Winter Break TO DO LIST!

Be sure to check items off the following list over your Winter Break!

• Log in to your college email and Student Hub AT LEAST twice a week! If you have any questions, text me!
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• If you haven't applied to all of the colleges you are interested in, JUST DO IT! 
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• Check your Student Aid Report by logging in with your FSAID credentials as fafsa.ed.gov Let me know how much $$$$ you'll receive for your Pell Grant! 
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• Apply for SO MANY scholarships. The more you do now, the better. Click here for essay tips! 
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• Apply for your INSTITUTIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS! These are the ones that your colleges offer ONLY to students at that school. 
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• HAVE FUN!
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• REST! 
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• Get excited for THE LAST SEMESTER of HIGH SCHOOL! 

YESS Senior Checklist!

Hey YESS Class of 2018!

Be sure to read through this list and make sure you are completing ALL of these items as soon as you can! The more you get done now, the easier your transition will be in the Fall. 

Congrats on everything you've accomplished thus far and JUST KEEP SWIMMING! 

SENIOR CHECKLIST 

____ Log into your college student portal regularly (for example, CCDConnect – every school is a little different). Look for red flags/ yellow caution signs that will tell you if you are missing any information or need to sign off on any documents, for example, financial aid documents.

____ Check your college email DAILY. You will get important information through that email account. You can change the settings in your student portal for your school email to be forwarded to your personal email. 

____ Carefully read any emails from FAFSA. You may be asked to provide tax verification and will need to request tax transcripts from the IRS. Let me know if you need more info!

____ Stay in contact with the financial aid office to make sure that your aid has been applied to your    account. You may also be able to check your college student portal for this information. If aid is not applied and you have not set up a payment plan, you may be dropped from your classes.

____ Take any required placement tests (for example, the Accuplacer).

____ If you are living on campus, be sure you’ve signed up for the residence halls and submitted a deposit.

____ Provide any information to health services, for example, immunization records. Many campuses will put a hold on your record if you have not submitted this information.

____ Sign up for campus health insurance or provide proof that you have health insurance to waive your health insurance fee.

____ Sign up for and attend orientation.

____ Get a college ID card

____ Meet with an academic advisor on campus.

____ Register for your classes.

____ Accept or follow up regarding Loans and Work-study.

____ Send school Official Final High School Transcript if requested by school.

____ Check in with external scholarship requirements (DSF, Institutional scholarships, etc..).

____ Authorize COF on your student portal.

____ Plan to buy/rent/borrow books (campus book store, Amazon, library).

____ Review On-Campus Support Services. Examples: Academic Services (Tutoring/Writing Center), Extracurricular Activities, Disability Center, Career Services, Transportation and Parking, TRIO, etc.

If you have questions/concerns please reach out ASAP to your YESS College Navigator, Emily at

(720) 446 9688 or Emily@yessinstitute.org

(Thanks to DUS for the original list)

Institutional Scholarship Information Links!

See below for links to scholarships from YESS' most attended colleges! 

Colorado State University

Community College of Denver 

Arapahoe Community College 

Metropolitan State University of Denver 

University of Colorado- Denver 

University of Colorado at Colorado Springs 

University of Northern Colorado

CU Boulder- DUE FEBRUARY 15TH

Remember to apply for scholarships at your Top 2 or 3 colleges!!!! This way, you'll receive a few options for Financial Aid Awards...you never know which school will offer you the best award! You have to have been admitted to the school and set up your portal/email with the college to complete the scholarship applications. Most of schools have a March 1 Deadline for institutional scholarships. Be sure to check and plan accordingly. To Sign In to most of the schools above, you'll have to activate your account with the school. Search your personal email for information from each school on how to log in! Make sure you are keeping track of usernames and passwords! 

Let me know if you have any questions. 

Senior Year 1st Semester Checklist!

Hey Seniors! I know you have A LOT going on...SAT prep and testing, homecoming, sports, clubs, enjoying the last year of high school, work, AP/Honors classes, concurrent enrollment, etc, etc.

Don't forget your Post-Secondary Planning! Check out the checklist below to help guide your planning, application and access process. As always, let me know if you have ANY questions!

FALL OF SENIOR YEAR! 

• Finalize your College/Post-Secondary Program Application List! Be sure to include some schools that may be harder to get in to as well as at least one school to which you will for sure be admitted. This list can include colleges, apprenticeships, military and/or technical schools. These are all GREAT post-secondary options. 

• Prepare for and complete the FAFSA. Use the search tool in the blog to find LOTS of information regarding what documents you need, creating a FSAID and other info about the process. 

• Stay focused on your grades and extracurricular activities. These remain important parts of your resume. Finish strong! 

• Keep track of deadlines! Consider using calendar reminders on your phone to alert you well ahead of deadlines (so you take time to work on applications) as well as the day applications are due. 

• Meet with your School Counselor. They will need to know what schools/programs you are applying to so they can send Transcripts, Score Reports, and other application items. Be sure to give them access to the required forms WELL in advance. Be sure to THANK them for their help. 

• Continue researching scholarships, add them to your College Research Spreadsheet, and complete these applications! 

• Ask for Letters of Recommendation NOW! Be sure you are giving your teachers, counselors, etc enough time to write you an AWESOME letter. If you wrote one for yourself last year, you an share it with them along with your resume to help them out! 

• Complete your College/Post-Secondary Program applications as soon as possible. Even if a school has a deadline in the spring, aim to complete your application by Thanksgiving Break. Put yourself at the TOP of the pile! 

• ASK for help! If you have questions, ASK them! It's ok to not know everything about the post-secondary process. It's a whole new world. If something doesn't make sense, ASK! This is a good habit to get into as you'll have LOTS of questions once you get to college. ASKING for help is part of being an adult, trust me! 

Your College Student Portals (aka Hubs)

SENIORS! Remember to check your Student Portals or Hubs regularly for the colleges you are considering attending. If you have not set up your accounts, go to your college's website RIGHT NOW and sign in! Typically your Letter of Acceptance will include the necessary instructions for logging in to your Portal and/or email. You'll often need the Student # assigned to you along with the temporary password provided by each college. REMEMBER TO KEEP TRACK OF YOUR USERNAMES/STUDENT #s and PASSWORDS! You need to check your emails and portal/hub several times a week. Your college(s) will send you email reminders and requests to your .edu email so this essential for staying on top of enrollment requirements and red flags!

Here are the links to directions for many of your schools of choice. As always, let me know if you have ANY questions!

Community College of Denver- CCDConnect Guides

CCDConnect Log In Page

If you have not set up your University of Colorado Denver account, start here.

UCD Log In Page

UCD Webmail

UCD Resources and Portals

Metro State University Denver Student Hub Page

MSU "After You've Been Admitted" Steps

Colorado State University RAMweb Log In Page

Arapahoe Community College- How to Create your myACC Log In

myACC Log In Page

Decisions! Decisions!

It's time to decide where you are headed next fall. Hopefully you've taken time to enjoy your acceptance letters and consider your choices. If you haven't yet, it's a good idea to make a pros/cons spreadsheet with a worksheet for each school you are seriously considering. List the BEST things about each school and the WORST things. This can range from the amount of money schools are offering you to the cafeteria food to distance from home. Talk to your friends about how they are making their decisions. Talk to trusted adults about how they chose a college (if they did) and what they think is best for you. It's good to have a few different perspectives!

A huge piece of your decision will likely be regarding School Aid offers. Here are some tips!
Remember to use the price calculator to clarify the cost to you. Both of these links will take you to pages that also break down types of aid, types of loans. This one will compare the cost of a few of your possible schools with each other.

When considering what college to attend, remember to focus on YOUR LONG-TERM GOALS! For example, while it may be fun to go to college with your best friend, if that school doesn't have the program you are interested in...it doesn't make sense for your long-term goals.

Consider the following 25 questions compiled by USA Today.

Yes, that's a lot of questions but this is a BIG decision!

1.) Is the city or town that the college is located in one that you’d like living in? Or has location never been something that’s negatively affected your day-to-day life?

2.) Is dorm life, as portrayed on a school’s website or seen during your campus visit, the experience you’re looking for?

3.) Does the school have the major you want and is the program sufficient? If not, is there a similar major offered?

4.) Is it a city that will have internships in your field or will you have to travel for that experience?

5.) Is it a social campus, a commuter campus or a quiet campus? Which do you prefer, and are you willing to compromise on this point?

6.) Is the school within your price range or worth going into debt over? Are they offering you scholarships or grants if you go there?

7.) Is the campus visually pleasant and a place you’d be okay spending a good chunk of your time on?

8.) If you end up landing a great job in town before or right after graduating, would you be okay living there? Same question for if you get married or meet the love of your life.

9.) What’s the weather like there? Is there a lot of one kind of weather, like snow or rain, that you love or can’t stand?

10.) Are the professors at the school renowned in their fields? Do they have doctorate degrees or books published? Do you care?

11.) How well does the school rank academically? Are you in a field where that matters at all?

12.) Has the school had significant price hikes from year to year, making it difficult to gauge how much it’d cost to attend for four years?

13.) Are the students at the college happy? Have you researched that or asked around, perhaps by emailing current students?

14.) Does the school have any interesting electives you’d like to take, such as philosophy of film or yoga?

15.) Are there any infringing rules the school places on students even off campus, such as no drinking or smoking, that you’d inevitably rebel against or despise?

16.) Does the cost of living in the city sound reasonable for a college student? (Remember, unless you’re living off financial aid in the dorms, you’ll likely move off campus for most of your years there).

17.) Is the school a weekend trip’s distance away from home? Does it matter to you how far away from home it is?

18.) Do you have any friends or acquaintances attending the school or living in the city? Or does it sound more exciting to you to go knowing no-one?

19.) Is there a line of successful alumni from the school? Have you browsed through the college’s alumni magazine or checked the alumni section of the website?

20.) Is the school located within a reasonable day’s drive to other thriving cities? This could be a consideration if, during your junior and senior years, you can apply for internships and jobs there and be able to drive there and back within the same day for interviews.

21.) Is there a good scene for whatever niche group you’re part of, such as a Christian club on campus or a libertarian group? If not, how about in the city?

22.) Does the college have big or small classes or both? Which do you prefer or think you’d prefer?

23.) Is the campus big or small? Can you reasonably walk from class to class in a decent length of time or would it be better to bike or bus?

24.) Are the professors kind or approachable? Have you checked some professor ratings on sites like ratemyprofessors.com or asked current students?

25.) Can you imagine going to any other school more than this one? Or does this one just feel right? How important do you regard your feelings vs. logic?

The Final Countdown

CLASS of 2017!

The end of your high school career is well within sight. STAY STRONG! I know the pull of Senioritis is present but USE THE FORCE! You've worked so hard to get to this point. Be sure to finish high school with your head up and your best foot forward! 

Use this tool to help you identify the best school for you based on financial aid. Have conversations with people who you trust and who know you well about your choice of school.

Pay attention to deadlines!!!! 

Put important dates on your calendar with reminders. I don't want you to miss your chance to attend your #1 school! 

Please use the checklist below to stay on track for your post-secondary plans!

____ Log into your college student portal regularly!  Look for red flags that will tell you if you are missing any information or need to sign off on any documents, for example, financial aid documents.

____ Check your college email daily.  You will get important notifications through that email account. Be sure to read them, respond as needed and delete or archive to keep your inbox clutter free.

____ Take any required placement tests (for example, the Accuplacer).

____ If you are living on campus, make sure that you have signed up for the residence halls and put down a deposit by the deadline.

____ Provide any information to health services, for example, immunization records. Many campuses will put a hold on your record if you have not submitted this information.

____ Sign up for campus health insurance or provide proof that you have health insurance.

____ Sign up for and attend Orientation! Keep track of any info and To Do Lists they may provide you. 

____ Stay in contact with the financial aid office to make sure that your aid has been applied to your account. You may also be able to check your college student portal for this information. If aid is not applied and you have not set up a payment plan, you may be dropped from your classes. 

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