The Senior Year Timeline: The Final Steps Towards College Enrollment! Presented by: Jorge L. Teniente & Joe R. Garcia

Quick Facts on Region  4 of the poorest counties in nation  90% Hispanic  80% Speak language other than English  25% Foreign born, primarily from Mexico  38% Live in extreme poverty  53% of adults have H.S. diploma  10% of adults are college graduates  Cohort has just graduated! ( Grant cycle )

Our Service Population and Staffing Population:  12 School Districts  22 High Schools  8, 950 Students Staffing:  Centralized University GEAR UP Staff  22 GEAR UP Campus Coordinators  22 GEAR UP Campus Family Liaisons

What is the Senior Year Timeline? The purpose of our Senior Year Timeline was to assist all our cohort students in completing their College Admission Process Our Senior Year Timeline is a comprehensive approach to outline and benchmark the steps our students have to complete for their college admission process Our GU Coordinators were key!

Senior Year Timeline See Handout There’s many but ours follows closely the one offered by We added explanation, shared responsibilities, dates, and implementation (how) Comprehensive approach included staff development, student advisement, monitoring, parental involvement, media, and additional post-graduation activities

Coordinator & Liaison Trainings It all starts with staff development! We provided 2 trainings in September on Apply TX, FAFSA Demo, college majors presentations by 7 colleges at UTPA UTPA’s annual “Counselor’s Update” ACT/SAT Fall Workshops Financial Aid Update (NT4CM) ADA Transition Conference

Senior Year Timeline: The Steps Two keys: student advisement & College Readiness class! Verify HS Graduation requirements Search for your college Take college entrance exams Write essay & letter of recommendation Apply to college Apply for Financial Aid Select your college!

Verify HS Graduation Requirements Consisted of Student Advisement sessions Sessions were one-on-one, group, or class Made sure students were in the appropriate graduation plan Made sure students met TAKS standards Made sure students continued on a college pathway, were getting good grades, and were participating in extra-curricular activities

Choosing Your College Students conducted college searches and, Selected at least 3 colleges (reach, match, safety) Students identified requirements for admissions (test scores, essay, etc.), financial aid, campus visit, deadlines, and started scholarship search Done through college resource center/GO Centers, career/college fairs, computer labs

College Entrance Exams Students registered & prepared for entrance and placement exams Recruit students & fill out fee waivers Test prep academies were conducted 3-4 weeks before test Academies were conducted during school, after school, and on Saturdays, if needed College Readiness classes, ideal setting

Essay & Recommendation Letter Students wrote their college and/or scholarship essay and a resume They asked teachers and/or counselors for letters of recommendation This was done through one-on-one advisement and group & class presentations Done at college resource center, computer labs, CR class, workshops

Apply to College All students had to apply to at least 1 college through Apply TX (common appl) Students were also assisted with applications to other universities Included submitting HS transcript, test scores, essays, recommendation letters, etc Campuses conducted College Days/Nights, and one-on-one, group, & class sessions at career resource center and computer labs

Apply for Financial Aid All eligible students completed FAFSA and the university’s scholarship application Students were also assisted with other public & private scholarships For FAFSA, campuses first conducted drives for students & parents to get PINs Campuses conducted FAFSA Days/Nights, or used career resource center or computer lab for one-on-one, group, & class sessions

Select Your College Students review all Letters of Acceptance and Financial Aid Award Letter received Students select their college and return all letters by the deadline Students register for Orientation & send final official HS Transcript, AP scores, etc. Throughout this process students are advised by their parents, GU Counselor, and regular counselor

Monitoring Two ways to monitor progress A service is entered as students are advised about each step of the admissions process We created a College Readiness Page for each student, and as students complete each of the steps the GU Counselor marks it on their page Each month a Service Report & College Readiness Report are reviewed

Parental Involvement We also involved Parents in their child’s college admission process Parent Meetings were held every month with bilingual PPTs, and handouts & brochures with college requirements Family Nights are conducted to help them with FAFSA PINs & FAFSA as well with hands-on assistance with completing college & scholarship applications

Parental Involvement Las Platicas Training is our parent volunteer program which trains at least 2 parents to assist our campus staff We also trained these volunteers on our SYT with in-depth, hands-on information and activities in the following areas: college applications, testing, FA & FAFSA, acceptance & FA award letters, and Texas SB 1528 issues

Additional Activities Credit Recovery-students lacking credits for graduation attended summer school TAKS Camp-students not meeting standard attended summer school & camp THEA Camp-students not meeting placement standards attended our camp Orientation-we encouraged our students attending local colleges to attend Orientation Radio PSAs-media marketing campaign

Partnership Sure Score & Princeton Review our test prep partners Provided teacher training & student materials for our test prep academies Included teacher binder & student workbooks on ACT, SAT, THEA & Fundamentals of College Admissions Our local colleges provided staff and support to assist us in our SYT Initiative

Resources

Online Resources studentaid.ed.gov

Contact Information The University of Texas-Pan American GEAR UP Project 1201 West University Drive Edinburg, Texas Jorge L. Teniente