HS Seniors! Make your summer a productive one!

Summer Schedule, Junior transition to Senior

Use summer “down-time” effectively to assure a comfortably paced admissions process this fall!

Students: May/June

Request a copy of your transcript before school is over, or during summer school. Specifically, highlight the GPA labeled, 10th – 12th w/o PE. Most transcripts provide multiple Grade Point Averages, but 10 – 12 w/o PE is the GPA the colleges will be focusing on for their merit award grant eligibility purposes.
(After the SAT is factored, of course!)

Start your resume or personal statement. This should be a well-crafted statement of who you are, what you have accomplished, and where you are going. Your draft should be reviewed by at least two people whose opinion on writing and communicating are important to you. An AP English teacher, a friend of the family, clergy, etc. will be helpful. Ask them to review for content as much, if not more than grammar and spelling! Use their valuable input to improve your essay while keeping in mind that your words and phrases should be indelibly stamped on it. Remember, your SAT essay will be compared with your admissions essay!

Volunteer for an organization that will have career exploration potential, find a job
which interests you or register for a summer course or program at one of your local universities.

Take the SAT I, ACT, SAT II, and AP Exams.

Continue or Initiate School or Community Based Extracurricular Activities
(Preferably with Career Exploration potential)

Register after mid-June for the fall SAT I (collegeboard.com)
and/or the ACT Assessment (act.org), if necessary to improve scores.


Students: July

Expect May AP Exam Grade Reports to be received mid-July. Remember, scores of 4 and 5 will allow for courses to be credited and save the student time and effort, allow them to advance into more interesting courses, and graduate more rapidly. Some colleges will also accept scores of 3. Parents will save a significant amount of tuition, fees, and books expenses! Remember, most schools limit the number of AP courses accepted to six.

Create files for organizing general and individual college materials. These can be electronic files backed up on a flash drive or hard copies in a manila file folder.

Fine Tune Your College Choice List
(6-8 Total; 2 Safe, 2 Realistic and 2 Reach) {One local and two or three private}
A Safe college is one where the average SAT and GPA scores are below yours, a comfort school is when you match the average SAT and GPA scores, a Reach College is one where your SAT and GPA scores are below the average scores.

Initiate substantive contact with choice colleges. Remember, the colleges are now maintaining records of by whom and how many times they have been contacted. This information is used in admissions and award decisions.
Students should request on separate occasions; a hard copy of each of the colleges’ information kits, specifics on admissions requirements and due dates, college-specific financial assistance application procedures and due dates, sports and clubs of interest, etc.
Parents should inquire (again, on separate occasions) about receiving the campus safety statistics reports which are required to be generated by the universities each year, on and off-campus housing availability and costs, school-specific financial assistance availability and application requirements, etc.)

Start drafting your college admissions essays. Go to your chosen colleges’ websites and click the Prospective Students tab, then Admissions, and then Apply. You will be taken to the college’s admissions application; about two-thirds of the way through the application will be instructions on how to write the essay. You will be given an expected Word count, Essay Subject, and Specific Essay Question(s). There may be more than one essay required.


Student: August


Complete “final” drafts of the admissions essays for your college choices.
When back in school, request a final review from the English instructor who you respect the most, and whose opinion you value the most.

Request the admissions applications from your prospective colleges.
You will probably be referred to their website, but ask for a hard copy to be mailed to you. Remember, contacts are important!

Create a Master Calendar for both Admissions and Financial Assistance Applications Due Dates.
Color code your dates and name them by school. We recommend red for admissions and green for financial assistance.
(Example, USD 10/31/08, 11/30/08, UCSD 11/30/08, 03/02/09)

Start your Letters of Recommendation request list. Identify teachers, coaches, counselors, employers, clergy, etc. who will be able to provide an exemplary statement about your capabilities and what a benefit you will be to your college. Provide your resume/personal statement listing your accomplishments and remind them of exactly how you interacted. “I participated in 240 hours of volunteer work at the Church Summer School program this past year serving in the capacity of Assistant Organizer of Athletic Events.”

Consider SAT/ACT preparation assistance for early fall exam, if needed.
Call us with your SAT/ACT scores and your current college choices to verify their last year’s incoming freshmen class average SAT scores and see how they compare to yours.

Compile writing samples, portfolios, audition tapes, profile DVDs, etc. Ask family, teachers, directors, coaches, etc. for their recollections of your highlights. Remember, you will be marketing yourself to universities with thousands of applicants to consider!


Parents:

June

Assist your student with their list.

Create your College Funding Plan
Annotate both the least and most expensive Costs of Attendance (COA) for your student’s college choices. Calculate your Family Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Write out a plan for how to pay these costs. in the most cost-effective and tax-efficient manner possible. Consult with us regarding future tax benefits, potential financial assistance, and gap funding requirements with the most cost-effective and tax-efficient strategies possible.

July

Assist your student with their list.

Assess any actions which may reduce your Expected Family Contribution.
Evaluate to what extent current assessable assets exceed your Asset Protection Allowance, assure appropriate asset titling is in place, etc. Remember, a student’s assets are weighted 500% more than a parent’s assets. And, parents have an asset protection ceiling which students do not have!

Compute your Out-of-Pocket Expense.
Subtract the COA from your EFC. If your EFC is higher than the COA you may have no eligibility for Need-based assistance, but you should definitely still file all requested paperwork to assure eligibility for Merit-based assistance and individual college-subsidized scholarships, grants, endowments, endorsements, and loans.

Assess Payment Options
Create spreadsheets to examine pros and cons of possible payment options.
(Examples; Current Income, Current Savings, Home Equity, Education Loans, etc.) We can help you review the outcome to assist in formulating the best options on a complimentary basis!

August

Assist your student with their list.

Act on Final Plan by August 2009, finalize before October 2009.
Remember, October and November 2009 will be Profile and Institutional Financial Assistance filing dates. Also, many admissions applications request financial information. Mid-January, 2010 will be your FAFSA filing dates.


Access College Foundation
Brad Asbury (916) 607-3104
basburycsa@yahoo.com