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College Inside Track 

Financial Aid Information

We are offering three presentations for students and parents to learn more about financial aid.  Please join us in attending one of the three nights, to learn about what financial aid is, how to find it, and how colleges make financial aid award decisions.  

Wednesday, September 28^th, 2002 @ 6:30pm via Google Meet: meet.google.com/xqy-dxmv-isf

*This session will be recorded.

Monday, October 3^rd, 2022 @ 6:00pm in person at Mayo High School Mohlke Center

Wednesday, October 5^th, 2022 @ 6:00pm in person at John Marshall Cafeteria

 

The CHS Counseling Department

 

From the Century High School Counseling Office

Upcoming College Visits as of 9/16/22

1. St Johns/St Bens - September 21, 2022 1:30

CHS Media Center/Library

2. Hamline University – September 27, 2022 12:30

CHS Media Center/Library

3. University of Southern California – September 28,2022 9:45am

CHS Media Center/Library

4. University of Minnesota Duluth – September 28, 2022 10:45am

CHS Media Center/Library

5. Metro 5 - Lewis & Clark, Macalester, Rhodes, Trinity, and the University of

Richmond. - Saturday, October 8, 2022

Virtual

6. University of Chicago – October 11, 2022 8:00am

CHS Media Center/Library

7. Northern Michigan University – October 12, 2022 9:45

CHS Media Center/Library

8. Drake University - October 25,2022 1:30

CHS Media Center/Library

9. Mankato State University- October 27, 2022 10:45

CHS Media Center/Library

10 University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire - November 9, 2022 9:45

CHS Media Center/Library

11 Buena Vista University - November 9, 2022 9:45

CHS Media Center/Library

Scholarship Links

Scholarship Links 2.23.2022 

Upcoming College Visits

Upcoming College Visits 2.23.2022 

Where do Century graduates go after graduating?

 The Minnesota Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System (SLEDS) just released their data on college enrollment for the class of 2019. I always find it interesting to see what it can tell us about our recent graduating classes. Some of it is predictable or matches well other data we've collected, such as from surveys of our seniors just prior to graduation, but this data set is especially helpful because it shows where our students actually ended up, rather than where they tell us they are going. Our survey data at the high school is always impacted by a bit of "summer melt" as students reconsider their options over the summer and we never get to 100% on our survey response rates.

Some things I can count on before looking at the data, but I can quantify it more precisely now. For instance, I will gladly take a bet that I can already confidently state the top two destinations of our 2021 graduates, and probably of our 2022 graduates, even with COVID adding a fair amount of unpredictability to college decision making. It just hasn't changed that much - between 2015 and 2019 the percentage of our graduating class attending RCTC ranged from 17-23%. For the University of Minnesota -Twin Cities, our number two destination, the percentages varied between 9-13%. So we're quite consistent in sending around a fifth our graduates to RCTC and around a tenth of them to the U of MN. However, don't ask me to predict the number three destination - that changes just about every year and also fluctuates wildly in the number of students choosing the third most popular option. Mankato, Winona, Iowa State, and UW - Eau Claire have all been in the number three spot in the last few years but have also all fallen out of the top five some years as well.  The highest percentage of our students going to an individual school that wasn't RCTC or the U of MN was in 2019 when 8% of our graduating class went to Mankato. That was perhaps the most surprising thing I found on SLEDS as I don't remember the numbers coming through quite that high on our internal survey, perhaps I missed a senior class meeting late in the year when Principal Fogarty fondly recalled his time playing football there and swayed some late deciders...

Overall, we're pretty consistent in the numbers going on to college - over 80% of our graduates have tended to go directly to college the fall after graduation for many years. I expect we will see this number fall off a bit for the class of 2020 when we get next year's SLEDS data, though, as colleges across the country have reported dips in enrollment due to COVID. What about non-college options? For the class of 2018, SLEDS shows that 80% had enrolled the fall immediately after graduation, while another 3% enrolled within a year of graduation and another 4% within two years, suggesting around 7% of our graduates are taking a gap semester, year, or slightly longer to work or accomplish other goals prior to starting college. Our internal survey data shows anywhere from 1-6% joining the military directly after graduating depending on the year, though with many of them serving part time in the Guard or Reserve there is some double counting of these students in both the military and the college numbers. Unfortunately, SLEDS does not provide information on military service, only educational enrollment so I'm relying on some rougher numbers there. For going from high school to work, my best estimate is around 10-12% of our students are joining the non-military workforce directly from high school without going to college within a couple years of graduation; although in many cases these students are pursuing an apprenticeship or shorter term training that doesn't show up in the college enrollment data. 

If you want to look up more information from SLEDS about Century or about any other school in Minnesota, you can find it here: SLEDS

Completing the FAFSA

 Recently I read an article about how in Minnesota Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion numbers are down quite a bit this fall compared to Fall 2019, for a number of understandable reasons. However, for those of you who have seniors applying to college for fall of 2021, note that an additional fall step for most families should include filling out the FAFSA. A few years ago, the window shifted for FAFSA where it now opens on October 1 for students enrolling in college the following fall, in previous years the window didn't open until January 1. So all our seniors and their parents (both need to fill it out) can complete it now, and since it is based on your 2019 taxes I would recommend getting it done before you have to start worrying about 2020 taxes. The direct link to the US Department of Education FAFSA page is: https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

Note that from my perspective seeing more student Common Applications linking me in than in any prior year I am not seeing a drop in college applications so far, and nationally the drop off appears slighter for college applications than for financial aid applications. Of course, college marketing drives you to apply before doing financial aid, but it is smart to get both done now since you can. Feel free to reach out if you have questions about either kind of application.

 Here is an article with a more national perspective on FAFSA completion:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelperez/2020/11/17/how-to-help-college-applicants-get-financial-aid-during-covid/?sh=f881ecc431a8

A New List of College Virtual Visits and Virtual College Fairs

 This is a quick link posting, we are working on a new list we can continuously update on upcoming college visit and college fair events, with links to the virtual ones. Take a look at the link below, and let me know if you have any questions or have feedback on the format. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G-KjCyGK8CjdMOyXWcXD7Pv1t8dFNzdqbSqBSaA3BKM/edit?usp=sharing

College Planning Event with College Inside Track

 

Parent event: Navigating the college process in the new COVID-19 world

 

Hi Parents!

 

Campus visits are cancelled, ACT/SAT testing is evolving daily, your college savings may have taken a hit! How does a family do a college search in this environment?

 

Your Century counseling team is excited to announce we are partnering with national college expert, Cozy Wittman, from College Inside Track to share important, effective college strategies to assure your family stays on track. If you have a 9th -11th grader, you will want to be on this webinar!

 

Topics we will cover will include:

·  How to do an effective tour with campuses closed

·  Where to find scholarships

·  Should I even bother with an ACT now?

·  What happens if my student doesn't have a test score?

·  What are ways I can reduce the cost of college?

Here are the details:

WHEN: Mon, Nov 9 @ 6:30 pm

WHERE: Zoom webinar

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED! Use this link to register in ADVANCE.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

Counselor Meetings for Seniors

 Class of 2021! We will be providing open lunch Google Meets each week to answer any questions. This week the topic is College Applications and the Process. If you want more information or need questions answered, please join us on a Google Meet during one of these times: Thursday September 24th 2pm—3pm: https://meet.google.com/zdh-bpcc-yke Friday September 25th 8:30am—9:30am: https://meet.google.com/tkx-eezm-fjm Friday September 25th 10:00am—11:00am: https://meet.google.com/cto-vymn-zih We hope to see you at one of the sessions! Mrs. Emanuel Ms. Featherman Mr. Couillard

Virtual College Fairs, and Thoughts on College Fairs This Year

 Many of you probably read the Skyward message I sent yesterday to all our 10th - 12th grade students about the Virtual National College Fair. I'll post the link again below, as I think that is a wonderful opportunity to learn about colleges from all around the country through a number of live sessions, during which the colleges will probably share more information than students will typically get out of them at a regular college fair. The downside of course is that you will likely attend fewer sessions than the number of tables you might visit and have 10-60 second interactions with the college representatives standing behind them at a typical fair. You also miss some of the serendipity of stumbling across a college you'd never heard of that turns into a great match when you open up a conversation with the representative and discover they have a program that is an exact match for your interests.

It is kind of like how shopping for books online works, you can always more quickly find exactly what you are looking for but by not browsing the stacks you might miss something interesting you wouldn't find otherwise. So I'd encourage anyone trying the virtual fairs to sample widely and maybe check out a session that fits your schedule, even if it isn't for a school at the top of your list. 

Below is the link to the Virtual National College Fair:

There is now the option to attend a free Virtual National College Fair, September 13, October 12, October 18, and November 8. For details and to learn which colleges are offering sessions on each date, go to https://www.nacacfairs.org/attend/attend-virtual-college-fairs/students/ 

Closer to home, you might also want to consider checking out the Wisconsin Education Fairs, https://www.wefs.org/ 

Or the Minnesota Education Fairs, which I'd particularly recommend for students interested in attending college in Minnesota or one of the surrounding states, and which include a variety of panels on college admission topics incorporating representatives from  multiple colleges: 

Check them out and see if you can discover something new and unexpected!