BTSOA Counselor Newsletter

College & Careers

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SOA College Application Week

November is National College Application Month. As such, this week will be College Application Week at SOA as a vast number of colleges have Dec 1 deadlines including the University of Cincinnati, UC Blue Ash, Miami University, and many others. Seniors, see a separate post below about what needs to happen PRIOR to Thanksgiving Break to meet this deadline. My primary focus this week will be on Senior college application needs and I will be hunting you down if you don't come see me to touch base. Juniors/Sophomores, I expect you to use this time to learn more about the college process, start exploring your options, and begin building your college list. A spring college & career week will happen 2nd semester to further help you with this.

Monday: College Mascot Hunt

12 Akron Mascots (zippy the kangaroo) are hidden throughout the school (They are numbered on the back). Turn them in to me for a prize. You are automatically disqualified if you disrupt someone's class searching and they are absolutely NOT hidden in any forbidden areas.

Wednesday: College Spirit Wear Day

Prizes will be awarded to the best/most creative representation of college spirit or related themes. We've had some great stuff in the past. My personal favorite so far has to be the FAFSA Fairy (fill me out, and all your dreams come true!). I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Friday: Instagram Challenge Winner(s) announced

All this week please post a picture/video related to the College Application Week themes. Things you could incorporate: Dec 1 Deadlines, the College Corner in MPR, FAFSA, your college plan/dreams. Be creative! Use your artistic talents to draw/act/sing even. You must use the hashtags #bettermakeroom #btsoa #soacollegeweekgotmelike to be eligible

Throughout the Week:

I will be sending out trivia questions via email, twitter, Instagram, facebook and even popping into classes. Hint: The answers to my questions will most likely be from this newsletter, the college center in MPR, and my social media so check out @soacounselor.

Senior College Applications

Goal: All Applications completed prior to Thanksgiving Break. This is because the college must RECEIVE all materials prior to December 1st in order to meet the deadline. Completing the following prior to Thanksgiving Break gives your home school counselors time to do their part.

To Do List:

1. Submit Application

2. Pay Application Fee or get Fee Waiver

3. Send ACT scores directly from ACT website

4. Request Official Transcript from your Home School Counselor

5. Essay (if applicable)

6. FAFSA: If this isn't completed then a serious sense of urgency is needed as you have already risked missing out on available grant money. Make sure that all colleges you apply to are on your FAFSA and that you have shown me your SAR report.

7. Double check that your home school counselor has submitted your materials

8. Double check that your recommenders have submitted their recommendation letters

November 28-30: Call college to confirm that they have received all your application materials. THIS IS MANDATORY. It is heartbreaking to see seniors unable to attend their dream school, because they missed this step and didn't realize something was missing.

PS: Don't be had by deadline confusion. We've gone over this. For example, UC Blue Ash's published deadline is Aug 1. However, you can only get scholarships (and housing if desired) if you apply by Dec 1!

Resources

Teenlife: https://www.teenlife.com

Guides on College, Arts, GAP Year programs, Summer Programs, and more can be viewed for free online. Print copies of the Arts guides are in the College Center in the MPR.

Collegeboard: www.bigfuture.collegeboard.org

The college search function is IMMENSELY helpful if you are still uncertain about your college choices or are a junior doing research. See video below for more information.

AICAD: http://www.aicad.org/

Thinking of attending art school? Utilize this website to find a school that fits you. These schools are all accredited, nonprofit art schools.

#BetterMakeRoom: https://bettermakeroom.org/

Make use of the tools and resources like UP NEXT. Text "College" to 44044 to use UpNext and go to the website to check out the other tools.

Ohio's Public Universities: http://opuac.org/

Check out the awesome guide that gives a snap shot of each of the 14 Ohio Public Universities. Included are Visit Days (General, Arts etc) and Application crosswalks.

Ohio's Private Universities: http://www.aicuo.edu/n/docs2/2016AICUO%20Final%20PDFs/AICUO%20Final%20for%20Web.pdf

As I've noted repeatedly this year.... DON"T BE SCARED OFF BY THE STICKER PRICE! I highly encourage you to take a look at these schools. They often give fantastic aid packages that make them the least expensive option. Not to mention, finding your best fit school is EXTREMELY important and our students seem to overall find that better fit at smaller colleges.

The College Essay: http://www.collegeessayguy.com/

There are plenty of free resources on his website but I highly suggest checking out his social media feeds. Even better? Check this out plus COME SEE ME FOR HELP!

Scholarships

Deadline Varies: JLV College Counseling https://jlvcollegecounseling.com/scholarships/

I frequently post these scholarships on twitter. Recently, one of our students won a $10,000 scholarship from one of the scholarships on this site. November and December scholarships are out now on my twitter or this link.

Deadline Varies: RaiseMe https://www.raise.me/join/7737662746

This is a personalized link from me to join this scholarship site. Students/Parents can see me with questions about this site that utilizes "micro scholarships." It's the first time we have used it but it is legitimate and I've heard good things.

Deadline Nov 30: The Jack Cooke Foundation College Scholarship Program http://www.jkcf.org/scholarship-programs/college-scholarship/

Deadline Dec 16: Scholastic Art Awards http://www.artandwriting.org/scholarships/

Thinking of applying to Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cleveland Institute of Art or Columbus College of Art & Design? THEN THIS IS A MUST DO!!!!! These schools are often financially out of reach so JUMP on this opportunity. There are out of state schools that participate as well.

Deadline Dec 30: The Farrish Law Firm Cincinnati Superhero Scholarship http://kellyfarrishlaw.com/scholarship/ *I love this one because you get to submit a 2 minute video OR short essay to recognize a superhero adult that has influenced your education plus get $1000 for your education!

Deadline Jan 5: GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program www.reaganfoundation.org/scholarships

Deadline Jan 30: Point Foundation Scholarship

https://www.pointfoundation.org/point-apply/application-faqs/

Deadline Feb 3: OACAC Warren Scholarship: http://oacac.org/student-scholarships/

As always, CHECK NAVIANCE AND/OR YOUR SENIOR SCHOLARSHIP NEWSLETTER.

Email your home school counselor and ask him/her if they have any new scholarships that you could apply for. Ask them how their day is. Be nice and keep asking. As they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

A couple more places to look:

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/finding-scholarships

Employment

Did you know Butler Tech has a job bank?

Go to http://www.butlertech.org/JobBank.aspx and search for available job opportunities!

Want more information about a career?

Check out http://www.bls.gov/ooh/. Here you can search for a job and get information on education needed, job outlook, median pay, related fields and so much more! Love this website.

50 Highest Paid College Majors

http://www.linkforcounselors.com/50-highest-paying-majors/

Startek

Startek (right here on High Street) is hiring customer service representatives with starting pay $10.25-$13 an hour. They have been impressed with all of you out in the community and asked us to pass this along.

Spotlight on: Kent State University

BASIC INFORMATION:

Enrollment: 23,607 Undergraduates

Scholarship Deadline: January 15th

Average GPA: 3.36

Average ACT Score: 21-25

Costs:

Tuition: $10,012

Room & Food: $10,400

Website: www.kent.edu

HIGHLIGHTS:

*Top 4 Fashion School in the country with campuses/partnerships in NYU, Florence, Hong Kong, and Paris. Degrees are in Fashion Design (BA or BFA) or Fashion Merchandising and includes a 3 year BS track option.

* Top aeronautics program with a brand new state of the art facility

*Almost 40 bachelor degree options in Visual and Performing Arts (200 overall)

*A large University with a small town feel

Arts Majors: (Link to all majors: http://www.kent.edu/gps)

Exploratory (Visual and Performing Arts)

Art Education

Art History

Music

Theatre Studies (Performance)

Communication Studies (Applied Communication)

Communication Studies (Public Communication)

Visual Communication Design