Preparing for a Scholarship Interview

Here are some things to consider when preparing for a Scholarship Interview! 

• Practice introducing yourself in front of a mirror. It'll feel weird but it's worth doing!
• Perfect your handshake! It should be firm- no flopping fish hands OR painful grips. 
• Choose your outfit AT LATEST the night before...dress professionally and make sure you are comfortable too. 
• If the interview is with an organization (like Daniels Fund) or a particular college, be sure to be well informed about the organization or school. Be able to talk about what the organization means to you or why you want to attend THAT school very specifically. Remember, you have to convince the committee that you are invested in their work as they are seeking to invest in you! 
• Make a BRAG SHEET in advance. What accomplishments are you most proud of thus far in your life? Be prepared to talk about them! 
• Also have a few failures in mind AND be able to describe what you learned from these. 
• Have a teacher, friend, or family member interview you. Even if this feels silly, it gets some of the nerves out. 
• Take your time. If you need to pause before answering a question to organize your thoughts, just do it! 
• Be sure to have a few questions in mind for the committee
• BE YOUR SUPER AWESOME SELF! 

Some common interview questions:

Tell us about yourself.

What are your greatest strengths?

What are your greatest weaknesses?

How has this organization impacted you?

Why do you want to attend this college/university?

Why should we give you this scholarship?

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10?

Who is your role model? Why?

Do you have any questions for us?

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)

Class of 2019! Time to start post-secondary planning!

Now that you are ALMOST Seniors, it's time to make a college application prep plan! 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!


(Here's the link for the College Research Spreadsheet! Be sure to follow the directions for COPYING and saving as your own file.)

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

I got in, but where do I go?

I know you've completed your FAFSA/other Financial Aid Forms and acceptance letters are rolling in from your colleges of choice. YAY, you! 

It's time to REALLY start thinking about $$$ and your final decision on where to attend college. It can be a bit overwhelming, right?! 

I'd suggest watching and reading through this information. It lays the ground work for what you'll see from the schools where you've been accepted. You'll also learn how to compare and contrast your aid packages to make the best choice for your college experience! 

The "financial fit" of your college is a HUGE factor! You'll want to make a choice that you can afford throughout the length of your degree without causing overwhelming stress about $ or overwhelming debt that you'll be paying back well into your adult life. 

Once you have all of your award letters from your top schools, you can use this awesome tool to help you compare the awards. Just enter in the requested info and VOILA! 

The "Family Share of Cost" is what you'd be expected to pay for each college. Remember, just because something is less $ doesn't necessarily make it the best choice. But do consider our conversations about loans versus scholarships and other types of aid you do NOT pay back! 

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. 

Scholarships! Private and Institutional!

Hey Seniors! If you've been slacking on scholarship applications, now is the time to ramp up your search and completion of apps.

Remember to look for Private AND Institutional scholarships. Private scholarships will be the ones offered by different businesses (McDonald's) and organizations (like YESS!). Institutional scholarships are offered by the schools you've been accepted to and are ONLY valid if you attend the school that awards you the scholarship. So, you can't use a scholarship from Metro to attend CCD!

Take some time to identify your top 2-3 colleges of choice and begin scholarship applications for EACH of these schools. Perhaps your 2nd choice school will give you a ton of scholarship $$$ and that may impact your decision on where to attend. We don't want to close any doors too soon!

You can usually find institutional scholarships by logging into your portal/dashboard for each school. Let me know if you have any questions! Some schools have built in search engines so you can enter your GPA, for example, and the search will identify which scholarships you can submit. Other schools will require more search time from you. Please remember you can share your essays for review with yess.emily@gmail.com as google docs!

Most institutional scholarships are due March 1st. Be sure to confirm deadlines for each of your top choice schools! This HAS to be something you set aside time for like homework or a part time job. Remember, the rewards for winning scholarships will PAY OFF next year!

Second Semester Senior!!!!

Hey Seniors, Congrats on making it through the FIRST semester of your Senior Year. 

ONE MORE TO GO! 

Here are some thoughts on making the most of your next few months of high school....

• Slow down! Take time to appreciate the people around you even the challenging ones! Think of all of the lessons you've learned and how you've changed over the last 4 years. 

• Stay FOCUSED! It's easy to get sidetracked. You are almost across that finish line...BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO FINISH. Your grades and attendance still matter.  

• Dream BIG! Imagine your dream future. Where will you live, what will you do and, most importantly, who will you choose to spend your time with especially your free time. Some people think we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with...Who are you?

• Apply for ALL the scholarships. Come on, you knew I was going to say that!!! :)

• Use a checklist like this one so you stay on top of your college admissions and financial aid requirements. Check that college email!!!! 

Please let me know if you have any questions as you continue on your Road to Success! 

Have fun out there!