Class of 2017! Scholarship Info!

YESS Class of 2017! 

SCHOLARSHIPS!

Congratulations on your high school success and ALL of your college scholarships! You are an IMPRESSIVE group of young adults! 

Please keep in mind that your scholarships may all have different requirements, documents needed, and deadlines for accepting  your awards. I'd suggest using your google calendar and alerts to keep track of your deadlines....Let me know if you want help with that or check out this tutorial! 

Remember to check the email address you provided on scholarship applications AS WELL AS your college email. Make time to do this SEVERAL times a week. 

Below are some important links for your DSF Scholarship! 

DSF link for Submitting Documents + Forms

DSF Scholarship Policies and Deadlines

Daniels Fund Scholars, be sure to check your Portal! 

If you are an All Ways Up Scholar, remember your UP Through Education Summit is on July 15th, 2017. Attendance is REQUIRED for you to be awarded your scholarship! 

YESS Scholars, your scholarships are reimbursement based. You'll need to complete the Intent to Enroll form, submit Proof of Enrollment and a Bill/Proof of Purchase to receive your scholarship dollars. Proof of Enrollment would include your finalized class schedule, for example. The Bill/Proof of Purchase requirement can be met by providing an image of a receipt from the school book store or screenshot from your bill on your StudentHub/Portal. 

Let me know if you have any questions! 

Summer Bridge Opportunities!

Hey, Seniors! Some of you are a mere 24 hours from graduating high school. 

Congratulations! 

The adventure is JUST BEGINNING! 

As we've discussed, your transition to college will be an exciting AND challenging one. College is VERY different from high school (YAY!) and will provide you many opportunities to use your problem solving, self-advocacy, and critical thinking skills. You'll have MORE freedom and MORE responsibility. There are a few opportunities open to you this summer to further prepare you for the BIG ADVENTURE of college. Check these out! 

Open to Community College of Denver Students:

TRIO Summer Bridge

Summer Bridge Scholars

Open to University of Colorado- Denver Students:

Pre-Collegiate Summer Bridge

Open to ALL Students and held on the Auraria Campus:
Denver Urban Scholars Summer #succeedlikeaboss Program 
Contact me for details! emily@yessinstitute.org

Open to all YESS Students attending one of the following schools- CCD, UCD, MSU, CSU, CCA, Adams State, CSU-P: 
Colorado Challenge Summer Institute

Open to Arapahoe Community College Students:
Start Now! Program

Each of these opportunities will help ease the transition to college and ensure you've completed EVERYTHING you need to start college in the fall. In many cases, you'll earn FREE college credit during these programs! It's a great chance to meet your fellow students, professors, school staff and be prepared for your first semester as a FULL TIME COLLEGE STUDENT! 

Start your Scholarship Search Soon! (aka NOW!)

YESS Superstars! 

Now is the time to start your college scholarship search...even if you are a freshman! 

Check out the following search engines to begin. Remember, if you create a log in, keep your user name and password in a secure place! Make a note in your phone or in a google doc connected to your email address. I'd choose 1 or 2 of the following sites where you create a log in. Keep the other sites in mind for your searches though! 

1) Chegg- Scholarships and College Exploration

2) Fastweb - Create and complete a profile for personalized scholarship opportunities!

3) Cappex - Find scholarships, compare colleges and check out your chances for admission

4) Big Future - College Board - This is a great resource for SO MANY parts of your college search including scholarships.

5) YESS Scholarship Resources - Individual scholarships are listed as well as links to scholarship search engines. Bookmark this page and check out all of the additional resources too!

Start by finding scholarships that you are eligible for and be sure to paste the links in to your College Research spreadsheet: Scholarships I'm Eligible For! tab (either saved in your google drive or create one here). Be sure to note the application requirements and start outlines for any required essays. Remember: this process is like a part time job with the potential BIG PAY of your college tuition being covered by scholarships!

Hey, Juniors! Are you ready to STAND OUT as a college applicant?!

Now that you are ALMOST Seniors, it's time to make a college application prep plan for your SUMMER! Remember our conversations with your current Senior classmates...They expressed wishing they'd done some prep work for Senior fall during the summer after their Junior Year. It really is a part-time job. Consider spending a few hours a week on your college research and preparation.

Here are some ideas of what to work on! 

1) Complete a Letter of Recommendation for yourself! Highlight skills and activities that truly reflect your abilities and interests. Your teachers/counselors will be SO impressed with your extra effort when you ask for Letters of Recommendation for college and scholarship applications. Share your Letter with them to help them out.  Here are some tips on how to ask for a Letter of Recommendation when the time comes!

2) Create or update your resume! Summer can be a great time to add some volunteer work in addition to your paid summer job. Just a few hours a week goes a long way! 

3) Put in a few hours a week looking for MORE scholarships to add to your College Research Spreadsheet! Add deadlines to your calendars with reminders in advance of these due dates!

4) Complete at least 2 essays for the Common Application Essay Prompts. Remember, even if you are NOT using the Common App, these essay questions will be applicable to other application questions for schools and scholarships. Be sure to save them in your google drive with clear file names. Share them with yess.emily@gmail.com if you want feedback!

5) If you are not happy with your SAT score, there are plenty of resources that will allow you to improve your skills. Don't forget to sign up for the SAT in the fall if you choose to retake it!


(If you haven't started your College Research Spreadsheet, here's the link again! Be sure to follow the directions for COPYING and saving as your own file.)

As always, let me know if you have any questions!