MUSTANG MESSAGES
OCTOBER NEWSLETTER
What is one of the main components when deciding where to go to college? The
answer is making a college visit. College officials say that a critical element in
selecting a college is to make visits to the colleges the student is deciding upon. By
visiting the campus and talking to teachers, students, admission people, etc., the
student will be able to make a well-informed comparison of the colleges he/she has
seen and will then be able to make a good decision about which college to attend.
When scheduling a college visit, the student should allow the college a minimum of
one or two weeks to schedule the visit. By scheduling at least a week in advance,
appointments can be made with teachers, coaches, financial aid officers and others
the student wishes to visit with on the college campus.
College visit appointments can be made through the guidance office. Look at your
family calendar before you go to the guidance office so that you know a day you and
your parents are looking at for the college visit. I would suggest visiting the 2 or 3
colleges you are most interested.
If I can be of help to you in the college visit process, please give me a call (7566611).
Chris Sluka
Guidance Counselor
DID YOU KNOW?
At a recent meeting with admissions
personnel from UNL, UNK and UNO,
all speakers from the colleges advised
high school students to apply for
admission early.
An earlier
application means an earlier response
from the college, will guarantee all
deadlines for scholarships are met,
and will help the student feel at ease
regarding admission. All three schools
have gone to a web-based application.
Applying to at least two colleges by
November
1st
would
be
a
reasonable goal for a senior.
CHANGES IN FAFSA PROCESS
There is a major change in the process
used to file the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) this year.
In the past, families could begin to
complete their FAFSA on January 1
and had to be in a rush to get their
taxes completed. Now, families may
begin on OCTOBER 1 and will use
their 2015 tax return to complete the
FAFSA. Both a parent and the student
will still need to create a separate FSA
ID, which is used to access and sign
the FAFSA. Separate email addresses
must be used and students are
recommended to not use school email
addresses. Go to fsaid.ed.gov to create
your FSA ID and then begin to
complete your FAFSA after October 1.
THANKS TO ALL
CAREER WEBSITES AVAILABLE
I would like to thank the 19 parents
and students who attended the
Financial Aid Program on Wed., Sept.
28.
The director of Kearney’s
EducationQuest Foundation, Jodi
Vanden Burge, led the program. Some
of the major pieces of information
from the presentation were: 1) the
date to begin completing the FAFSA
has changed to October 1 with 2015
tax returns being used, 2) you must
have a FSA ID to access the FAFSA
online, 3)EducationQuest Foundation
is a great asset for help with the
FAFSA, 4) as in the past, if you live on
a farm and you financially participate
on that farm, its value is not counted
against you, and 5)
for FAFSA
purposes,
most
students
are
considered “dependent” students and
as a result, parent tax returns must be
used to complete the FAFSA.
Several websites have been developed
for helping students select a college
major or career. Some of the more
well-known sites are:
FastWeb College Search:
www.fastweb.com
Monster Job Search:
www.monster.com
America’s Career Infonet:
www.acinet.org
Bureau of Labor Statistics:
http://stats.bls.gov
Occupational Outlook Handbook:
www.bls.gov.oco
COLLEGE REPS COMING TO SL
Thurs., Oct. 6 NWU, 1:00
Mon., Oct. 10 UNK, 1:15
Tues, Nov. 1 Southeast CC, 2:45
Mon., Nov. 7 Northeast CC, 10:45
Tues., Nov. 15 Ft. Hays St. U, 11:00
OCTOBER CHECKLIST
Seniors may want to make sure they
have completed these items during
the month of October:
--Begin researching colleges through
the guidance office or Internet.
--Make campus visits.
--Talk to college reps when at SL.
--Take the ACT or COMPASS.
--Begin
completing
admission
applications to colleges.
--Begin to write personal essays and
resumes for scholarship applications.
--Begin to ask teachers, coaches, etc, to
write recommendation letters on your
behalf.
IMPORTANT OCTOBER DATES
Fri, 10/7 Homecoming game/dance
Mon, 10/10 ACT Prep, 7th & 8th pd.
Tues, 10/11 ACT Prep, 5th & 6th pd.
Wed, 10/12 County Govt. Day – Red
Cloud, Seniors Attend.
Thurs, 10/13 ACT Prep, 2nd & 3rd pd.
Fri, 10/14
ACT Prep, 4th pd.
Mon., 10/17 ACT Prep, 7th & 8th pd.
Tues, 10/18 Blood Drive
Tues, 10/18 ACT Prep, 4th pd.
Wed, 10/19 ACT Prep, 5th – 8th pd.
Thurs, 10/19 ACT Prep, 2nd & 3rd pd.
Fri., 10/21 Football Senior Night
Sat., 10/22 ACT Test Date
Mon., 10/24 NO School
Tues., 10/25 Volleyball Senior Night
Fri., 10/28 NO School
ACT PREP AVAILABLE IN OCTOBER
Silver Lake is once again making
available the John Baylor ACT Test
Prep Program during the month of
October. The sessions will begin on
October 10 and will conclude on
October 20. There is no cost for
students to participate in the program.
With the actual ACT test being held on
Saturday, Oct. 22., this is a perfect time
to participate in the program. The
sessions are held during the school
day so that more students can
participate.
H. S. ARTICULATION AT SL
High School Articulation is the
program through Central Community
College which offers high school
students free college credit for classes
taken in high school. Students must
earn an A or B and they must attend
CCC in order to earn the credit. The
college credit is good at CCC only.
Classes which Silver Lake has
articulated with CCC are Accounting I,
AgriBusiness, Animal Science, Plant
Science, Digital Media, Art IV, Foods
and Welding. NOTE: CCC is phasing
out this program so this is the last
year that High School Articulation will
be available.
IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY…
It’s never too early to begin searching for scholarships. A great place to begin is by
looking at ScholarshipQuest on the EducationQuest Foundation website, which is
www.educationquest.org.
At ScholarshipQuest, students complete a profile and then are matched with
scholarships that meet their profile. Consider completing your profile this month!
SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION
Scholarship information I have received this month includes:
SCHOLARSHIP: Nebraska Softball Foundation Scholarships
REQUIREMENTS: Senior who has been a registered softball player with Nebraska ASA. A
separate scholarship is for officials, or family members, who have been a registered official
with Nebraska ASA.
AMOUNT: $1000
DEADLINE: October 15, 2016. Apply at www.nebraskasoftball.org
SCHOLARSHIP: Hagan Scholarship (helping students from rural counties)
REQUIREMENTS: Student with a B+ grade point average or higher who has scored a 23+ on
the ACT, whose FAFSA Expected Family Contribution is less than $7500, who has not been
convicted of a felony, and who must work a minimum of 240 hours prior to the start of each
academic year of college. Apply at www.hsfmo.org.
AMOUNT: Varies based on unmet financial need of recipient, up to $5000 per semester.
DEADLINE: November 15, 2016
SCHOLARSHIP: Horatio Alger Association Scholarship
REQUIREMENTS: The association provides scholarships to students who have financial
need and have exhibited integrity and perseverance in overcoming personal adversity.
Students must graduate from high school in 2016 and have a commitment to pursue and
complete a bachelor’s degree and United States citizenship.
Apply at scholars.horatioalger.org.
AMOUNT: $5000 to $20,000
DEADLINE: October 25, 2016
SCHOLARSHIP: Nebraska Chapter-Associated General Contractors (AGC) Scholarship
REQUIREMENT: Students planning to major in a construction, welding, diesel or heavy
equipment operation at a Nebraska Community College. Apply at: www.agcne.org/agcnebraska-scholarships.
AMOUNT: $1000
DEADLINE: January 6, 2017
SCHOLARSHIP: Martha and Don Romeo Scholarship
REQUIREMENTS: Student must be a 4-H member in Nebraska who has a C+ average or
higher, must have exhibited 4-H projects in a County Fair or State Fair within the last four
years, must have demonstrated support for their school and community.
AMOUNT: $500
DEADLINE: Due in the applicant’s local County Extension Office by December 1, 2016.
RHOP & RLOP PROGRAM AT NEBRASKA STATE COLLEGES
The Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP) is a partnership between
Wayne State College, Chadron State College, Peru State College and the University of
Nebraska Medical Center. Students who are accepted are guaranteed admission to
UNMC following their undergraduate studies. Programs of study available include
Clinical Laboratory Science, Dental Hygiene, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing,
Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant and Radiography.
Numerous factors are always a part of the selection process; however, special
emphasis is placed on 1) academic preparation and potential of the student, 2) a
rural background, 3) a commitment to return to the rural areas to practice their
specialty and 4) a biography of why the student wants to be in the program.
The application deadline is November 15, 2016 or December 1, 2016,
depending on the program. For more information, look
http://www.wsc.edu/schools/nss/rhop/ or www.peru.edu/rhop.
The Rural Law Opportunities Program (RLOP) is a new partnership between
Wayne State College and the University of Nebraska College of Law. RLOP is
designed to recruit students from rural areas and train them to become lawyers that
will return and practice in their communities. RLOP aims to ensure rural areas of
Nebraska have equal access to legal representation. Participants in the program
receive their bachelor’s degrees from Wayne State and will be guaranteed admission
into the Nebraska College of Law. The application deadline is December 1. To learn
more about program requirements, eligibility and how to apply, visit wsc.edu/rlop.