December 1, 2019

December 1, 2019
Mychal Wynn (Northeastern ’79)

College Discussion Panel

On Saturday, December 21, 2019, from Noon – 2:00 pm, The Turner Chapel AME Church Education Ministry will host a College Panel Discussion with cohort students representing a wide range of research universities, liberal arts colleges, cooperative education programs, honors colleges, and highly selective scholarship programs. Students will share their candid insight into how they navigated the college admissions process, arrived at their college choice, how they have immersed themselves in their respective college communities, and will respond to audience questions.

Click here to see a video of one of our panels…

High School Seniors

We are pleased that so many of our high school seniors successfully submitted Early Action and Early Decision applications to increase their chances of being offered admission and considered for large dollar institutional scholarships. By December 15, many students will be receiving admission decisions. However, December will be a stressful month, not only for students expecting Early Decisions, but for students still busily finalizing essays in advance of Regular Decision deadlines.

High school seniors who are still finalizing college applications must ensure that:

  • Teacher recommendations have been submitted
  • Common Applications have been reviewed
  • Essays and writing responses have been edited and reviewed
  • Résumés have been updated

Take advantage of any remaining Early Decision II and Early Action II application deadlines. It is important that you update the following documents as you receive each college and scholarship decision:

  • College and Scholarship Table
  • College Costs Comparison Sheet

Both of these documents are contained in Module 16: What to Do After Receiving an Admission Decision. It is also important that you update your Username and Password Table each time you receive an email from your colleges with information pertaining to accessing your student account. Many colleges will only send the initial email and will not notify you when scholarship and financial aid information has been posted to your student account. It will be your responsibility to regularly access your student accounts to respond to document requests and to accept/decline financial aid awards or student loans.

Grades 9 – 11

Once again, our Atlanta-area cohort has settled in and students are engaging in deep and insightful round table discussions at our monthly meetings. Mr. Charles Williams is leading our 9th-10th grade discussions and Mrs. Lora Williams is leading our high school junior discussions. We are overjoyed at having such an academically accomplished and artistically talented group of students participating in our 2019/20 program. We are equally impressed with our other Atlanta-area Cohorts—Crossroads for Teens, ASA Guide Right, and Ghana United Christian Church.

Please note the following actions:

  • Finalize your Interest Profiler and complete your career research
  • Submit a copy of your report card
  • Submit a copy of your high school profile
  • Finalize your responses to the November Guiding Questions

The December focus will be on summer planning. The September, October, November, and December modules, provide the foundation of our focus on, “Backwards Mapping:”

  • Identify your desired colleges and scholarships
  • Identify the body or work required to be a competitive applicant
  • Set academic, leadership, and community service goals
  • Identify the career and college major you are interested in pursuing
  • Identify the summer programs that will allow you to explore your career and college options, while continuing to build an impressive résumé

On January 1, 2020, high school juniors will be moved from the 9 – 11th grade classroom and enrolled into the high school junior classroom. During the second semester, high school juniors will be guided through the process of creating College Application Plans. Those juniors who apply themselves to successfully completing the January – May activities, will enter the summer months well ahead of their classmates by having finalized their college lists, identified their admission cycles, and identified the institutional scholarships for which they qualify. Consequently, students will be able to devote their summers to finalizing essays and writing responses

ASA Guide Right Student – G. Tyriq S.

We have selected another of our 9th graders, G. Tyriq S., a participant in the ASA Guide Right Cohort, as an example of a thoughtful response to one of the November’s Guiding Questions.

Guiding Question #1 – What are the scores from your Interest Profile? 

I found the scores that I received from my test to be very interesting. There are six categories to the interest profile. My highest score, 34, was the Social area and matches well to such careers as being a coach, physical education teacher, and a special education teacher. My second highest score, 21, was in the Enterprising area. A high score in enterprising suggests that I am good at persuading and leading people, making decisions, and taking risks. My third highest score, 17, was in the Conventional area. This score suggests that I enjoy working with clear rules and following a strong leader. The fourth highest score, 17, was in the Realistic area suggesting that I may enjoy working with plants and animals, real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery, and outside work. My two lowest scores were in the Investigative area (13), and Artistic (8) suggesting that I may be weaker at searching for facts, and figuring out problems, creativity, and working without a set of rules. I was not at all surprised by my low score in art as I have never liked art. — G. Tyriq S., ASA Guide Right 

December Discussion Topics

Grades 9 – 11: Bring copies of your Summer Programs and Scholarship Competition Table. Be prepared to discuss your narrative responses to the 3 Guiding Questions for the December Module – Summer Planning:

  1. What are the available summer, pre-college, and volunteer opportunities relating to my gifts and talents, interests, career, or desired college major?
  2. What programs are hosted by, or on the campuses, of my top colleges?
  3. What scholarship competitions relating to my gifts and talents, interests, career, or desired college major were you able to identify?

Enjoy your holiday break and time with your family.

Mark Your Calendar

Sunday, December 1, 2019 – United Ghana Christian Church Cohort (10:00 am – 12:30 pm).

Saturday, December 7, 2019: Guilford County Schools Cohort: Seniors (9:00 am – Noon); Juniors (Noon – 3:00 pm).  Location: GTCC Greensboro Campus

Sunday, December 8, 2019: Atlanta-area Cohort grades 9 – 12. Turner Chapel AME Church • 492 N. Marietta Pkwy • Marietta, GA (11:30 am – 12:45 pm). Parents are invited to attend the worship service (9:30 am) and high school juniors and seniors are invited to attend The Next Episode (9:30 am -11:30 am Teen Bible Study held in the Boardroom).

Friday, December 13, 2019: Florence County School District 3 Cohort – Meeting in the Lake City High School College Corner Juniors and Seniors from 8:30 am – 4:00 pm.

Saturday, December 14, 2019: Florence County School District 3 Cohort Information Meeting and for High School Juniors and Parents (9:30 am – 3:00 pm). 125 S. Blanding St., Lake City, SC 29560 (District Board Room)

Saturday, December 21, 2019: College Panel Discussion – Turner Chapel AME Church (Rev. Dr. Kenneth E. Marcus Chapel) • 492 N. Marietta Parkway, Marietta, GA 30060 (Noon – 2:00 pm). Light Refreshments to be served afterwards. 

All Atlanta-area cohort students are required to attend the Students from our Atlanta-area, Turner Chapel AME Church, and Crossroads for Teens Cohorts will be appearing on the panel. Scholarship, Leadership, and Service are the cornerstones of our College Planning Cohort Program. Our panelists are demonstrating scholarship and leadership on their respective campuses, and continue to serve our program through their mentorship and opening doors of opportunities for other cohort students.

Join a Cohort: Register Now

Our online registration is only open to students interested in joining our Atlanta-area Cohort or working independently through our online classroom. Students participating in a school district or community partner should register with their program facilitator.

New Students who will be joining our Atlanta-area Cohort or participating in our online program, can register at the following links:

To pay your registration in two installments, contact our office: ph: 678.395.5825 or email: cpc@collegeplanningcohort.com
Click here to register for returning students (who participated in our 2018/19 cohort).
Click here to learn more about our cohorts and other programs…