Just when you thought you were doing your best to get your kids prepared for college during high school, seven new tips come out that say you should be starting in Kindergarten! You read that right, college readiness starts in Kindergarten. Take a look at these tips that were put together by Montgomery County Public Schools in Rockville Maryland. Key 1: Read at Advanced levels in grade K-2 Installing the love for reading in children at a young age has always been known to be beneficial. Studies now show that kids who are scoring in the 70th percentile or higher on state tests such as STAR, are reading at an advanced level. Key 2: Score "ADVANCED" in reading on state tests in grades 3-8 This…
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High School Juniors get ready for college
Attention all Juniors and parents of Juniors: Now is the time to map out your summer! This is the perfect chance to get in some meaningful activities that can be used as essay topics for college admission applications. With many colleges now requiring a shorter “Activity Essay”, you will need a topic that shows who you are and what you can contribute. Remember to look for things that other teenagers are not doing. Of course it is great to help with food drives and at your local elementary school but EVERYONE IS DOING THAT! Check the blog below to refresh your memory! One more great idea:Help run a local campaign. Is there a Special Election in your area this summer? How about Governor Schwarzenegger’s latest cause? …
GUARUNTEED 300 point increase in your SAT score!
Want to increase your SAT/ACT or even your PSAT scores by as much as 300 points? We have the program for you! Take a peek at our new partner and then give us a call to get you started. http://www.eprep.com/partner/collegeplanningexperts Remember that you can purchase e-prep on your own but you will not receive our discount! Just another way we can help you plan for college! Come to one of our FREE workshops and find out how to pay for college without going broke. And now increase your SAT scores and get into the college of your choice! www.collegeplanningexperts.com
Catch a wave to school!
Since 2003, UC schools have offered Freshman Seminars to freshmen in addition to the obligatory lectures, discussions, and labs. Freshman Seminars are one-unit courses offered exclusively to freshmen. These courses are graded Pass/No Pass and are designed to give students a break from the rigor of their everyday schedules. Each Freshman Seminar has no more than 20 students, allowing professors to interact with the participating students on a level not possible in large lecture halls.Freshman Seminars allow students to learn about a subject that may be of interest to them but may not necessarily have anything to do with their majors with less time commitment than an average class. Some students at UC San Diego opted to take a Freshman Seminar called The Physics of…
Get an edge over other applicants
High School Juniors: Get the application edge over other students by participating in some great summer activities that other teens are not doing! This will get you noticed and make you stand out when those admissions officers are reading your application next November! Don't just participate, be a leader and then write about it in your admissions essays. Some of these ideas might sound a little far fetched but they just might get you thinking of some new and exciting options. 1. Start a recycling program at your old elementary school. Make sure you partner with at least one teacher and get other adults involved. Show that you can plan, organize and manage adults as well as other teens and children. 2. Conduct some scientific…
Scholarships: Not Just For the Needy
In today’s trying financial climate, it is apparent that low-income families are not the only people looking for scholarship money to help ease the monetary burden of sending a child to college. Many colleges attempt to satisfy this need, as well as saving money themselves, by offering large scholarships to students from affluent families.Since the mid-1990’s, the amount of grant aid awarded to families making over $100,000 a year has skyrocketed in many prominent institutions. Experts reason that this shift came as colleges realized that it was more cost-effective to offer aide packages to students from affluent backgrounds rather than students from lower-income brackets. For example, a student from a lower-income family may need $30,000-$40,000 in grant aid from a college, whereas a student from…
“HOW THE STIMULUS ACT AFFECTS YOUR COLLEGE SAVINGS”
By Joe Hurley, founder, Savingforcollege.com The $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, signed by President Obama, could have an impact on how you build and spend your 529 college savings account. One change made by the Act: The list of eligible 529 expenses is expanded to include purchases of computer technology and equipment, along with Internet access for students and their families. However, this expansion applies only to the years 2009 and 2010; starting again in 2011, computers etc. do not qualify unless required by the educational institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance. For students attending post-secondary school in 2009 and 2010, the Hope Scholarship credit is beefed up under the Act. The new temporary version, called the American Opportunity…
UC Campuses Want the Truth
UC wants the truth on student applications The university uses random checks to make sure that grades, honors and extracurricular activities are properly reported. Reporting from Concord — The gray-and-green warehouse in suburban Concord seems an unlikely headquarters for a statewide detective operation, and the fact checkers at work there insist they are not mercilessly probing the lives of California's teenagers. Still, there is an element of hard-boiled sleuthing in the University of California's unusual attempt to ensure that its 98,000 freshman applicants tell the truth about themselves and their extracurricular activities. The stakes are high; UC enrollments may be canceled if students are found to be evasive or lying. Each year, a small number of UC applicants — fewer than 1% — are caught…
Private VS Public High School
Many parents ask if for college admissions purposes it's better to attend a well known private school versus a public school. The key to this question is, "for college admissions purposes." The truth is, parents should not make ANY decisions based purely on college admissions odds – that's the wrong way to address a crucial choice that involves far more variables than simply college admissions. One valid reason to send your son or daughter to private school is if you want him or her to have smaller classes, specific classes not offered at your particular public school, a different social environment, athletic opportunities not found at your local school, etc. The worst reason to send a student is in the vain hope of bettering college…
COLLEGE FRESHMAN FACING GROWING FINANCIAL WORRIES
Record numbers report that financial aid is playing a role in their choice of campus and that they need part-time jobs, according to UCLA's annual national survey. The economic crisis is pushing growing numbers of college freshmen to look for part-time jobs, scrounge for financial aid and turn down admission offers from schools that were their dream campuses, according to a national survey by UCLA researchers. Even in the early days of the current recession, money worries were evident among the students polled for UCLA's 43rd annual "American Freshman" survey, which is being released today. The study found that 43% of students viewed financial aid as very important or essential to their choice of a college. That figure was up from 39.7% last year and…
