Michigan Health Sciences Pre-College Academy

 

Attention: 10th and 11th graders.

The Michigan Health Sciences Pre-College Exposure Academy (MHSPEA) is a two-week entry-level residential academic enrichment program sponsored by the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) Office for Health Equity & Inclusion (OHEI). The MHSPEA brings together highly motivated rising 10th and 11th grade high school students to gain exposure to the University Michigan and UMMS. Participants will take college prep courses taught by experts in the field such as: English, Chemistry, Biology, and Math, which are essential courses for a successful track to health professions.

Other courses participants will take include:  Introduction to College and ACT preparation. The MHSPEA features workshops on health disparities, health equity, introduction to research, and academic wellness.  In addition, students will take tours of the UMMS, UM Hospital and UM Central Campus.  During the two-week session, student leaders stay in the residence hall with participants and provide one-on-one and small group mentoring, academic coaching, and intellectual and social stimulation. Michigan Health Sciences Pre-College Exposure Academy participants will be exposed to fun-filled evening events highlighting cultural diversity, self-development, and the arts.

Purpose

The Office for Health Equity and Inclusion leads efforts, advises, and coordinates initiatives to enhance inclusion, increase the diversity, and promote equity within the University of Michigan Health System and UMMS. The Michigan Health Sciences Pre-College Exposure Academy seeks to expose students who are underrepresented in medicine, are from medically under-served areas or have an interest in combating health disparities to health professions. Our goal is transform medicine by developing highly qualified students to become leaders in our educational, clinical and research programs.

Eligibility

Students must be in the 9th or 10th grade at the time of submitting their application.Students must have at least a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale.This program is open toall students with an interest in medicine and health disparities.  OHEI particularly encourages applications from students that are from underrepresented minority groups in medicine. Applicants from rural and socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds are also encouraged to apply.

For more information contact:

Email:oheiprecollegeprograms@umich.edu
Telephone: (734)764-8185
Fax: (734)615-4828

A Framework for Reading

A recent research study by the University of Chicago, Reading on Grade Level in Third Grade: How Is It Related to High School Performance and College Enrollment?notes the importance of early reading intervention in which the authors note:

For children, a critical transition takes place during elementary school: until the end of third grade, most students are learning to read. Beginning fourth grade, however, students begin reading to learn. Students who are not reading at grade level by third grade begin having difficulty comprehending the written material that is a central part of the educational process in the grades that follow.

Meeting increased educational demands becomes more difficult for students who struggle to read. (p. 2)

  • Nearly 80 percent of students who were above grade level in reading in third grade graduated from high school compared with 55 percent of students throughout the school district.
  • 60 percent of students reading above grade level attended college compared to only 20 percent of students reading below grade level

The U.S. Department of Education report, The Nation’s Report Card: Reading 2011, provides cause for alarm, as less than half of all students are considered proficient in reading by 4th grade, with little improvement occurring in the ensuring 4 years through 8th grade:

Percentage of 4th grade students reading at a level of proficiency or higher (p. 15):

  • 49 percent Asian
  • 44 percent White
  • 19 percent Hispanic
  • 18 percent Native American
  • 16 percent Black

Percentage of 8th grade students reading at a level of proficiency or higher (p. 44):

  • 47 percent Asian
  • 43 percent White
  • 22 percent Native American
  • 19 percent Hispanic
  • 15 percent Black

Many school districts are actively pursuing efforts to increase students’ college and career readiness and implement changes to the curriculum such as the Common Core State Standards. However, while the Common Core State Standards provide a framework for the type of knowledge that students should be able to acquire and demonstrate, the standards cannot teach themselves—students must be engaged. There are three critical areas of student engagement that parents and teachers must consider:

  1. Provide meaningfully relevant literary texts
  2. Engage students in self-reflection of their short- and long-term goals, and help students to understand the connection between effort and outcomes.
  3. Engage students in higher levels of learning through reading, writing, thinking, and talking about the issues raised in the texts

Alfred Tatum, in Enabling Texts: Texts That Matters, notes the importance of providing students with interesting, meaningful, and relevant literary choices:

More than 30% of the adolescents [surveyed] did not identify a single text they found significant. The students ascribed the absence of meaningful texts in their lives to teachers’ refusal to acknowledge their day-to-day realities couched in their adolescent, cultural, and gender identities. A young man offered that ‘I need to read interesting topics like teen drama, violence, something you can relate your life or other people’s lives to.’

High school students need and benefit from a wide range of texts that challenge them to contextualize and examine their in-school and out-of-school lives. I agree with Apple (1990) who argues that ignoring text that dominates school curricula as being simply not worthy of serious attention and serious struggle is to live in a world divorced from reality. He asserts that texts need to be situated in the larger social movements of which they are a part.

There are several reasons adolescents refuse to read. Primary among them are a lack of interest in the texts and a lack of requisite skills and strategies for handling the text independently. It is imperative to identify and engage students with texts that pay attention to their multiple identities.
(Tatum 2013)

Robert Marzano, in Classroom Instruction That Works, notes the importance or reinforcing student effort and providing recognition.

Effort and recognition speak to the attitudes and beliefs of students, and teachers must show the connection between effort and achievement. Research shows that although not all students realize the importance of effort, they can learn to change their beliefs to emphasize effort.
(Marzano 2001)

The Common Instructional Framework, provides a researched-based framework for guiding students through interesting and culturally relevant texts, “Every student reads, writes, thinks, and talks in every classroom every day.” (2013)

The Common Instructional Framework, pioneered by University Park Campus School in Worcester, Massachusetts and adopted by the North Carolina New Schools Project, outlines six critical areas:

  1. Collaborative Group Workinvolving bring students together in small groups for the common purpose of engaging in learning.
  2. Writing to Learn through which students develop their ideas, critical thinking ability, and writing skills.
  3. Literacy Groups where students work collaboratively for understanding a variety of texts and engaging in a higher level of discourse.
  4. Questions where students are challenged to use good questions as a way to open conversations and further intellectual inquiry.
  5. Scaffoldingwhere students connect prior knowledge and experience with new information.
  6. Classroom Talk where students articulate their thinking and strengthen their voice either in pairs, collaborative group work, or as the whole class.

Follow Your Dreams: Lessons That I Learned in School (Wynn 2007) is a critically acclaimed work of nonfiction and poetry. However, it was written with the intent of providing a contextual framework for self-reflection, self-examination, and self-motivation. Beyond the traditional literary analysis of characters, point of view, setting, conflict, and style students are guided through important self-reflecting considerations relative to their attitudes and behaviors toward school and those required to guide students toward their long-term dreams and aspirations.

Maximizing the benefit of this book, or any literature, requires teachers, either individually or as grade-level or subject-area teams, to engage in conversations regarding the depth to which they seek to engage students. For example, a traditional literary analysis would certainly lead to a degree of self-reflection as students examine the parallels between the author’s point of view and their own lives. However, a much deeper self-examination would challenge students to examine their current attitudes and behaviors within a long-term context leading to such questions as:

“Are my attitudes and behaviors toward school and learning consistent with achieving my long-term goals?”

“Are my short- and long-term goals consistent with my educational and career aspirations?”

“Who are the people and what are the programs and materials that can provide support and encouragement toward achieving my goals”

“Who are the people and what are the habits and behaviors that provide obstacles toward achieving my goals?”

“What is a realistic self-assessment of my current skill level and what is my plan for developing the type of skills needed to pursue my college or career aspirations?”

“What type of self-monitoring and external support will I require to become successful?”

The book provides a literary response—another voice so to speak—in response to the needs of a particular classroom, grade level, or school community. The book is particularly relevant to student populations (and their teachers) who struggle with issues of race, poverty, urban violence, gang intimidation, bullying, and who lack extensive knowledge of postsecondary planning and preparation. Within this regard, the book can serve as a catalyst to addressing such issues as part of a much larger framework of influencing student behaviors, shaping school climate, and inspiring students to become vested in their own success. Important staff considerations are:

“Who are the students who are struggling most academically in our school?”

“Who are the students who are least likely to maximize the opportunities for learning, personal growth, and creative development in our school?”

“Who are the students who appear to demonstrate attitudes and behaviors most inconsistent with the dreams and aspirations they are affirming?”

“Who are the students who appear most in need of inspiration to combat their feelings of inadequacy and despair?”

This is obviously the short list as there many considerations to be examined through staff discussions pertaining to student demographics and the associated challenges which they present. However, the answers to such questions identifies “why” the book can play an important role in supporting student growth and achievement within a classroom or school setting. The following considerations provide a framework for “how” to maximize the transformational process of student engagement required for such growth and development to occur:

“What are some of the important issues that we [staff persons] wish to expand on as a result of engaging students in reading and analyzing the issues raised in the book?”

“How are we prepared to monitor and support students who become self-motivated to set goals?”

“How are we prepared to intervene to reduce student failure and to celebrate student success?”

“How are we prepared to give a voice to those students who embrace change and begin redirecting their attitudes and behaviors toward more positive outcomes?”

These important, yet oftentimes difficult conversations, can guide a classroom teacher, entire school staff, or parent toward identifying literature that provides much more than characters, point of view, setting, conflict, and style. Such conversations can provide a guide to literature that inspires, encourages, and informs.

Overcoming negative cultural constructs

In an article for UCteen, high school student, Anthony Turner, discusses how he was “caught” reading by a group of students from his high school. Anthony, who is African-American, notes:

“Recently I was ‘caught’ reading at McDonald’s by a group of kids at my school. I say ‘caught’ because many of my peers consider reading to be a lame activity. They think it’s something that only geeks do.”

Anthony went on to share the encounter with one of the students:

“One girl name Tiffany walked up and said ‘Is that a…’ she rubbed her eyes and acted like she couldn’t believe what I was doing…book?’ she finished in a sarcastic, incredulous way.”

Anthony provides a critique as to why developing high levels of literacy is important and goes on to provide insight into a common cultural construct among urban youth in general and African-American youth in particular:

“Black youth culture prizes guys who play ball, bag girls, dance, and rap. Simply reading a book is considered passive or introverted. Or it’s considered a ‘white thing’—something black kids, especially black boys, shouldn’t be caught doing if they want to be popular.”

In would be enough to applaud Anthony for his brilliant critique on youth culture, however, Anthony provides insight into current research:

“I think some kids hold themselves back academically for those reasons. I know I feel slightly wary in school after hearing my peers say that people who read have no lives.

African-American and Hispanic males have the lowest high school graduation rates in the U.S. We need to step up our performance in order to compete. With the economy the way it is, the chances for black youth to succeed can look pretty slim, and if we don’t like to read, those chances get even slimmer. So, the next time you’re killing time by updating your status on Facebook or watching TV, think about reading a book instead. It helps more than you know.”

Read the entire article and view a video of Anthony…

Summary

What is the purpose of school if our children are not learning how to read? The student who cannot read, cannot access the rest of the curriculum, fully understand what is being taught, take effective notes, or be prepared to pursue college and careers after high school. Subsequently, the way forward is clear:

  1. Parents must know EXACTLY the reading level their children are on
  2. Children should be reading every day and parents should listen to how they read and how they are processing what they have read
  3. Teachers and parents should be engaging students in reading, thinking, writing, and speaking on a daily basis
  4. Children should have access to interesting texts that they “want to read”
  5. Children should not only be engaged in reading philosophical texts, but reading practical texts that assists them in overcoming obstacles, setting goals, and making connections between learning and outcomes

Although there is undoubtedly much more that can be done, these 5 things will take us a long way from where we are.

Works Cited:

The Nation’s Report Card: Reading 2011. (2012). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.

Lesnick, J, George, R., Smithgall, C., and Gwynne, J. (2010) Reading on Grade Level in Third Grade: How Is It Related to High School Performance and College Enrollment? Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.

Common Instructional Framework. (2013). North Carolina New Schools.

Your Degree Matters

The research study, “Higher Education Pays: The Initial Earnings of Graduates of Texas Public Colleges and Universities” (CollegeMeasures.org2013) provides important considerations for parents and students formulating their postsecondary plans. Although the report focuses on data from the state of Texas, it has important national considerations regarding selecting between community college, 4-year undergraduate, and certificate programs based on each student’s long-term educational and career aspirations.

Key findings:

  • Students receiving 2-year technical degrees in high demand fields have median first-year earnings over $50,000 and over $11,000 more than graduates from bachelor’s degree programs.
  • These students, earn on average, $30,000 more than other students completing 2-year degree programs.
  • Average earnings varies for 2-year degrees varies significantly from college to college ($20,000 – $65,000).
  • Students earning certificates in business administration/management and criminal justice/police sciences earn more than community college students earning academic and technical degrees in the same fields.
  • Earnings for students receiving bachelor’s degrees varies widely by field from $25,000 in biology to $47,000 in accounting.

The illustration below demonstrates the huge differences in earnings for students earning associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and technical degrees.

From this illustration, a typical student pursing a 2-year technical degree has significant options for continuing his or her education after community college. For example, the costs of attending a community college are significantly lower than attending a 4-year institution. Receiving a high demand technical degree provides a student with the opportunity to enter into the workforce at a significantly higher salary than the typical community college graduate with the option of continuing their studies at a 4-year institution and continuing on to earn a master’s degree. With many employers providing tuition reimbursement and loan forgiveness programs, such a student could earn a top salary and continue his or her education at a substantially reduced or no out of pocket cost.

The next illustration demonstrates the huge gap in earnings by degree field for students earning bachelor’s degrees.

Parents of students choosing to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology, the most popular major on most college campuses, should brace themselves for years of paying back student loans (56% of students from the Texas university system graduate with an average of $22,140 in student loan debt (Project on Student Loan Debt)) as students will enter into the workforce with the lowest earnings among students graduating with a bachelor’s degree.

Many parents and students are aware of the widely publicized job opportunities for STEM-related careers (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). However, the illustration below indicates that earnings widely vary between such STEM majors as biology and mathematics. Interestingly, research indicates that a student’s level of science and mathematics completed during secondary school is the clearest predictor of college preparation and graduation. Subsequently, students who excel in high school math and continue on to major in math will find themselves among the highest paid bachelor’s degree holders.

The following illustration demonstrates the huge variation in earnings for students pursuing a master’s degree based on their degree field. The most significant master’s degree field is clearly a MBA (Masters in Business Administration). While the gap between a student with a bachelor’s degree in business versus a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering is over $30,000, the gap for a student holding a master’s degree in business versus a master’s degree in engineering is only $1,000 with a MBA holder having higher earnings than master’s degree holders in all other degree fields.

For those students who are interested in pursing the highest paying community college technical degree programs, the next illustration demonstrates the earnings of the three most popular technical associate’s degree programs by college. Although graduation rates for community college students, as reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education(13.1% for public community colleges versus 24.4% for 4-year public institutions) are among the lowest of all institutions, for those students able to complete the course work and earn a technical degree, the Texas community college system offers low cost certificate programs with huge earnings potential. It is also important to note that the graduate rate of 59.3% for for-profit 2-year institutions in Texasis significantly higher than the 13.1% 2-year public community college and 24.4% public 4-year college graduation rates.

The Georgetown University report, Certificates: Gateway to Gainful Employment and College Degrees, provides insight for parents and students considering certificate programs. Among the important research findings is the significant difference in the cost of pursuing a certificate program through a public community college (Amarillo College, Central Texas College, Lone Star College System) versus private nonprofit (e.g., Jacksonville College, North American College, Southwestern Christian) and for-profit institutions (e.g,. Allied Health Centers, Arlington Career Institute, Dallas Nursing Institute).

The U.S. Department of Education’s College Navigator website will allow you to identify the public, nonprofit, and for-profit community colleges or 4-year institutions in your state and by certificate or degree program.

Click here to download the Georgetown University report, Certificates: Gateway to Gainful Employment and College Degrees

Summary

High school students have many postsecondary options for entering into high paying jobs and careers. Students can avoid incurring large amounts of student loan debt by entering into the community college system. However, students must also carefully consider their areas of study (e.g., cosmetology versus mathematics), type of degree (e.g., associate’s versus certificate), and institution they will attend (i.e., public, private nonprofit, private for-profit). Parents and students must begin their postsecondary conversations prior to students entering into high school if they are to ensure that students have the widest range of postsecondary options after high school and that such options are appropriately matched to student’s interests, educational aspirations, and career options.

 

 

Social Media and College Admissions

The New York Times table of 2013 College Acceptance Rates indicates that college admissions is the most competitive ever with admissions rates as low as 13.67% at Amherst College, 14.48% at Bowdoin College, and in the single digits at all of the 8 Ivy League institutions such as Harvard at 5.79% of the 35,023 applicants. The U.S. News & World Reports listing of top 100 colleges and universities with the lowest acceptance rates (2012) identifies other colleges with single digit acceptance rates as Stanford (6.6%), Curtis Institute of Music (6.8%), U.S. Naval Academy (6.8%), Cooper Union (7.0%0, Juilliard (7.3%), MIT (9.0%), U.S. Military Academy at West Point (9.0%), College of the Ozarks (9.5%), and the U.S. Air Force Academy (9.9%).

With college admissions the most competitive ever, students should carefully consider that images and language they are projecting through such social media as Facebook®, Twitter®, and Instagram®. Natasha Singer notes in her New York Times article, “The Loved Your G.P.A. Then They Say Your Tweets” shares important comments from college admissions officers regarding social media and the impact it can have on a student’s college admissions decision. Although there are no statistics as to how many college admission officers visit prospective students’ social media pages, students should carefully consider the language and images they project and how the language or images may adversely impact their chances for college admissions or for employment opportunities.

Kat Cohen, in her Huffington Post article, “The Truth About Social Media and Admissions,” notes that a survey of college admissions officers indicated that 27 percent of respondents indicated they had performed an Internet search of prospective students, 26 percent had looked up applicants’ Facebook® Pages, and 35 percent indicated that they found something that negatively impacted an applicant’s chances of being admitted.

The U.S. News & World Reports’ article, “Can Facebook Posts Lead to College Rejections?” provides some important advice from college admissions counselors regarding a student’s social media profile:

  • A racy Facebook profile could ruin your college offs—why risk it?
  • Don’t take the chance—use good common sense
  • While social networking, portray yourself in a responsible manner
  • Facebook can hurt, but also help, when applying to college

Take the advice and use good common sense.

 

 

Colleges That Do Not Require SAT Scores

SAT/ACT scores are becoming increasingly less important to students who are opting to apply to “Test Optional” colleges and universities. However, a recently released research study, Defining Promise: Optional Standardized Testing Policies in American College and University Admissions, examines the outcomes of standardized testing policies in the Admissions offices at 33 public and private colleges and universities. Two critical research findings are (2014 p. 3):

  • There are no significant differences in either Cumulative GPA or graduation rates between students who submitted SAT/ACT scores and those who did not.
  • College and university Cumulative GPAs closely track high school GPAs, despite wide variations in testing. Students with strong HSBPAs generally perform well in college, despite modest or low testing.

Bates College (ranked 22nd nationally on the U.S. News & World Reports liberal arts college rankings) published the report, Defining Promise: Twenty-five Years of Optional Testing at Bates College, which provides similar research findings (2011 p. 6-7):

  • No significant differences in their Bates College Cumulative GPAs for students who submit SAT/ACT scores (3.16) versus students who do not submit scores (3.13)
  • No significant differences in Bates College graduation rates (1 percent)

These research findings suggest that students must carefully consider their financial need and the colleges to which they will seek to apply. Students who do not submit SAT/ACT scores may not be considered for merit-based institutional grants and scholarships. Students who need to qualify for non-need merit-based financial aid, may need to achieve SAT/ACT scores that qualify them for such merit-based institutional financial aid which will widely vary by institutions. Students whose SAT/ACT scores are outside of the range required to qualify for such merit-based institutional aid and would like to explore college admissions at colleges that do not require SAT or ACT scores have many colleges to choose from.

The National Center for Fair and Open Testing website (fairtest.org) provides a listing of several hundred colleges and universities that do require students’ SAT or ACT scores to be considered for admission.

Major universities include:

  • Arizona State University
  • Brandeis University
  • DePaul University
  • Ohio State University
  • University of California, Santa Cruz

Private liberal arts colleges include:

  • Agnes Scott College
  • Bard College
  • Bates College
  • Bowdoin College
  • Benning College
  • Bryn Mawr College
  • Hampshire College

HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)

  • Alcorn State University
  • Arkansas State University
  • Grambling State University
  • Hampton University
  • Langston University

Each college has its own admissions policies, which provide alternatives to submitting SAT or ACT scores. Interested students should review the listing and contact the office of admissions at the college or university to which they are interested in applying.

Click here to download a list of colleges…

Click here to reading the NPR story, “College Applicants Sweat The SATs. Perhaps They Shouldn’t…

 


Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship

Funded through the Comcast Foundation, this scholarship rewards educational achievements, community service, diversity, and leadership with $1000 college scholarship awards.

  • Be a full-time high school senior currently enrolled at a high school within a Comcast Community or otherwise approved by Comcast.
  • Student grade point average of 2.8 or higher.
  • Student demonstrates leadership abilities in school activities or through work experiences.
  • Student shows a strong commitment to and involvement in community service.
  • Student plans to attend an accredited, nonprofit college, university, or vocational/technical school in the United States.
  • Student will need to verify nomination by entering the Comcast School Code (CSC), provided by the principal or guidance counselor.
  • Student will need to complete and approve the terms and conditions set forth in the media release included as part of the scholarship acceptance form. If the nominee is not over the age of eighteen, the parent/guardian must complete and approve the terms and conditions set forth in the media release included as part of the scholarship acceptance form.

Schools can nominate one high school senior.

Click here to apply… (https://aim.applyist.net/Comcast/Highschools)

Deadline to apply: December 5, 2013

Please direct any questions to International Scholarship and Tuition Services, Inc. at Comcast@applyists.com or at (855) 670-4787.

Fast Approaching Deadline: Horatio Alger Scholarship, Deadline October 25, 2013

Horatio Alger Ronald C. Waranch Scholarship Program: Deadline is October 25, 2013.  The Horatio Alger Ronald C. Waranch Scholarship Program provides financial assistance to students in the State of Georgia who have exhibited integrity and perseverance in overcoming personal adversity and who aspire to pursue higher education. To be eligible to apply for the Horatio Alger Ronald C. Waranch Scholarship, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Be enrolled full time as a high school senior in Georgia; be progressing normally toward graduation in spring/summer of 2014 with plans to enter a college in the United States no later than the fall following graduation
  • Exhibit a strong commitment to pursue and complete a bachelor’s degree at an accredited non-profit public or private institution in the United States (students may start their studies at a two-year institution and then transfer to a four-year institution)
  • Demonstrate critical financial need ($55,000 or lower adjusted gross family income is required)
  • Be involved in co-curricular and community service activities
  • Display integrity and perseverance in overcoming adversity
  • Maintain a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0
  • Be a resident of the State of Georgia; and
  • Be a United States citizen

For additional information, visit: https://www.horatioalger.org/scholarships/program_waranchgeorgia.cfm.

Coca-Cola Scholars

The Coca-Cola Scholars Program Scholarship

The Coca-Cola Scholars Program Scholarship is an achievement-based scholarship awarded to graduating high school seniors. Students are recognized for their capacity to lead and serve, as well as their commitment to making a significant impact on their schools and communities. With the 28th class in 2016, the Foundation has provided over 5,700 Coca-Cola Scholars with more than $60 million in educational support. 150 Coca-Cola Scholars are selected each year to receive this $20,000 scholarship.

What are the benefits of becoming a Scholar?

So much great stuff. In addition to the monetary award, the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation greatly values staying connected to Scholars even after college. The Foundation hosts frequent receptions throughout the country and also invites Scholars from all classes to return to Atlanta for a Leadership Summit every five years to engage in interactive sessions developed by alumni.

The Coca-Cola Scholar Foundation’s vision is to develop a powerful network of community leaders, touched by Coca-Cola, whose vision will help shape the world, leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come. When you become a Scholar, you become a part of that incredible, influential network.

What is the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation?

To celebrate Coca-Cola’s centennial in 1986, The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola bottlers came together to fund the Coca−Cola Scholars Foundation. This commitment to education enables the Foundation to support over 1,400 college students each year, with annual scholarships of $3.4 million through two nationally recognized programs on behalf of the Coca-Cola System.

The mission of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation is to provide scholarship programs and lifelong enrichment opportunities in support of exceptional peoples’ thirst for knowledge and their desire to make a difference in the world.

What scholarships are available to prospective applicants, and who can apply?

CCSF awards funding through three scholarship programs each year:

  1. Coca-Cola Scholars Scholarship – High school seniors with a minimum 3.0 unweighted GPA may apply on our website in August of their senior year until the October 31 deadline. 150 Coca-Cola Scholars are selected each year to receive this $20,000 scholarship.
  2. Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team – 50 Gold $1,500, 50 Silver $1,250 and 50 Bronze $1,000 scholarships. Current students at two-year community colleges may apply between October 1 and December 2. This scholarship is administered by Phi Theta Kappa, and application details can be found on their website, www.ptk.org.
  3. Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise – 180 scholarships of $1,000. Current students at two-year community colleges may apply between February 27 and April 30. This scholarship is administered by Phi Theta Kappa, and application details can be found on their website, www.ptk.org.

How do I apply for the Coca-Cola Scholars Scholarship?

Our application is currently closed and will reopen in August 2017.

The application requires you to list your grades, school and community activities, and employment, but no essays or additional materials are required.

What does the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation look for when selecting recipients?

Coca-Cola Scholars are well-rounded, bright students who not only excel academically, but are also actively involved in their schools. These leaders are passionate and service-oriented, and demonstrate a sustained commitment to bettering their community.

How can the scholarship be used?

This scholarship is unique in that recipients have between 4-10 years to use their full award and may opt to defer all or part of the award within that 10-year timeframe.

In addition to using funds for tuition at an accredited college or university, Scholars may also use their funds for other educational expenses as specified by the Foundation, such as on-campus housing, for a computer, or textbooks.

What are the benefits of becoming a Scholar?

So much great stuff. In addition to the monetary award, the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation greatly values staying connected to Scholars even after college. The Foundation hosts frequent receptions throughout the country and also invites Scholars from all classes to return to Atlanta for a Leadership Summit every five years to engage in interactive sessions developed by alumni.

The Coca-Cola Scholar Foundation’s vision is to develop a powerful network of community leaders, touched by Coca-Cola, whose vision will help shape the world, leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come. When you become a Scholar, you become a part of that incredible, influential network.

Deadline is October 31

 

Universal Common Application

Many students, parents, and educators have expressed frustration regarding technical issues with the Common Application, the lack of technical support, and the confusion being experienced by students and recommenders. In part, due to such problems with the Common Application, many colleges allow students to submit their application for admission through the Universal College Applicationas well as through their own online application systems. Currently, only 33 colleges are accepting applications through the Universal College Application. However, if problems persist with the Common Application, you can expect more colleges to sign up to accept applications from the Universal Common Application.

Read the CNN article, “College Application Instantly Gets Worse” which highlights colleges that are extending their deadlines.

Read the Washington Post article, “Online Common Application problems lead colleges to push back deadlines.”

Read the article, “8 excellent reasons to switch to the Universal College Application.”

Read the Examiner.com article regarding the problems with the Common Application…

Read what Princeton University says…

Read the Harvard welcome to users of the Universal College Application…

Read how other colleges are offering alternatives to the Common Application…

Read why some colleges prefer the University College Application…

Click here to preview the application…

 

Early Admissions Cycles

Most colleges offer students a variety of opportunities to apply for admission. The purpose of this posting is to assist students and parents in better understanding the early admissions cycles and any advantages students might realize by choosing an early admissions cycle over another.

Early Decision I and II (ED)

Early Decision is a binding contract. Some colleges offer Early Decision I and Early Decision II with different application deadlines. Students may apply to only one college via Early Decision. If the student is accepted, the decision is binding, which means that the student must enroll in the college and should withdraw their applications from any other schools to which they have applied. However, if admitted students can convince the college that the financial aid award is inadequate, the student may be released from the commitment to attend. Student is free to apply to an unlimited number of colleges via their regular decision cycle.

Advantages: The Early Decision pool of applicants is typically much smaller than the regular admissions pool. At all but the most highly selective colleges the chances of being accepted are greater—sometimes, substantially greater. The student receives an early admissions response, typically by December 15 of the student’s senior year of high school. Admitted students who apply for financial aid will also receive their financial aid award letter.

Disadvantages: Students must apply early. Application deadlines are typically between October 15 and November 15 of the student’s senior year of high school. The decision is binding and the student must make a commitment to attend the college loses any opportunity of comparing award letters from other colleges. The student loses any application fees paid to colleges to which the student has applied.

Click here for the Wesleyan University Early Decision I and II options…

Early Action (AD)

Early Action in most respects is similar to Early Decision with one significant exception—it is nonbinding. Under the Early Action program, many colleges do not have a limit on the number of colleges to which students may apply Early Action.

Advantages: Same as Early Decision with the additional advantage of being able to apply to more than one college under their Early Action program.

Disadvantages: Same as Early Decision with the exception that the decision is nonbinding and the student may continue to compare options and award letters from other colleges.

Click here the University of Georgia Early Action policy…

Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA) [also known as Restricted Early Action]

Under the Single-Choice Early Action program, students may apply to only one college as an Early Action or Early Decision candidate. However, the policy may allow students to apply to the Early Action program at public universities. It is important to understand the restrictions of the college to which students apply under the college’s SCEA progam. As in the case with Early Action, the decision is nonbinding.

Advantages: Same as Early Decision.

Disadvantages: Same as Early Decision with the exception that the decision is nonbinding and the student may continue to compare options and award letters from other colleges.

Click here for the Stanford University policy…

Click here for the Harvard University policy…

The Early Action/Decision acceptance rate versus the acceptance rate through the regular decision process can widely vary by college. U.S. News & World Reports provides a listing comparing the acceptance rates between Eagle Action candidates and students who applied via the college’s regular admissions cycle. Click here to view the listing…

The CollegeData website provides opportunities to compare the admission rates at most colleges and universities.

Click here for an example of the Amherst College Early Decision rate at CollegeData…

Click here for the article, “Advice on Applying to Top U.S. Colleges via Early Decision or Early Action.”