Reality is about to hit with those three dreaded words for most kids - BACK TO SCHOOL.
For students that are in High School, no matter the grade, there are some things you need to concentrate on at the beginning of the school year:
Freshmen- It is a new beginning for you in high school. Whether you did well or not in junior high, your GPA is starting all over. Your Freshman grades matter. Colleges look at your GPA through all FOUR years in high school. Take your classes seriously and do your best to get off to a good start. If you have trouble in any class, don’t be afraid to ask the teacher for help.
Sophomores- Grades in the sophomore year count as well but the advice I would want to give sophomores, is that if they haven’t attended a college fair yet, to plan on doing that this Fall. On Sunday Sept. 23rd from 12:30-3pm at the Iowa Center for Higher Education in Des Moines will be the largest college fair in Iowa, the Golden Circle College Fair. Students/families will be able to talk with colleges/universities from all over the country as well as some Iowa Employers. There are breakout sessions also. For more information visit: www.icansucceed.org/goldencircle
Juniors - If you have not attended a college fair yet, or have but still need more information, then the Golden Circle College Fair would be worth your time.(All high school students including Freshmen and Seniors would benefit from this fair). Junior year is when we encourage students to start taking college visits. You don’t want to save everything for Senior year. By starting to visit colleges during your Junior year, it will give you more time to explore multiple colleges/universities. Spreading out campus visits throughout junior/senior year in high school will reduce the stress than if you try to get them all in your senior year.
Seniors – Some of you may have already done a few college applications in the summer but if you haven’t started or still need to get some in, now is the time to do it. We would like to see all seniors apply to the schools they are interested in by Nov. 1st. Something else we like to seniors and one of their parents do is sign up to get a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID). This FSA ID will consist of a USERNAME and PASSWORD that will serve as your electronic signature on the FAFSA form. The FAFSA form will be available on Oct. 1st for the 2019-20 College Year so getting your FSA ID ahead of time can make filling out the FAFSA a little more smoother. You can register for your FSA ID at: https://fsaid.ed.gov
To find out more tips on what students need to be doing during each year in high school, materials, video presentations, scholarship searches and much more, go to our Resource Zone at: www.icansucceed.org/resourcezone
Hope you had an awesome summer and have a great start to the new school year!
Erick - ICAN Ankeny Center
