Pre-Admission: Plan Ahead

– Build your college list

– Make campus visits spring and summer

– SAT/ACT late junior year, early senior year

– Apply for admission fall of senior year(often September 1 open date)

– Take a full/challenging set of seniorcourses (AP/IB/dual enrollment)

– Stay in touch with the colleges youare considering

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Pre-Admission: Succeeding

– Test preparation

– Meet deadlines

– Financial planning

– Read your email

– Stay in touch with the colleges youare considering

– Keep loved ones “involved”

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• Priority Deadlines

• Submit your completed application for admission, usually includes a fee

• Ask your guidance counselor to mailyour high school transcripts

• Request scores directly from testing agencies

• Decision making process on both sides– Decision rendered upon receipt of above– Acceptance Packet starts next steps– This begins the student decision process

Admission Process

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What do colleges look for?

• General Standards

– High School Courses• College Prep

– HS Class Rank

– SAT/ACT Scores

– Specific courses/categories

– Holistic Review• Provisional admission category• Bridge programs

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Required HS Courses

• 4 units of English; College Prep I, II, III, and IV.

• 4 units of Math: Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II required. Pre-Calculus, Calculus, or Statistics strongly recommended.

• 3 units of Laboratory Science: Biology, Chemistry or Physics. 2 units from 2 different fields. 3rd unit may be from same field as one of the first two units.

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Required HS Courses

• 2 units of the same foreign language.

• 3 units of social studies; a unit of U.S. History is required. Half units of economics and government strongly recommended.

• 4 units of academic electives from 3 different fields selected from Fine Arts, Computer Science, English, Humanities, Foreign Languages, Lab. Sciences, Advanced Math, and Social Sciences.

• 1 unit of physical education or Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

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• Honors Program

• Undergraduate Research Magellan Scholars

• Experiential Education Job Shadowing, Co-ops, Internships

• Special courses for freshmen First Year Readings

• Support/advising for new students

What about Academics?

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What about Success?

• First-Year Seminar • Advisement Services • Academic Early Warning • Academic Success Workshops • Tutoring

• Writing Room• Math Lab• Languages Lab • other topics

• ALWAYS seek assistance

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Decision Time!

• Once you are admitted– Acceptance Packet

• Commitment requests• Student technology accounts• Housing application • Placement Testing• Summer Orientation• Residency and state scholarships• Immunizations

• Apply for financial aid and outside scholarships

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Financial Aid

What is financial aid? Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Types of financial aid

Federal Programs State Programs

Cost of Attendance and Affordability

What is Financial Aid?

• Financial Aid is money intended to help students pay for their educational expenses.

• Typically, aid comes in one of the following forms:

• Scholarships• Grants (Federal and

State)• Federal Work Study• Loans

4 Types of Financial Aid

• Scholarships- Money that does not have to be paid back; awarded based on financial need, academic merit, skill, or unique characteristic.

• Grants- Same criteria as scholarships

• Loans- Money that students and parents borrow to help pay for college; repayment begins after education is completed.

• Employment- Allows students to earn money by working to help pay for educational expenses.

Million$ left on the table each year!

Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid

(FAFSA)

FAFSA = The key to financial aid

• May be filed at any time during an academic year, but no earlier than January 1st prior to the academic year for which the student requests aid.

• FAFSA may be filed beginning Jan. 1st each year.

• Colleges may set priority FAFSA filing deadlines.

• USC Aiken priority deadline is March 1st each year.

Applying is easy as 1, 2, 3!

1) www.pin.ed.gov

2) www.fafsa.gov

3) Follow up with the financial aid office of the school to which you are applying.

USC Aiken School Code: 003449

Federal Financial Aid

• Pell Grant• SEOG (Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant)• Perkins Loan• Direct Loan• PLUS (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students)• Work Study/Institutional Student Employment

All federal aid programs require completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for eligibility review

www.fafsa.gov

Net Cost Comparison

Best Advice for College Planning

• Start early• Involve those people closest to you• Keep your options open• Don’t choose a college based on a football team• Find the true net cost http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator • File the FAFSA• Get a feel for the campus and the people• Ask questions continuously

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www.usca.edu OR http://web.usca.edu/