IN-STATE COLLEGE UPDATES:

Our in-state colleges have assigned an admissions rep to DMHS students.  These individuals are very helpful.  The contact information for each school is as follows:

ASU   Heather Chiang  (480) 965-8057 or Heather.Chiang@asu.edu  
UA      John Kozel (602) 827-2195 or jkozel@email.arizona.edu  
NAU    Chris Phillips (928) 523-6009 or chris.phillips@nau.edu  
SCC    Terri Blau (480) 423-6382 or terri.blau@sccmail.maricopa.edu 

UA Honors College Contact:  Sara Dorer, (520) 626-8261
ASU Honors College Contact:  Michelle Hollin 480 965-1520

ASU Barrett Honors College requires a separate application that becomes available on September 1st.  Students must complete both an ASU application and a Barrett application.  You can submit both applications at the same time.   Admissions to the Barrett Honors College is competitive, but students who apply early (priority application of November 15th) have a better chance for admission.  There are 900 spots each acadmic year and the majority of them fill before 12/1.  Regular admission deadline is February 15th and late decision must be in by April 30th.  In addition to academics, letters of recommendation and extracurricular activities play an important role in the admissions decision.  To tour Barrett or learn more, contact Michelle Hollin at 965-1520.    

NAU is as close as a local community college!  NAU has offices, classrooms, full time faculty and staff located on the Paradise Valley and Scottsdale Community College campuses.  The programs, called "2+2" allow students to complete their first two years at a community college (with lower tuition), then stay on campus to complete their bachelor's degrees as registered NAU students.  Class sizes remain small and services continue to be personalized. Coconino Community College (in Flagstaff) just started a program called CCC2NAU where students can live on the NAU campus while take classes at the community college.  If interested, call Robin Long (928) 226-4213

Are you looking for a more affordable way to attend college?  Students can take advantage of the MAPP program.  MAPP  is an alliance between ASU and Maricopa Community Colleges.   Students take an prescribed sequence of classes at a community college that will transfer easily to ASU.  The advantages for students who start under MAPP is that they will earn an associate degree and are guranteed admission in the specified ASU degreed program assuming they meet the GPA requirements.   They are also locked into a specific tuition discount at ASU.  In addition, MAPP students are eligible for specific merit scholarships once at ASU that transfer students don't typically receive.   If a student is interested in transfering to ASU, knows the specific major they want to study (for example, Business) but cannot afford the tuition, the MAPP program is the best way to go!   To learn more, go to www.maricopa.edu/transferasu

The University of Arizona has introduced the Arizona Assurance program that provides qualified students the opportunity to graduate from UA debt free.  This program is unmatched by any other institution in the state.  To qualify, a student must earn admission to UA and apply for financial aid no later than May 1st and enter as as a UA freshman directly from high school.  The family income must be equal or less than $42,000.  For more specifics, visit the Arizona Assurance web site: 
 financialaid.arizona.edu/assurance.

ASU has a similar scholarship for students with financial need called The Obama Scholars Program.  Students must submit their FAFSA - without errors - by March 1st, 2012 to be considered.   To learn more, go to  http://promise.asu.edu/obamascholars

Scottsdale Community College:  The Maricopa Community Colleges Honors Program offers the President's Scholarship for students who rank in the top 15% of their class.  The scholarship provides tuition and registration fees for up to four consecutive semesters of full-time enrollment at any Maricopa Community College.  To obtain an application, contact Eric Leshinskie at 480 371-8300.  Students who are applying to community colleges, do not need to take a SAT or ACT test.  However, community colleges require that students take a placement test as part of the admissions process to ensure the students are placed in the appropriate English or math class. 

More and more students are interested in going to school to obtain an education and get into the workforce as soon as possible.  This is where community colleges frequently come into play.   For example, Mesa Community College offers a dental hygiene program where 100% of the graduates pass the state board.  Each community college offers different strengths.  Paradise Valley Community Collge is offering more late afternoon classes so seniors can get a jump start on general education classes that may be required at their 4 year college.  This saves money since community college credits are a fraction of university college credits.  Gateway Community College offers outstanding programs in the medical and automotive fields.  Numerous community colleges have a NAU campus on their site so a student can sign up for a 2 + 2 program (2 years at community college; 2 years taking classes at the same community college location but through NAU).  This can save a student an incredible amount of money if they don't live on campus. Don't forget to check out community colleges as a viable start on your career. 

OTHER COLLEGE RELATED NEWS:

Did you know that some colleges are "test optional"?  These colleges or universities do no require SAT or ACT tests as part of the application process.  These colleges typically believe that a student's academic record and extracurricular activities are a better indicator of college success than a test given on one or two dates.  Connecticut College just joined the ranks of schools that are test optional.  For a complete list, go to www.fairtest.org. 

Parents and students often ask where to begin when selecting a college.  A great place to start is for the student to gain self awareness about the type of college where they will most likely thrive.  A great inventory to take is available through the U.S. News & World Report website at www.usnews.com.  Click on Education, Student Center and then scroll down to the College Personality Quiz.  It will take some time, but should yield some very helpful data.

The University of California Board of Regents has approved the elimination of SAT Subject tests as part of the application process starting with the class of 2012.    (They were previously the only public education sytem in the country that required two SAT subject tests.) They will continue to require either the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT with Writing. This revised requirement will affect the freshman class of 2012. Please be aware that certain majors may still require a subject test.   The top 9 percent of high school graduates in the state of CA are assured entry.  All students must have a weighted 3.0 grade-point average to be considered. 

What is one of the best ways to really learn about a particular college?  Talk to a student who is actually attending that college!  Over the past several years, we have collected college surveys and personal contact information from DMHS alumni and have placed them in a binder in the College & Career Center.  We have contact information for over 100 colleges including Columbia, Emory, Boston College, Lehigh, Norwestern, Parsons, Rice, Tufts, UC Berkeley and more.  In some cases we have surveys completed by the student regarding their experience.  The best part of this service is that the student provides his/her email address and/or phone so you can contact them directly regarding questions or concerns you might have.  All students who have returned these surveys are very eager to help DMHS students. Stop by the College & Career Center to review the survey book and contact list.  Other fun websites to see what students have to say about a particular college are College Confidential http://www.collegeconfidential.com/ and College Prowler at www.collegeprowler.com 

  
Is the cost of attending a private or out of state college daunting to you? If you would like to know the approximate Estimated Family Contribution for attending a particular college, based upon your family’s personal finances go to www.finaid.org for an excellent estimator. Similar estimators are often available on the individual college website under Financial Aid.  The information you submit is confidential and protected. The amount of money a family is expected to pay can vary dramatically from college to college. For example, at Boston University, the average calculated “need” for a family making over $120,000 is $11,000. You can compare your EFC for numerous colleges at this site. Another good resource is FAFSA4caster.  You can find out whether you are eligible for the Pell Grant as well as your Expected Family Contribution. Research done early on can help alleviate sticker shock later on!  Another outstanding website to learn more about student and parent loans for college education is www.simpletuition.com/usnews.  You can compare percentage rates, learn about fees, subsidized and subsidized loans and more.  

ACT/PSAT/PSSS/SAT TESTING

COLLEGE ENTRANCE TEST PREP NEWS/OFFERS (PSAT/SAT/ACT/SUBJECT TESTS):  


Students can be eligible for a larger scholarship award if they retake their SAT or ACT and obtain a higher score.  Our in-state colleges automatically re-evaluate students for merit awards if they submit new test scores.  Scores must be submitted prior to May 1st for re-evaluation. 

Incoming Sophomores or Juniors may be interested in taking a free SAT or ACT Practice test to which test best measures your individual aptitude before taking the "official" test for college admissions.  Princeton Review and Kaplan as well as other vendors offers these free assessment tests. Method Test Prep is a free test prep that is available through Naviance.   Go the website of your favorite SAT/ACT prep company to learn about free practice tests.  Also, go on to Community Schools link at the SUSD site to learn about free practice tests being held at various SUSD high schools.  Mrs. Sterner also provides a reference sheet of contact information on the most popular SAT/ACT Prep companies serving our student population.

Stop by the College & Career Center for a list of dates with directions on the registration and testing process.    Students can register on-line for the SAT at www.collegeboard.com.  To register for the ACT, go to www.act.org.  Did you know that colleges will accept either test and that many students do significantly better on one test over the other?  Stop by the CCC for practice books for both tests to see which one measures your abilities better!  Also, some colleges "super score" your test and take the highest sub test (for example, Math) on one date and combine it with your highest score in Reading from another date.  Not all colleges do this, however.  The college admissions rep can inform you of their school's policy. 

You can pick up an extensive list of organizations offering SAT/ACT prep classes with associated costs and contact information in the College & Career Center, Room 5105.  Examples of providers that offer programs that vary in length from 2 days to 12 weeks include  Princeton Review, Kaplan, Paradise Valley Community College, Chyten and many, many others.  Kaplan offers a discount to SUSD students for their ACT and SAT Prep programs.  They also now offer FREE on-line prep for SAT/ACT/PSAT courses for SUSD students.  All the students have to do is go to www.kaptest.com to register for the $99 SAT, ACT or PSAT program.  Then, at check out, instead of entering a credit card, they will enter the promotion code (provided by Mrs. Sterner)  at the bottom of the page.  To sign up for the regular 12 week program and obtain the discounted SUSD rate, call Kaplan at 1-800-KAPLAN and request the discount.   

Students can designate which SAT scores they want sent to a particular college through Score Choice.  While this may sound like old news, it is actually a change from previous practice.  A student can in fact "block" a bad score from being sent to a college.  In the past, once a student designated that a score should be sent to college, all past scores were also sent.  Some college may specify that they want all scores, so pay attention to the fine print in the college application process.  Also, be aware that some colleges can opt out of Score Choice and require applicants to report every SAT score.  Examples of some of these schools include Stanford, Cornell, Pomona, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California.   Go to www.collegeboard.com for a complete listing.  

  

CAREERS/JOBS/INTERNSHIPS/VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES 

CAREERS:

 
LEADERSHIP/EXCHANGE/SUMMER PROGRAMS

There is a file in the CCC with information about numerous summer programs.  Some of these programs are on college campuses throughout the U.S. and other progams are offered internationally. Many offer college credit.   Do not hesitate to stop by and look through the offerings!