1. Verbena
School Year

2. Upcoming Events County-Wide Financial Aid Night
Date: September 25, 2017
Time: 6:00 PM
Place: Jefferson State Community College – Clanton Campus
Countdown to College Workshop
Date: October 17, 2017
FAFSA Night at VHS
Date: October 16, 2017
Time: 3:00-6:00
Place: Verbena High School

3. College Application Week
October 30 – November 4

4. Suggestions / Tips
Keep a copy of all handouts, college applications, admissions letters, etc…
Create a binder or folder for senior information, college information, financial aid information, etc…

5. Applying for College
Read through the entire application before you begin filling it out.
Note any deadlines, and give yourself plenty of time to meet them.
Answer ALL questions. Don’t leave anything blank.
Follow directions.
Type or print your answers.
Be neat. Presentation is important.
Include supporting materials if applicable (letters of recommendation, outstanding examples of your work)
Make a copy, in case it gets misplaced.
Sign it.
Include a check for the processing fee, if required.
Practice writing the essay before writing the final draft on the application.
Fine tune your essay. Don’t ramble.
Be yourself in your essay.
Don’t exaggerate your achievements or abilities.
Proofread, Proofread, Proofread!!!!

6. Applying for College
Most college applications will ask you for the following types of information:
Personal data
Family information
Educational experience
Test scores
Academic experiences
Awards and honors
Extracurricular activities (including school, religious, and volunteer)
Work experience
Written essay
Recommendations for teachers and counselor
High school transcript

7. Financial Aid
$37,172 is the average Class of 2016 graduate student loan debt, up from 6% from the previous year.
Average monthly student loan payment (for borrower aged 20 to 30 years): $351
88 percent of graduates who received Pell Grants had student loans in 2012, with an average balance of $31,200
Reference: Student Loan Hero

8. Types of Financial Aid
Pell Grants
Student Loans
Scholarships

9. FAFSA
Opens October 1, 2017
Every student that is considering college should fill out the FAFSA
2016 Income Tax Information MUST be use
Every student’s situation is different
The maximum Pell Grant for the 2017–18 award year is $5,920.

10. Achieve Alabama

11. Ways you can help your student:
Expect that your children will do their best while remembering they are different than their siblings, friends, and neighbors.
Anxiety is contagious. Stay calm. Resist lecturing. Ask you child what his/her plan is for studying, writing essays, completing applications, etc
Don’t complete applications for students – review after they complete
Visit campuses. It is a crucial part of good college decision making.
Enjoy your child. Laugh together. Build positive memories.
Talk about finances early, be realistic
Contact financial aid offices, they are there to help

12. Make sure you child is attending school each and every day
Attendance is 8 times more predictive of failure that prior test scores.
Failures are much more strongly related to course absence than to incoming achievement.
Each day of absence in ninth grade is associated with a dramatically reduced likelihood of graduating.
0-4 – 87%
5-9 – 63%
10-14 – 41%
15-19 – 21%
20-24 – 9%
30-34 – 2%
35-40 – 1%