1. ACT/SAT and Truth about College Also: Why I’m Spending All My Money on School Also: I wish I had listened to you, Mrs. White

2. ACT DATES Test EARLY and test OFTEN ACT can be used in place of FCAT! 63% of students have to take it twice to get the score they need. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE

3. SAT Dates

4. ACT vs SAT The ACT is an achievement test, measuring what a student has learned in school. The SAT is more of an aptitude test, testing reasoning and verbal abilities. The ACT has up to 5 components: English, Mathematics, Reading, Science, and an optional Writing Test. The SAT has only 3 components: Critical Reading, Mathematics, and a required Writing Test. The College Board introduced a new version of the SAT in 2005, with a mandatory writing test. ACT continues to offer its well-established test, plus an optional writing test. You take the ACT Writing Test only if required or requested by the college(s) you're applying to. The SAT penalizes you for wrong answers, so guessing is discouraged. The ACT is scored based on the number of correct answers with no penalty for guessing. The ACT has an Interest Inventory that allows students to evaluate their interests in various career options.

5. What score do you need? On average, these were the scores of incoming freshmen: In place of the FCAT: 19- ACT, 430- SAT (On just the reading sections) SchoolMath SATVerbal SATACT UCF 550-650530-63024-28 UF 590-690580-67026-31 UofM 630-720600-70028-32 FSU 560-640 25-29 Harvard 710-790700-80032-35

6. How to prepare: STUDY! A lot of this is vocabulary and reading strategies. I do ACT prep on Mondays at lunch (email me if you need another time). Plan on “failing” it the first time. Yes, I know this is a crazy expensive test, but it is SO different from anything “FCATish” you’ve taken before. If you mess up, it’s usually because you didn’t study or the test is completely unfamiliar to you.

7. $$$$$$ Free Money $$$$$$ Everyone and their brother is going to want to give you money for school (tech school, community college, state colleges) Money you have to pay backMoney you don’t have to pay back Unsubsidized LoansScholarships Subsidized Loans (procrastination loans) Grants Grandma* *Mrs. W’s Grandma (charged 25% interest) The federal gov pays the interest while you’re in school IF you maintain a certain gpa

8. What do you need to do to get this free money? Fill out your FAFSA Jan 1. No, I’m not exaggerating. Money gets given out in order of mistake-free applications. Bright Futures- Also available Jan 1. Scholarship websites- The school website is a good place to start! GOOGLE! Yes. Google. Do some research. Scholarship websites- be careful, many of them are scams

9. Just so you have an idea of how much this stuff costs….. Note- this is for one class.

10. Out-of-State tuition for a community college is about $400-$600, depending The cost of the other 3 classes

11. These are required by the professor, meaning you don’t have a choice if you want to pass. This is the actual textbook for the class

13. This is a binder (!!!) to keep the textbook in. The textbook has no covers. It’s just a bunch of pages.

14. Let’s do some math! Tuition $1073.80 Books $135.00 $93.35 $ 20.55 $ 60.65 $116.00 $191.75 $129.00 $ 7.00 $622.20

15. Awww… That’s not so bad, right? Total: $1,696 Hahahahaha just kidding. That’s only ONE SEMESTER. Real total: $3,392 hahahahaha just kidding again. That’s only ONE YEAR. It takes most high school students 2.5 to 3 years to finish an AA or AS degree… Real Real total: $6,784 Mind you- this is “just” for a community college. Trade schools are slightly less, because you usually need fewer books/classes, and state schools are quite a bit more.

16. Here is how much financial aid this student received…. Total for one year is $5,500. Her interest is 11%. (that’s an extra $982.27) It’s a Federal unsubsidized direct loan, which means she has to pay the interest even while she’s in school, if she takes a semester off, or drops out. Total to pay back: 1,284- (not covered by loan) PLUS 6,482.27 (rough guestimate of loan + interest) =  (Psst. This is still only 2 years of college.)

17. Why am I telling you all this? HAVE A PLAN! (This student procrastinated her senior year and didn’t apply for anything!) Fun fact- most financial aid requires you to keep 4 classes per semester (to be considered full time). Any “remedial” classes are VERY expensive, ARE NOT covered by scholarships or grants, and DO NOT COUNT FOR CREDIT. SCHOLARSHIPS!!!!!!!!! SCHOLARSHIPS!!!!!!!!!

18. Yearly earnings of college (and trade school) grads Nurse- $69,110 Teacher- 45,000 Police Officer- $52,741 CSI tech- $40,000 Pilot- 98,000 Welder- 50,000 Hotel Manager- $46,000 Sous Chef - $38,000 Construction- $34,000 So, while college might seem like a huge investment now, it will pay for itself in the long run! (Some of these are starting salaries and some are 10-15 years in.)