1. SENIOR SCOOP 2 CLASS OF 2016 NOV. 3-4, 2015 Atascadero High School

2. AHS Counselors Mrs. Martin (A-D)  roseannmartin@atasusd.org roseannmartin@atasusd.org Ms. Dominguez (E-L)  beckydominguez@atasusd.org beckydominguez@atasusd.org Mr. Jordan (M-R)  gregoryjordan@atasusd.org gregoryjordan@atasusd.org Mrs. Beck (S-Z)  meghanbeck@atasusd.org meghanbeck@atasusd.org

3. Cuesta Promise: First Year Free! Continuing for Fall 2016, all newly graduated SLO County residents are eligible to attend their first year at Cuesta for free! To apply for the Promise you must first complete the Cuesta application (available November 1 st ) and the Promise Scholarship Application (available January 1 st ).

4. Other Community Colleges If you are interested in attending a community college other than Cuesta, you will need to check with that school directly for information on:  Applications  Assessment Dates  Orientation  Financial Aid To access info on California Community Colleges, visit: www.cccco.eduwww.cccco.edu

5. California State University (including Cal Poly) University of California www.csumentor.edu Deadline: Nov. 30 Application Fee: $55 Essays: None Recommendation: No www.universityofcalifo rnia.edu/admissions www.universityofcalifo rnia.edu/admissions Deadline: Nov. 30 Application fee: $70 Essays: Total word count cannot exceed 1000 words. Recommendation: No College Applications

6. CSU/UC Application Help Personal Statement Workshop  November 4 th in A-lab during study hall College Application Workshop  November 10 th in A-lab during study hall  November 19 th in A-lab during study hall Bring copy of your application for your counselor to review, including any supplemental forms and essays. Once an application has been submitted you will not be able to revise it.

7. Personal Email Address Remember: If you have not done so already, make sure you get an email address that you use exclusively for applications, scholarships and job searches. The email address should be professional sounding and use some part of your name. Your high school email will be inactivated once you graduate.

8. Cal Poly- Early Decision Students will be notified around December 15 th of their acceptance. Students who are accepted under Early Decision are required to withdraw applications from any other colleges to which they may have applied. Students not accepted under Early Decision will still be considered for regular admission.

9. UC Bound Seniors Remember: Seniors serious about attending a UC school should take a minimum of 4 college prep courses, including as many AP or honors courses. Admissions personnel want to see students challenge themselves. If a student drops a college prep class after submitting an application, the student must notify the university immediately.

10. Private/Out of State Colleges Students should check individual campuses to determine admission deadlines. Many campuses use the Common Application.  www.commonapp.org Letters of Recommendation may be required.  Complete a Senior Profile found on the website or with Ms. Kershner in the counseling office.  Allow a minimum of 2 weeks to complete letter.

11. Common Application Prompts This is your opportunity to tell them something about you beyond the grades, test scores, and classes. The word count maximum is 650. Use the full count if you need it, but don’t feel obligated to do so. (The application will not accept a response shorter than 250 words.) Some Ideas:  Recount an incident when you experienced failure. What lessons did you learn?  Share a story about your background if you feel it is central to your identity.  Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act?  Describe a place where you are perfectly content. Why is it meaningful to you?

12. SAT/SAT Subject Tests ACT December 5 th  Registration deadline- Nov. 5  Late Registration- Nov. 20 Sending Scores December 12 th  Registration deadline- Nov. 6  Late Registration- Nov. 20 Sending Scores SAT/ACT Testing All testing should be completed by December. Cal Poly and UC’s want testing completed by November. Subject Tests are not required by UC’s, but can be recommended for certain majors such as Engineering.

13. Sending Test Scores Official score reports need to be sent as soon as all testing has been completed to colleges you plan to apply. Scores are typically available 3 weeks after the test. If you are applying to a CSU campus, have your scores sent to CSU Mentor code #3594, it will be shared with all CSU campuses. For UC’s, if you send it to one UC campus, it will be made available to all UC campuses. Potential NCAA athletes need to also send scores to the Eligibility Center using code #9999.

14. Financial Aid/Scholarships Financial Aid Night will be held January 28, 2016 The FAFSA application is not available until January 1, but you can sign up now for your FSA ID – one for the student and one for the parent. www.FAFSA.comwww.FAFSA.com AHS receives scholarship applications throughout the year. They are advertised on a Scholarship Notice, posted in senior English classrooms, in the counseling office and on the webpage. Another great source is www.fastweb.com which helps you sort through many national scholarships.www.fastweb.com You do not need a 4.0 GPA to qualify, scholarships are based on multiple criteria.

15. Private School Financial Aid Each private school has different deadlines for their financial aid/scholarships. Many private schools request that students complete the CSS Profile in lieu of the FAFSA. In some cases, the application may have a different deadline if wanting to be considered for financial aid.  Ex: USC has a December 1 deadline for Scholarship consideration, or January 15 for no scholarship consideration.

16. CSU Scholarships If you are considering attending a CSU, don’t forget to check their website to see when scholarship applications are available and due!

17. In State Angels In-State Angels is a group that assists out of state students earn in state tuition at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Check out their website for more information: www.instateangels.com www.instateangels.com

18. Online Resources To find out the number of college credits that are awarded for passing each AP Exam.  www.collegeboard.com/ap/creditpolicy www.collegeboard.com/ap/creditpolicy Check out the majors available at all UC/CSU campuses and what Cuesta courses transfer to a university.  www.assist.org www.assist.org

19. Healthy Families If you are not covered by medical insurance, the counseling office has information on Healthy Families/Medi-Cal for Children

20. Second Semester Schedules Last spring, students signed up for a full year’s worth of classes and it dictated the courses that we are offering this entire year. If you have changes that must be made to meet graduation requirements or you have a single semester class that will end in December, please see your counselor by December 16, 2015.

21. First Semester Ends The first semester ends on December 18 th Now is the time to get into high gear and pass those classes! Going to Study Hall classes is a great option to get help.

22. Outstanding Bills See Mrs. Douglass in the ASB Office if you owe any fines. See Mrs. Rawlings in the library for any textbook fees. All fees must be paid prior to June or students may not participate in the graduation ceremonies or end of year activities such as: Winter Formal, Mock Rock, and Prom.

23. Dance Guest Pass Dance Guest Passes are only available for the Winter Formal and Prom. Guests must be current high school students with administrator permission or a graduate of AUSD in good standing when graduation occurred. Guests must be 20 years old or younger. Guest Pass Applications are available with Mrs. Edrington.