College Planning, Starting In Middle School: Starting to think about college in the early years will better prepare our students for success in college. I suggest they start with a plan as early as 7th and 8th grade to be sure they are selecting the right rigorous course load needed to apply to many colleges when the time comes. Fostering a college-going mindset early on and fueling their aspirations for the future is key.

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-started

Early Skills to Cultivate For Later College Success: Taking honors and AP courses in English, Science and Math early on will better prepare our students for success on the essays, SAT/ACT and AP tests needed for all applications in the college admissions process. Khan Academy provides tutoring options for extra help in all academic and testing areas.

https://www.khanacademy.org

Standardized Tests and Test Prep:

PLAN/PSAT: Taking these tests as early as 8th grade will help our students gauge their readiness for the real tests when the time comes and allow them to focus on any weak areas. http://www.act.org/explorestudent/tests/epas.html

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/about.html

SAT/ACT: Preparing for and taking these tests early in the summer of sophomore year and beginning of Junior year will allow our students to maximize their test scores making them highly competitive when application time rolls around. The more you times you test the better you become at honing in on your test taking skills and improving your scores.

https://sat.collegeboard.org/home

http://www.actstudent.org

http://www.prepme.com

https://www.number2.com

http://www.amazon.com/McGraw-Hills-Top-50-Skills-Score/dp/0071613870 http://www.amazon.com/McGraw-Hills-Top-50-Skills-Score/dp/0071613765/ref=pd_sim_b_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=10NRHHHSS0GD0CTZYCCV

http://www.amazon.com/McGraw-Hills-Top-50-Skills-Score/dp/0071613951 http://www.amazon.com/McGraw-Hills-Top-50-Skills-Score/dp/0071613919/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0WDQA8152T9B1RBJ608D

College Search tools and Career Assessment tools: Finding that right fit college where they want you as much as you want them. Some students already know what they want to study when they go to college. Some students have no clue as to what they can be after high school. And still others have aspirations of greatness but no direction for attainment of these dreams. These web pages can be helpful to many students to give them the initial spark of interest into subjects that they find interesting and worth exploring further. Try these links and see what you aspire to be and where you can go to make your dreams come true!

http://www.mappingyourfuture.org/PlanYourCareer/ http://official-asvab.com

http://mappingyourfuture.org/planyourcareer/careership/

http://www.cappex.com

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org

Types of U.S. Colleges and Universities:

4 year Colleges and Universities: Take a closer look at what many campuses offer through this virtual campus tour website.

http://www.youvisit.com

http://www.campustours.com

2 year Community Colleges and Trade Schools: Look into the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges for more information. Whatever your desire or aspirations we can help you through the process. Finding the right fit is key to a successful college career.

http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/index.aspx

Federal Service Academies and Military Colleges: For students who would like to experience a military environment while getting a first-class education, the five Service academies – the U.S. Military Academy (Army) in West Point, N.Y.; the U.S. Naval Academy (Navy/Marine Corps) in Annapolis, Md.; the U.S. Air Force Academy (Air Force) in Colorado Springs, Colo.; the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard) in New London, Conn.; and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. – offer an outstanding education and full four-year scholarships. Tuition, books, board and medical and dental care are all fully paid for all four years.

The competition to get in is fierce. Admissions criteria include:

High school academic performance

Standardized test scores (SAT or ACT)

Athletics and extracurricular activities

Leadership experience and community involvement

Physical Fitness Test

A congressional nomination(not required by the Coast Guard Academy)

Graduates of all four academies receive a Bachelor of Science degree and are commissioned as officers in their respective Service branch. In all cases, there is a service obligation of a minimum of five years. It is essential to start early in preparation for a successful application into a Service Academy. We can help guide you through all the appropriate steps and guidelines. For more information on service academies check out these links.

http://www.todaysmilitary.com/before-serving-in-the-military/service-academies-and-military-colleges http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_service_academies

ROTC programs: ROTC stands for Reserve Officer Training Corps. It’s a college program offered at more than 1,000 colleges and universities across the United States that prepares young adults to become officers in the U.S. Military. In exchange for a paid college education and a guaranteed post-college career, cadets commit to serve in the Military after college. Military Interest-Active and Reserve Duty. These Scholarships are competitive and in demand and early preparation is advisable to become a competitive applicant.

We can help you with the preparation and application to those ROTC scholarships. For more details on these scholarship opportunities check out this link.

http://www.petersons.com/college-search/getting-rotc-scholarships-college.aspx

Schools With Learning Disability Services: For students with learning disabilities the stress of going to college can be manageable. Look into summer programs designed specifically for students with special needs. Many colleges have special needs counseling centers on campus ready to answer your questions and ease your concerns. The link below is a website that can pull up many LD friendly colleges and programs that you and your student can look into.

http://www.collegexpress.com/articles-and-advice/summer-programs/articles/not-your-average-camp/special-needs-summer-camps/

http://www.collegexpress.com/lists/list/colleges-where-students-with-learning-disabilities-can-and-do-make-it/401/

Student Athletes: Students that wish to apply to college and play sports in Division I, II, or III are responsible for following strict guidelines set forth by the NCAA. There is also a specific webpage dedicated to athletic scholarships. Please review the important information provided in the links below. http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/CBSA.pdf

http://athleticscholarships.com

The Common Application Process: Most colleges are offering a service to allow student to apply to multiple schools through the process of one single common application. We can help guide you through the steps of this procedure. The Common Application (informally known as the Common App) is an undergraduate college admission application that applicants may use to apply to any of 517 member colleges and universities. Its mission is to encourage the use of "holistic admission" a process that includes subjective factors from essays and recommendations alongside objective criteria such as class rank and standardized testing. For more details about the common application please visit this link:

https://www.commonapp.org/Login

Application types:

Early Decision: Early decision is a common early admission policy used in college admissions in the United States for admitting freshmen to undergraduate programs. It is used to indicate to the University or College that the candidate considers that institution to be his or her top choice. Candidates applying early decision typically submit their applications by the end of October of their senior year of high school and receive a decision in mid-December. In contrast, students applying "regular decision" typically must submit their applications by January 1 and receive their admissions decision by April 1. Early decision differs from early action in that it constitutes a binding commitment to enroll; that is, if offered admission under an early decision program, and the financial aid offered by the school, if requested, is acceptable, the candidate must withdraw all other applications to other institutions and enroll at that institution.

Early Action: Early action is a type of early admission process for admission to colleges and universities in the United States. Unlike the regular admissions process, early action usually requires students to submit an application by November 1 of their senior year of high school instead of January 1. Students are notified of the school's decision by mid-December instead of April 1.

Restrictive Early Action: Restrictive early action allows candidates to apply to only one early action institution and to no institutions for early decision. There are no such restrictions on non-restrictive early action. The applicant is still permitted to reject any offer of admission in both types of early action. For more information on Early Decision, Early Action and Restrictive Early Action, please see the link below for more details.

http://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/applications/early

Waitlists: Wait listing is an option, if made available by the college's admissions department prior to the tuition due date each semester. Waitlists are maintained in the order that you make your request. If you choose to place yourself on a waitlist you are automatically moved up the waitlist and added to the course when a seat becomes available. We will help you every step of the way if you are waitlisted at any of your colleges. For more details about wait listing please see the link below.

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-in/making-a-decision/what-to-do-if-youre-wait-listed

Wowing Your Dream Schools With Your Resume and Accomplishments: Important factors admissions personnel review in an application. Most colleges review candidates holistically.

High School Grade Point Average

Rigor of Curriculum

Class Rank

ACT/SAT Test Scores

Extracurricular Activities

Personal Essay

Recommendations

Gap Year and Summer Programs: Between your Sophomore and Junior year of high school consider participating in leadership and community service programs. Participating in these programs will broaden your horizons and give you new perspectives on life after high school, open up a world of possibilities and develop aspirations for your future in college.

http://www.peopletopeople.com/our-programs/student-ambassadors

http://www.amigoslink.org

http://www.habitat.org/youthprograms

Wowing Your Dream Schools With Your Personality and Character:

Application Essays: Important to bring out the students inner voice. What makes them tick, what are they passionate about, and what unique traits do they possess. Below is a link to a few tips for writing that perfect essay.

http://www.nacacnet.org/studentinfo/articles/pages/top-ten-tips-for-writing-a-college-essay-.aspx

Application Interviews: A chance to show the admissions committee who they really are and not just a number on an application. The link below provides some tips for interviewing. http://www.princetonreview.com/college-interview.aspx

Demonstrated Interest: Visiting the campus, visiting a college fair and speaking with the admissions representatives are all great examples of showing a demonstrated interest in the college. Finding the right fit with a college-where they want you as much as you want them. Below is a link with some helpful hints on ways to show demonstrated interest.

http://collegeapps.about.com/od/theartofgettingaccepted/tp/how-to-demonstrate-interest-in-a-college.htm

Letters of Recommendation: Important chance for teachers, guidance counselors and mentors to show the colleges who the student is as a person and not just a number. The link below provides a few ways to get those excellent letters of recommendation.

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-in/your-high-school-record/how-to-get-a-great-letter-of-recommendation

Financial Aid and Scholarships: Determining your need and applying for aid can seem daunting. Try the FAFSA4Caster tool. This resource can provide a glimpse into the types of aid the student may qualify for. Filling out the FAFSA is free and should be completed by every applicant. Below are links for more information regarding the free application for federal student aid. We provide assistance in this area for students and families.

http://studentaid.ed.gov/fafsa/estimate https://fafsa.ed.gov

https://fafsa.ed.gov/

In regards to finding scholarships, two very popular websites offer user friendly search categories to offer up many scholarships in which the student can research and apply for. With Cappex and Zinch once you enter in your unique personal information they will customize a college search based on your personal criteria along with a list of possible scholarships the student can qualify and apply for. There are a lot of scam scholarship websites out there so do your research before applying. For more details use the links below:

http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/common.phtml

http://www.zinch.com/scholarships

http://www.cappex.com/scholarships/

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