1 / 24

Top Colleges

Top Colleges. Why Bother?. Quality of Education Only to some extent Primary variable to success is the individual Connections & Opportunities Environment/ Student body Great Financial Aid Prestige. Challenge Accepted?. Criteria to Meet.

Download Presentation

Top Colleges

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Top Colleges

  2. Why Bother? • Quality of Education • Only to some extent • Primary variable to success is the individual • Connections & Opportunities • Environment/ Student body • Great Financial Aid • Prestige

  3. Challenge Accepted?

  4. Criteria to Meet • Passion (You can’t get there as a robot, get into what you do) • Course Rigor & Grades • Test Scores • Extra-Curricular Activities • Talents/ Achievement • Essays • Recommendations • No single thing makes or breaks you (unless you’re extremely talented)

  5. Passion • Make your interests and work synonymous • The things you do should support a life goal so that you will work that much harder and be able to write that much better about it.

  6. Course Rigor & Grades • Relative to class availability of the high school • Take the most (or close to the most) challenging schedule available • AP/ IB Courses • Four years of a second language = good idea • Keep grades up • Progressive grades are still good

  7. Test Scores • Practice before taking to yield best score • Official books (Red and Blue) • Take practices and look over mistakes • The higher the score the better but it only goes so far. • SAT or ACT (Practice your Junior summer and take at the beginning of the year) • SAT Subject Tests (Practice Junior year, take during Junior year or study Senior summer and take at beginning of Senior year)

  8. Extra-curricular Activities • Do not pile them on without doing anything • Active role is key to activities • Leadership roles • Events, projects • Awards • Clubs allow you to do things you are interested in and make a difference for the school/community, take advantage of them.

  9. Talents • Sports, Art, Performing Arts etc. • Greater recognition means more value • Regional is admirable • State is desirable • National/ International is very desirable

  10. Essays • Allow admissions to see you as an individual • Originality = Memorable = Good • Write essays (rough drafts) during the summer • Universal prompts • Personal Essay • Future Aspirations related to major • Conquering a challenge • Create a www.commonapp.org account

  11. Recommendations • Get to know your teachers or counselor. • Counselor – tell them your goals and keep them updated • Teachers – be a good student, they have to fill out a form that looks like this

  12. What Colleges are in my range? Time to see how you measure up

  13. Take a Moment… • Is this realistic for you? • Where should you put your time and energy now?

  14. Alternatives

  15. Honors Colleges • Still good • Easier to stick out of the crowd • Less competitive scholarship applicant pool • Decide earlier so you can take advantage of all scholarship opportunities • Closer to home • Flinn!

  16. Good Colleges • Still somewhat prestigious • Easier to stand out of the crowd • Less competitive scholarship applicant pool • Merit Scholarship (Taylor’s Pepperdine Example)

  17. Scholarships to Watch For • Presidential • Most schools have one, usually full-tuition or close • Usually based on GPA and test scores • National Merit Scholarship • Study for the PSAT over Junior summer • Usually close to a full ride • Score about 215 or higher • Flinn ($20,000 a year + benefits) • The in-state alternative to top schools

  18. Scholarships to Watch For Cont’d • Limit Competition • Region specific scholarships • Ex. Jade Woman’s Club scholarship • University specific scholarships • Ex. Medallion Scholarship

  19. Other Scholarships • The Key to many of them • Community Service • Leadership

  20. Now what? • No matter what your ultimate destination is, you are good enough to do something great. • School is about more than good grades and test scores; get involved in clubs and sports, and save money.

  21. Some more advice • Helpful College information websites • www.collegeboard.com • www.collegeconfidential.com • Helpful scholarship website • www.fastweb.com

More Related