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Enrolling in College: Making Your Decision

In This Lesson: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the post admission process.

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Over the past several years, a team of organizations worked together to create the College & Career Knowledge Project, consisting of digital handouts compiled into a workbook designed to support college and career education planning. Full workbooks can be ordered through the 12th Year Campaign, and digital copies are also available.

Access the most up-to-date College and Career Knowledge materials on this website.

To compliment the materials, we have created lessons for each section in the workbook. These lessons contain specific content, a short activity, and resources from the workbook. Educators are able to make their own copy of each lesson and edit it to include specific details about their school and community. Each lesson should take about 20-30 minutes to be delivered during core-content or advisory class.

Access the most up-to-date month-to-month College and Career Knowledge lessons by grade level on this document.

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Enrolling in College:

Making Your Decision

College and Career Knowledge Materials

MARCH | GRADE

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You Submitted Your Application(s), Now What?

The waiting game! It can take anywhere from a month to several months to hear back! Things to note:

  • Colleges will likely communicate their decision through email, mail, or their online college portal.
  • You can always check with the college admissions department if you have any questions!

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What College Decisions Mean

Admitted: You were accepted. Congratulations!

Wait-listed: You have not been accepted or denied. The college is waiting to see how many students will accept their offer to determine if they have more space.

Denied: Unfortunately, you were not accepted. Consider exploring other college options!

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How to Choose?

To make your choice from the colleges you have been accepted to, you’ll need to compare the different options.

These comparisons can include:

  • Financial Aid offerings
  • Academics and supports
  • Social considerations
  • Environment

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Comparing Colleges: Financial Aid

How much of the cost of attendance will be covered through:

  • Grants
  • Scholarships
  • Out-of-pocket costs

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Comparing Colleges: Academics

Is the academic major you are interested in available at each college?

What types of academic support are available?

  • Writing center
  • Math tutoring
  • Disability services
  • What are student-to-professor ratios

and/or class sizes like?

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Comparing Colleges: Social & Environment

Social:

  • How diverse is each school?
  • What student groups are present?
  • What mentorship opportunities are there?

Environment:

  • How close to home is each college?
  • Is it a big, medium, or small campus?
  • Is it an urban or rural setting?

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Activity

  1. Write down all of your comparisons
  2. Compare your financial aid award letters for all the colleges you are considering vs the cost of attendance (including tuition)
  3. Compare what services, supports, and opportunities there are at each campus you are considering
  4. Rank in order of interest based on your comparisons.

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Making Your Decision:

Now that you have all the info you need, you can make your decision about which college you would like to attend this fall!

For many 4-year colleges the deadline is May 1st!

Pro Tips: This is a big decision, and sometimes asking people for input is helpful too. Always ask if you can defer your enrollment deposit to the fall - financial aid could cover it!

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Need Additional Support?

For additional information and support on this topic, please reach out to:

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