TRANSFER MATTERS

CCC Student Newsletter March 2015

Dollars and Cents In This Issue We all know that a CCC student is a financially savvy student.  Dollars and Cents They made the decision to come to to get their pre-requisites for their major complete at about a third of  CCC Partnerships with Scholarship the cost than if they had started as a freshman at a four-year Opportunities institution. That’s smart!  Transfer Tips With the spring semester coming to a close, students begin completing college applications and applying for scholarships  Transfer Events to pay for their education. Generally, students who earn a GPA  The Monthly Quick Tip that is 3.5 or higher, have a strong chance of getting funds to pay for their education. As soon as you earn that 3.5 GPA, you  Transfer Center Directors should apply to become a member of Phi Theta Kappa on your Contact List campus. Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) is a community college honors society that assists students in getting scholarships,  Transfer Success Stories serving their community and learning about their options post community college. It’s a great way for students to commune with other like-minded students and to get connected to a network of scholarship opportunities through the PTK database.

PTK is one of several things that you can do as a student to plan for your finances during this next phase of your academic career. Here are a few more ways to save your dollars and cents for college: Below are links to some helpful 1. Research—Take the time to research scholarships that are offered by the institutions in which you are looking to resources to help you search for transfer and on websites for national scholarships. Use the scholarships: links to the right to start your scholarship search today. 2. Just Say No— That daily Starbucks's run or pair of jeans CCC Transfer Page that you saw in the store may just need to hear the word Fastweb.com “no” for now. You could save the cost of your books per year if you think before you spend Scholarships.com 3. Cut the Card—If you don’t have the available cash on hand at the moment, many people will just reach for the credit card. The cost of monthly/daily interest alone could save you a good chunk of your tuition for a semester if you stop using the credit card altogether. 4. GPA=$ —the higher your GPA, the greater the chance of you getting larger dollar amounts in scholarship awards. Have you won a Many colleges and universities provide tiered scholarship scholarship? Share the awards based on GPA, so a student with a 4.0 GPA will be awarded more money than a student with a 3.25. good news with the

Visit your campus Transfer Center today to get the help you Transfer Director on need to research and complete scholarship applications! your campus! TRANSFER PARTNERSHIPS

Become a Scholar Today! The mission of Chicago Scholars is to provide talented, academically ambitious, and underserved high school students access and success through college and beyond. is proud to be the first transfer chapter for Chicago Scholars. This opportunity allows students to apply to their dream school up to one year in advance. Students can also be told through an onsite Admission Event of their acceptance up to one year in advance of their future start date and can be offered scholarship awards.

Click here to apply today!

Presidential Scholars Program Students who transferred to IIT in Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 have received over $750,000 in scholarship awards. The IIT Presidential Scholarship is a great way for students with strong GPA’s and a history of community service to help pay for a quality education. Students who are not awarded the Presidential Scholarship still remain eligible for other IIT scholarships, so don’t hesitate to complete an application today! Deadline to apply: May 15, 2015 Click here to apply!

Dual Degree Partnership

The Dual Degree Program is a unique partnership between GSU and City Colleges of Chicago that provides full-time students with an excellent pathway to earn quality, accessible, and affordable associate and bachelor's degrees. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain by enrolling in the DDP. Your enrollment in the DDP will not limit transfer options in any way. Students in the program with a strong GPA and a history of community service are eligible to apply for a scholarship award that covers all tuition, fees and books! GSU offers other scholarships to students in the program who are high achievers as well.

Click here to apply today! TRANSFER TIPS Your Key to Transfer Success: Funding Your Education

The semester is almost finished and you are eagerly anticipating starting at your dream school— a bead of sweat drips down your face as you think to yourself, “How will I pay for this!”. There is no need to panic. There are options to help you pay for your much needed bachelor’s degree. Pell/Map Grants One of the fastest ways to be awarded grant money (money that you do not have to pay back) is by completing your FAFSA. If you have not already done so, make today the day that you complete it. Although you are able to apply for FAFSA for the 2015-2016 term until June 30, 2016, the state and federal grant money that gets awarded to students (the portion of aid that does not have to be repaid) quickly runs out. You will want to complete your FAFSA as soon as possible if you are seeking and eligible for grant funding. Scholarships Scholarships take time to research and apply for. The earlier you can start the research process, the better. It’s recommended that you begin researching for scholarships after you’ve completed your first year at community college. That way you have a good idea of your GPA and the scholarships that you will be eligible for once you are ready to apply. Keep track of scholarships that you are eligible for and stay on top of the deadlines. Many scholarships have early deadlines (in the fall semester) to be awarded to students who are transferring the following fall semester. You can also look at scholarships at the colleges and universities in which you are seeking to transfer. This way you can shape the activities you participate in and increase your GPA as needed for scholarships (on average, you should be shooting for a minimum GPA of 3.5 to be eligible for many scholarships). When completing scholarship applications, pay attention to the directions. You never want to leave any part of the form blank. If a question does not apply to you, enter not applicable or N/A in the response box. Have a professor or advisor who knows you well review your essay to help you hi-light your strengths and your story. See this article for more information on writing a quality scholarship application. Student Loans I know, I know. You hear the term “student loan” and you begin to cringe. No one likes the idea of incurring debt to pay for an education. The reality is that most people will have to take out some type of loan to help pay for their education, but here’s a tip you can use to help you with student loans. Never take out more in student loans than you will make for your annual salary once you are employed. This means that you will need to research the entry level salaries for the career you are choosing. Use tools such as the Occupational Outlook Handbook or O*Net to help you determine your future salary (and be sure to choose the lower end of the spectrum if you are coming out of college with little to no experience in the field). Once you have determined how much you can afford to take out in loans, you can supplement the remainder with scholarships or this final option… Work Part-Time Finding part-time work to help cover living expenses, books and fees can significantly reduce the amount you may need to take in student loans. Finding a position as a work study student on campus can help you to continue to focus on your studies as these positions understand the importance of getting your education complete. It can also be beneficial to your future career (and help get a higher salary out of college) if you work part-time for a company that has positions related to your field of study. Build strong relationships with your boss and co-workers and produce quality work. This could help you land a permanent full-time job at the company after graduation. At minimum, if you take an entry level position related to your field while in college, you can at least have the experience you need to look good to an employer after graduation. TRANSFER EVENTS

Transfer Fairs

In 2013-14, City Colleges collectively had over 95 colleges and universities attend our Transfer Fairs. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to meet with college reps from your dream school:

Wilbur Wright Wednesday, Mar 4th 10:00am-1:00pm Campus Center Kenney-King Tuesday, Mar 10th 9:30am-1:00pm W Building Tuesday, Mar 17th 10:00am-1:00pm Student Union Thursday, Mar 19th 12:00pm-3:00pm Student Cafeteria Harry S Truman (PICU Fair)

Campus Table Visits

Did you know that the number of college representatives who visited CCC campuses over the Fall 2014 semester has increased by 20% from Fall 2013? College Representatives want our students and are on CCC campuses every week! Learn where on your campus you can speak to a 4-year Recruiter.

Wilbur Wright 10am-1pm or 1-4pm Science Building Lobby Richard J. Daley 10am-1pm or 1-4pm Lobby Olive Harvey 10am-1pm or 1-4pm Outside of Rm 1410 Malcom X 10am-1pm or 1-4pm Student Center Kennedy King 10am-1pm or 1-4pm Y Building Corridor Harry S Truman 10am-1pm or 1-4pm Academic Building Lobby Harold 10am-1pm, 1-4pm or 4-7pm Lobby by the up escalator Washington

February 2015 Transfer Events

If you missed these events in February, visit your campus Transfer Center to find out what great events are offered in March!

Transfer Week at Olive Harvey College celebrated Students listening to a speaker at the Transfermation Greek Life with students from Conference held at Harold Washington College TRANSFER SUCCESS STORIES CCC graduates don’t just successfully transfer to 4-year Your Transfer institutions. They go on to earn that bachelor’s degree Center Directors and even Masters degrees. Check out the success

Harold Washington College stories below! Ellen Goldberg—101B Phone: 312-553-5778 Stephanie Kuwornu is the epitome of a E-mail: [email protected] Harold Washington College Rock Star! She will graduate this Spring 2015 and Harry S has applied to 18 schools for Fall 2015. Chanel Bishop—1220A Stephanie has taken advantage of the wonderful partnerships that CCC has Phone: 773-907-4724 with colleges and universities. She E-mail: [email protected] participated in the Chicago Scholars program as well as the UIC Guaranteed Kennedy King College Admission Transfer (GAT) program. She is a leader for the Student Government Association at HWC as Kenyon Douglass—V-229 well as an One Million Degrees (OMD) Scholar. Stephanie was excited Phone: 773-602-5285 to share that she has been accepted to Bradley University and is E-mail: [email protected] receiving an $8,500 scholarship to help fund her education. Would you like to be like Stephanie and get scholarship money to fund your education? Visit your transfer Center today to get assistance in Malcolm X College searching for opportunities. Natalia Zuniga—1508 Phone: 312-850-7088 E-mail: [email protected]

Olive Harvey College Tyanna McCann—1410 A11 Phone: 773-291-6537 E-mail: [email protected]

Richard J Daley College Apply Today and Be the Next Success Story!!! Emily LaForge—1111 Here are a some of the many colleges and universities still accepting Phone: 773-838-7778 college applications for Fall 2015. Click on the links below to apply today! E-mail: [email protected] If you are applying to more than 1 of theses universities, consider applying Chicago State University National Louis University Susan Calabrese—A120 Columbia College Northeastern University Phone: 773-481-8227 DePaul University Northern Illinois University E-mail: [email protected] Dominican University Purdue University-Calumet Eastern Illinois University Transferring this Fall? Fisk University Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Be sure to tell the Governors State University Resurrection University Transfer Director on Illinois State University your campus about Illinois Tech (IIT) University of Illinois at Chicago your transfer success Loyola University University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign story!!! through the Common Application, a system that allows you to complete one application to multiple colleges and universities.