Welcome to Debi Salisbury's Career Center
E-Mail any Questions or Comments to Deborah_Salisbury@avusd.org
To Do List
9th, 10th, 11th & 12th Grades
- Apply for Free or Reduced Lunch if you qualify applications in Counseling Office
- Sign up with scholarships searchs
- Visit college campuses as much as possible
- Attend as many college fairs and financial aid workshops as possible.
- If parent/step-parent was injured while serving in the U.S. military, see Mrs. Salisbury in the Career Center.
Juniors
- Apply for Test Fee Waiver if you qualify, applications in Career Center
- Register for PSAT/SAT/SAT Subject/ACT www.Collegeboard.com / www.act.org
If you hope to go to a Military Accadamy (West Point, Annapolis, Air Force) start the prossess (see Mrs. Salisbury)
Senior Calendar
What Needs to be Done and When
AUGUST
Make sure your fall schedule of classes includes college/major admissions requirements.
Join CSF (California Scholarship Federation), if eligible.
Athletes should register for NCAA Clearinghouse. See Mrs. Salisbury for Fee Waiver.
Narrow list of colleges to consider.
Contact colleges that interest you to obtain information on admissions application
procedures, scholarships, and financial aid and entrance requirements.
Apply for Free Lunch program (Counseling) and Fee Waiver (Career Center)
Register for the SAT or ACT, if necessary.
Take career/vocational interest surveys (available in Career Center).
Have your parents check with the personnel office where they work to see
if scholarship programs are offered.
If parent or step parent is a U.S. military veteran see Mrs. Salisbury in the Career Center.
Update self-evaluation forms.
Complete Local Scholarship form and essay (available in the Career Center).
Register with scholarship search WEB sites.
SEPTEMBER
Create a business suitable E-Mail account to use for all college and scholarship business. Clean up your facebook, my space and phone message.
Register for the ACT and SAT I or SAT II. Test scores must be sent directly from ACT or SAT to the NCAA if applicable.
Begin survey of scholarship opportunities; see your counselor; visit the career center;
listen for announcements; read bulletin boards.
Meet with counselor to review college list and your graduation requirements.
Write to any colleges you have not contacted for applications, organize files, photocopy applications and begin to fill out rough drafts.
Remind your parents to gather financial records and get financial counseling if needed.
Decide the number of colleges and cost of applying.
Submit PROFILE registration form for schools requiring PROFILE.
Attend as many college fairs and financial aid workshops as possible.
Begin to make appointments to visit the schools that interest you. Remember that popular weekends (i.e., Columbus Day and Veterans Day) get filled early.
Request letters of recommendation from teachers, employers and/or guidance counselors.
Begin draft of your college essays and resume or biography, for UC and/or private colleges.
OCTOBER
Check E-Mail often
Request applications from colleges and universities.
Register for December ACT and/or SAT I or SAT II if you have not done so previously.
Take ACT and/or SAT I or SAT II.
Attend open houses offered by universities and colleges.
Plan visits and interviews to colleges while they are in session. Schedule appointments
with financial aid officers in addition to sitting in on classes and meeting with admissions staff.
File early action/early decision applications, if appropriate.
If not applying early, file applications for schools with early deadlines or rolling admissions.
Finalize application essays and complete admission procedures.
Remind references of application deadlines. Send thank you notes to these people.
Begin UC/CSU applications.
UC- www.universityofcalifornia.edu/apply
CSU- www.csumentor.edu
NOVEMBER
Check E-Mail often
Submit UC and CSU applications as early in the month as possible.
Get financial aid forms, including the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Note filing deadlines. Do not submit financial aid application before January 1st.
Take SAT I or SAT II.
Register for December ACT.
Finish all rough draft applications and essays- go over them with counselor, teacher and parent.
Give all recommendations and secondary school evaluation forms to teachers and
counselor to fill out.
Apply to your “choice colleges”. Make sure you have all the necessary paperwork turned in.
If accepted early, withdraw other applications.
If deferred, update material for that school.
Mid-year graduates can obtain community college applications, and take placement exams.
Parents: Retain year-end payroll information – it may be required to pre-determine financial aid eligibility.
Plan holiday visits to colleges.
DECEMBER
Check E-Mail often
Take SAT I or SAT II or ACT, if necessary.
Work on and send in private colleges applications as you finish them.
Collect Financial Aid information.
Go to www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov to start working on the worksheet for the 2011-2012 school year. DO NOT SUBMIT UNTIL JANUARY 1.
See your counselor/career center to discuss your eligibility for local school scholarships.
Some scholarship applications are due early in the school year.
Complete and turn in your Local Scholarship application and the Cal Grant GPA Release Form to Mrs. Salisbury if not already done.
Ask for transcript from Mrs. Salisbury as directed by your college or university.
JANUARY
Check E-Mail often
FAFSA and Cal Grant can be filed after January 1. Deadline is March 2nd for California aid. Keep copies. Since most schools have a limited supply of aid and some dispense it on a rolling basis as they accept students, it is to your advantage to apply as early as possible.
Most financial aid applications are due this month.
Mid-year graduates request final transcript for college. See Mrs. Salisbury
Be sure your local school scholarship applications are turned in to Mrs. Salisbury.
If you plan to take the Advance Placement exams, start paying for them. See Mrs. Salisbury
Request seventh semester transcripts be sent to colleges that request them. See Mrs. Salisbury
Check with teachers, counselor and colleges that all forms have been received.
Let your counselor and Mrs. Salisbury know of any schools that have accepted you and your first choice colleges.
Stay in contact with your representative at those colleges. Ask if you can send any additional academic or talent information or letters.
Watch all deadlines.
Keep sending your applications. It is not too late to apply to many colleges.
Parents: Prepare IRS tax returns early – they will be needed on the FAFSA to determine financial aid eligibility.
Turn in the Cal Grant GPA Release Form to Mrs. Salisbury
FEBRUARY
Check E-Mail often If requested, forward all mid-year grades to all colleges where you submitted applications.
Submit completed scholarship forms. Local Scholarship forms are in the Career Center.
Deadline for filing Cal Grants is early March. This application and the FAFSA allows you to apply for Cal Grants, Pell Grants, and University Grants. Turn in form to Mrs. Salisbury
Be sure you have applied for housing at the public college of your choice; you cannot deal with housing at an independent college until you have been accepted.
Be sure to bring a copy of your college acceptance letters to Mrs. Salisbury as you get them.
Pursue scholarship options, watch due dates.
Send thank you’s to teachers, counselor, and anyone who helped you through the process.
Be sure your FAFSA has been submitted. Deadline: March 2nd.
Check that colleges have received all materials: applications, test scores, financial aid form.
Take ACT test if needed.
Continue to look for scholarships.
MARCH
Start saving money for early expenses.
Check E-Mail often Submit tax forms to the Financial Aid Office of colleges who request them.
Watch for Student Aid Report (SAR) to arrive, giving amount of student aid for which you are eligible. Make sure your colleges receive it. Keep the original.
UC decisions will be mailed this month. If colleges request additional information, send it to them immediately.
Register for AP exams. Fee waivers in the Career Center
Register for CSU placement tests.
Notify counseling office and Mrs. Salisbury once you are accepted to a college.
Verify mid-year transcripts have been sent to each school receiving your application for admission.
Forward medical forms to each school requiring a physical exam as a condition of admission.
Complete community college applications this month, following the procedure specified for the campus you plan to attend; and take placement exams.
APRIL Check E-Mail often . Give copies of acceptance letters to Mrs. Salisbury
Financial aid offers will begin to arrive.
Notify counseling office and Mrs. Salisbury once you are accepted to a college.
Continue checking for scholarships.
Decide where you wish to go. Revisit if necessary. Go to information meetings you are invited to.
Write to the college you accept and those you do not.
Wait List? Write “pleading letter” asking for help.
Most colleges decide in July.
Return student intent to register forms to the campus of your choice with deposit BEFORE the deadline.
Sign and return financial award letter, if you received one.
Start looking for a summer job.
MAY
Check E-Mail often Take the AP exams. UC – Subject A exam. CSU – placement exams.
Inform the Mrs. Salisbury if you have received a scholarship so it can be included in Senior Awards.
Notify the colleges you are declining so that your slot may be released to a waiting student.
Fill out housing forms.
Request from Mrs. Salisbury that your final (8th semester) transcript be sent to the
college you have selected to attend.
Complete and return student and parent loan applications to the financial aid office.
Complete and return to the Career Center the Senior Questionnaire.
JUNE
Check E-Mail often
If you have not previously done so, request your final transcript be sent to the college
you will attend in the fall. Most colleges need this before July 15th. This is necessary to certify graduation.
Return applications for on-campus orientation programs for the campus you will be attending.
Make sure you have responded to all requests by your college.
Write thank you notes to those who have helped you this year and to those who have
awarded you scholarships.
Attend all advising days, open houses, orientation programs, and registration offered by your college.
Read books on how to survive in college – physically, emotionally, academically, philosophically, and spiritually.
Graduation, CONGRATULATIONS!!