CSU & UC Night 2015

Amador Valley High School

Counseling Department

CounselorsA-Bo Carrie Bennett

Bp-D Shannon FlaskerudE-Hn Nicole West

Ho-Led, AVID Sheryl Pacheco Lee-Or Tara Walker

Os-Sl Audrey ZarrinkhatSm-Z Winter Jones

Support Counselor:Barbara Hourigan

Required “A-G” courses for eligibilityA - History/Social Science – 2 years required(World History/US History)B - English – 4 years requiredC- Mathematics – 3 levels required, 4 levels recommended (pre-calc.)(Algebra 1, Geometry, Intermediate Algebra or Math I – IV)D- Laboratory Science – 2 years required, 3 recommended for UC(One Life Science and one Physical Science)E - Language Other than English – 2 levels required, 3 recommended for UC (Two levels of the same language)F - Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) – 1 year requiredG - College-Preparatory Electives – 1 year required

Testing Requirements• UC’s: Either SAT or ACT (with writing) • SAT subject tests are now optional but, if taken, take from

2 different disciplines/subjects• Sending score reports to 1 UC campus will allow access to

any UC campus applied to

• CSU’s: SAT or ACT (writing portion not used in CSU system)

• Listing CSU Mentor’s institution code 3594 on the SAT score report will send scores to all CSU campuses for one price.

• CSU’s will take highest scores from multiple sittings (Superscore); UC’s will take highest score from one date

• Official test scores must be submitted by student directly from College Board and/or ACT.

The Applications• Select Fall 2016, Freshman with or without college

credits• Apply for application fee waivers directly on the

applications• Enter names of all schools attended from 9th to 12th

grade (including community college, online, other high schools…) in order to use the a-g drop-down menu

• Amador is on a semester system, and your high school sentence spanned Aug. 2012 – June 2016! Hooray! ☺

The Applications cont’.• When entering your high school courses, use your transcript,

not your memory! The CSU’s will be by a-g subject and the UC’s will be by year in high school.

• The CSU’s will ask for 8th grade grades for the subjects of World Language and math, while the UC’s will only ask for the number of World Language and math semesters you took in 8th grade.

• The only Honors class that carries a weighted grade point (called HL=Honors Level by the colleges) is Honor Pre-calc. Other Honors courses (like Honors English) are NH=Not Honors.

Meeting CSU Eligibility vs Selection

• 2.0 minimum academic GPA (grades 10 and 11 college prep classes only; use CSU Mentor’s GPA Calculator online)

• SAT (Critical Reading and Math only) OR ACT (writing score not used)

• Eligibility Index (uses academic GPA and SAT/ACT scores to determine eligibility)

CSU Eligibility Index

• CSU/UC GPA Calculator• http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_sc

hool/gpa_calculator.asp• Eligibility Index Calculation

– (Your CSU GPA) x 800 + SAT total score= your eligibility index

– (Your CSU GPA) x 200 + ACT Comp score=your eligibility index

Eligibility Index• WWW.CSUMENTOR.EDU• All college prep classes taken after the 9th grade• Example, student has: A=6 B=4 C=8 (counted by semesters)• Use “GPA Calculator” to determine GPA of 2.89• SAT Scores of Critical Reading =550 Math =530 for a

composite score of 1080• Use Eligibility Index

Limited to 8 semesters of weighted grades in calculation of GPA for eligibility.

If studentGPA is:

Minimum SAT (out of 1600)total must be:

Minimum ACT compositemust be:

3.0 No Minimum score required

2.9 580 12

2.8 660 14

2.7 740 16

2.6 820 18

2.5 900 20

2.4 980 22

2.3 1060 24

2.2 1140 26

2.1 1220 28

2.0 1300 30

Non-impacted CSU Campuses Fall 2016-2017

•Bakersfield•Channel Islands•Dominguez Hills

•East Bay•Maritime Academy

•Stanislaus

CSU Technical Support

• 1-800-GO-TO-XAP (1-800-468-6927)

• support@csumentor.edu

Important Dates

• College app workshop.- Computer Lab Oct. 1• Tri-Valley College & Career Fair Oct. 14• ACT Oct. 24• Early Decision Cal Poly Deadline Oct. 31• SAT Nov. 7• CSU (and UC) application deadline Nov. 30• SAT (last test date for CSU) Dec. 5• ACT (last test date for CSU) Dec. 12• Financial Aid Night Jan. 7• File FAFSA online Jan. 1 – Mar. 2• Return SIR by May 1

The UC Application• Provide accurate information (use transcript, not

memory)• 30 minute time limit…as you move through each page,

it will automatically save – type your personal statement essay in a word document and then insert it into the application when ready

• Use Help Desk for both technical and application questions (extended hours)

• Apply broadly within the systems

• Don’t wait until Nov. 30th!

Ranking UC San Diego Colleges

You must click here before ranking the colleges

Rank order does NOT affect chances of admission.

Academic History

Academic – setting the context of the school, academic program.

Non-Academic – changes/life circumstances that affected a students academics

Activities and Awards

UC Personal StatementInstructionsAnswer 2 mandatory prompts in a combined 1,000 words

Essay vs Personal StatementIt’s not an essay!This is the student's interview with UCIt’s never read alone

UC Personal Statement

-Responses are not “graded”

-Grammar/spelling mistakes will not hurt a student's admission

-Sob stories do not guarantee admission

-“I” and “my” statements are encouraged

-One response is read by all UC campuses the student applies to

-Students don’t have to entertain an admissions reader

The Personal Statement

Statement 1: Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

Statement 2: Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud, and how does it relate to the person you are?

UC Personal StatementI was born to run. People say that talented runners are developed by intense training, and practice. I beg to differ. My story begins well before I started distance running, specifically during youth sports in middle school. I played every sport under the sun, including: football, baseball, soccer, basketball and even La Crosse. I love competition, I compete in everything that I do, sometimes even against myself. Speed was my weapon and everything that I enjoyed playing required it.

When starting high school, it was my plan to play sports year round. XX High School was in for a new generation of runner and athlete. By the first week of school it was already too late to sign up for football. Practice had commenced over summer and the coach already filled roster spots. Although disappointed, I decided to join cross-country and start conditioning for basketball season. I hated running, but had to invest the time knowing basketball would be almost impossible to make the team. After training 40-50 miles a week it was time to test my legs at the first competition. Fifteen high schools were there with 5-7 runners per team, the competition was complete chaos. It was finally my turn to line up and the pistol fired-I'm off to the races. It felt very natural staying up front and couldn't believe I was leading the pack. Eighteen minutes later I took 6th place and medaled for the first time in high school. My coach came up to me and said "you are a natural runner XX, keep up the good work." Thus, began my running career.

Cross-country and track are not part-time sports. I am passionate about running and train harder during the off-season than regular. I can still hear the alarm sounding at 5am on a cold, winter morning. Slowly creeping out of bed and putting on my Saucony shoes, Nike sweat pants and sweatshirt. I make my way downstairs in the dark, trying not to step on the dogs, and quietly exit the front door. I start my first mile, second, third, striving for that 6:20 pace. My knees begin to loosen up, the fog in my head starts to lift and suddenly, a small adrenaline rush, what a beautiful day. Approaching six miles and really feeling good, I'm so glad I made the decision to roll out of bed this morning.

Although I give my heart and soul to distance running, it does not define me. It is the end result of a long journey consisting of relentless and disciplined training. These small steps towards a final goal are what define me-the sacrifice, pain and fight to the finish. I love competition and was born to be a runner. This passion will continue with me through my college career and as a professional.

UC Personal StatementI have been running for 4 years. I use to hate running, but I knew it would be good preparation for sports I hoped to play in high school. I ran on my own 3 days a week. I took it upon myself to organize Saturday morning runs with teammates. I trained 40-50 miles a week! My leadership was acknowledged last year as I was voted team captain. As captain I am responsible for scheduling practice work outs (coordinating 40 teammates in the work-out room and track field), I communicate with our team mom to coordinate travel to meets.

In my first race it felt very natural staying up front, leading the pack. I took 6th place at my first race. In fact at every race since I have placed in the top 5 out of the 30-50 runners in my field. I rank 4th in our school district and 10th in the state. Cross-country and track are not part-time sports. I am passionate about running and train harder during the off-season than regular. 5am mornings Monday – Saturday show my dedication to the sport.

Running is more than a way to stay healthy and be part of a team. It has allowed me to find my career goal of starting an event planning business. Last year I worked with the high school and coaching staff to fund raise for new team uniforms. Most of my teammates could not afford the $120 uniform cost. I organized two summer programs: a car wash and a community father/daughter dance. The car wash meant finding a venue, arranged students into shifts, finding a sponsor to donate supplies, and then I worked with a local gas station to use their facilities. We raised over $1000 dollars in one day! The largest sport team fund raiser our school has ever had.

(UCs would prefer this essay over the first one)

UC Personal StatementStaying FocusedGeneral advice on writing a personal statement.

Avoid

• Acronyms

• Quotes/Dialogue

• Creative Writing

• Story telling/scene setting

• Repetition

• Asking question

• Inappropriate use of humor

UC Admissions Home Pagewww.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions

Online Applicationwww.universityofcalifornia.edu/apply

UC Comprehensive Review

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/freshman/comprehensive-review/index.html

UCOP Personal Statement Instructions

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/personal-statement/index.html

Help Deskucinfo@applyucsupport.net

1-800-207-1710 (U.S. only)1-661-336-5723 (outside U.S.)

Resources

Important Dates…again• College app workshop.- Computer Lab Oct. 1• Tri-Valley College & Career Fair Oct. 14• ACT Oct. 24• Early Decision Cal Poly Deadline Oct. 31• SAT Nov. 7• CSU (and UC) application deadline Nov. 30• SAT (last test date for CSU) Dec. 5• ACT (last test date for CSU) Dec. 12• Financial Aid Night Jan. 7• File FAFSA online Jan. 1 – Mar. 2• Return SIR by May 1