Important Dates GEAR-UP PSAT Workshop Tuesday, January 20th Simon Scholar Presentation Thursday, January 22nd ASVAB Friday, January 30th In the Career Center *Sign up in Career Center by January 28th Cash for College Workshops El Camino High School Saturday, February 7th 9am - 12noon CSUSM Saturday, February 21st 9am - 12noon Escondido High School Saturday, February 28th 9am - 12noon SMHS Parent Knight Monday, February 9th from 5:30 - 6:30 in the Knight’s Center Girls World Expo Sunday, February 22nd 12pm - 4pm Course Selection Presentations in English Classes 11th - February 17th 10th - February 20th 9th - March 9th Ono-on-One Course Selection 11th - Week of 2/23 10th - Week of 3/2 9th - Week of 3/16 SAN MARCOS HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING—COLLEGE & CAREER CENTER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 SMHS Counseling News Simon Scholar Updates It’s time again for the annual Simon Scholar Foundation Assembly. Simon Scholar recipients receive a substantial scholarship package that includes money for college, a free laptop, and exceptional academic mentorship. Students who meet the minimum qualifications to apply for the scholarship will be invited to a mandatory presentation held on January 22 nd , 2015. Meet our new counselor! Palomar College Spring Courses If you are interested in taking at class at Palomar College during Spring semester, please see your counselor. You must pick up a K12 form from the Counseling Office (instructions on how to register are included in the packet you will pick up). High school students will be able to enroll in Palomar College classes starting on January 10th. The K12 form must be turned in to Palomar's Admission Office prior to that date. Please note that classes fill quickly. Mr. Ruben Escobar is the newest School Counselor to join our team at San Marcos High School. He is Mexican-American, comes from a large family (the youngest of six children), and was the first person in his family to attend college. He graduated from UC San Diego with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and a Minor in Teacher Education. He later went on to earn a Master's Degree in School Counseling and a Pupil Personnel Services Credential from San Diego State University. Overall, he has 10+ years of experience with counseling students at both the university and high school levels. On another note, he is happily married to his college sweetheart and has an energetic and playful 2-year old son. In his spare time, he enjoys playing basketball and fishing whenever he can. He looks forward to joining the Counseling Department team and interacting with students at SMHS. Go Knights!
Transcript
Important Dates
GEAR-UP PSAT Workshop
Tuesday, January 20th
Simon Scholar Presentation
Thursday, January 22nd
ASVAB Friday, January 30th In the Career Center
*Sign up in Career Center by January 28th
Cash for College
Workshops El Camino High School Saturday, February 7th
9am - 12noon CSUSM
Saturday, February 21st 9am - 12noon
Escondido High School Saturday, February 28th
9am - 12noon
SMHS Parent Knight Monday, February 9th from 5:30 - 6:30 in the
Knight’s Center
Girls World Expo Sunday, February 22nd
12pm - 4pm
Course Selection Presentations in English
Classes 11th - February 17th 10th - February 20th
9th - March 9th
Ono-on-One Course Selection
11th - Week of 2/23 10th - Week of 3/2 9th - Week of 3/16
SAN MARCOS HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING—COLLEGE & CAREER CENTER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
SMHS Counseling News
Simon Scholar Updates
It’s time again for the annual Simon Scholar
Foundation Assembly. Simon Scholar
recipients receive a substantial scholarship
package that includes money for college, a free
laptop, and exceptional academic mentorship.
Students who meet the minimum qualifications
to apply for the scholarship will be invited to a mandatory presentation
held on January 22nd, 2015.
Meet our new counselor!
Palomar College Spring Courses
If you are interested in taking at class at Palomar College during Spring semester, please see your counselor. You must pick up a K12 form from the Counseling Office (instructions on how to register are included in the packet you will pick up). High school students will be able to enroll in Palomar College classes starting on January 10th. The K12 form must be turned in to Palomar's Admission Office prior to that date. Please note that classes fill quickly.
Mr. Ruben Escobar is the newest School Counselor to join our team at San Marcos High School. He is Mexican-American, comes from a large family (the youngest of six children), and was the first person in his family to attend college. He graduated from UC San Diego with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and a Minor in Teacher Education. He later went on to earn a Master's Degree in School Counseling and a Pupil Personnel Services Credential from San Diego State University. Overall, he has 10+ years of experience with counseling students at both the university and high school levels. On another note, he is happily married to his college sweetheart and has an energetic and playful 2-year old son. In his spare time, he enjoys playing basketball and fishing whenever he can. He looks forward to joining the Counseling Department team and interacting with students at SMHS. Go Knights!
SAN MARCOS HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING—COLLEGE & CAREER CENTER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 2
2015 EXCALIBUR KNIGHTS
Elizabeth Ngan
Hanna Puentes
Noemi Quinones
Taylor Richard
Addison Simon
Hayden Stark
Lauren Tafla
Sean Tobe
Kayla Tran
Cecilia Wang
Elysa Briens
Carter Brown
Nicole Carrier
Andrew Hill Carly Hudak
Melissa Kosty
Austin Mahler
Paige Mathis
Timothy Maurer Liam McGinnis
Gear-up update
GEAR UP is inviting students and parents to our
post PSAT workshop. Join us on January 20th at
SMHS. The PSAT is a practice test for the SAT,
which is very important for college admissions
and scholarships. Students and parents can
identify their strengths and weaknesses by using
their PSAT scores to prepare for the SAT. More
information will be posted on the school website
as the date approaches. We hope to see you
there! 6:00 - 7:30 pm
The Excalibur Knights are the top 20 seniors who all have over a 4.0 GPA. They serve as mentors to our SMHS underclassmen and the eighth grade students at San Marcos Middle and San Elijo Middle Schools. Some of their primary duties are: To maintain excellent citizenship and grades To be a positive role model both on and off
campus To participate in the June graduation
practice(s) and ceremony as juniors To participate in the Freshman Knighthood
Assembly To spend a day at San Elijo Middle School and
San Marcos Middle School speaking to 8th grade classes
To help host the 8th grade parent night at SMHS To lead a mock college application lesson in
10th grade classes
The 2015 Excalibur Knights
We are proud of these outstanding young people. Please view their biographies and photos on our SMHS website. www.sanmarcoshigh.org > About Us tab > Excalibur Knights
Career Center
Coffee Hour Re-cap
Thank you all who showed up to our first Career Center Parent Coffee Hour on Tuesday,
December 16th! We had great feedback from the surveys and look forward to getting our SMHS
parents more informed and involved! We hope to make these monthly so please keep checking our
website and your emails for our next event!
Special thanks to Panera Bread for donating the coffee & SMHS PTO
SAN MARCOS HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING—COLLEGE & CAREER CENTER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 7
Financial Aid (Continued)
SAN MARCOS HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING—COLLEGE & CAREER CENTER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 8
Middle Class Scholarship
10 things you need to know about California’s Middle Class Scholarship
1. The Middle Class Scholarship (MCS): The Middle Class Scholarship (MCS) is a new program beginning in the 2014-15 academic year that provides undergraduate students with family incomes up to $150,000 a scholarship to attend University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) campuses. 2. Students must meet the following requirements: Be a California resident attending a UC or CSU; be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or have AB 540* student status; meet certain income and other financial aid standards; maintain satisfactory academic progress; not be in default on a student loan; and, must not be incarcerated. 3. Apply: Complete a 2014-15 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at www.fafsa.gov or the California Dream Act Application atcaldreamact.org. Use the California Dream Act Application if you do not have a Social Security number (SSN) or if you have a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) number. Make sure your email address is listed on your FAFSA or California Dream Act Application.
4. If your family earns up to $100,000 per year: You may be eligible for a scholarship of up to 40 percent of the mandatory systemwide tuition and fees: The maximum award amount is a lesser percentage of mandatory systemwide tuition and fees for each academic year beginning in 2014-15 at 14%, 2015-16 (20%), and 2016-17 (30%) 5. Students whose families earn between $100,001 and $150,000 per year: May be eligible for a reduced scholarship of no less than 10 percent of the mandatory systemwide tuition and fees. 6. MCS scholarships are not set amounts and may vary by student and institution: The award is determined after you are awarded any federal Pell Grant, Cal Grant and institutional need-based grants for which you are eligible. The final award amount will be based on the number of stu-dents eligible for the MCS statewide and the funding allocated by the State Budget. 7. The MCS is being phased in over four years: Each academic year, the maximum amount of the scholarship will increase until 2017-18, when the maximum scholarship award will be up to 40 percent of the mandatory systemwide fees and tuition. 8. To get assistance completing the FAFSA or California Dream Act Application: Attend a Cash for College workshop January 1 thru March 2. Students must reapply each year. Visit www.calgrants.org for locations.
9. If you are selected to receive a MCS: If you are selected to receive a MCS, you will be notified by the Commission. 10. Need more information about this scholarship?: Contact your UC or CSU campus Financial Aid Office or check the California Student Aid Commission's website for updates.
SAN MARCOS HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING—COLLEGE & CAREER CENTER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 9 Upcoming Course Selection for the 2015-2016 School Year
Can you believe it? It’s that time already to plan for next year’s courses. Counselors will be visiting each 9th, 10th, and 11th grade English and History class over the next few months. The first visit will be a presentation in which counselors distribute transcripts to each student, go over graduation requirements, college entrance requirements, and other pertinent information for each grade level. Students will be given a course selection sheet and asked to take their materials home to discuss with parents. Look for your student to bring home information during the following weeks: Grade Level (current) Presentation in English classes One-on-One Course Selection Meeting 11th February 17th Week of February 23rd 10th February 20th Week of March 2nd 9th March 9th Week of March 16th Counselors meet one-on-one with each student to discuss their course choices, credit status and A-G progress during the second visit through History classes. Powerpoint presentations presented in English classes will be available online on the Counseling website the week of the presentations. Counselors will be out to visit the middle schools during the week of March 23rd.
Summer opportunities fair GIRLS World Expo
Pacific Ridge School will be hosting our first-ever Summer Opportunities Fair on Thursday, January 29 from 6-8 p.m. The fair is an evening for high school students and their parents to talk to exhibitors about summer travel programs, internships, research opportunities and camps. There will be a brief presentation by PRS College Guidance at the start of the program highlighting tips for exploring summer opportunities. This event is free and open to the public, so please encourage your students to attend! Pacific Ridge School 6269 El Fuerte Street, Carlsbad, CA 92009
The Huff Post Parent Blog recently had an article entitled “9 Things Every Parent with an Anxious Child Should Try.” We are posting the article on our website under the Counseling Tab for any families who might find this information helpful.
Please go to www.sanmarcoshigh.org >Departments >Counseling >Parent Resources
SAN MARCOS HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING—COLLEGE & CAREER CENTER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 10
Paying for College
Understanding the financial aid process can be an overwhelming task. Counselors went out to senior Government classes in December to discuss applying for financial aid through the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Your senior has a packet of information to share with you. Please ask to see it and help them navigate this application process, which begins January 2015. Even if your student plans on attending a community college next fall, you should be completing the FAFSA. Unlike filling out college applications, which should be completed by the student, the financial aid process requires parent participation. Please follow the directions that we provide in our December class visits. As a supplement, the U.S. Department of Education has some fantastic websites with excellent resources. Please visit www.CollegeNavigator.gov for a college search tool and a link to their “College Affordability and Transparency Center” (or www.collegecost.ed.gov). The www.StudentAid.gov website gives excellent explanations about the different types of aid available, including grants and loans. For those of you who use social media, FAFSA hosts Twitter and Facebook pages. This is a good opportunity to read feedback from other families who are going through the same process as you are. Since it is sponsored by the Federal Student Aid commission, the answers to student and parent questions are reliable. On Facebook, please search “Federal Student Aid” and on Twitter the address is Twitter.com/FAFSA.
Monday, February 9th 5:30-6:30 PM
SMHS Knights Center (Gym) Please join counselors for an informative presentation to help guide you through the 2015-16 school
year course selection and college planning process.
Topics will include:
Smhs parent knight: Course Selection & College Info Knight
SAN MARCOS HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING—COLLEGE & CAREER CENTER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 11
Cash for college Financial Aid Workshop
SAN MARCOS HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING—COLLEGE & CAREER CENTER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 12
What your college application Decisions Won’t tell you
By Patrick O’Connor- Associate Dean of College Counseling, Cranbrook Schools
Posted: 12/11/2014
With many colleges releasing early admissions decisions (MIT will drop their decisions on 12/13/14 at 15:16), seniors are creating more parallel universes than the Matrix movies combined. This "what if" game is so intense, it's easy to think you'll know all about your future life, once the college says yea, nay, or maybe.
And that is absolutely wrong.
Applying to college isn't easy, especially when you're still on two sports teams, taking demanding classes, and preparing for your last Winter Concert. But all the applications you completed, letters of recommendation you tracked down, and essays you wrote (by yourself--right?) are designed for one purpose only--to help a college decide if they should admit you. When it comes to other parts of your life, a college decision tells you absolutely nothing about: Succeeding at that college Most colleges are receiving more applications than ever before--so many that they can't say yes to every qualified student. If you hear from a college this week and they deny or defer you, it doesn't mean they don't want you; it means that, like a good restaurant, they have more people that want to partake than they have space. That has nothing to do with you.
If a college admits you this week, it means they think you *can* do the work--but nothing's guaranteed. Getting in is time to celebrate, but not time to put your feet up; use the rest of high school to take your academic game to another level. Your ability to have a happy life I could pull out data from studies showing where you go to college has nothing to do with average income, career achievement, or life satisfaction--but numbers just aren't that comforting right now. Instead, think back to a time in life when you didn't get something you really wanted. It was disappointing, it hurt, and for a while, you weren't sure what you were going to do. You then found Plan B, and realized that the opportunities it brought were just as good--or better--than what you had hoped Plan A would bring. If a college tells you no this week, Plan B awaits. Your value as a person This is the time of year when we believe, more than ever, that the right "stuff" will make us a complete person. When you see ads with people thrilled to get the latest smartphone, automatic vacuum cleaner, or big screen TV that's larger than a school bus, you can't help but wonder why we just don't buy one for everybody, since that is clearly the key to world peace.
But stuff doesn't do that--and neither does a college decision. A yes from a college doesn't make you somebody; the work you put into earn that yes did that. A no from a college doesn't make you nobody; that happens when you decide their denial is a character indictment, instead of an opportunity to build a great life at another school.
Either way, your worth isn't waiting in an e-mail that's going to drop on 12/13/14 at 15:16 o'clock. Your worth is within you, and it isn't waiting for much of anything, other than your recognition of its existence.
Applying to college is a big deal, and there are a lot of people who love you for who you are. They hope it all works out for you when college decisions are announced. Whether it works out or not, they'll still love you for who you are.
I'm really hoping one of those people is you. Follow Patrick O'Connor on Twitter: www.twitter.com/collegeisyours
How to Ease Back into School Routine after Winter Break By Anh Eggers One of the key strategies to help with the transition back to school is to acknowledge your feelings. Like you, your friends and classmates might feel anxious about the increased course load, shy about meeting new students in their classes, and stress about upcoming school and other priorities.
Remember these tips to help you successfully manage school after you’ve enjoyed a long winter hibernation: Know that other students are facing the same challenges you are at this time. Set personal academic, athletic, and other goals for 2015. Create a reward system for meeting your goals. Get involved in new activities or clubs in order to make new friends and learn new skills. Don’t overload yourself with too many after-school activities Get help as soon as you realize that you need support. Talk to your family, friends and others in your support system. Among other helpful advice, they might suggest that you research programs that provide assistance in the courses that are especially challenging to you. As long-time supporters of students in the SMUSD, the staff of ACE Tutoring will be glad to discuss a plan to help you succeed this school year. Feel free to visit the center at 1921 W. San Marcos Blvd. (in Albertson’s Plaza) and mention this newsletter in order to receive a free trial tutoring session. You have nothing to lose and perhaps a great deal to gain, including your confidence! Also visit www.acetutoring.com to find out more information. We wish everyone a happy, healthy, and successful New Year! Best, Steve and Anh Eggers
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