.

Write in a natural style.
Present your information and ideas in a focused, thoughtful and meaningful manner. Support your ideas with specific examples. A personal statement that is simply a list of qualities or accomplishments is usually not persuasive.

Proofread.
In addition to checking your spelling, be sure your grammar is correct and your essays read smoothly.

Solicit feedback.
Your personal statement should reflect your own ideas and be written by you alone, but others--family and teachers--can offer valuable suggestions.

Copy and paste.
Once you are satisfied with your essays, save them in plain text (ASCII) and paste them into the space provided in the application. Proofread once more to make sure no odd characters or line breaks have appeared. (If you submit a paper application, attach a copy of your personal statements. In the upper right corner of each page, write your name and date of birth, and the words "Personal Statement.")

Ask advice of whomever you like, but do not plagiarize from sources in print or online, and do not use anyone's published words but your own."

Writing your application essay/personal statement

2009-08-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

HOW TO WRITE YOUR COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY

Your application essay can be a crucial factor in your admission to the college of your choice, especially if you are marginally admissible. Above all, your essay needs to be a well-organized, clearly presented, and carefully proofread piece of your best writing.

Important points to keep in mind as you are writing your college admissions essay:

•Give yourself plenty of time to think about your topic, to outline your main ideas, and to write and rewrite rough drafts. Don’t procrastinate and throw something together at the last minute! Always have a good writer (like your English teacher, not your best friend) look over your essay for spelling and grammar mistakes.

•Use your own voice and a natural writing style. Don’t try to impress admissions officers with how many words you can pull from your thesaurus or how you can affect an artificial tone that you think makes you sound like someone they want to admit.

•Be honest. Don’t enhance your essay with false accomplishments or life experiences that you really didn’t have. Admissions officers want to admit a diverse student body with an interesting mix of students. Who you really are is more important to them than someone you “invented”.

•Be careful what you write about. Expounding on your political or religious beliefs can put readers off, especially if they are “on the other side” of your issue. If you are writing about an extremely personal issue, come from the angle of how you grew as a person from that experience. Don’t reveal things that will embarrass you or make your readers feel uncomfortable. Don’t imply that they should admit you because you’ve had a miserable life and they should feel sorry for you. Don’t whine.

•Do not rehash information that is listed elsewhere on your application. The essay should not be a “grocery list” of your awards, grades, and activities. Those are usually listed on another part of the college application. The personal essay is a chance to reveal who you really are as a unique person, show your special talents in their best light, and/or tell why you would be an asset to the college.

•Write about the topic that the specific college asks for in its essay instructions. Some colleges have very specific topics and can tell if you are using an essay that you wrote for another college because you were too lazy to address their topic. Some colleges use very open-ended questions that can be used for other colleges, especially if they will accept the Common Application. Read the instructions carefully before you put a lot of effort into writing an essay that is not appropriate for a particular college.

•Grab the reader’s interest from your first sentence. Starting an essay with,
“My name is...” or other boring beginnings can kill an overburdened reader’s interest in you right away. Make your essay stand out from the pile by having a great opening.

But, what should I write about in my personal statement?

If you are given an open-ended topic such as, “Tell us about yourself” or “Write about something that is important to you”, you may feel daunted and not know where to begin. Remember, that your main objective is to reveal yourself as a person and to show admissions officers that you can write well and logically. Although some colleges have unique essay topics, many more tend to fall into a few categories such as:

*If you could have dinner (or meet, or talk) with any person in history or fiction, whom would you choose and why?

*Describe one of your possessions or your room at home and explain what it says about you.

*Tell us about the one event or experience in your life that has had the greatest effect on you and explain why.

*Which person in your own life or in history has had the greatest influence on you?

*Why do you want to go to college (or to our college)?

If you have given yourself plenty of time to plan, you might consider writing an essay on each one of these topics. Even if the colleges you choose to apply to don’t use these questions, it will give you practice in writing and in sorting our your feelings and ideas.

Remember that people love to hear stories. Telling a story about yourself is instantly engaging. Admissions officers know that eighteen year old seniors cannot pontificate on deep philosophical ideas--you haven’t had enough life experience yet! Neither are they interested in your ideas on how to “fix” the world’s problems, why they should convert to your religion, or where you went to kindergarten and elementary school. If you are going to introduce yourself, it is better to reveal yourself anecdotally than to tell your entire life story. Telling a story about a single incident that shows your character is much more effective than using generalities such as, “I have always been a good student, I am active in my community, and I am a well-rounded person.” Showing yourself in a single moment in time where you did some thing that you were proud of, or even where you failed miserably but learned from the experience is very compelling.

To begin planning your essay, ask yourself these questions to “tune in” to yourself as a person: Whom do I most admire? What do I enjoy doing in my free time? What am I really good at? Of what accomplishment am I most proud? What are my greatest weaknesses? Why do my friends like me? What would I like to change about myself? What do I see myself doing ten years from now? How do I want to have an impact on my world? What talents would I like to acquire or enhance? What have I learned from jobs I have held? What is unique about my family? What would I like to do that I have not had the opportunity to do yet? If I had nothing holding me back, and were guaranteed success at whatever I chose to do, what would I like to do with my life?.......... Why don’t you do that anyway? Looking inward is the best place to start writing that essay to get you into college!

Applying to College

2009-08-03T17:06:00.000-07:00

Applying to College

Now begins the great adventure of applying to college! Here is a list of guidelines to help you through the application process:

If you are applying to a four- year college or university:

Make sure you take your SAT or ACT tests in October, November, or December. Some colleges (like San Diego State) want tests taken by November! If you are applying to any of the Universities of California or other very selective colleges, you also need to take two SAT Subject Tests in subjects of your choice.

If you have been in the United States for less than three years of school, you may also need to take the TOEFL test. Check the catalog of the colleges to which you are applying to see if you need to take the TOEFL. Applications are available in the College Center.

Most colleges accept or even prefer that you apply online on the internet. Our school’s website, www.hollywoodhighschool.net has many links to college websites and search engines to help you in your college quest. The internet is the fastest, most efficient way to explore college options and apply to college. Before you begin applying to college, see Ms. Campbell to get your academic transcript that lists all your classes and grades that you will fill in on your college applications.

UC ‘s and CSU’s want you to apply online. You can reach their websites through our school’s website. From www.hollywoodhighschool.net, go under “counseling”, then under “college counselor” to reach all college-related links. If you are applying to any other private or out-of-state colleges, you must contact those colleges (online is the easiest way) and ask for an application for admission, or fill out their online application.

When you get your applications for admission to private colleges, look for a page entitled SCHOOL REPORT or SECONDARY SCHOOL REPORT. This is the page that you give to Ms. Campbell or your counselor right away to fill out for you. Read it carefully to see what it requests. Fill out the top line of the School Report with your name, social security number, and any other information that they request, sign the waiver, then give it to Ms. Campbell or your counselor along with a BRAG SHEET (available in 404) and a copy of your personal essay for that college or an autobiography. Remember that the more complete your Brag Sheet is, the better your letters of recommendation will be.

Private College applications will probably also ask you for teacher recommendations. Be sure to give your teachers plenty of time to write these recommendations for you and also give them a stamped envelope addressed to the college to which it is to be sent. Also let your teachers know when your application is due. Teachers will send their letters separately to the college---don't wait for teachers to hand you their letter of recommendation--it is supposed to be confidential. Do not ask teachers to write letters for Cal State or UC or community college admissions, although you may need them later to apply for specific scholarships to those schools.

Pay very close attention to application and scholarship deadlines. Make sure that you have completed all the forms and have mailed them at least a week before they are due. To have proof that you have mailed them on time, get a CERTIFICATE OF MAILING from the post office when you mail them, unless you are completing the whole application online.

Please have all requests for letters of recommendation and School Report forms into Ms. Campbell and your teachers before Thanksgiving, unless you are applying early--then follow "the sooner, the better" motto.

The time to apply to CSU’s is during October and November, and to UC’s is in the month of November. Most UC’s are very strict about their November 30 deadline and will not accept applications after that date. Most private colleges have either December, January, or February deadlines. Read your applications very carefully to make sure that you meet their application deadlines. Some private colleges have “rolling admissions”—that means that as long as they have space in their freshman class, they will keep accepting applications.

If you are applying to Community Colleges, you do not need to take SAT’s or ACT’s, or have letters of recommendation. If you are graduating in June, you apply to community colleges in March, April, or May or sooner. If you are graduating sooner, check with Mrs. Campbell about application deadlines for community colleges.

Especially during the Fall, there will be frequent visits from college representatives. Be sure to read the bulletins, visit our website, listen to PA announcements, and notice the signs posted in the quad to keep abreast of college rep visits to the College Center. The representatives that visit our campus are the ones who read your application, so come in and meet them and make a good impression by asking them questions that you have about their respective campuses.

Be sure to keep a folder or some sort of filing system for all your college correspondence. It is a good idea to make copies of all the important applications that you send. Use Certificates of Mailing to prove that you mailed test registrations, college applications and scholarship applications on time.

Be wary of mail from companies that may come to your house offering to help you find scholarships for a fee. You never have to pay anyone to get information about college, scholarships, or financial aid. If you get anything suspicious, bring it to Ms. Campbell to look over.

Attention, Seniors Applying to Cal States!

2009-08-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

Now that you have applied to the CSU's by the November 30 deadline, and probably have filled out your EOP applications, the next step is taking your EPT (English Placement Test) and ELM (Entry Level Math) tests. The only way that you are exempt from taking these tests is if you took the EAP test last year when you took your CST test and scored high enough to be deemed ready for college level classes, OR if you scored a 550 or higher on either the Critical Reading or Math section of the SAT reasoning test (NOT a combined score!), OR if you got a 3 or higher on the AP English Language exam or the AP Calculus Exam, OR took a college level English or math class and got a C or higher. Otherwise you HAVE to take the EPT/ELM test by the deadline of the campus to which you are applying (for CSULA it's Jan 30; for CSUN it's March 14). You can take the exam at a campus that is convenient to your home and have your scores sent to other campuses. I have a link to the CSULA and CSUN registration pages on the links section of my website. The sooner you take these tests, the better. You can go to www.csumentor.edu or the testing link on each Cal State website to find sample test questions in order to prepare you to do well on these tests. If you have any questions, contact the campus testing office or ask Ms. Campbell.

Free Scholarship searches on the web

2009-06-03T16:32:00.000-07:00

Need money for college? These websites do the looking for you! Register with a brief personal resume and they will email you scholarships that fit you!

Free Scholarship Searches on the web

http://www.scholarshipexperts.com/
Scholarship Experts - One of the best, most comprehensive free online scholarship searches available to students, parents, and educators.

http://www.scholarship-monkey.com/
Scholarship Monkey - claims a data base of one million scholarships with a value in excess of $3.5 billion. If that's not enough reason to give this site a shot, how often do you get a monkey to talk to you?

http://www.latinocollegedollars.org/
Latino College Dollars
Scholarships for Latino students regardless of immigration status.

http://www.blackexcel.org
Scholarship Gateway—huge list of minority scholarships and resources.

http://www.adventuresineducation.org/Scholarships/index.cfm/
Adventures in Education - Students can conduct a keyword search of a data base containing 10,000 scholarships.

http://www.brokescholar.com/
Broke Scholar has a data base with more than 650,000 scholarships with a total value of more than $2.5 billion.

http://www.collegeanswer.com/paying/scholarship_search/pay_scholarship_search.jsp
College Answer - Sponsored by Sallie Mae, they use the Scholarship Experts data base.

http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp/
College Board Scholarship Search - The College Board’s free scholarship search utilizes a database of more than 2,300 sources of college funding totaling almost $3 billion in scholarships and aid.

https://www.collegedata.com/cs/search/scholar/scholar_search_tmpl.jhtml
College Data - This free scholarship search allows students to save results in a “data locker”.

http://www.collegefunds.net/
CollegeFunds - Their website says, “CollegeFunds.net helps you hunt down the most ideal student loan, scholarships and other financial aid resources available to you!”

https://www.collegeplanning.nelnet.net/login/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=/petersons/ScholarshipSearch.aspx/
Nelnet College Planning - A college planning site which includes a free scholarship finder.

http://www.collegescholarships.com/
College Connection Scholarships - This service provides free scholarship searches and personalized scholarship application letters.

http://www.collegetoolkit.com/Scholarship/Main.aspx/
College Tool Kit -These folks allow you to search for scholarships by geography, heritage, religion, extra curriculars, family affiliation, high school, or scholarship name.

http://www.discovernursing.com/scholarship-search/
Discover Nursing Scholarship Search - If you are or will be studying nursing, give this free scholarship search a try. You will probably find more nursing scholarships here than in any other source.

http://www.ecampustours.com/payingforcollege/scholarshipsandgrants/freescholarshipsearch.htm/
eCampus Tours - The eCampusTours search uses a database of more than 10,000 scholarship programs that distribute awards worth more than $36 million.

http://www.financialaidofficer.com/scholarship_search/
Financial Aid Officer - This free scholarship search engine lists scholarships worth $1.45 billion.

http://www.fastaid.com/
FastAid - These folks say they are, “The World's largest and oldest private sector scholarship database”.

http://www.fastweb.com/
Fast Web –very large database of free scholarships

http://www.findtuition.com/scholarships/
Find Tuition - This free scholarship search site lists $24 billion in scholarships.

http://www.freescholarshipguide.com/
Free Scholarship Guide - These folks offer an online scholarship search and a free downloadable scholarship guide.

http://www.freschinfo.com/search-main.php/
Free Scholarship Search - This site doesn't list as many scholarships as some sites, but it's very well done and lists some awards not often found elsewhere.

http://www.gocollege.com/
Go College - Their search encompasses 800,000 individual awards worth over $2.8 billion in scholarships, and they say they maintain a strict privacy policy.

http://www.myfreedegree.com/?from=%2F&tp_campaign_id=66&traffic_id=51172786/
myfreedegree - Their database contains “billions of dollars of college scholarships and financial aid awards”, including some for bowlers, knitters, C students, cartoonists, etc.

http://www.nextstudent.com/scholarship-search/scholarship-search.asp/
Next Student - According to their site, they give you free access to a database “of more than 42,000 college funding sources comprised of more than 2.4 million individually awarded scholarships valued at over 3.4 billion dollars”.

http://www.petersons.com/finaid/file.asp?id=806&sponsor=1&path=ug.pfs.scholarships/
Scholarship Central - This Thomson-Peterson’s scholarship search includes 1.7 million awards valued at approximately $8 billion.

http://www.scholarship-page.com/
The Scholarship Page - Started by a student in 1997, this site primarily featured engineering scholarships, but has since expanded to include others.

http://www.scholarships.com/
Scholarships.com - This site claims a “scholarship database of 3,0000 sources worth up to $3 billion.”

http://www.scholarshipscanada.com
Scholarships Canada - These folks call their site “Canada's most comprehensive scholarship portal”.

http://www.studentawards.com/canlearn/
Can Learn - Another Canadian free scholarship search site.

http://www.scholarsite.com/
Scholar Site - Their introduction reads, “Welcome to ScholarSite.com, the site that allows you to search for scholastic financial aid quickly and accurately, without forcing you to lose time and privacy by entering personal information.”

http://www.schoolsoup.com/
School Soup - Their scholarship data base lists $32 billion in scholarships.

https://studentaid2.ed.gov/logon.asp/
Student Aid on the Web - A U.S. Department of Education sponsored free online scholarship search.

http://www.studyabroadfunding.org/
Study Abroad Funding - Their website says, "Our comprehensive database of study abroad scholarships, fellowships, and grants can help make your dream of studying abroad a financial possibility and a profound reality." Scholarship searches can be conducted by country or subject.

http://www.supercollege.com/scholarships/scholarships.cfm/
Super College - An online scholarship search sponsored by Harvard educated folks who publish books on college planning.

http://www.uncf.org/forstudents/scholarship.asp/
United Negro College Fund Scholarship Search - A free online scholarship search sponsored by the United Negro College Fund.

http://www.collegenet.com/mach25/app/
College Net/Mach 25 - Allows you to search through 600,000 awards for scholarship matches.

http://scholarships.fatomei.com/
Nationally Coveted Scholarships and Fellowships - Not really a scholarship match program but a very good site that lists undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral awards.

http://www.iefa.org/
International Education Financial Aid - The IEFA website was created to be a resource for financial aid, college scholarship and grant information for US and international students wishing to study abroad.

www.4scholarships.4anything.com-/
4Scholarships.com - Directory of Scholarship Resources
Part of the 4Anything network, this catalog of resources for students offers a list of scholarship opportunities and organizations.

www.collegequest.com/
College Quest
Search for a college and see a step-by-step guide to financial aid.

www.srnexpress.com/
Scholarship Research Network Express
Provides an overview of the topic of financial aid, and offers links to federal, state and private programs. Find a FAQ.

www.scholarship-page.com/
Scholarship Page
Browse the database of scholarships, or search for a specific one. Provides an opportunity for companies or organizations to add a scholarship.

www.cns.gov/
Corporation for National Service
Strengthen communities through service, with application forms for posting. Links to AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America.

www.petersons.com/resources/finance.html/
Petersons.com
Articles address scholarship myths and financial aid trends. Includes a glossary of terms.

www.review.com/
The Princeton Review Financial Experts
Free online scholarship search-find thousands of reliable scholarships worth millions of dollars in aid.

www.collegefund.org/
American Indian College Fund
Foundation started by 30 tribal colleges seeks to provide financial aid for Native American students across the US. Find a list of schools.

www.americorps.org/
AmeriCorps
Learn about this national service organization, and find details about membership and funding.

www.gmsp.org/
Gates Millennium Scholars Program
Billion dollar grant from the pockets of Bill and Melinda Gates supports the higher educational needs of high-achieving minorities.

www.gocollege.com/
Go College
Perform a college and financial aid search to figure out the best combination of academics and affordability.

www.embark.com/fa/schol/art/allabt.stm/
Embark.com - Scholarships
Defines various funding types, and provides a search function to locate scholarships.

www.finaid.org/finaid/focus/lgb.html/
Financial Aid for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Students
Visitors to this site will find a listing of gay and lesbian financial aid resources for university funding.

www.collegeview.com/
College Scholarship Information
How will you pay for college? Use CollegeView's scholarship search to explore thousands of national, local and school-specific scholarships and awards. Registration may be required.

www.jackierobinson.org/
Jackie Robinson Foundation
Organization helps African-American students find college scholarships. Learn about its programs and sponsors.

www.galaxy.einet.net/hytelnet/OTH023.html/
MOLIS - Minority On-line Information Service
Get information on African-American and Hispanic educational resources. Includes scholarships and institutional details.

www.shaman.unm.edu/enan/home.htm/
Educational Native American Network
ENAN was the first computer network devoted to American Indian Education and as such is often called the "Grandfather of Indian Networking."

www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m0FWK/n4_v19/21260637/p1/article.jhtml/
Hispanic Times - Fieldnotes on Minority Scholarships
Features fieldnotes and news about organizations, scholarships and help for minority professionals. Access information on fellowships.

www.allnursingschools.com/faqs/scholarships.php/
Nursing Scholarships and Nursing Grants - All Nursing Schools
Use this resource on nursing scholarships and nursing grants to learn how to fund a education.

www.internationalscholarship.com/
International Scholarships Online
Provides a searchable database of grants, scholarships, and loan programs available for students preparing to study abroad.

www.webmem.com/Scholarships.html/
UCGALA Scholarships
University of California Gay and Lesbian Alumni Club offers scholarships to GLB student leaders as well as strong supporters of gay issues.

http://www.thesalliemaefund.org/smfnew/sections/apply.html
A wide variety of scholarship searches

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS WITHOUT SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS:

Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard's List (for US and Non-US citizens):
http://roybal-allard.house.gov/UploadedFiles/2008_Scholarship_Guide.pdf
Comprehensive, 50-page list includes scholarships available to both US and non-US citizens. Scholarships are categorized by deadline, and indicate whether citizenship is a requirement or not.

Selected Funding Opportunities Open to Non-US Citizens
http://www.nd.edu/~fellows/nonus%20citizens.html
Unique list of scholarships for non-U.S. citizens of diverse ethnicities. Includes scholarships that fund undergraduate and graduate work in the U.S. and abroad

Searchable database of merit aid at each college:
http://www.meritaid.org (contact colleges individually to find out their policies about awarding merit scholarships to undocumented students)

Good Tidings Community Service Scholarships
http://www.goodtidings.org/
Year: High school senior
Due: November
Award: 20 awards of $5000 each
Eligibility: Seniors who recognize the benefits of serving their community. No citizenship

http://www.comcast.com/corporate/about/inthecommunity/scholarships/leadersandachievers.html
Year: High school senior
Due: December
Award: $1000
Eligibility: Full-time high school senior at the time of application; must demonstrate a strong commitment to community service; must display leadership abilities in school activities or through work experience; must have a grade point average of 2.8 or higher at the time of application; and must attend a high school in a community served by Comcast. Awards are granted without regard to race, color, creed, religion, disability or national origin.
Notes: Applications are sent to eligible high schools. Students should check with their counselor and principal. They can also contact Comcast@applyists.com to find out if their high school is eligible.
Region: Undefined

Princeton Prize in Race Relations
http://www.princeton.edu/pprize/
Year: High school students grades 9-12
Due: January
Award: $1,000
Eligibility: Students whose efforts have had a significant, positive effect on race relations in their schools or communities.
Region: Undefined

Best Buy @15 Scholarship Program
http://bestbuyinc.com/community_relations/scholarship.htm
Year: Grades 9-12
Due: February
Award: $1,500
Eligibility: Min 2.5 GPA.
Region: All

Point Foundation: College Scholarships for LGBT Students
http://www.pointfoundation.org/apply.html
Year: High school senior and current college
Due: February
Eligibility: No citizenship requirements. History of leadership and/or allyship in issues that affect the LGBT/Queer community. Must plan to continue this leadership/allyship in the future. No specific GPA but seeking candidates with high academic performance.
Region: Undefined

TRENZA Scholarships
http://www.caltrenza.org/trenzascholarships
Year: High school senior
Due: February
Award: $500
Eligibility: Chicana/Latina girls with minimum 3.0 GPA.
Region: Undefined

requirements but must show proof of acceptance into a university in order to receive the scholarship money.
Region: Undefined

Banatao Family Scholarships
http://www.asianpacificfund.org/awards/banatao.shtml
Year: High school senior
Due: March
Award: $5,000 renewable for 4 years
Eligibility: Financially needy student of at least 50% Filipino heritage living in specified counties and planning to pursue a career in engineering or science (non-health). Minimum 3.0 GPA.
Region: Northern California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus; Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego

Charnon Scholarship of the Center for Education Solutions
http://www.cesresources.org/charnon.html
Year: Senior

Due: March (but only 250 applications accepted, so act early)
Award: $1,500 renewable for 4 years
Eligibility: No SSN required.
Notes: The selection committee looks for candidates who value tolerance, compassion and respect for all people in their communities, and who have demonstrated their commitments to these values by their actions.

Grandmothers for Peace - Barbara Wiedner and Dorothy Vandercook Memorial Peace Scholarship
http://www.grandmothersforpeace.org/scholarships/program
Year: High school seniors or college freshmen
Due: March
Award: $250 and $500
Eligibility: Proven involvement in nuclear disarmament issues, peace and social justice activism, or conflict resolution.
Region: Undefined

Human Capital Scholarship
http://www.asianpacificfund.org/awards/humancapital.shtml
Year: High school senior
Due: March

Award: $1,500
Eligibility: full-time, incoming freshman at a University of California campus in Fall 2009, first-generation college student, low-income African American, Asian American, Latino American or other heritage from an underrepresented group, minimum grade-point average of 2.7, and demonstrates financial need. Preference given to students majoring in the liberal arts major.
Notes: 2 scholarships awarded.
Region: Undefined

Youth Opportunities Foundation Scholarship
Year: High school senior
Due: March
Award: $200-$500
Eligibility: Applicants must be at least 50 percent Hispanic, must be active in their school or community, and must demonstrate financial need. Students whose parents earn more than $50,000 a year are not eligible.
Notes: For an application send a self-addressed stamped business size envelope to:
Youth Opportunities Foundation, 8820 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Suite 208, P.O. Box 45762,
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Region: Undefined

Cruzando Fronteras/Ayudando a la Comunidad
http://www.csus.edu/org/mecha
Year: High school seniors
Due: April
Award: 2 awards of $500 each
Eligibility: Undocumented student with a min. 2.5 GPA and proof of commitment to community service.
Region: Undefined

Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund
http://www.davisputter.org/apply.html
Year: College student
Award: Up to $8,000
Due: April
Eligibility: Graduate and undergraduate students who are enrolled in an accredited school and will college credit for the time period covered by their grant.
Notes: US Citizenship is not required for this scholarship but applicants must attend a college within the U.S. Early recipients worked for civil rights, against McCarthyism and for peace in Vietnam. Recent grantees have been active in the struggle against racism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of oppression; building the movement for economic justice; and creating peace through international anti-imperialist solidarity.
Region: Undefined

Que Llueva Cafe Scholarship - Chicano Organizing & Research in Education
http://www.ca-core.org/services
Year: High school senior
Due: April
Award: $500 – $1,000
Eligibility: College-bound undocumented student.
Region: Undefined

Tzu Chi Scholarships
http://northerncal.us.tzuchi.org
Year: High school senior
Due: April
Award: $1000

Eligibility: Min 3.0, community service, low-income.
Notes: Should confirm in the spring, when the new application is available, that there are no citizenship requirements.
Region: Undefined

Alvin Cox Memorial Scholarship
http://www.alvincoxmemorial.com/
Year: High school senior or current college
Due: May
Award: $550
Eligibility: College enrollment.
Notes: 2 page essay about why you are pursuing a college education
Region: Undefined

Amigos de El Salvador
http://www.amigosdeelsalvador.org/documents/scholarship09.doc
Year: High school senior
Due: May (but will extend deadline if not enough applicants)
Award: 2 awards of $500, 1 of $750 and 1 of $1000
Eligibility: Low-income students graduating from a public high school with a min 2.5 GPA.
Region: Undefined

Architectural Foundation of San Francisco
http://www.afsf.org/program_scholarships.htm
Year: High school senior
Due: May
Award: $1,500
Eligibility: Interest in architecture or interior design.
Region: Undefined

Dream Scholarship Fund
http://krcla.org/en/Dream_Scholarship_Fund
Year: High school senior or current college freshman, sophomore, or junior
Due: May
Award: $1000
Eligibility: Identify as Asian Pacific Islander American, demonstrated financial need, and demonstrated achievement in the arts, community, services, sports, or other activities.
Region: Undefined

Los Hermanos de Stanford
http://www.stanford.edu/group/hermanos/
Year: High school senior
Due: May
Award: 2 awards of $800 each
Eligibility: Latino students who are committed to academic excellence, community service, and cultural awareness. Financial need it taken into account.
Notes: Do not have to apply to or gain admission to Stanford to be eligible.
Region: Undefined

Los Hermanos de Stanford
http://www.stanford.edu/group/hermanos/
Year: High school senior
Due: May
Award: 2 awards of $800 each
Eligibility: Latino students who are committed to academic excellence, community service, and cultural awareness. Financial need it taken into account.
Notes: Do not have to apply to or gain admission to Stanford to be eligible.
Region: Undefined

SALEF Fulfilling Our Dreams Scholarship Fund
http://www.salef.org/c_fulfilling.html
Year: High school senior and current college
Due: June
Award: Varies
Eligibility: Financially needy Latino student living and attending college in California. Minimum 2.5 GPA. Must demonstrate history of community service.
Region: California

Colleges with Scholarships for Students without Social Security Numbers

2009-03-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

These are colleges who have historically awarded scholarships or provided financial aid to students without a SSN, which includes both AB 540 and international students. Please contact the admissions and financial aid offices at these schools for information about specific scholarships.

Amherst College (Massachusetts)
Bard College (New York)
Bates College (Maine)
Brown University (Rhode Island)
Bryn Mawr College (Women’s college, Massachusetts)
Claremont McKenna College (some full ride scholarships, Claremont, California)
Columbia University (New York)
Cornell University (New York)
Dartmouth College (New Hampshire)
Dominican University of California (for science majors, San Rafael, California)
Harvard University (Massachusetts)
Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, California)
Loyola Marymount University (Catholic, Los Angeles, California)
Mills College (Oakland, California)
Mount Holyoke College (women’s college, Massachusetts)
Mount St. Mary's College (women’s college, Catholic, Los Angeles, California)
National Hispanic University (some full ride scholarships, San Jose, California)
Occidental College (some full ride scholarships, Southern California)
Pomona College (Claremont, California)
Princeton University (New Jersey)
Santa Clara University (some full ride scholarships, Santa Clara, California)
Stanford University (Stanford, California)
Swarthmore College (Pennsylvania)
University of Puget Sound (Washington)
Wesleyan University (Connecticut)
Yale University (Connecticut)

New University of California Admission Policy for the Class of 2012

2009-02-06T10:29:00.000-08:00

Revised Freshman Admission Policy

Today the University of California Board of Regents approved a change to the University’s admission policy that will affect current high school students graduating in 2012 and beyond.

The new policy requires the same number of “a-g” courses and the same GPA as current policy. The key differences are:

Two SAT Subject Tests will no longer be required for admission. However, students could still choose to submit their scores for consideration as part of their application, just as they do now with AP scores. The Subject Tests also could be recommended for certain majors.
All applicants will need to complete 11 of the 15 “a-g” courses by the end of their junior year. Currently, this is required only of students who are designated eligible by ranking in the top 4 percent of their high school class.

All California high school seniors who complete the requirements will be invited to apply and will be entitled to a comprehensive review of their applications at each UC campus to which they apply.

Within this “entitled to review” pool, two categories of applicants would be guaranteed admission somewhere within the UC system:

those who fall in the top 9 percent of all high school graduates statewide, and
those who rank in the top 9 percent of their own high school graduating class.

Together, these students would make up about 10 percent of the state’s high school graduates. The remaining admissions needed to make up the full 12.5 percent pool of top students would be drawn from the broader “entitled to review” pool.

For now, we ask your help in conveying to your students two important messages:

Fundamentally, these changes will not change the way students prepare for the University: students still need to complete the “a-g” requirements, earn the best grades possible, and take the ACT Assessment with Writing or the SAT Reasoning Test. They will also need content knowledge in case they choose to take an SAT Subject Test to demonstrate specific subject-matter proficiency.
Students who graduate from high school prior to 2012 will be held to existing admissions requirements. Most importantly, this means that these students will be required to submit scores from two SAT Subject Tests in order to be eligible for admission, as is the case now.

UC to Provide Minimum Gift Aid for Low-income Students

The Board of Regents also voted today to adopt the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan. Under the plan, undergraduates in their first four years of attendance at UC — or two for California Community College transfer students — will receive enough scholarship and grant assistance to at least fully cover their systemwide UC fees if they have income below the median for California households ($60,000) and meet other basic eligibility requirements for need-based financial aid. With the income cut-off set at the median income for California households, the plan will potentially extend to half of all California households.

The Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan establishes a minimum level of gift assistance for 48,100 eligible California-resident students. In addition to having their systemwide fees fully covered, eligible students with sufficient financial need will receive additional grant support to help defray other educational expenses such as books, housing, food and transportation costs, among others. In fact, UC currently provides grant and scholarship assistance averaging $10,300 per recipient to 54 percent of its undergraduates. The university also will continue to ensure that grant assistance covers at least half of the annual increase in systemwide fees for other financially needy undergraduates with household incomes between $60,000 and $100,000.

The Blue and Gold proposal represents a new step in UC's efforts to address the concern among many families, especially in periods of economic downturn, that pursuing a higher education might be out of their financial reach. Financial aid reduces the "sticker price" of higher education to a much lower "net price" for many students, and the Blue and Gold proposal seeks to make this fact more clear and understandable to families than ever before.

Last fall, all UC campuses launched interactive Web-based financial aid estimators that allow families and students to obtain information about UC's costs and ways to meet those costs specifically based on their unique financial circumstances, including their annual income, assets and family size. These estimators are available at www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/paying.html.

Colleges Still Open for Fall '09 Applicants

2008-03-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

Did you "forget" to apply to a four-year college on time? Did you not get into your dream school? Don't despair! There are plenty of great colleges with "rolling admissions"--as long as they have space in their class, they are still open for admissions! Thanks to Paul Kanarek of the Princeton Review for passing along this list:

COLLEGES WITH ROLLING ADMISSIONS --These schools will take eligible students as long as there is space for them!

American Jewish University (CA)
Arizona State University
CUNY--Brooklyn College
CUNY--City College
CUNY--York College
California Lutheran University
Carroll College (WI)
Chaminade Univ. of Honolulu
College of Santa Fe (NM)
Concordia University (CA)
Embry Riddle Aeronautical U. (FL)
Florida Institute of Technology
Hofstra University (NY
Idaho State University
Indiana University--Bloomington
Iowa State University
La Salle University (PA)
La Sierra University (CA)
Loyola Marymount University (CA)
Michigan State University
Mills College (CA)
Northern Arizona University
Oklahoma State University
Otis College of Art and Design (CA)
Pacific Union College (CA)
Pennsylvania State U.--University Park
Portland State University (OR)
Purdue Univ.--West Lafayette (IN
Regis College (MA)
Rochester Inst. of Technology (NY)
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey--Camde (NJ)
SUNY--Binghamton
SUNY--Oswego
SUNY--Stony Brook
Sacred Heart University (CT)
Seton Hall University (NJ)
St. Olaf College (MN)
Stephen F. Austin State Univ. (TX)
The Citadel (SC)
University at Buffalo--SUNY
University of Alabama
University of Maryland--University College
University of Montana
University of Nevada--Las Vegas
University of Nevada--Reno
University of Pittsburgh
University of Tampa (FL)
University of the Pacific (CA)
Utah State University
Western Oregon University

Great tuition deals at colleges in the West!

2007-10-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

Good news passed along to us from Paul Kanarek at the Princeton Review:
There are consortia of colleges in the West who give tuition discounts to each other's students in case they want to go to college out of state, but not too far from home.

WUE (pronounced “woo-wee”) is the Western Undergraduate Exchange, a program of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). Through WUE, students in western states may enroll in many two-year and four-year college institutions at a reduced tuition level: 150 percent of the institution's regular resident tuition.

What does this mean in real numbers?

If you are from California , and you’d like to attend the University of Arizona , the normal non-resident tuition is $11,234 per year. With WUE, it drops to $7572. At the University of Oregon , without WUE you pay $19,338 per annum; with WUE, that number drops to $9261. To give you some perspective the tuition at UCLA is $7038 per year for CA residents.

There are dozens of universities who participate in WUE and the main links are attached below.

http://wue.wiche.edu/

http://www.wiche.edu/SEP/WUE/PDF/WUE_Handout_2008-09_tabloid.pdf

Check out these websites to see tutition deals in neighboring states!

2007-08-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

The Personal Statement for the University of California

"In reading your application, we want to get to know you as well as we can. There’s a limit to what grades and test scores can tell us so we ask you to write a personal statement.

Your personal statement—consisting of responses to two prompts—is your chance to tell us who you are and what’s important to you. Think of it as your opportunity to introduce yourself to the admissions and scholarship officers reading your application. Be open, be honest, be real. What you tell us in your personal statement gives readers the context to better understand the rest of the information you’ve provided in your application.

A couple of tips: Read each prompt carefully and be sure to respond to all parts. Use specific, concrete examples to support the points you want to make. Finally, relax. This is one of many pieces of information we consider in reviewing your application; an admission decision will not be based on your personal statement alone.

Instructions
Respond to both prompts, using a maximum of 1,000 words total.
You may allocate the word count as you wish. If you choose to respond to one prompt at greater length, we suggest your shorter answer be no less than 250 words.
Stay within the word limit as closely as you can. A little over—1,012 words, for example—is fine.

Prompt #1 (freshman applicants)

Describe the world you come from – for example, your family, community or school – and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

Prompt #1 (transfer applicants)

What is your intended major? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had in the field – such as volunteer work, internships and employment, participation in student organizations and activities – and what you have gained from your involvement.

Prompt #2 (all applicants)

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?
Tips and Techniques
Start early.
Allow time for reflection, thoughtful preparation, and revision.

Choose a topic for each essay.
Look critically at the information in your application: your grades, awards, activities and work experience, family and income. Anticipate questions an admissions evaluator will have after reading your application. The personal statement is your opportunity to answer those questions.

Compose your personal statement in a word-processing program.
Don't type it directly into the application. This way, you will have the opportunity to print copies for review.

Write in a natural style.
Present your information and ideas in a focused, thoughtful and meaningful manner. Support your ideas with specific examples. A personal statement that is simply a list of qualities or accomplishments is usually not persuasive.

Proofread.
In addition to checking your spelling, be sure your grammar is correct and your essays read smoothly.

Solicit feedback.
Your personal statement should reflect your own ideas and be written by you alone, but others--family and teachers--can offer valuable suggestions.

Copy and paste.
Once you are satisfied with your essays, save them in plain text (ASCII) and paste them into the space provided in the application. Proofread once more to make sure no odd characters or line breaks have appeared. (If you submit a paper application, attach a copy of your personal statements. In the upper right corner of each page, write your name and date of birth, and the words "Personal Statement.")

Ask advice of whomever you like, but do not plagiarize from sources in print or online, and do not use anyone's published words but your own."

A Great Deal for Campus Visits

2007-04-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

Do you and your parents want to go visit college campuses to which you are condsidering applying or attending? Take the train! You can go on AMTRACK and get two tickets for the price of one! Go to www.campusvisit.com/amtrack and fill out a short form. Hit "Submit" for a special AMTRACK promotional code, then book your ticket online or over the phone. Kick back and enjoy the scenery on your way to your college visit. Remember, the best way to see if you and a college are a good fit for each other is to actually go there, check out the campus and all that it offers, talk to students and staff, and listen to your heart.

Understanding your PSAT Score Report

2007-01-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

Understanding your PSAT Score Report

Read your Score Report in its entirety—it is loaded with good information!

Your actual score in each of the three sections of the test is in the boxes at the top of the page. The scores range from 20 to 80, with 50 being an average score. Your score range could be 4 points lower or higher than your actual score on any particular day. To estimate an actual SAT score, add a “0” (zero) to your PSAT score, then add the three scores together. To judge how well you scored compared to your peers, look at your percentile scores—anything over 50 is good.

On the Review Your Answers section, each of your answers is listed—if you got the correct answer, there will be a checkmark; if you skipped the question, there will be a zero; if you missed the question, the correct letter of the answer will be listed. Look at your actual test booklet to analyze your answer choices, and better still, go online to www.collegeboard.com/psatextra to get an explanation of WHY each answer is right or wrong.

On the Improve Your Skills section, you are given advice on how to do better on the specific answers you missed.

Most importantly, because you took the PSAT, you now have access to MyRoad, the College Board’s complete online college planning tool. For the rest of your high school career, you can go online to www.collegeboard.com/psatextra
and sign up for MyRoad,. Your unique individual access code is on the top right corner of your score report, the combination of ten letters and numbers right above the PSAT/NMSQT logo. With MyRoad,, you can explore careers, majors, and colleges, and build your application resume. Jump on MyRoad, ASAP to start planning for college!

New this year—You also have access to a wonderful program called My College QuickStart that has your online supplemental score report, My SAT Study Plan, a suggested college list, and free access to MyRoad.

Remember, it is ideal to take the actual SAT tests in the spring of your junior year. You must take all college entrance tests (SAT Reasoning Test, 2 SAT Subject Tests for UC’s and highly selective colleges, or ACT) by December of your senior year for most colleges. The best time to take your SAT subject tests (if you need them) is right when you are finishing a class in that subject. DO NOT choose to take the Math I subject test—it doesn’t count for UC’s! If you are on the federal lunch program, you can get a fee waiver from me in your junior and senior year to take the SAT and ACT.

How financial aid works

2006-01-10T06:05:00.000-08:00

How Financial Aid Works

Get a PIN for you and your parents at www.pin.ed.gov or at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Send in your Cal Grant GPA verification form by March 2nd to:
California Student Aid Commission Cal Grant Operations
PO box 419077
Rancho Cordova, CA 95741-9077
OR give is to Ms. Campbell to mail for you!

Fill out your FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov or mail in a blue and purple paper FAFSA by March 2nd.

If you are applying to certain private colleges, you may need to fill out a CSS PROFILE form at www.collegeboard.com. There is a built-in fee waiver on the form. If your college doesn’t require a Profile form, celebrate—that’s less work for you!

Apply for private scholarships! Check out scholarships in the College Center or go to our website: www.hollywoodhighschool.net and click “counseling” then “college counselor” and at the top of the page are free scholarship search websites—get busy and apply!

You will receive a STUDENT AID REPORT (SAR) from the FAFSA [online in a few days if you filed it online and through the mail in a few weeks if you mailed out a paper FAFSA] and a CALIFORNIA AID REPORT (CAR) from the Cal Grant [through the mail]. Check both forms to make sure they are correct and look for the EFC [Expected Family contribution] in the upper corner of the first page to see how much your family is supposed to contribute towards the cost of your college.
If there are corrections to be made, fix them online [for the FAFSA, go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and use your PIN number to access your personal FAFSA; for Cal grant corrections, use the form they send you with your CAR.]

From every college you list on your FAFSA that admits you, you will receive a FINANCIAL AID AWARD LETTER, usually by April. Compare your award letters to find out if you can afford the college that you want to go to. You may need to apply for student loans if your family has not saved money for your college education and the free grant and scholarship money doesn’t cover all of your expenses. Send in your Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) by May 1 for 4 year colleges to let them know that you are coming there.

Your money from all sources will arrive in account with your name on it at your college. The college will take out the money you owe them for fees and tuition (and housing if you live on campus) and write you a check for the remainder!

Registering for SAT and ACT tests

2005-08-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Seniors! You need to take you SAT and/or ACT by December of your senior year---that means you have three times in the fall to sign up for the SAT (and the SAT Subject Tests if you are applying to UC's or highly selective colleges). Most colleges want your tests to be taken by December, and some want them taken even sooner, so check with the colleges to which you are applying to make sure you are taking your tests on time.

Juniors! Ideally you should take your SAT's and ACT's in the spring of your junior year, and if you are not happy with your scores, you have 3 more chances in your senior year to take them (see above).

Sophomores and Juniors--the best way to get ready for the SAT's is to take the PSAT in October. Check with Ms. Campbell in the College Center about signing up for the PSAT.

You can find out your SAT scores online before they are mailed to you! Scores for the tests you have taken are ususally available about three weeks after the test.

If you are taking the ACT (an alternative to the SAT accepted by most colleges) you need to sign up for the ACT with Writing. Although the SAT and ACT are rival test companies, they never schedule their tests on the same day, so you can take both tests on different Saturdays.

When you sign up to take an SAT or ACT, be sure to list our school code (051615) and choose 4 colleges to receive your scores. If you are applying to CSU's, the code 3594 will send your SAT scores to all 23 Cal States. If you want to play sports in college, send your scores to the NCAA Eligibility Center, code 9999.

If you are on the federal lunch program (you get free or reduced price lunch tickets), you can get fee waivers so that you don't have to pay for your SAT or ACT tests. If you need a fee waiver, see Ms. Campbell in the College Center (room 404) to get one.

The easiest and fastest way to sign up to take these tests is online (www.collegeboard.com or www.actstudent.org) which you can reach through the college counselor website on wwww.hollywoodhighschool.net. You can also mail in a registration bulletin, but it takes longer to find out your test site. Hollywood High is not a test site, but nearly schools such as Marshall, Immaculate Heart, Los Angeles HS, Marlborough, and Harvard-Westlake are test centers. Choose a center that is close to your house, because you will be getting up early on a Saturday morning to take these tests.

There are free test prep sites on the internet that I have linked in College Counselor website (www.number2.com and www.studentedge.com) and study materials can be picked up in the College Center. Also LACER is offering free SAT prep classes beginning 5 weeks before each test in the HHS library after school from 3:13-5:13 Mon-Thurs.

Writing your application essay/personal statement

2005-08-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

HOW TO WRITE YOUR COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY

Your application essay can be a crucial factor in your admission to the college of your choice, especially if you are marginally admissible. Above all, your essay needs to be a well-organized, clearly presented, and carefully proofread piece of your best writing.

Important points to keep in mind as you are writing your college admissions essay:

•Give yourself plenty of time to think about your topic, to outline your main ideas, and to write and rewrite rough drafts. Don’t procrastinate and throw something together at the last minute! Always have a good writer (like your English teacher, not your best friend) look over your essay for spelling and grammar mistakes.

•Use your own voice and a natural writing style. Don’t try to impress admissions officers with how many words you can pull from your thesaurus or how you can affect an artificial tone that you think makes you sound like someone they want to admit.

•Be honest. Don’t enhance your essay with false accomplishments or life experiences that you really didn’t have. Admissions officers want to admit a diverse student body with an interesting mix of students. Who you really are is more important to them than someone you “invented”.

•Be careful what you write about. Expounding on your political or religious beliefs can put readers off, especially if they are “on the other side” of your issue. If you are writing about an extremely personal issue, come from the angle of how you grew as a person from that experience. Don’t reveal things that will embarrass you or make your readers feel uncomfortable. Don’t imply that they should admit you because you’ve had a miserable life and they should feel sorry for you. Don’t whine.

•Do not rehash information that is listed elsewhere on your application. The essay should not be a “grocery list” of your awards, grades, and activities. Those are usually listed on another part of the college application. The personal essay is a chance to reveal who you really are as a unique person, show your special talents in their best light, and/or tell why you would be an asset to the college.

•Write about the topic that the specific college asks for in its essay instructions. Some colleges have very specific topics and can tell if you are using an essay that you wrote for another college because you were too lazy to address their topic. Some colleges use very open-ended questions that can be used for other colleges, especially if they will accept the Common Application. Read the instructions carefully before you put a lot of effort into writing an essay that is not appropriate for a particular college.

•Grab the reader’s interest from your first sentence. Starting an essay with,
“My name is...” or other boring beginnings can kill an overburdened reader’s interest in you right away. Make your essay stand out from the pile by having a great opening.

But, what should I write about in my personal statement?

If you are given an open-ended topic such as, “Tell us about yourself” or “Write about something that is important to you”, you may feel daunted and not know where to begin. Remember, that your main objective is to reveal yourself as a person and to show admissions officers that you can write well and logically. Although some colleges have unique essay topics, many more tend to fall into a few categories such as:

*If you could have dinner (or meet, or talk) with any person in history or fiction, whom would you choose and why?

*Describe one of your possessions or your room at home and explain what it says about you.

*Tell us about the one event or experience in your life that has had the greatest effect on you and explain why.

*Which person in your own life or in history has had the greatest influence on you?

*Why do you want to go to college (or to our college)?

If you have given yourself plenty of time to plan, you might consider writing an essay on each one of these topics. Even if the colleges you choose to apply to don’t use these questions, it will give you practice in writing and in sorting our your feelings and ideas.

Remember that people love to hear stories. Telling a story about yourself is instantly engaging. Admissions officers know that eighteen year old seniors cannot pontificate on deep philosophical ideas--you haven’t had enough life experience yet! Neither are they interested in your ideas on how to “fix” the world’s problems, why they should convert to your religion, or where you went to kindergarten and elementary school. If you are going to introduce yourself, it is better to reveal yourself anecdotally than to tell your entire life story. Telling a story about a single incident that shows your character is much more effective than using generalities such as, “I have always been a good student, I am active in my community, and I am a well-rounded person.” Showing yourself in a single moment in time where you did some thing that you were proud of, or even where you failed miserably but learned from the experience is very compelling.

To begin planning your essay, ask yourself these questions to “tune in” to yourself as a person: Whom do I most admire? What do I enjoy doing in my free time? What am I really good at? Of what accomplishment am I most proud? What are my greatest weaknesses? Why do my friends like me? What would I like to change about myself? What do I see myself doing ten years from now? How do I want to have an impact on my world? What talents would I like to acquire or enhance? What have I learned from jobs I have held? What is unique about my family? What would I like to do that I have not had the opportunity to do yet? If I had nothing holding me back, and were guaranteed success at whatever I chose to do, what would I like to do with my life?.......... Why don’t you do that anyway? Looking inward is the best place to start writing that essay to get you into college!

Financial aid in brief

2005-08-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

What about paying for college?
Financial Aid
is a general term encompassing all different sources of money to help
you pay for your college education. It includes grants, scholarships, loans, and work study. You have to ask for financial aid by filling out applications on time in order to get it.

A Grant
is free money that you get from the federal government (PellGrant), state
government (Cal Grant) or your college. You get grants because your family is needy financially and you qualify academically and/or residentially; you do not have to pay the grant money back.

A Scholarship
is free money that you get from your college or an outside agency because you have done something special--you have great grades, you have volunteered, you are talented in some way, you are an athlete, you are a member of a
certain group, you want to pursue a certain career, etc. You can get scholarships
directly from your college, or apply for them on your own. There will be scholarships available in the College Center through direct applications, books, and the internet. Lists of scholarships will be published every few weeks so that you will be aware of opportunities to apply. You never need to pay any person or company to find scholarships for you! There are many scam operators who prey on needy students. If you are unsure about a scholarship you have heard about, bring it to Mrs. Campbell in the College Center to check if it is legitimate.

College Work Study
programs are jobs that are given to you by the college so that you may earn money while you are attending their campus. You may also choose to find your own jobs or keep jobs that you may already have.

A Loan
is money that is loaned to you by the federal government or the college that
you have to pay back. If taking out a student loan is the only way that you can go to college, take out a loan! Your education is the best investment you can make for your future. Most people do not hesitate to take out a loan for a car or a house, but may balk at taking out a loan for their future success.

Most of the money you will get for college you will get by filling out a FAFSA
form between January 1 and March 2 of your senior year. Some private colleges may require you to fill out an additional form called the CSS Profile.
You will also need to send in a Cal Grant GPA Verification Form which Mrs. Campbell will give you before March 2. You will not be able to get grants, work study, or loans unless you fill out these forms on time.

In order to fill out the FAFSA, you need to have a social security number and be either a US citizen or have an alien registration number. Ms. Campbell will visit you senior English classes and show you exactly how to fill out these forms.
There will also be financial aid workshops to help you and your parents with the financial aid process.
As you apply to each college, be aware of financial aid deadlines for each school.
Some require that your FAFSA's be turned in before the March 2 deadline. If you
need money, you have to ask for it on time!

Applying to Private or Independent Colleges

2005-08-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

Applying to Private / Independent Colleges and Universities
The terms “private” and “independent” are used interchangeably to describe colleges and universities that are not supported by state funding, and therefore can be much more wide-ranging in their academic offerings, admissions policies, cost of attendance, and campus life. Although many students think that they will not be able to afford an education at a private college, often they receive financial aid packages that compare favorably with those from public colleges and universities. Applying to a private college is usually more involved, however, than applying to a state college. Usually students have to write a personal essay, fill out a more complicated application form, get letters of recommendation from their college counselor and teachers, and may need to include writing samples from class work. Private colleges have different deadlines for application for admission and financial aid, so it is crucial to be well informed about each college’s policies, and to complete applications in a timely manner. It is also an excellent idea to have visited the college before you apply or once you have been accepted in order to make a decision about whether to attend that college.

If you are going to apply to a private college, here is what you have to do:

•Email or call the college and ask for an application packet. You can find out addresses and phone numbers in the College Center by looking through catalogs or reference books, surfing the web for the college’s home page (check out hollywoodhighschool.net as a great link), or using college resource guides on the internet. Most colleges have on-line applications on their websites or PDF applications for you to download and print. The web has the most up-to-date information on colleges!

•Read the application packet as soon as you receive it to make sure that you have taken the necessary SAT’s or ACT tests required for admission. Most colleges will accept either test, some require SAT Subject Tests, and most want you to have taken these tests by December of your senior year.

•Read the application carefully to find out the application deadlines, the topic for your personal essay, and other requirements such as writing samples or video or audio tapes of performances.

•Find out if you need to have teachers’ recommendations. If there is a specific form included, make a copy of it in case you need more later, then decide which teachers you will ask to write your recommendation. If a teacher seems hesitant or too busy, try someone else. Give teachers plenty of time to write your letter, give them a stamped envelope addressed to the college without your return address on it, and include a brag sheet with the teacher recommendation form so that they will have more information about you. If you are going to be asking the same teacher to write letters to several colleges, ask them to write a general letter for admission to college and for scholarship consideration, and have them give a copy to Ms. Campbell to put in your file, in case you need another letter when the teacher is off track. Do not pressure teachers to let you see what they wrote about you---their letters need to be candid and confidential. Most colleges will want teachers to mail their letters directly to the college, hence the stamped envelope from you. Some colleges want you to include the sealed letter of recommendation with you application--a good reason to give your teachers plenty of time to write for you so that your application won’t be late because of your waiting for their letter!

•Look for a from entitled “School Report”, “Secondary School Report”, or “Counselor Recommendation”. Fill out the top portion with your name, address, social security number, and any other information such as you senior class schedule; sign it, attach a brag sheet, and give it to Ms. Campbell right away, or at the latest before Thanksgiving. Don’t wait until you have finished the application! Look to see if an official transcript is requested to be sent along with the Secondary School Report. If it is, ask Mariam Terharutunyan, the credit clerk in room 408 to send it along to the college. The Secondary School Report and letter of recommendation are sent separately to the college, usually before you have sent your application. If you change your mind and decide not to apply to a college after having given Mrs. Campbell the Secondary School Report, please tell her. It takes an hour to write a good letter and she has many to write! You should have filled out a form entitled College Interest Survey at the that asks extensive questions about you and your plans. Ms. Campbell uses this information on your College Interest Survey and on your Brag Sheet to write your recommendation letter, so the more completely you fill out these forms, the better your letter will be. If you did not fill out a College Interest Survey, pick one up in the College Center and return the completed form to Ms. Campbell right away.

•Include at least 2 Teacher Evaluation forms with your Secondary School Report and Brag Sheet. These are “quickie” evaluations that your teachers fill out to give Ms. Campbell a picture of you as a student. Their favorable comments are quoted in your letter of recommendation, so the more more input there is from your various teachers, the richer your recommendation will be. Also include an autobiography or a copy of the personal statement that you have written for this college in the forms that you are giving to Ms. Campbell.

•Sending out hundreds of letters is expensive for your college counselor. It would be greatly appreciated if you could provide 2 first class postage stamps for each college for which you need a recommendation. Do not put the stamps on an envelope--it looks more “official” if your Secondary School Report arrives at the college in a Hollywood High School envelope.

•It is a good idea to make a photocopy of each private college application to “practice” on. Turning in an application encrusted with “White Out” looks tacky. Read all the directions carefully as you fill out your “practice” copy, then fill out the original application, printing legibly. It is not necessary to type your application unless specifically asked to do so. Another alternative to photocopying your application is to fill it out lightly in pencil, then go over your correct answers in ink.

•Pay careful attention to financial aid deadlines for each college. Look to see if the college requires a CSS Profile form. These can be filed in mid September and will be available in the College Center. The CSS Profile is a form in addition to the FAFSA which you will send in between Jan 1 and March 2. You have to pay a fee for the CSS Profile form. Make sure that the answers that you put on your CSS Profile and FAFSA match. Make a photocopy of each form to keep for reference. Ask about scholarship applications and deadlines for each private college and apply for these on time!

•Pay careful attention to housing deadlines if you will not be living at home. Many students are admitted to college and then can’t go because they didn’t file their housing applications on time! Don’t be left out!

•Always mail your applications at the post office and ask for a Certificate of Mailing. This little piece of paper will cost you 90 cents, but it proves that you mailed things on time. Keep Certificates of Mailing for test registrations, college and scholarship applications, and financial aid forms in a safe place!

•What about applying Early Decision? Applying Early Decision commits you to going to that college if you are accepted. If you really love one college above all others and have a good chance of getting in, applying Early Decision will let you know if you got in usually by December of your senior year. However, by taking this step, you agree not to apply to other colleges or withdraw your applications from other colleges while you wait to hear from your “Dream School.” If you are admitted, you promise to go there. This takes the “sweat” out of worrying where you will go, but also limits your ability to give yourself other options at other colleges. If you are not admitted, you have to hurry to get in applications to other schools. Talk to Ms. Campbell about whether this is a good option for you.

•Always ask Ms. Campbell if you have any questions about college and visit the College Center often!

Applying to College

2005-08-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

Applying to College

Now begins the great adventure of applying to college! Here is a list of guidelines to help you through the application process:

If you are applying to a four year college or university:

Make sure you take your SAT or ACT tests in October, November, or December. Some colleges want tests taken by November! If you are applying to any of the Universities of California or other very selective colleges, you also need to take two SAT Subject Tests in subjects of your choice.

If you have been in the United States for less than three years of school, you may also need to take the TOEFL test. Check the catalog of the colleges to which you are applying to see if you need to take the TOEFL. Applications are available in the College Center.

Most colleges accept or even prefer that you apply online on the internet. Our school’s website, www.hollywoodhighschool.net has many links to college websites and search engines to help you in your college quest. The internet is the fastest, most efficient way to explore college options and apply to college.

UC ‘s and CSU’s want you to apply online. You can reach their websites through our school’s website. From www.hollywoodhighschool.net, go under “counseling”, then under “college counselor” to reach all college-related links. If you are applying to any other private or out-of-state colleges, you must contact those colleges (online is the easiest way) and ask for an application for admission.

When you get your applications for admission to private colleges, look for a page entitled SCHOOL REPORT or SECONDARY SCHOOL REPORT. This is the page that you give to Ms. Campbell right away to fill out for you. Read it carefully to see what it requests. If it asks for an official transcript, ask Mariam in 408 to send your transcript to the college. Fill out the top line of the School Report with your name, social security number, and any other information that they request, sign the waiver, then give it to Ms. Campbell along with a COLLEGE INTEREST SURVEY or BRAG SHEET (available in 404) and 2 or 3 TEACHER RECOMMENDATION forms, and a copy of your personal essay for that college or an autobiography. Remember that the more complete your College Interest Survey and Brag Sheet are, the better your letters of recommendation will be.

Private College applications will probably also ask you for teacher recommendations. Be sure to give your teachers plenty of time to write these recommendations for you and also give them a stamped envelope addressed to the college to which it is to be sent. Do not ask teachers to write letters for Cal State or UC or community college admissions, although you may need them later to apply for specific scholarships to those schools.

Pay very close attention to application and scholarship deadlines. Make sure that you have completed all the forms and have mailed them at least a week before they are due. To have proof that you have mailed them on time, get a CERTIFICATE OF MAILING from the post office when you mail them.
If you need an official transcript sent to the college, ask Mariam in 408 to send one for you by filling out a REQUEST FOR TRANSCRIPT form. If the college wants an unofficial transcript, Ms. Campbell can give you one.

Please have all requests for letters of recommendation and School Report forms into Ms. Campbell and your teachers before Thanksgiving.

The time to apply to CSU’s is during October and November, and to UC’s is in the month of November. Most UC’s are very strict about their November 30 deadline and will not accept applications after that date. Most private colleges have either December, January, or February deadlines. Read your applications very carefully to make sure that you meet their application deadlines. Some private colleges have “rolling admissions”—that means that as long as they have space in their freshman class, they will keep accepting applications.

If you are applying to Community Colleges, you do not need to take SAT’s or ACT’s, or have letters of recommendation. If you are graduating in June, you apply to community colleges in March, April, or May or sooner. If you are graduating sooner, check with Mrs. Campbell about application deadlines for community colleges.

Especially during the Fall, there will be frequent visits from college representatives. Be sure to read the bulletins, visit our website, listen to PA announcements, and notice the signs posted in the quad to keep abreast of college rep visits to the College Center. The representatives that visit our campus are the ones who read your application, so come in and meet them and make a good impression by asking them questions that you have about their respective campuses.

Be sure to keep a folder or some sort of filing system for all your college correspondence. It is a good idea to make copies of all the important applications that you send. Use Certificates of Mailing (90 cents at the post office) to prove that you mailed test registrations, college applications and scholarship applications on time.

Be wary of mail from companies that may come to your house offering to help you find scholarships for a fee. You never have to pay anyone to get information about scholarships or financial aid. If you get anything suspicious, bring it to Ms. Campbell to look over.

College Counselor's Blog

COLLEGE VISITS HERE AND AROUND TOWN

Registering for SAT and ACT test

The Personal Statement for the University of California

Writing your application essay/personal statement

HOW TO WRITE YOUR COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY

Applying to College

Attention, Seniors Applying to Cal States!

Free Scholarship searches on the web

Colleges with Scholarships for Students without Social Security Numbers

New University of California Admission Policy for the Class of 2012

Colleges Still Open for Fall '09 Applicants

More ways to get ready for the SAT from www.fastweb.com

Great tuition deals at colleges in the West!

A Great Deal for Campus Visits

Understanding your PSAT Score Report

How financial aid works

Registering for SAT and ACT tests

Writing your application essay/personal statement

Financial aid in brief

Applying to Private or Independent Colleges

Applying to College