• New York State Higher Education Services; resources for paying for public universities in New York State (SUNYs) for people having resided in New York for at least 12 months

Remember: FAFSA opens up on January 1st, and there will be more detailed information provided when we get back from winter break. Before you can submit your FAFSA on January 1st, however, you need to obtain a Federal Financial Aid PIN. Click, follow the instructions, and in a few days you’ll be ready to go! Please note that both you AND your parent/guardians need to a PIN to proceed with FAFSA.

I would upload the slides from the Financial Aid Night, but WordPress isn’t letting me right now, so look for it as an attachment!

1. From the email address that you used in your application, email aonline@mail.cuny.edu

2. Make the subject line “Update Application”

3. Include your First and last Name

4. Include your Application Control Number (ten-digit number beginning with a W that is listed on your Application Summary Package)

5. Describe the error.

Within five business days, CUNY should be able to resolve most minor problems.  These include: inaccurate income information, names, dates, etc., as well as program choices at a school (e.g., you want to change from Education to Liberal Arts and Science at Lehman).

If you need to add/delete school choices, however, you need to contact Frick, as he has to do this via email with our CUNY representative. 

For all other post-application questions, check out: http://www.cuny.edu/admissions/undergraduate/application-status.html

Even though Mr. Frick is still going to scan your transcript in as part of his counselor’s report on the SUNY Counselor Connect, this is the way that SUNY is going to look at your grades. YOU are the one looking at your transcript and entering the grades, and the most frequent question is: What’s to stop people from lying?

There is absolutely no point in lying about your grades. Your school WILL require an official transcript eventually, and should they find out you that lied on your SOAR, you will have your acceptance rescinded from ALL SUNY schools. There is NO point in screwing yourself over this way. 

**SUNY will not reject you for a typo; you will be putting a cumulative GPA and all your scores in, so if something doesn’t add up, SUNY will contact Mr. Frick and will correct any mistakes that way.**

If you are applying to SUNY schools via the Common App, you will need your Common App ID number, and you should see Mr. Frick, as logging into SOAR is a bit different.  Everything you will read below is the same, though.

In order to begin SOAR, go to your SUNY Portal homepage on ApplySUNY and click on the box to the right:

The first thing you will see is an agreement telling you that there is no point in lying on the SOAR. Click “Close and no longer show this message.”

The first thing you will be asked is to input is the information about your high school. You can search for MVA in the box at the bottom by name or just put in its CEEB code, which is 333791. Mr. Frick will have provided you a transcript with your rank and cumulative GPA, and you should input this information. Your GPA and rank are both UNWEIGHTED.

Our class size is now 99, NOT 105! 

If you are wondering how many credits you have, or your cumulative GPA, look at the bottom right-hand corner of your transcript:

Next, you will be asked to add an academic year. Start from 9th grade, 2008 – 2009. This will include Summer Bridge!

**You will indicate that it was your 9th grade year, BUT YOU WILL NOT ENTER A GPA! MVA does GPA by semester, but it does NOT give you a GPA for each individual academic year!**

You will then click “Add Course.” You must add the course for both the fall and spring semesters, so essentially you are going to create the same entry twice: one for fall, with its grade; one for spring, with its grade. Here’s how each course entry breaks down:

Subject: English, Mathematics, History…

Course: **Choose in drop-down menu what sounds like best fit**

Exact Course Title: **Write in EXACTLY how it is written on transcript! It doesn’t matter how abreviated or strange!**

Course Level: Regular; Regents Prep for Algebra, Living Environment, Earth Science, Geometry, Global History II, Trig, 11th Grade English, and US History; and AP for Calculus, US History, and English (if you are enrolled in these courses)

Course Length: FALL or SPRING

Credits: 1.0 for all regular classes; 0.6 for gym; 0.0 for advisory, service learning, and health.

Grading System: 1-100

Grade: **Scroll down and select your grade. Round up or down depending on whether it’s above/below .50**

What one course entry might look like.

If it’s on your transcript, you MUST input it.  Service Learning, Service Learning, Health, and a few others might be a bit hard to figure out; you should put “other” for both subject and course,  and enter your grade as “Pass/Fail–Pass.” Here is an example 9th grade year on a transcript:

And here are sample course inputs Service Learning and Health in 9th grade:

You will continue to input everything that is written on your transcript until you complete a whole year, which will something like this:

Once you finish inputing your first three years, you will have to put in the courses in which you are currently enrolled as a 12th grader. Do this the same way, but for your grade, select “In progress.” This way the SUNY school will know what courses you’re taking this year!

After you have put in your entire academic history, the rest is pretty straight forward. First, input your Regents scores:

And next, your SAT scores–which you should choose to report via SOAR “now”, not later by another method!

Afterward, it will look like this:

You can indicate that you’re taking the SATs in November or December, but this does NOT mean SAT Subject Tests! The same goes for the ACT.

Finally, you will be asked to review, lock and submit. This is your chance to go back and make sure all your info is accurate! You CANNOT change this once submitted, so be sure!

Whoops!

If you have questions, please see Mr. Frick or email him; do NOT rush through this! Give yourself an hour to sit down, fill everything out, and then save so that you can come back and make sure everything is okay before submitting.

Go to http://commonapp.org, create an account, and then read through the following guide for how to apply for schools on the Common App! The process described below doesn’t go in a straight top-to-bottom order, but does highlight the most important parts–and those that cause the most confusion.

The first thing you should do is search for and add the college to which you want to apply. For most schools, if you type in the name and wait a second, suggestions will appear in the drop-down box. 

The thing that can be sometimes tricky about the common app is that only the information on the left (in gray) is “common”; you also have to remember that you have to click on and fill out some individual forms for the school you have highlighted (in maroon/brown).  Please be mindful of this, because sometimes it can seem like you submitted a part of the application when you really haven’t!

For example, above I have what the College of William and Mary needs in order for the application to that school to be completed.

Before you start filling out all of your biographical information, you should fill out the Education section.  Click on it in the left-hand section; it should look like this once completed. 

Please note: ALL SECTIONS ON THE COMMON APP WITH THE LITTLE YELLOW “SUN” NEXT TO THEM ARE REQUIRED!

(You have to click “Look Up” under CEEB/ACT code in order to input ours, which is OBVIOUSLY 333791!)

Next, fill out the School Forms section at the very bottom of the left-hand gray area.  It is important to fill out this information first, because it lets Mr. Frick and your teachers know that you are requesting their recommendations.  (Also: Mr. Frick can track where you are in the application via the counselor section.) First, you have to authorize the schools to have access to your transcripts and recommendations.

**Then, you have to click to “Yes” or “No” in regards to your FERPA rights.  When you click “yes,” you are giving up your right to see your recommendations; when you click “no,” you are saying that you might one day want to look at your recommendations. It is strongly advised that you click “yes” and give up your rights, as most of your teacher will NOT submit a recommendation for you otherwise.  Please do not be afraid of a teacher writing bad things about you; by virtue of them agreeing to write you a recommendation, they are saying they like you! Don’t be paranoid! Also: you would only be able to see the recommendation IF you were accepted and enrolled at whatever school. Would you have gotten accepted if you your teachers/counselors talked smack about you?**

“Sign” with your full name and today’s date! NOT your birthday!

Next, you will be asked to “invite officials.” This is where you’re sending notification to Mr. Frick and your teachers that you need them to upload your transcripts/recommendations into the Common App! First, click “counselor” and Mr. Frick’s info should automatically upload from where you filled out the Education section!

Click “Send Invitation” and Mr. Frick will know you’re on the Common App!

Next, click “Invite Official” again, this time for your a teacher.  Be sure to check with your teachers for which email address to use!

After you have invited your teachers, you have to add them to your individual schools.  Most of you only have two recommenders, but some of you have three, and the school might only allow two–so you’ll have to choose! The counselor recommendation will appear automatically for all schools.

It is in this section that individual schools will have information about how many recommendations they request, and anything else unique about recommendations (like having one from a humanities subject, another from a math/science and that sort of thing.

From the school forms page, you’ll be able to keep track of when your counselor/teachers have completed and uploaded their recommendations for you.

(If you qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, the next thing you should do–before filling out the rest of the demographic information–is go to the Payments section on the lower left side.  Mr. Frick will submit NACAC fee waiver requests for 6-8 schools on the Common App, so for each school that you’d like a fee waiver, select this option. Mr. Frick will be able to verify it online and then will follow up with the necessary fee waiver.  If a school has offered you a free application, you should select “Other Fee Waiver” and input whatever code the school sent you.)

Much of the rest of the of the information that you fill out on the left-hand gray area is pretty self-explanatory, but a few things that can be tricky:

In the Future Plans section: You have to fill this out for each college you’ve added! Remember to click that you’ll be applying for need-based financial aid.  If the school offers an opportunity to do an arts supplement, it might be something to consider for you creative types! It enables you to upload digital portfolios and links to work you’ve done.  For you musical sorts: Here’s where you could have a YouTube video of you performing!

In the Applicant section: your Social Security Number (SSN) is not required, but YOU NEED TO PUT IT IN IF YOU WILL BE APPLYING FOR FINANCIAL AID!

Remember for County/Parish: Manhattan = New York County; Brooklyn = Kings County; Queens = Queens County; the Bronx = Bronx County; and Staten Island = Richmond County. 

In the Family section: If your parents are separated, please use the info for the parent who claims you on their taxes as “Parent 1″–this should be the parent you live with (the “one with whom you make your permanent home”!) Please also note that most of the information in this section is OPTIONAL, and if you don’t want to or can’t answer questions about a parent who’s not in your life, just put “unknown” for that parent. If you have a tricky situation, please see Mr. Frick! (Please also remember that when it comes to Financial Aid, you might be expected to provide more information.)

If your parent(s) went to college in the United States, search for the CEEB code for that school. Do not try to put MVA’s CEEB code here!

In the Academics section: Please note that we do EXACT rankings that are UNWEIGHTED. Our class size is 105, your cumulative GPA is on a 100 scale, and it is also UNWEIGHTED.

When it comes to your current classes, for most of you it should look like the following:

Obviously, if you’re taking AP English, US History, or Calculus, please indicate as much.

In the Writing section: Do not rush into this part! Take a look at the prompts on offer, and either figure out what essay you have that is best OR work on a new one that answers the question.  Mr. Frick is happy to collaborate via Google Docs for any essay/short answer prompt, so don’t be afraid to ask for his help! Do NOT just upload the first essay you can find on your flashdrive!

Most of the other parts of the Common App are pretty straight forward, but depending on the school, the supplements can be tricky.  If you have any questions about what different schools need from you, please ask Mr. Frick via email.

1. Filling out the supplemental application (either the SUNY supplement form or individual campus form)

2. Filling out the SUNY Online Academic Record (SOAR), which is how SUNY will see your GPA and SAT scores

There will be a post about SOAR later this week, but read on for step-by-step guide to filling out the SUNY supplemental form. Please note: Some campuses, like Geneseo, FIT, SUNY Maritime, and others have their own individual supplements to fill out.  If you are applying to any of these schools, you will see the link in your ApplySUNY home screen.

Remember: Mr. Frick is going to do a demo for the SUNY Online Academic Record portion of this later.  Worry about Supplemental Application part for now!

The first thing you are asked to do is provide your 12th grade courses.  Because there isn’t an option for each semester, please list Mr. Malizio’s Globalization course as “Globalization Portfolio/Philosophy” and Ms. Rodriguez’s course as “US Government/Economics.” If you are taking AP English, Calculus, or US History, please indicate as much in the drop-down box to the right.  Otherwise, choose “Regular/Standard”! And don’t forget to include Gym!

Next, you have the opportunity to list any honors or awards you have received.  This can be anything from a departmental award at MVA (“Best History Student” and so on!) or awards you’ve received in your extracurricular activities, such as in sports. Don’t be shy–this is your time to brag about how much of a rock star you are!

Next, you have a chance to input all of your extracurricular activities.  Remember: an extracurricular activity does NOT have to be something you do at the school–it can be anything you do outside of school hours that’s not homework or Facebook! If you’ve had to go home and take care of your little brother or cousin, that’s an activity! If you play sports, that’s an activity! If you go to a program like Double Discovery, OppNet, Henry Street, or another, that’s an activity! And if you were president or an officer, leader, organizer of any sort, mention that as well!

Next up is your work experience.  Many of you have not had the opportunity to work much, but at the very least, you can list your Service Learning as work experience (and essentially these were unpaid internships). Your “Title” can be flexible; many of you did work where you were an assistant of some sort.  Also: If you’ve gotten paid for doing anything–babysitting, helping out in the family business, whatever–that was a JOB.  List that noise!

Next up is test scores and when you will take the SAT/ACT. You will be putting this information into the SUNY Online Academic Record, so this portion is a bit redundant, but you have to do it. Please put scores in for all tests and all test dates, regardless!

This next category is called “Other,” and it’s where you have a chance to explain your grades.  This is an opportunity to be constructive about why your grades or test scores aren’t quite what you want them to be; this might be because of a situation in your home life, because of illness, or even because of lack of time management skills. You don’t have to say anything, but if you feel like you should, this is your chance!

Finally, there is your personal essay. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART! There are four individual prompts, as well as one that says “Topic of Your Choice”–which is an easy invite to copy/paste an essay you already have written.  If that essay AMAZING, then go ahead! But if it still needs polishing, please create a Google Doc and share with Mr. Frick to see if it works.  Otherwise, answer one of the four questions!

FINALLY, you can review everything and submit! Your SUNY schools–aside from those that have their own forms–will be able to download your supplemental application, and then you’re good to go!

If you have questions, email Mr. Frick! And don’t be afraid to use Google Docs for help with editing essays!

You have to search for the name of the school and the state that it’s in.  For CUNY, search “CUNY” in New York State, and select the “CUNY UAPC” in Brooklyn, NY:

This will send your SAT scores to ALL SIX of your CUNY schools–and if you haven’t used any of your free score reports, it won’t cost you a thing!

Otherwise, the other next step is payment. You can print out a receipt and mail in a check, but it’s best to pay by credit card if you are able to.  CUNY fee waivers are very, very limited, so if you can pay the $65, please do!

If you would like to be considered for EOP at a SUNY school, or if you want a fee waiver (for four free schools), you should use ApplySUNY.  

Here is how to fill out the INITIAL SUNY application:

1. Go to http://www.suny.edu and click “Apply Now” in lower-left part of the screen.

2. If you haven’t already, click “Create Account.” (If you already have, skip to step 4.)

3. Enter your information as it appears on your records.  You do NOT have to provide your SSN (Social Security Number)! Be sure to use an email and password that you’ll remember to log in. 

4. Login!

5. Next, click “Start my applySUNY undergraduate appliation. (We will be doing SUNY academic record after the college lock-in!)

6. You will be asked to click about your citizenship, that you’re applying as a FRESHMAN, and whether or not you want to be considered for EOP. If you want to be considered for EOP, click “yes” and answer the following questions about the your family situation. Check with your parents about income information when you do this! If you are within the guidelines, it will say you “may” qualify for EOP. Then, continue on with application!

You are applying for Fall 2012!

7. Begin filling out your biographical information! Social Security isn’t required, but it is advised that you put it in so they can confirm your eligibility for financial aid more quickly. 

8. You are all New York residents, but you have to put what COUNTY you live in. In case you didn’t know: Manhattan = NEW YORK COUNTY; Brooklyn = KINGS COUNTY; the Bronx = BRONX COUNTY; Queens = QUEENS COUNTY. 

9. Put in information about your parents/guardians AND income information.  If you want to qualify for EOP and/or the SUNY fee waiver, you need to put in accurate financial information that meets the criteria! Click the info button next to each category for more.

10. You are applying as a freshman! You are not adult learners!

11. For high school information, either search for “Manhattan Village Academy” in New York, NY (NOT “New York City, NY” or “Manhattan, NY”) OR put in our CEEB code: 333791!

12. Your education status is “will graduate” and that will be in 06/2012! Also indicate the date of your last SAT (“10/2011″ or “06/2010″).

13. Next, begin your campus selections! Each choice costs $50 unless you qualify for a fee waiver, in which case you get four for free, and then have to pay $50 for each one after that. You can select whether or not you want to be considered for EOP for each individual campus.

14. Add as many campuses as you want.  Remember: you should NOT be trying for EOP to all of your SUNY choices. Only go EOP for one or two of the four schools to which you apply! If you have questions about this, see Mr. Frick!

15. You also have to select a program of study–make sure you pick something that you are interested in, but also for which you are qualified! 

16. After you have selected your campuses, you will be asked to review, submit, and pay. If you are requesting a fee waiver for the four free SUNY schools, you will click a button and verify your income.  You will then have to get a SUNY Fee Waiver Request Form from Mr. Frick, have your parents/guardians sign it, and then have him send it in to SUNY Central.

This is only the initial application–all of the four-year colleges/universities will require you to then fill out the SUNY supplemental application, which is where you will input your essays, etc. You will also have to input your grades/test scores via SUNY SOAR, but there will be more on that later!

1. Go to http://cunyportal.cuny.edu and click “Register for a New Account.”

2. Click that you are an Applicant applying to a CUNY college:

3.

Give your full name as it appears on your records, and most importantly, CREATE A USERNAME AND PASSWORD THAT YOU WILL REMEMBER (i.e., one that you use often!) CUNY does not see this part, so if it’s your AIM screename, whatever!

4. After you have registered, you will be taken back to the log-in screen.  Log-in with the username/password you just created!

5. You will be taken to the CUNY Portal home screen.  Click “Apply Online”–it’s the only way you can apply to CUNY!

6. On the first screen, you will have to enter your Social Security number; if you do not have one, click that you don’t and go on (this only applies to Federal financial aid).  Most of you DO have Social Security numbers–DO NOT GO ON WITHOUT PUTTING IT IN! And in case you guys haven’t taken the hint yet, now is the time to memorize your social security number!

None of you are legally known by any other names, so please skip the last part.

7. Next, click “Apply Online” to officially begin!

8. Next, click that you are applying as a Freshman for General Admission.  I will have spoken to you already if you are going to apply Macaulay Honors. 

9. You are applying for FALL of 2012!

10. Our school is listed as “CES Manhattan Village Academy,” and in order to find it, you have to search “CES Manhattan Village” (it doesn’t all fit) and it will pop up.  Click to select, and the school info will automatically fill in!

11. This is where you put your OSIS number! If you don’t know yours, look at your school ID! If you don’t have an ID, ask Mr. Frick! Do NOT go on with this application until you have put in this number! (And “123456789″ is NOT an OSIS number!)

12. At the bottom of the previous picture, it asks if you’ve completed any college credits.  If you did College Now, you would put in the information.  However, I do not know anybody who has received Financial Aid for any college coursework, so click “no” to these questions.

If you are not an American citizen, but are a resident alien, you will have to input your information at this point.

13. Your colleges choices–you get SIX choices of different schools/programs.  Remember: you can pick two programs within one school.  For example, I made Hunter’s Education program my top choice, but because it’s a tough program to get into, I made Hunter’s Liberal Arts (daytime) my second choice.  Be smart about this with your CUNY choices–if you don’t have strong scores in your area of interest (e.g., you want to studying Nursing, but your science Regents are low), then you should apply for Liberal Arts and then try to transfer into the program after your first year! In general, Liberal Arts is a much safer bet with CUNY, and it give you time to sort out your major!

If you are a student with a cumulative GPA at or below 80%, you need to pick a couple of community colleges in your CUNY app.  Remember: the community colleges fill up quicker than the 4-year colleges! 

14. You now be asked if you want to be considered for SEEK/CD (College Discovery). SEEK = EOP, and is for student who come from very specific financial situations. And even though you might get into a better school/program via SEEK than you would normally, you should NOT think of all your six schools/programs as a SEEK possibility! Keep that in mind when making your choices on the previous screen.

If you have questions about being an orphan or ward of the court, please see Mr. Frick.

15. If you are applying for SEEK, please read the family and income information carefully.  Talk with your parent(s)/guardian(s) about the specifics.  Be accurate about who lives with you (mother/father; brothers/sisters)!

16. Fill out whatever optional information about your background that you want, and then go the family screen! Give the information for your parent(s); if you only live with one, just put that one.

17. On the “Educational History” page, put what type of diploma you currently expect to receive.  If you are unsure about your chances of being awarded an Advanced Regents Diploma because you have to pass one more exam, just put “Regents Diploma.” CUNY will have access to your test history and will know what kind of diploma you are eventually awarded.

18. Review everything, agree to the terms, and submit!

You will then have to sort out the payment, and you will then have the opportunity to print out a Document Return Receipt and a Payment Return Receipt.  More on that later!

12th Grade College Night Slides

If you click the above, you should be able to download the slides from Tuesday’s 12th Grade College Night.

The CollegeBoard is just as much a bane of my existence as it is yours, but its college search features are actually really, really good.  Besides being able to search schools that you know and click “See Similar,” as well as the ability to compile lists of schools you’re interested in and being able to see how you stack up, there’s also the “Find Your Match” feature:

By clicking on this, you’ll have the chance to search for schools by Type of School (Large, Medium, Small; co-ed; etc.) Location (Urban, Suburban, Rural, amongst others); Majors (you can type in a keyword or interest and it gives you every major that might relate to that interest); Admissions (is it highly selective, easy to get into, etc.); and several other categories:

Majors” src=”http://mvacollegeguidance.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/picture-21.png” alt=”" width=”600″ height=”456″ />

It’s a great tool, and could help you find out about a college you didn’t know about!

“Express,” “VIP,” and Other Priority Applications

Several students have come up to ask me if they should fill out one of various “express” applications offered by colleges, usually where the application fee is waived.  If you take a look at the school’s website/literature/CollegeBoard profile and you think it’s something you’d be interested it, then apply!

However, it at all possible, apply on the Common Application!

I’m happy to provide all the necessary documentation for any college you apply to, but the more we use the Common App and and ApplySUNY, the less paperwork (i.e., the less time Mr. Frick is locked in that windowless office).  Usually, these schools will give you the option of providing a code to waive the fee on the Common App, and if they don’t you can call them and tell them you’re applying on the Common App.  This cuts down on the paperwork/copying/etc., and is better for everybody. Like I said: I’ll help you apply anywhere you want, but I get a bit testy when I find out I’m doing 15 minutes of paperwork for a student applying to a school they have no real interest in, but one for which “they got a free application.”  Please, don’t!

Early Decision or Early Action: Should You Consider It?

Applying Early Decision means that should you be accepted, you are committed to attending to said school.  Early Decision deadlines are usually November 1, and have several advantages:

• It shows that you are really, really interested in the school, possibly giving you an edge you wouldn’t otherwise have–especially at private schools
• Means you’re competing with a smaller pool of applicants, which could also be an advantage