Ulysses USD 214

FRESHMAN YEAR

• Focus on your grades! Your grades are one of the most important components of your college application.  They attest to your work ethic and mastery of material
• Start to plan your classes for the next four years.  Most colleges like to see:  4 years of English, 3-4 years of Math, 3-4 years of Science, 3-4 years of Social Sciences, and 2-3 years of a Foreign Language.  Many students exceed these expectations
• High School is a time for discovery! Start getting involved at school or in your community through extracurricular activities, jobs, or volunteer work.
• Start filing your activities, accomplishments, and favorite essays on Xello

• Focus on your grades!
• Continue planning your classes.  Look at the AP, IB, or Honors classes your high school offers.
• Stay involved and seek new opportunities.  Consider taking up leadership roles in the activities in which you're most invested.
• Continue updating your Xello account with your favorite projects and awards.
• Continue exploring college payment options with your parents
• Start looking into colleges.  Go to college fairs happening in your area.

• Look into summer opportunities. Consider volunteering.  Hospitals, parks, zoos, and museums - just to name some - are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers.

• Take the PSAT/NMSQT.  The National Merit Scholarship Program pools together the top performers on the PSAT and gives them a chance to be considered National merit Scholarship Finalists.  Finalists, if selected, receive various forms of college scholarship money.

• Continue looking into summer opportunities.  Look into paid jobs and internships.  Campaigns, public offices, local hospitals, and libraries, for example, all look for high school interns.
• Take summer classes or start looking into pre-college programs.  Some high schools offer advanced summer classes that give you a leg up during the school year.

• Focus on your grades!
• Take advanced classes that interest you (AP, IB, Honors, etc.)
• Talk to your counselor about High School/College Dual Enrollment.  Dual enrollment lets you enroll in college courses while still in high school
• Connect with your counselor and begin exploring college options.  Ask for help in drafting your list of colleges you are interested in.
• Continue getting involved, staying involved and looking into leadership roles in your extracurriculars.
• Continue updating your Xello with important documents.
• Continue weighting financing options with your parents.
• Continue looking at colleges.  Attend college fairs, go to info sessions, and make college visits.
• Pay attention to you health.  School can become especially stressful around junior year.  Don't be afraid to seek support from family, friends, teachers, mentors and school counselors. 

• Focus on your grades!
• Take advanced classes that interest you (AP, IB, Honors, etc.)
• Continue getting involved, staying involved, and assuming leadership roles.
• Continue updating your Xello and identify the pieces you feel closest to.  Use these pieces as inspiration for your college essays. 

• Take the SAT, ACT, or SAT Subject Tests.  Schools you apply to may require these tests.  Please check their websites.

• Connect with your high school counselor and develop a plan of action.  Finalize your college list, determine which scholarships you're applying to, which financial aid applications you'll fill out, and be on top of your deadlines!
• Ask your counselor if you qualify for an application fee waiver.
• Finish your remaining personal essays.
• Make sure your counselor send your transcript.
• ask teachers for letters of recommendation if you have not done so already.
• Make a calendar so you can mark down your application deadlines.

• Apply to summer programs. QuestBridge offers scholarships to summer college programs at schools including Emory, Notre Dame, UPenn, Standord, UChicago, and Yale.
• Register to the the SAT or ACT in the Winter or Spring.
• Make a preliminary college list.
• Look for scholarships.  The College Board has excellent scholarship resources.  Colleges also offer merit scholarships, which you can find on their websites.
  • Set up appointments to visit your top college choices.  Call the admissions office or use the college's website.

• This is the last chance you have to retake your SAT Subject Tests?
• Early results! You'll either be Accepted, Deferred, or Denied.
• Finish filling out FAFSA and other financial aid documents.

• Think about which teachers you'll ask for recommendations.
• Set up a meeting to talk to teachers about letters of recommendation.
• Ask your counselor if you qualify for a testing fee waiver.
• Take the SAT, ACT, or SAT Subject Tests if you have not done so already, or retake the test if you are trying to improve your score.  Schools that you are applying to may require specific subject tests; be sure to check their websites for requirements.
• Take the AP exams.

• Take AP exams
• Regular Decision Results! You'll either be Accepted, Denied, or Waitlisted.
• Submit your enrollment deposit! May 1st is the national deadline for committing to the college of your choice (for non-rolling admission schools).

• Fill our all the section of the Xello program.
• Plan more visits to colleges you're interested in.
• Draft college essays.
• Update your preliminary college list.
• Make a college payment plan with your parents.

• Update any email or mailing preferences to make sure you are getting all the important information you need!
• Complete any other enrollment paperwork your college sends you.
• Research work-study opportunities.  Contact the financial aid office to get a work-study job lined up for the fall.
• Contact your roommate(s)! You'll usually receive information about housing a few weeks before schools tarts. including who you're living with, which gives you the opportunity to get to now your roommate(s) before move-in day.
• Got o orientation.  Attending orientation is essential in preparing your for the next four years.
• Depending on the school, there might be one college orientation for all incoming freshmen, or a few separate sessions.  Your school will send you the information you need.
• Buy school supplies, dorm furniture and textbooks.  The campus bookstore should have everything you need.  OR check our Amazon and Chegg to rent your books.