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Junior Planning

HOW TO PREPARE FOR 4-YEAR COLLEGE APPLICATIONS

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Agenda

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  • What students should be doing now
  • College Information and Statistics
  • Summer
  • Next year

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What We Have Done So Far

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What we have done so far

  • Met individually with every student in March
  • Graduation credit check
  • Classroom presentations
  • College entrance requirements check
  • California Colleges

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What we have done so far

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College and Career Search

College Exploration

  • College Search Tool
  • Major Search Tool
  • Apply to College

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Career Exploration

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  • Interest Profilers
  • Work Values
  • Do What You Are

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California Colleges

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  • Sign up through Clever

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  • Search Colleges/Careers

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  • Pre-fill your CA College Application

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  • Register Your Account Video

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College Information and Statistics

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Popular College Options

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  • Cal State Schools

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  • UC Schools

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  • Community Colleges

Research Admission Requirements

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Cal State Entrance Requirements

  • 4 years Language Arts
  • 2 years Social Science
  • 3 years Math – minimum Algebra 2
  • 2 years science – Biology and Earth or Chemistry
  • 2 years of the same World Language
  • 1 year of Fine or Performing Arts
  • 1 additional elective (Gov/Econ meets this requirement)

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No D’s Allowed

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CSU Eligibility

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Most Competitive CSU’s

(specifically CPSLO)

  • 9-11 Weighted GPA (up to 8 semesters)
  • 4 years of Science
  • 4 years of LOTE
  • 5 years of Language Arts
  • Employment # of Hours
  • Evidence of Leadership

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Admission Factors

  • GPA
  • Strength of Schedule
  • Senior Year Schedule
  • Major

SAT/ACT scores are not used for admission

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Check Competitiveness

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UC Entrance Requirements

  • 4 years Language Arts
  • 2 years Social Science
  • 3 years Math – minimum Algebra 2 (4 years recommended)
  • 2 years Science – Biology and Chemistry (3 4 years recommended)
  • 2 years of same World Language (3 4 years recommended)
  • 1 year of Fine or Performing Arts
  • 1 additional elective (Gov/Econ meets this requirement)

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No D’s Allowed

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UC Admissions Factors

UC’s look at 14 factors for admission, including:

  • GPA (in grades 10-11)
  • Strength of Schedule (senior year included)
  • Essays (PIQ)
  • Extracurricular Activities
  • No SAT/ACT

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Tips from a UCLA Reader

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  • GPA is paramount
  • Number of A-G classes is critical
  • Senior year courses are critical
  • PIQ’s - looking for qualities and characteristics of the applicant. Intellectual curiosity and vibrancy.
  • Extracurricular Activities - take care to label and describe with context

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Testing

Seniors can test through December of Senior year (in most cases)

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Free Test Prep through Khan Academy

Who should test?

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California Community Colleges

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  • Open to any one who is a high school graduate or 18 years old
  • 116 schools across the state
  • FREE for the first two years - Must fill out the FAFSA
  • Transfer Admission Guarantee Program

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Class of 2022 Senior Survey Data

460 Students

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58% 4 year college

32% 2 year college

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3% Work

3% Undecided

2% Trade or Tech School

2% Other

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CHECK OUT OUR BANNER!

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Sampling of Accepted GPA’s

  • Data from 2022 Senior Survey

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*Academic Weighted GPA

School

Average Accepted GPA

Lowest Accepted GPA

Number Accepted

Grand Canyon University

3.38

2.62

18

Boise State

3.58

3.0

17

Arizona State

3.64

2.91

32

Northern Arizona University

3.70

2.56

16

Cal Poly Pomona

4.0

3.1

34

Cal State Fullerton

4.02

3.09

68

CSU Long Beach

4.21

3.39

27

Chapman University

4.26

3.2

16

San Diego State

4.4

3.8

17

UC Irvine

4.5

4.2

34

UC San Diego

4.6

3.9

26

UCLA

4.7

4.4

14

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Summer of Fun

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Look Into Summer Opportunities

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  • Community Service

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  • Internship

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  • Job

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For UC’s, Private Schools and Scholarships

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Checklist

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The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

~Mark Twain

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Summer Before Senior Year

Planning for a 4-year College

To Do List:

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  • Review College Entrance Requirements
  • Sign up for SAT/ACT if necessary by the December test dates (some schools have an October/November deadline)
  • Talk to teachers about letters of recommendations for private schools
  • Update your activities and award sheet in detail
  • Start your UC and CSU Applications
  • Start your Common Application
  • Complete a first draft of your college essays
  • Explore College and Careers

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Explore Options

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College Search Options

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Bigfuture.com

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PrincetonReview

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Collegedata.com

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WUE Schools

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Make a List of Schools

School

Application Deadline

Website

Essay

LOR

Notes

UCLA

November 30

admissions.universityofcalifornia.edu

Y

N

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University of San Diego

December 15

commonapp.org

Y

Y

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SDSU

November 30

calstate.edu/apply

N

N

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MIT

November 1

my.mit.edu

Y

Y

EA

USC

December 1

commonapp.org

Y

Y

$$ Deadline

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Look Into Financial Aid

Research

  • Scholarships
  • Cost of College
  • Net Price Calculator

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Use californiacolleges.edu

  • Learn about Financial Aid
  • Start the FAFSA

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Paying For College

  • ​

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Start Application

UC Schools - Opens August 1

Submit: October 1 - November 30

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Common App Schools ~ 900 schools

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  • commonapp.org

CSU Schools - Opens October 1

Submit: October 1 - November 30

  • calstate.edu/apply

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The College Website - can be the easiest way to apply

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Activities and Awards

IN DETAIL

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UC Application:

A Great Resource

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UC Essay Questions�Answer 4 of 8 Questions, 350 words each

  • Leadership
  • Creative side
  • Greatest talent or skill
  • Opportunities taken advantage of

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  • Challenge
  • Inspirational academic subject
  • How have you improved your community
  • What makes you stand out

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Common App Essay Questions�Answer 2 questions, 650 words each

  • Background
  • Obstacles, challenge, setback or failure
  • Challenge a belief or idea
  • Gratitude Moment

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  • Accomplishment
  • Engaging topic – your passion
  • Wildcard
  • Supplemental college specific questions

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Next Year

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Events

  • Senior Classroom Presentations - End of September
  • Essay Night – End of September
  • Senior Checks – Month of October
  • Senior Night – Start of October
  • Financial Aid Night – Mid November

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Student Tasks

  • Start and Finish College Applications – October through December
  • Take any final SAT or ACT tests
  • Apply for financial aid and scholarships – October through March
  • Monitor their email communication from each college

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Stay Connected

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Remind

  • Text the message @ylhs2023

to the number 81010

  • College rep visits
  • Field trips
  • Important deadlines

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Instagram

Follow us

@ylhs_counseling_dept

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Advice from Seniors

  • Go to niche.com community boards to read about the culture of the school
  • Make a separate email, only for college and scholarships
  • Discuss with your parents what they really can afford
  • Know that if you apply to top schools it is probably a reach and you won’t get it
  • You need safety schools that you like
  • Start organizing everything that you have done

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Still More Advice

  • Don’t choose your college by the name - do research don’t apply blindly
  • Keep an open mind to new schools
  • Do EVERYTHING early! (x 7)
  • Don’t take HS for granted, enjoy it! (x 6)
  • Parents give kids more responsibility, don’t hold their hand vs. Tell parents it’s not time to abandon their kid
  • You will end up where you are supposed to be, don’t stress out about where everyone else is going

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Advice from a senior