CHESTERTON HIGH SCHOOL NEWS FROM THE CAREER CENTER: For the Class of 2015 (and their parents) THE CAREER CENTER CAN HELP (In the Guidance Office) It is an exciting time in your high school career as you look to the future and start to plan your own path. Whether you plan to go to college, technical school, an apprenticeship FINANCIAL AID HELP program, the military, or straight to work; the Career Center can help. The center houses a wide variety of material to assist MARK YOUR CALENDARS: students in locating information about careers, employers, training programs, military service, colleges, universities and Financial Aid Night financial aid. Other resources include scholarship information, SAT and ACT registration materials and practice tests, college Thursday, January 15, 2015 profiles and viewbooks to name a few. See Mrs. Arthur for an 7:00 p.m. appointment. If we have not already seen you, we hope to see you soon!! CHS Cafeteria TIMELY ADVICE A representative from a college financial aid office will Early Senior year: Narrow your list of colleges to consider and present this program for parents and students. The Free apply. Many selective programs close early. Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is available online November 1 has been set by many universities and colleges as at www.fafsa.ed.gov. To make best use of the evening, print a their priority deadline for awarding scholarships. FAFSA on the Web Worksheet from FAFSA website and look it over before the presentation. Early January of senior year: Fill out the FAFSA, the Free If you would like additional assistance, plan on Application for Federal Student Aid. Submit online or mail attending College Goal Sunday in February 22, 2015. EARLY to be eligible for both state and federal assistance. Professional financial aid counselors volunteer their time at sites March 10 is the FAFSA processing deadline for Indiana statewide to help families fill out the FAFSA form. Check out universities and colleges. www.collegegoalsunday.org for a location near you. Mid-April-May: Universities should be sending financial aid packages offering preliminary aid figures. If the packages still FINDING SCHOLARSHIPS don’t meet your needs, the school may be able to adjust the package. IS NOT EASY While there is no way of making the process of May 1: This date is nationally recognized as the date students applying for scholarships and financial aid easy, there are a few must commit to the college of their choice. guidelines that will help. Most of the money that most students receive comes in THE COLLEGE/SCHOLARSHIP the form of financial aid, campus work, or student loans. To qualify for this money the student and parent(s) fill out the APPLICATION PROCESS: FAFSA after January 1 and before the college and state “priority” *Most colleges have online applications which can be found on deadline. Indiana priority deadline is MARCH 10. Colleges the college website. Many colleges now use the Common process the information and send the student a response. Application which allows one application to be used for up to 20 An early estimate of how much financial aid you are colleges of your choice. When using the Common Application, likely to receive if you enroll is available from all colleges via you will need to invite your counselor and/or recommenders to their website. Look for their NET PRICE CALCULATOR. participate. Please make sure names are spelled correctly. In addition, there are scholarships that come from a *Always ask permission to use someone’s name as a variety of sources. Colleges award scholarships to incoming recommender. Please give counselors and teachers at least 2 freshmen based on merit (high school grades, SAT/ACT scores, weeks’ notice before due dates. etc.) and/or talents; for these you must apply directly to the *Following the submission of your application, you will need to college. Local organizations award scholarships to local request a transcript be sent. Please use www.parchment.com. students--these change each year but almost all of the applications You will create an account and use your account to send your are available from the Career Center. Other transcripts electronically. In many cases this will be free. organizations send information about scholarships to the Career Center, but often the student must send away for the application. *If a school asks for OFFICIAL SAT or ACT scores, they must Finally, there are scholarships which are listed in national be sent directly through the testing agency. These tests scores directories and which take a lot of hard work for students to will NOT be on transcripts. research. *If a paper transcript is needed, please complete a transcript request form and return it with $4 to Mrs. Arthur in the Career Center. Please allow 3 days minimum for processing. Plan ahead! ONLINE SCHOLSHIP HELP Students can find a wealth of online tips and programs and whether they provide athletic scholarships. advice about obtaining financial aid, as well as listings of If you are planning to enroll in college as a freshman available loans, scholarships and fellowships, from the and you wish to participate in Division I or II athletics, you must comfort of their desktops. be certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center. Apply online at: www.eligibilitycenter.org Try some of these web sites for scholarship If you are planning on participating in athletics at a searches: NAIA school, visit www.playnaia.org for information. www.cappex.com Choose your courses wisely. A list of approved core www.college-scholarships.com/ courses offered by Chesterton High School is available on the www.collegeanswer.com/ NCAA Eligibility Center website. www.collegeboard.com/parents/ The Eligibility Center needs the following information www.fastweb.com/ after the student has completed six semesters:  Your completed and signed Student/Transcript Release www.finaid.org/ Forms. www.scholarships.com  Your official transcript sent directly from every high school www.zynch.com you have attended. Transcripts can be sent through These sites include a free scholarship search. You www.parchment.com.  Your ACT or SAT should be requested from the testing simply fill out an online form with your background, organization using the code 9999. TEST SCORES ON AN degree sought, and other information. The program scans OFFICIAL HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPT WILL NO its database and spits out a list of possibilities. LONGER BE USABLE FOR NCAA PURPOSES. More is available at: www.ed.gov/index.html This government-sponsored site includes a general description of how the aid process works, information WHEN SHOULD YOU RETEST about direct loans, etc. WITH THE SAT OR ACT? Other valuable links are located on the Career Center page. Check it out at: Each college or scholarship agency has its own policy. http://www.duneland.k12.in.us/chscareercenter. Typically, they take the best set of scores; but some average scores, some consider only the most recent, and some accept the best scores from multiple test dates. It is recommended that you SCHOLARSHIP SCAMS know the policy of the schools and programs that interest you. If you have to pay money to get money, it's probably a scam. Every year, several hundred thousand students and parents You should consider retaking college tests if you: are defrauded by scholarship scams. The victims of these scams  intend to engage in concentrated review in areas covered on lose more than $100 million annually. Scam operations often the test. imitate legitimate government agencies, grant-giving foundations,  have chosen a college or a major that requires or strongly education lenders and scholarship matching services, using encourages a higher score than achieved. official-sounding names containing words like "National,"  you have been advised by a college or scholarship "Federal," "Foundation," or "Administration." In general, be representative that you should take another test. wary of scholarships with an application fee, scholarship  are not satisfied that your scores are an accurate matching services who guarantee success, advance-fee loan representation of your abilities. scams, and sales pitches disguised as financial aid "seminars".  were physically ill or experienced a strong emotional or More information is available in the Duneland School nervous reaction while taking the test. Corporation Career Center page.  have since completed coursework in areas covered on the test. Visit the Career Center website: http://www.duneland.k12.in. us/chscareercenter You will find what you are looking for!

MAKE SURE YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN COLLEGE SPORTS Many college athletic programs are regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), an organization that has established rules on eligibility, recruiting, and financial aid. The NCAA has three membership divisions-Division I, Division II, and Division III. Institutions are members of one or another division according to the size and scope of their athletic