“Beginning and Ending” Guidance for College Searches and Final Decisions

Junior Year Review your transcript, check grade point average, level of coursework completed (General, Accelerated, AP, or IB) Register for the ACT and SAT (actstudent.org and collegeboard.com) Use gacollege411.org, collegeboard.com, or actstudent.org to search for colleges based on interests Formulate a plan to visit colleges on a weekend or during vacation time Review the admission requirements for the colleges visited

Junior Year Develop a college list—list colleges based on personal rankings Number one college is the “dream college”, this is the college the student loves above all others but are not sure they can get accepted into Number two college is the second choice that meets most of the students’ criteria and they have a good chance of getting accepted Number three through five are the colleges the student likes but not as well as the top two, they are pretty sure they can get accepted Number six college is a college that the student likes and are positive they can get accepted, this is the “safety-net” college

College application organizer Early Action Deadline Regular Deadline Minimum GPA SAT Scores ACT Scores Recommendations And Essays? Transcripts  

Remaining ACT and SAT Test Dates June 11, deadline May 6 SAT May 7, deadline April 8 June 4, deadline May 11

HOPE Scholarship All HOPE information listed on gacollege411.org HOPE scholarship requires 3.0 grade point average in core classes and covers 80% of tuition at a public Georgia college Zell Miller HOPE scholarship requires a 3.7 grade point average in core classes, a 26 ACT composite or a 1200 SAT (verbal and math only), and covers 100% of tuition at a public Georgia college Both scholarships may be applied to private colleges in Georgia at a reduced rate Students apply for HOPE by filling out the FAFSA or HOPE application Eligibility is determined after the student graduates from high school Transcripts are uploaded by the county to the gacollege411 website in June

GACollege411.org All students have an account on the website Student accounts have HOPE gpa (core gpa) Student accounts can be reset by the students’ counselor Email each counselor to access log-in information Last names: A-C Maura_L_Pannier@dekalbschoolsga.org D-Kh Ashley_D_Holmes@dekalbschoolsga.org Ki-Re Robin_J_Wesley@dekalbschoolsga.org Ri-Z Hanna_E_Robinson@dekalbschoolsga.org

Senior Year Review graduation requirements and GPA Finalize the list of colleges to which you want to apply and note the deadlines and requirements Should you apply early in the fall? Some things to keep in mind: Public colleges cannot admit students below the minimum requirements established by the Board of Regents Private colleges govern themselves and have individual admission policies    Sign up to take the ACT or SAT if you have not done so or if you have not achieved the score you need—take the tests before the application deadlines!

Additional Questions??? College Visit Information: on each college website usually listed under future or prospective student Admission Requirements: on each college website usually listed under admissions, undergraduate, and specific to freshmen High School Transcripts and Grade Point Average: contact counseling office secretary for unofficial copies of transcripts. Unweighted and weighted grade point averages are on the transcript.