Junior Parent Information Night

Contact Information Broussard_Princess@lacoe.edu

Overview Junior Year Testing Post-High School Planning

Junior Year Increased Workload - tends to be the most challenging academic year Additional Testing – PSAT, SAT and/or ACT w/writing, SAT Subject Tests, and AP Exams College/Career/Major Search Extracurricular Participation

Priorities for Junior Year Pass Classes Required for Graduation Fulfill College Subject Eligibility Requirements (a-g) Earn the Best Possible Grades Nurture Good Study Habits for Future Stay Involved

Strong Academic Program History 3 years English 4 years Math 3 – 4 years Science 2 – 4 years Foreign Language 2 – 4 years VPA 0 - 1 year

College Entrance Tests PSAT Practice for SAT National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test CSU SAT or ACT w/writing UC and Private Colleges/Universities

A-G subject requirements History / social science ("a") 2yrs English ("b") 4yrs Mathematics ("c") 3yrs(4) Laboratory science ("d") 2yrs(3) Language other than English ("e") 2yrs(3) Visual & performing arts ("f") 1yr College-preparatory elective ("g") 1yr

SAT vs. ACT Handout

https://wwwkhanacademy.org/sat Overview Link your College Board and Khan Academy accounts to get automatic personalized recommendations based on your PSAT performance. Next, we'll recommend practice to you based on your results. You can practice skills any time you'd like to work on them, even if we didn't recommend them to you. You'll find video and text explanations to help you understand how the test is structured and to learn the skills covered on the test. Take some full-length practice exams, too. We recommend taking them without interruption to give you a sense of what to expect on test day. https://wwwkhanacademy.org/sat

What Colleges Look For Courses taken (strength of academic program) Grades received Strength of Senior year (min 4 academics) Test Scores Essay Teacher/Counselor Recommendations

CSU System 23 universities Largest university system in the nation Top 33% of HS Graduates Requirements: a-g requirements Grades of C or better Minimum GPA of 2.0 SAT or ACT w/Writing http://www/csumentor.edu

UC system -Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) Top 9%  9 UC campuses -Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) Top 9% -UC GPA also limits AP extra points to 4 classes - Academic grade point average (GPA), calculated using 10th and 11th grade UC– approved courses only. - Performance on standardized tests: the ACT Assessment Plus Writing or the SAT Reasoning Test. - The strength of your senior year program Requirements: a-g Requirements Minimum GPA to apply 3.0 Courses can be repeated 1 time for “D or F” Make – ups for “C” grades are not accepted SAT or ACT w/Writing

Private Colleges and Conservatories Requirements vary by school SAT or ACT Most require letters of recommendation

Territory (size/location/rural/urban) Cost What YOU look for Major Academic Program Territory (size/location/rural/urban) Cost Help (student support)

College RESEARCH CollegeBoard – College Planning Step by Step https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/find-colleges Peterson’s guide to Colleges - https://www.petersons.com/ FAIR OPPORTUNITY PROJECT – HTTP://WWW.FAIROPPORTUNITYPROJECT.COM/ The Application Process Attend College Fairs LACHSA College Fair – Friday, Oct 27th – 1:00-4:00pm UCLA Visual & Performing Arts Fair Sunday, Oct 29th – 1:00-4:00pm Virtual Tours – College website Talk with your Counselor Talk to your Arts Chairs

THE COLLEGE VISIT Plan in advance Tour only a few schools at a time Take the guided tour Take lots of pictures Parents should attend whenever possible Examine: Classes / Library / Commons / Depts of interest / Student life Ask Questions: How hard is it to get 1st choice classes? What is the graduation rate?

What to do NEXT Summer Visit colleges Begin writing essays prompts/personal statement Make a list of the qualities you desire in a college Develop your personal interests Test Prep - SAT and /or ACT for Fall Take a summer class at a local college Volunteer/Internship/Job Complete the counselor ‘brag sheet’

Tips for Parents Look for the right fit Do not direct – let your child take ownership of this process Stay on top of deadlines Join your child for college campus visits

FINANCIAL AID Federal / State / Institutional Grants / Loans / Work-Study Merit based scholarships – begin searching next summer Need based scholarships – begin searching next summer Essay contests – start looking at the end of the year Scholarship websites: www.fastweb.com and www.finaid.org

QUESTIONS