ACT's News You Can Use

Issue 59, February 2009

Welcome to "News You Can Use," an electronic newsletter from ACT, with short articles you can use to inform students and parents about college and career planning.

You may use these articles in e-mails, handouts, newsletters, school newspapers and on your school website. The articles are written for a student audience, but you may adapt them for parents if that better fits your audience.

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In this issue:

1. College planning checklist at www.actstudent.org
2. Financial aid questions to ask colleges
3. How to handle college rejection
4. Three steps for planning your career
5. Take a spin on ACT's World-of-Work Map
6. An associate's degree may be your path to success
7. Test date reminder

College planning checklist at www.actstudent.org

Keeping track of the steps of college planning is time consuming, and at times it's hard to know what you should be doing and when.

To make college planning easier, ACT provides college planning checklists for high school students. You can find these checklists at http://www.actstudent.org/college/checklist.html.

Start your college planning early so you won't be surprised by the choices you have to make senior year.

Financial aid questions to ask colleges

Understanding the financial aid process can be hard, and you may not know where to turn for answers. The financial aid officers at colleges and universities are there to help. Below is a list of questions that the Associated Colleges of the Midwest suggests families ask:

1. What kind of financial assistance does the college offer: need-based, merit-based or both?
2. Can the college provide an early estimate of what our financial aid award might be?
3. What forms are needed in order to apply?
4. When are financial aid applications due?
5. What costs for a student are taken into account by the financial aid office? Tuition, room, board, transportation? What about additional expenses such as books, fees, computers and personal expenses?
6. What is included in the comprehensive fee? For example, do students have to pay extra for computer time or to attend campus events (concerts, plays, films, lectures, athletic events, etc.)?
7. When will we be notified about the amount of assistance we can expect?
8. Does the institution have an appeal process to review special circumstances?
9. Is there a commitment for financial assistance beyond the first year?
10. How and when do we apply for financial assistance after the first year?
11. What if we do not qualify for need-based aid? Are there alternative financing options available?
12. What grants, loans and work-study opportunities does the college offer? Are there any we might be eligible for?
13. What is the average student loan indebtedness of the college's graduates?
14. Is there a restriction to the length of time that financial assistance will continue?
15. How long does it typically take a student to graduate from this college? Four years? Longer?
16. What impact do scholarships from outside sources have on other financial aid?
17. Can we apply financial aid toward an off-campus study program, either in the U.S. or another country?
18. What happens if our family's financial situation changes substantially during the school year?
19. Are there payment options available, such as monthly or quarterly?

How to handle college rejection

Rejection is never easy—whether it comes from a friend, a potential employer, or even a stranger. However, when your college of choice doesn't select you, it can be hard to deal with.

Here are some ideas to help you work through and overcome the disappointment:

• Don't take it personally. You may have been rejected simply because the college had many similar applicants.
• Reaffirm your strengths. Remind yourself that you have many fine qualifications for college. An acceptance letter will come when you find the right match.
• Remember that you aren't alone. Almost everyone gets a rejection letter.
• Recognize that brand name doesn't equal success. There are many paths to a successful career, and no college leads to a sure thing in job placement.
• Don't spend a lot of time agonizing about the rejection. Instead, use your time and energy finding another school that you will like as much or more.
• Be positive about other institutions. You are sure to find several colleges where you could be happy and receive a great education.
• Consider that maybe the rejection isn't such a bad thing. Sometimes rejection ends up being good fortune in disguise. Maybe the admissions officer saw something that signaled the college would not be a good match for your skills and interests and maybe they saved you from a disappointing experience.
• "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again!" If you are dead set on a given college or university, start at another school and reapply later as a transfer student.

Remember, college rejection happens, and it doesn't define the rest of your life.

Three steps for planning your career

Setting short- and long-term career goals comes down to three simple steps. Following these steps can help you make decisions that best match your career goals, helping you identify alternative career paths.

1. Take a realistic look at your strengths, weaknesses and interests.
   • What can help you achieve your goals and what obstacles could get in your way?
   • What types of work, school courses and activities appeal to you?
   • What interests you?
   • What do you do well now, and what skills have you gained through experience?
   • What values do you have regarding work?
2. Explore your options. It's hard to know what to do for a career when you don't even know all the possibilities. Here are just a few ways to find career information:
   • Explore your career options using ACT's World-of-Work Map.
   • Use ACT's DISCOVER program to explore possible careers.
   • Spend time with people whose activities intrigue you.
   • Volunteer or work in a job that interests you.
   • Discuss your career and educational plans with your school counselor, parents, or other interested people.
3. Consider issues that can affect your plans and take actions to accomplish your goals.
   • What do you need to study to be ready for the career you're interested in?
   • What schools offer the training you need?
   • How will you pay for school?
   • Do you need to search for a job?
   • How will you balance your work and going to school?
   • How will you manage family or relationship commitments?

Take a spin on ACT's World-of-Work Map

One way to explore careers is to use ACT's Interactive World-of-Work Map at www.actstudent.org. The circular career map spins as you choose career groups to investigate within broad categories, such as working with data, working with ideas and things, and working with people and ideas. Within each group are several specific career areas, such as education, computer/information specialties, and manufacturing/processing. Each career area consists of a number of specific occupations with detailed information on work tasks, salary, size of the field, expected growth and how to prepare for the occupation.

ACT can help steer you in a suggested direction. If you have taken EXPLORE, PLAN or the ACT, you'll have results from your Interest Inventory, a questionnaire regarding your interests. You can also get these results from using DISCOVER, ACT's career planning computer program. These results will point you to career groups on the ACT World-of-Work Map.

You can explore ACT's World-of-Work Map to investigate career areas of interest. Register for a free student account at www.actstudent.org to use the World-of-Work Map.

An associate's degree may be your path to success

Before following your friends to the four-year State U., check out all of your options first. For some, going directly to a four-year college is the best option. For others, community college may be a better alternative.

Four-year colleges are not the only path to success. A community college can help you start a career after just two years, with training for some of the fastest growing jobs in the U.S. However, an associate's degree can also offer a start to your four-year degree, providing you with about half the credits you need to earn a bachelor's degree.

Benefits of attending a community college include:

• Courses that cover the basics, but also apply principles to the workplace.
• More hands-on classes than those at a four-year college.
• Saving money in tuition and other expenses, such as room and board. Tuition can be less than half of that at a four-year public college. And often students save money by living at home.
• Receiving more personal attention from the professors than you would at a large university.
• Easier decision making on a major once you've transferred to a four-year college. The focus on occupations and career discovery programs at a community college can help you with your decision.
• Another chance at four-year college scholarships. Many four-year colleges offer numerous scholarships that are reserved for students who transfer from community college.

Test date reminder

The next national ACT test date is April 4, 2009. The regular registration deadline is February 27 and the late registration continues through March 13. This is a great time for high school juniors to test. They have learned most, if not all, of the academic skills needed to do well on the ACT. Taking the test as a junior can also give you time for additional study and retesting, if desired. Another test date is available June 13. Online registration and test date information can be found at www.actstudent.org. If you choose to register online, do so early to avoid heavy web traffic and delays.

ACT offers an optional Writing Test in addition to the multiple-choice achievement test. Go to www.actstudent.org/writing to find out about the Writing Test, including what the colleges you're interested in have decided about requiring it.

While you're at the website, remember to take advantage of test prep aids, including free sample test questions, at www.actstudent.org/testprep. "Preparing for the ACT," a booklet with a complete practice test, scoring key, writing prompt and sample essays, is available to download on the Test Prep section of actstudent.org. Your ACT registration packet, available from the counseling office, also includes the booklet. Try taking the sample test and timing yourself to prepare for test day.

For all your questions about the ACT test, visit www.actstudent.org.

ACT developed this newsletter to help educate and inform parents and students. You may use these articles in your publications and communications without further permission. You may shorten and edit the articles as long as our message and intent remain intact. Feel free to forward this email to colleagues.

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ACT is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides more than one hundred assessment, research, information, and program management solutions in the areas of education and workforce development. Each year, ACT serves millions of people in high schools, colleges, professional associations, businesses, and government agencies--nationally and internationally.

Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, ACT offers a wide variety of solutions that share one guiding purpose--to help people achieve education and workplace success. For more information about ACT, visit www.act.org.

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