In This Issue:
A calendar for College Admission Testing
Information on Applying for Financial Aid and Scholarship Searches
Two Articles We Recommend Reading:
From the New York Times . . . Salary Race / Sprint for Engineers and English majors
From the LA Times/Daily Pilot . . . Don’t Focus on College Ranking Lists
BEYOND THE OBVIOUS
Each month we will highlight some characteristics of a college you may have heard of, or not.
This month: St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.Ole’s are friendly, intelligent and ambitious. Together they create a strong community that learns and plays together. They engage with their heads, hearts and hands; with their heads in a vibrant liberal arts and sciences curriculum, including a renowned music program; with their hearts by saying “yes” to solving the world’s problems and making things better; and with their hands through programs including nursing, science research, business, etc. They learn both theoretical and practical approaches to solving problems, leading to outstanding graduate school and job placement.
St Olaf’s stunning campus is in the same college town as Carleton College, 45 minutes from Minneapolis, with fun, cross town traditions. St Olaf is further characterized by great spirit among the students, extensive study abroad programs, a commitment to diversity and financial aid that meets full demonstrated need.
CALENDAR FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION TESTING
SOPHOMORES: Students may take the PSAT or the pre-ACT. If they are enrolled in honors and/or AP courses they should speak with their teachers about whether they will be prepared for the associated SAT subject test offered in May and June. Note that, as of this writing, only 11 colleges absolutely require the subject tests of all applicants. If interested in STEM or languages, it can be beneficial to take the math II, sciences, or modern language subject tests.
JUNIORS: We strongly suggest juniors take the PSAT in the fall and take the first SAT or ACT once, in the spring. Khan Academy provides free, online, SAT prep. Students with PSAT scores can link them to the Khan Academy program for more personalized SAT practice. Kaplan provides free, online ACT practice. We recommend you review the information provided by Compass Test Prep to decide whether the SAT or ACT would be best for you. Both the SAT and ACT can be taken with or without an essay. If you have not decided where to apply, it is best to take the test with the essay. Public universities in California require the SAT or ACT with the essay. Note that, as of this writing, only 11 colleges absolutely require the subject tests of all applicants. If interested in STEM or languages, it can be beneficial to take the math II, sciences, or modern language subject tests.
SENIORS: The second SAT or ACT can be taken in the late summer or early fall of the senior year. Students may review over the summer for the parts of the test where they are the weakest. It is important to refer to individual college admissions web sites to determine the latest test date allowed, especially for students planning to apply early action or early decision. Note that, as of this writing, only 11 colleges absolutely require the subject tests of all applicants. If interested in STEM or languages, it can be beneficial to take the math II, sciences, or modern language subject tests.
For Seniors: Applying for Financial Aid and Scholarship Searches
To be considered for financial aid, seniors should complete the FAFSA and the CSS Profile no later than December 1. Questions on the FAFSA are easily answered by clicking on “Help”. Make sure to go to the correct FAFSA site and to the CSS Profile site. Check the financial aid web sites for any private colleges on the list to see if the CSS Profile is required.
Once seniors have completed their applications we encourage them to spend one to two hours a week researching and applying for scholarships.
Great sources of scholarship information:
- School counseling departments for local and regional scholarships
- Scholarship web pages for the colleges to which you applied
- Chegg (a textbook rental company, but they also have a mega search engine for scholarships)
- Sallie May
- Fastweb
- Cappex
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