FAFSA, CSS: Financial Aid
Paying for College As you begin to look at colleges and universities, both in and out of California, use Google Earth to swoop in and study the campuses. You can study from above, look around the neighborhood, and then wander around looking at the buildings from the street. Great device - invasive when it is your residence - and yet a great tool.
This is a crisis year. Those of you who have applied and are waiting to hear about your applications: keep your grades up. Do not water down your second semester curriculum and do not think you can relax. Because of crowding the schools will be carefully checking your second semester performance. The UC system will be directing some applicants to their under-applied-to campuses, even if the student did not apply to that school. This will include Merced and Riverside. In the meantime, they are wait-listing students at some campuses, with possible acceptance later in the spring-summer. If this happens to you, do not despair; these are both fine schools, and the UC system is going to add a new medical school to Riverside within the next two to three years. Riverside professors pride themselves on being very accessible to their students, not always the case in such a world-renowned research university system as the University of California. Financial aid money is tight. If you can manage to pay your own way for the first year, wait until next year to apply for financial aid. Bear in mind that this state and seven others pays 2/3 to 3/4 of the bill for illegals, a fact which makes me angry on a number of levels.
With over 600,000 students enrolled, California colleges and universities attract a lot of interest. They're all listed here, starting with the community colleges and then moving to the four-year schools. If by some odd chance I missed one, please let me know! Interested in the public California Colleges for the fall of 2010? October 1, 2010: The University of California, and the Cal State University, 2011 Applications, will be on-line on or before 10/01/10. The application essay prompts for the UC system are found on page 16 of the applications instruction booklet. The filing period for the University of California system is November 1 to November 30, 2010. That means before 11:59 P.M., November 30th. Do this before the deadline - servers crash.In the U.C. system, students have until December 31st to complete testing requirements. Six of the UC schools rank in the top fifteen of public colleges and universities in the United States. This means competition is rigorous. Grades and test scores are still the most important part of your application. The UC system looks for four to five AP classes on a high school student's academic record. Check out their website for complete preparation information. The Cal State University system filing dates are October 1 to November 30th, with all testing to be completed by October 31, 2010. Pay attention to your grades and your test scores. More than ever, that "index" figure, where they multiply your self-reported grades by 800 and add in your test scores, WILL MATTER.
California Residency Requirements and College TuitionCalifornia Residency Requirements University of California Admissions for Fall 2010 Dates and Deadlines - 2010-2011 (See 2010 info until new info on line) The University of California Undergraduate Application Status Website Writing the UC Essay The UC System did it differently this year... The fall 2009 applicants did not submit mid-year transcript with your application; they were asked to submit a transcript if they were accepted to the UC System. Acceptances were mailed out in March. If this procedure is repeated in 2010 This means that in making their initial choices, the UC Schools will be deciding on your qualifications based on your self-reported grades, your official scores for SAT/ACTs, your essays, the application itself, and your extracurricular activities. This initial selection will not be based on your actual CS/UC GPA. This places a new emphasis on your test scores and your self-reported grades. This means you must be very careful entering your self-reported grades, and work hard through your finals to keep or raise the self-reported grades you entered on your application. It implies that if the UC does not like the grades you mail in after acceptance, they can rescind your offer of acceptance. Remember, as well, that they also receive your end-of-year grades. Do not change the projected class schedule you entered on your application or let your grades slip. California State University Admissions for Fall 2010 The SATs, the ACTs, and the California Public Colleges Universities The SAT 1, the ACTs, Subject Matter Tests Alphabetical List of California Community ( two-year) Colleges Application Online Center, All 109 California Community Colleges California 4-Year Public University SystemsApply California: Admissions pages for all public colleges and universities in California University of California System:Gateway to all UC campuses California State University Mentor: Path to all Cal State campuses California Corsortium Online Colleges in California About College Applications Colleges with a bit of a ThemeBeach Schools Near Beach Schools California Private Colleges and Universities
The Common Application (Common APP), used by ~600 private schools College Consortiums in California Besides the College Partnerships listed here, all the University of California Campuses, and all the California State University Schools participate in agreements within the systems. These allow cross-registration and cooperation between programs. California Rand Private College Enrollment Stats Search All Colleges in the U.S. Search Canadian CollegesFee |
