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Understanding the College Application Process & the Common App
For Parents and Students

Generally speaking if students plan to be finished by October 20th, 2023 for November 1 deadlines and October 31st, 2023 for all other deadlines they will be in the best position to meet all deadlines and not feel overwhelmed at the end of the semester. Unless someone is using rolling admission which can be open through January and February of 2024.  Students are responsible to know their own application deadlines!

General Resources:

Class of 2024 College Application Presentation by Mrs. Volker

College Application Guide: Detailed Step by Step Instructions
Page 1 - An overview of all steps in the process
Page 3 - Details for the Common App
Page 5 - Details for Applying Directly to the college's website
Page 6 - All about Transcripts
Page 8-9 Finances, FAFSA and Scholarships 

College Deadlines: A Cheat Sheet

Brag Sheet for students to fill out and Give the teachers who are writing letters of rec for them

2024 Google Classroom:  Students please remember that all these resources are
 available on Google Classroom.

Students with last names A-K  nn5fgvh
Students with last names L-Z  txk5s4u

 

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) Resources:

The FAFSA opens December 1, 2023 and is based on the previous year's taxes (2022 taxes for the 2024/2025 school year when filling it out in December of 2023).  Both parent and student will need to create a FSA ID to represent their respective signature. The actual FAFSA account should be created in the student's name, social security number and birth date. We recommend completing a FAFSA application by February 1st, 2024 in order to receive timely "Statement of Costs" from the colleges a student has been admitted to. 

Going Merry is a great resource for FAFSA and Scholarships.
They have a "FAFSA Made Easier" that uses common everyday questions.
Parents give it a try here.

 

 Click here for links to the Financial Aid 101 Presentation given by Sinclair Community College

Click here for Sinclair's short video clips on filling out the FAFSA

 

COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP 101

Scholarship 101: $ can be sought from a variety of places
 
1. Students can search scholarships on the Internet. Many are sponsored by large companies and have deadlines between December 2023 and June 2024.

Helpful Sites include:
- Going Merry, Fastweb, Scholarships.com, Chegg and College Board
- Going Merry is highly recommended and works much like the Common App. Fill it out once and use it to apply to many scholarships.

 
2. Students can search for Local Scholarships in Naviance beginning in Jan. 2024
 
3. Students can search “Scholarship Universe” on their own university website once they’ve selected a school.
   
4. Students can talk with their colleges Financial Aid office to find out which scholarships and grants may be available.