OCSA SENIOR INFORMATION NIGHT PRESENTED BY: SCHOOL

OCSA SENIOR INFORMATION NIGHT PRESENTED BY: SCHOOL COUNSELING DEPARTMENT MR. ARRINGTON, MS. KARAKI, & MRS. GILL

MEET YOUR COUNSELO RS Mr. Arrington: Band, Orchestra, Vocal Ms.Karaki: Creative Writing, Technical Theatre, Dance, Drama,Visual Arts Ms. Gill: College and Career Counselor Ms. Tattoli: Valencia College Transition Coach

How do I sign up for information for my Senior?

How do I make an appointment with the counselor?

Schedule an appointment with your School Counselor Mr. Arrington Ms. Karaki Ms. Gill

What does it take to get accepted? Holistic Review Rigor/GPA ACT/SAT Scores Extracurricular activities Recommendations Application Essays

Rigor of Courses: Exceed number of required Core courses (Math, Science, English, Social Studies, Foreign Languages) Rigor/GPA Challenge yourself with Honors & Dual Enrollment classes Strong schedule Senior year can result in acceptance and success GPA Grades are a key factor however so is rigor Steady performance over time, particularly junior year. Continue to work on your GPA until the end.

Extracurricula r activities Colleges look for students who will contribute to their campus both inside and outside the classroom, as well as their communities. QUALITY over QUANTITY! Do not attempt to join every club or sport on campus. Pick a few activities and do them well. Be a leader by holding office in a club. Be well rounded by varying your activities. Quality volunteer hours through school and/or community organizations are also looked at favorably for both admissions and scholarships.

Recommendations Many colleges require recommendation letters to help them give insight into a student's potential. They are part of the humanizing piece and can help tip the scale in either direction. Ask teachers who know you well and provide them with a resume of your activities and involvement to help the letter be more specific and beneficial. If applying to a college on the Common Application, it will require recommendation from a counselor and perhaps 2 other letters. If the recommendation is optional, DO IT! Give your teachers and counselors plenty of notice! If you do not provide a resume to your counselor, they cannot write a letter.

Many colleges use essays to learn about you. Another humanizing piece of your application. It needs to be carefully constructed, interesting, informative and clever so you will stand out. Be original! If an essay is optional, do it! Pay attention to punctuation, spelling, grammar and word choice. Proofread, proofread, proofread and also ask someone else to proofread such as an English teacher. Remember you never get a second chance to make a first impression with your essay. Essays

ACT/SAT Scores Required, weighed equally and super scored by MOST colleges. The more competitive the college, the more important the score Compare students nationwide and predict success Used for scholarships and select programs Prospective college students should take EACH TEST AT LEAST once during junior year, preferably twice, and possibly one more time early in Senior year. Khanacademy.org is free SAT practice we use in the District Oct 13th: SAT for Seniors (in school) Prepare for the tests.DO NOT take them cold turkey!

Register online prior to deadline to avoid late fees and alternative test sites ACT: actstudent.org collegeboard.org SAT: Practice SAT: Khanacademy.org How do I register for tests? ACT: academy.act.org Send scores to colleges and universities. You may send up to 4 free at the time of testing, after that it costs . Most schools super score so it is best to send them each time. Keep all test information and passwords in a safe place.

What is a fee waiver and how do I qualify? Juniors and Seniors who qualify for free/reduced lunch may receive 2 test fee waivers for Sat and 4 for ACT. Seniors who qualify for the waivers may also get 4 College Application fee waivers in their College Board account. Waivers are issued by Ms. Gill in the College and Career Center in the Media Center.

Four year colleges and universities: both public and private Postsecondary options Grant bachelor's degrees either BA or BS Geared toward professional occupations Two year Offers many technical college grants programs and certificates Associates Specializes in transferring degrees: AA or to 4 year colleges AS Vocational/ trade schools Grants industry certifications/certificates

Post secondary options Military Employment

Factors to consider for choosing the right school Entrance requirements: Middle 50th percentile Size of school: Small Mid size ,or large Major area of study Location: Climate/Distance/Transportation Urban vs rural Accreditation: Regional credits transfer Athletic programs Cost: How much can you afford to pay? Have the conversation NOW!

Get organized/prioritize deadlines Complete applications Letter Steps to the College application process of recommendations Review essays Submit and pay application fee (fee waiver if applicable) Request transcripts from Counselors via Xello Send test scores Sit back and wait patiently. Upload copy of acceptance letters / scholarship letters to your Xello portal :)

VALENCIA COLLEGE TRANSITION COACH Ms. Amanda Tattoli She is available on our REMIND and email.

Xello Xello is a free tool that all Osceola County School for the Arts student have. You can take career assessments, research careers and colleges, use it for goal setting, upload and save documents and so much more!

Xello Dashboard Students can access Lessons List colleges applying to Request transcripts Explore careers, schools, majors Assignments

Xello

Sources of Money for College MS. GILL-COLLEGE AND CAREER COUNSELOR

FIRST source of money FAFSA.gov Even if you are not sure if you are going to college or where you are going, PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE fill this out! Some scholarships require this to be done. Open OCT 1st TEAMS will have a Financial aid channel with all of the information as a reference

Myth: My income is too high, and I will not qualify. Why fill out FAFSA? Even if you don’t qualify for free grants, you will qualify for low interest federal direct student loans and parent PLUs loans. You cannot borrow these if you don’t fill out a FAFSA. Some institutional scholarships require that FAFSA be completed as part of the application process to be considered. The 22/23 FAFSA will be based on 2020 income. If you had a reduction in income, you could report this directly to the financial aid office at each college and they can re-evaluate the financial aid offer based on the FAFSA on file.

FAFSA ASSISTANCE We have also partnered up with Educational Partners Inc. to assist with FAFSA completion free of charge. They are an approved federally funded agency.

Florida Student Financial Aid Opens OCT1st Bright Futures and other grants and scholarships, if you stay in Florida.

Sources of free money

Education Foundation of Osceola www.foundationosceola.org Access to 85 scholarships !

Bright Futures: application opens October 1st and you have until graduation to complete requirements https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/SAPHom e/SAPHome?url home Education Foundation: free scholarships counseling and financial aid workshops November 1st https://www.foundationosceola.org/ FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid opens October 1st. FAFSA.GOV

College and Career ResourcesDistrict

Herff Jones Mark Satterfield- Herff Jones OCSA representative To Order, visit www.herfforlando.com https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-q4-QyLm62eWiEY2Al gPGskM6M24KeHI/view https://herffjones.wistia.com/medias/2es77m7dpe https://www.herffjones.com/catalogs/graduationcatalo g/ https://www.herffjones.com/catalogs/hs-ringcatalog/

Questions !