Let’s
Talk About College; It’s Never too Early
It is
never too early to talk to children about going to college. Students must be
motivated to dream of getting a college degree, as it’s the first in a series
of steps throughout the college-preparation process. Access programs should
focus their efforts on best practices that can assist the entire student body.
The following tools and resources are useful to college-access professionals
who not only are helping seniors, but also the youngest of their students. For
additional information about launching an early awareness program, please
review Early Awareness
Programming Background Information. 
If you
are a high school senior, or a college-access professional who is helping
seniors, please view the additional resources in our Advisor Toolbox, in
addition to the following general resources.
Resource
Chart
Resources shown in the chart also are listed below,
with a brief explanation of their purpose and function.
Resources Defined
ACT Profile - Mobile,
social, and free to the public, ACT Profile provides students and educators
with a powerful tool to better understand opportunities and make smarter
decisions throughout life’s key transition points.
Access Junior
2013 Handbook – A useful college prep handbook to help
students and their families with every aspect of the college admissions and
financial aid processes.
Access Junior Interest Survey 2013-14 – Survey for high school juniors to assess their interest in
postsecondary education.
Building College Awareness Promo – This outline for a lunchroom promotional event will help
interest 9th graders
and other targeted students.
Building College
Awareness Word Search – A word search activity with a
collegiate theme.
·
Building College
Awareness Word Search Answer Key
Career Word Search – A word search activity with a career theme.
·
Career Word Search Answer Key
CareerVillage.org - This web platform matches the career questions students ask to our volunteer corps of over 15,000 working professionals with relevant expertise and a wealth of experiences to share, using crowdsourcing to provide personal career guidance to students at massive scale.
College Board,
Make A Plan - Answer
five simple questions and get a personalized road-map to college.
Earnings by College Major and State - This free webtool from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce provides salary information in English and Spanish by college major and by state.
FAFSA4caster - This
free financial aid calculator that gives you an early estimate of your
eligibility for federal student aid. The information helps families plan ahead
for college. You must use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
to apply for aid once you've decided to apply for admission and attend college.
Making High
School Count – This PowerPoint presentation was developed
for junior high/early high school students, and provides useful tips for making
the most of high school.
Peterson’s College
Planning List – These useful checklists help students and
parents stay on track throughout the college planning process.
·
9th Grade
·
10th Grade
·
11th Grade
·
12th Grade
Put on
your "A" Game Surveys – Brief
survey to gather basic information from advisors’ students.
·
9th Grade Survey
·
10th Grade Survey
Student Aid,
Preparing for College – These Federal Student Aid
checklists for academic and financial preparation are grade specific and help
students stay on track for the future.
·
Elementary
School
·
Middle School
·
9th Grade
·
10th Grade
·
11th Grade
·
12th Grade
1-2 GPA Workshop Presentation – The 1-2 GPA materials target freshman and
older by helping them to calculate a GPA, read their transcript, and understand
what colleges are looking for.
·
1-2 GPA Mock Transcript
· 1-2 GPA Worksheet