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Scholarship Gold Consulting- Helping students prepare for college and compete for scholarships

Elizabeth Hartley, coach/consultant/author

April 2015- NEWSFLASH

Vol 2, Issue 1

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"College Wise"

a free monthly newsletter by Elizabeth Hartley,

ScholarshipGold.com

Word to the Wise

Hi College Bound Friends!

A few updates from the email last week! See the list below for what's in this edition.

Some families who couldn't make the April 11th College Bound Essentials asked for a repeat of the class before summer so I've set one up. Also, for the first time this year at the Lake Wylie location, a special class just for grades 5-8!

College Bound Essentials workshop added for May 16- last one for summer
Middle School Essentials workshop added for May 16- the only one this year!
Common App Essay Questions Available Now
More Details on the Upcoming Changes to the SAT/PSAT

NEW CLASSES ADDED FOR MAY 16TH

Two New Classes on May 16th!

Click on blue course titles to sign up.

College Bound Essentials- Saturday, May 16th- 9:00-noon

(See description and location below- same as event on April 11th.)

Middle School Essentials- Saturday, May 16th- 1:00-4:00

Only one this year! For 5th-8th grades

Special pricing for this workshop! Only $50/student rather than $75.

Equipping students early, such as grades 5-8, with an understanding of what to expect in high school, how to choose their courses and activities wisely and how to start exploring their interests and passions, can lay a solid foundation for navigating the road to college. Come join us for this fun, interactive and engaging event! Let's demystify what lies ahead and empower them to move forward with confidence!

Note- Since most parents who subscribe to this newsletter have students in high school, please share news of this workshop with friends who have middle schoolers so that they don't miss this event. While I provide it at a number of middle schools, I only offer it once per year in Lake Wylie. So, please share the news!

LAST CALL FOR THIS SATURDAY'S WORKSHOPS

Last Call for Saturday!

All Scholarship Gold Events are $75 per student and parents come along at no extra charge. All workshops are held at at Good Samaritan Church, Lake Wylie. Click on the blue event title for details or to sign up.

College Bound Essentials- April 11th- 9:00-noon- LAST CALL!

This is absolutely one class that every 8th-11th grade college bound student and their parents should attend! Come learn how to navigate scholarships, financial aid, how to pick a college, test prep tips and much more! This event may totally change how you approach what lies ahead!

Good Samaritan United Methodist Church- Lake Wylie

Junior Year Essentials Saturday April 11, 2015- 1:00 PM to 4:00 LAST CALL!

`For current sophomores! Your upcoming junior year is arguably the most important of your high school career. Join us for this essential workshop covering all of the critical items juniors need to cover in order to be best prepared for college admission and scholarships. We will cover course selection, SAT/ACT prep, college tours, leadership & more.

Common App Questions for fall 2015

Most students applying to college end up completing the Common Application for two or more of their schools. This application, found at www.CommonApp.org, will open on August 1st for the upcoming application season. For a list of schools that use the Common Application, click HERE.

A key part of the Common Application is the required essay of 250-650 words. Students can pick one of the following prompts to address. So, why wait till next fall? Go ahead and write your essay over the summer and get a jump on it!

(I still have openings in the Essay Writing Workshops on June 13th and Aug 22nd if you need help working on these. See those dates on the Events tab of ScholarshipGold.com to sign up.)

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

NEW SAT and PSAT Coming NEXT FALL- What does it mean to you?

Changes hitting the SAT and PSAT this fall!

The College Board announced this year that there are major changes coming to the SAT in the fall of 2015, leaving many students, mostly current sophomores, wondering how this change will impact them. So, what is changing, exactly?

- They are dropping the whole Writing section, formerly worth 800 points. Now, a perfect score on the SAT will be 1600, based on Critical Reading and Math, and not 2400, which included the Writing section.

- There will be an optional essay, similar to the ACT. (Tip- Once you know which test works better for you, the SAT or ACT, make sure to take one version with the optional essay.)

- Students will no longer lose points for wrong answers, thus eliminating the penalty for guessing. This is similar to the way the ACT scores.

- The vocabulary words will change so that they are words that most well-read students would have a chance of encountering.

Current 10th graders and younger students will be impacted the most by this transition but students who are currently in the 11th grade now may also be caught in the cross-over if they are planning to take the SAT one or two more times their senior year.

STRATEGY- The problem with being caught in a transition to a new test is that there is very little material at first publicly available to prepare. The source with the most accurate and free material for the new SAT/PSAT is available on KhanAcademy.com. The interactive video prep site, Eprep.com, has already updated its PSAT prep program and should have its SAT program ready soon. In the end, though, none of it has been tested and proven yet.

So, current 10th graders, here's the deal. Many professional SAT and ACT tutors have suggested that people who will be juniors next year plan to focus most of their energy and efforts on the ACT, since the SAT has too many unknowns and too little test prep material available. I think there is some merit to that idea. My own son (a rising junior) will focus mostly on ACT prep over the summer. He will still take the PSAT and SAT, because there will be some rollover benefit from his ACT prep, but will plan on his test of choice being the ACT for the coming year. Your choice is up to you but just make a plan, taking into consideration the changes, and do your best.

Elizabeth Hartley

Scholarship Gold Consulting

704-608-1807

HartleyGold@yahoo.com www.ScholarshipGold.com

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