Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant

The Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant is a non need-based grant for Virginia residents planning to attend a private college or university in Virginia. The award amount varies from year to year – last year it was $3,000 – and is determined by the available funding and number of eligible applicants. The deadline isn’t until July 31, 2010, but if you are applying, have been accepted, or plan to attend a private college or university in Virginia, you might as well submit your VTAG application now. The link to the application can be found here and a list of private, undergraduate colleges and universities in Virginia is below. Also, the VTAG application link is also posted under the Miscellaneous tab along with other scholarships and there are several copies of the VTAG application available in the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria office and the College and Career Center.

• Averett University
• Bluefield College
• Bridgewater College
• Christendom College
• Eastern Mennonite University
• Emory & Henry College
• Ferrum College
• George Washington University (VA campus only)
• Hampden-Sydney College
• Hampton University
• Hollins University
• Jefferson College of Health Sciences
• Liberty University
• Lynchburg College
• Mary Baldwin College
• Marymount University
• Randolph College
• Randolph-Macon College
• Regent University
• Roanoke College
• Saint Paul’s College
• Shenandoah University
• Southern Virginia University
• Sweet Briar College
• University of Richmond
• Virginia Intermont College
• Virginia Union University
• Virginia Wesleyan College
• Washington & Lee University

March 1st Deadline

The following Virginia colleges and universities have a March 1st deadline – that’s next Monday!

• Christopher Newport University
• Hampden-Sydney College
• Hampton University
• Randolph-Macon College

And don’t forget about the college and universities who have rolling admissions! Submit those applications as soon as you can.

College and Career Center Map

Seniors! As you hear back from schools, please let us know! If you’ve been accepted, stop by the College and Career Center so you can pin your name on the map. You also get a star by your name if you’ve submitted a FAFSA. By pinning your name, we can make sure you are following up on any additional paperwork and also celebrate!

Don’t Forget School Financial Aid Forms!

As students and their families are filling out and submitting their FAFSAs, it’s also important to see if the schools you are applying to also ask for additional financial aid forms. Often the admissions office and the financial aid office at a college or university are separate – so you might not be aware of missing documents along with your college application. You should check with the financial aid office of each school to ask whether they require additional paperwork and what the deadlines are. Most schools have a priority financial aid filing deadline of March 1st so be sure to get a head start! While you’re at it, you can also ask about institutional scholarships (and deadlines!) and any other types of financial aid the school may offer. Yes, the FAFSA is your first step to determining your eligibility for financial aid, but don’t stop there! Keep up the momentum and check into every opportunity available!

As always, the College Guide and the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria are here to help students and their families with the financial aid process, completing the FAFSA and other school forms, and applying for scholarships. Please come visit us!

February 1st Deadline

The following Virginia colleges and universities have a February 1st deadline. Schools with a February 1st Early Action deadline are noted (EA):

• Hollins University
• Old Dominion University
• Radford University
• Randolph college (EA)
• Sweet Briar College
• University of Mary Washington
• UVa College at Wise (EA)
• Virginia Commonwealth University (EA)

FAFSA Super Saturday

The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria is hosting a FAFSA Super Saturday this Saturday, January 23, from 8 AM to 12 PM at TCW, room B-107. Students and parents are welcome to come and get help completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) to find out your eligibility to received financial aid to help pay for college. Several volunteers will be there to help families with the online application and answer questions about the financial aid process. Light refreshments will be served.

Please come to FAFSA Super Saturday prepared by bringing the necessary information and documents to complete the FAFSA:

• Social Security Number or permanent registration number  (student and parents)
• Drivers License
• Date of Birth (student and parents)
• Parents’ marital status
  
• W-2 forms (student and parents) – can us last pay stub with YTD as estimate
• 2008 Federal Tax Return, form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ (student and parents) – use 2008 information as estimates until 2009 Tax Return is filed)
• Current bank balances for checking and savings accounts (student and parents)
• Current business and investment information including real estate (do no include family home), trust funds, 529 plans, stocks, bonds, money market accounts, and other investment records

Check out the Financial Aid tab above for more information about financial aid and the FAFSA. And as always, students and parents are welcome to contact or visit the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria for more information about financial aid.

FAFSA and SFA application now AVAILABLE!

Happy New Year! Two important announcements (and the links are to the right):

The 2010-2011 FAFSA is now available online at www.FAFSA.ed.gov

This is a necessary form that must be submitted in order to determine your eligibility for financial aid. While there isn’t a deadline, the sooner you complete and submit the FAFSA the better! Here are some helpful hints (and more information under the Financial Aid tab):

• Gather necessary documents – the FAFSA will ask for you and your parent’s personal and financial information. Make sure you have a Social Security Number, Permanent Registration Number (if not a U.S. citizen), Date of Birth, Parents’ marital status, w-2 forms, 2008 Federal Income Tax Return (use this information for estimates until you file 2009 tax information), current bank balances for checking and savings accounts, untaxed income records, and current business and investment information.
  
• Apply for a PIN – you and your parents will use a Personal Identification Number to sign the FAFSA online. Save PIN numbers in your cell phone so you won’t forget!
  
• Remember you can save information and come back later – don’t get discouraged by the FAFSA. If you don’t have all of the necessary information or if you have questions, you can save your FAFSA and come back to it later. Also, you can come to my office and we can pull up your FAFSA and work on it together.
  
• Use the help features available – take advantage of the FAFSA help sections, the FAFSA Hotline (1.800.433.3243) and the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria.
  
• Follow up – once you have submitted your FAFSA, you will receive your Student Aid Report (SAR) that you can access on the FAFSA website. Make sure all information is correct! Also, remember to update your FAFSA once you have filed your 2009 taxes. Contact the schools you are applying to – there might be additional forms and paperwork!
  

The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria application is now available online at www.AlexScholarshipFund.org

If you are a senior at TCW and have plans of attending college next fall, I highly recommend applying for the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria. One completed application makes you eligible for consideration for about 200 scholarships! Here are some helpful tips for the SFA application:

• There are many parts to the SFA application – go through the pages of the application first to know all of the steps you will need to take to complete the application.
• You CAN’T save your information and come back later – unlike most college applications, you must complete the SFA application in one sitting. You can’t save information and come back later and you can only submit the application once – make sure you have all the information you need in order to complete the application in one sitting.
  
• There are forms that must be printed out -  to request your transcript,  for two people who are submitting letters of recommendation on your behalf, and a signature page. Make sure that you give these forms to the right people and that they are turned in on time!
• Your personal statement, resume, and letters of recommendation can be emailed – you can send these parts of the application separately to Mrs. Yowell at syowell@acps.k12.va.us

If you have any questions about Financial Aid or the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, or you need assistance with filling out the FAFSA or completing the SFA application, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Resend Application Essays

Students,

For some reason, my email inbox has been wiped clean and I have lost dozens of emails with your essays. I had them this morning but after going into school to grab materials to work on over the holiday, the emails have disappeared from my inbox online. I’m really sorry, and I don’t have an explanation, but apparently your emails didn’t transfer from my school laptop and my computer at home. If you sent me an email over the last weekend, or if you need to contact me during the break with additional essays and questions, it should go through now (and I will post any email-fiasco-related updates here) and I will respond as soon as I am able. Again, I’m very very sorry and I don’t mean to add stress to an already overwhelming process. Please resend your emails to me (and please pass along this infor to your friends!) at catherine.melton@acps.k12.va.us. Thanks! And happy holidays – I hope you all have survived the snow!

Friday Focus – Emory & Henry College

Emory & Henry College

Emory & Henry College might not be very well-known, but it’s quite a gem. It’s located in southwest Virginia in a rural, small town – quite a different environment compared to northern Virginia. But if you like the outdoors and you’re looking for a close-knit community, E&H might be perfect. Despite its small size, E&H has a strong athletics program for Division III sports as well as club and intramural sports. As a student at E&H, you will get a lot of personal attention from professors and most of your classes will be very small. E&H is a private school so its sticker price seems high, but E&H has an incredibly dedicated alumni group that contributes a ton of money to the school’s endowment fund. This means that most students benefit from financial assistance in forms of grants and scholarships to help pay for the cost of attendance. Some of these grants and scholarships are based on academic performance – grades and test scores – but there are also financial aid opportunities that reward community service, leadership, and extracurricular activities. I feel as if E&H sometimes falls under the radar, but it’s definitely worth checking out.

www.ehc.edu

Location: Emory, VA (about 5.5 hours from TCW), rural community

Type: four-year, private, co-ed

Total undergrads: 941

Size of freshman class: 241

Percent of applicants admitted: 72%

Percent in-state: 63%

Male:Female: 49%:51%

Admissions deadlines: early action: December 1, regular: rolling

Application fee: $30 (online: free)

Average GPA: 3.4

Mid-50% SAT: 880-1140 out of 1600 (Math and Critical Reading, NOT Writing)

Mid-50% ACT: 19-25

Student:Faculty: 11:1

Cost of tuition and room + board: $33,180

Percent financial need met: 90%

Percent freshman living on-campus: 89%

Sports: Wasps, NCAA Division III

Notable programs: Theater and the Arts, Education, Public Policy, Community Service, International Studies, student research and study abroad, Outdoors programs

Interesting Fact: “The college is named after two influential men: Bishop John Emory, an eminent church leader, and Patrick Henry, a renowned patriot of the American Revolution and Virginia’s first governor. Bishop Emory symbolizes belief in the union of faith and learning, while Governor Henry represents the commitment to the ideals of freedom and civic virtue.” – from the E&H website

Scholarships

While most students, seniors at least, are working hard on their college applications, I also get lots of questions about scholarships and how to find and apply for them. Here’s some hints to get started:

• There are THOUSANDS of scholarships out there and you don’t have to be a straight-A student or star athlete/musician/etc. to win them. The hardest part of winning scholarship money for college is finding the scholarships that fit you best and finishing applications on time.
• Start with an online search. I’ve posted a few links to the right (under “Blog Roll”) of scholarship databases online. I would recommend starting with FastWeb first – it’s very user-friendly and the site sends regular emails and updates. After you create an account and fill out your profile, FastWeb will narrow down your search to scholarships that fit you.
• Stay organized. Most scholarships are sponsored by organizations that choose their own eligibility, application requirements, and deadlines. First make sure that you fulfill the eligibility requirements. If so, take note of ALL of the parts to the application – the application form, essay, transcript, letter of recommendation, resume, interview, etc. Finally, meet all deadlines! In fact, give yourself at least a week prior to the deadline to make sure that your application is complete an submitted or mailed EARLY.
• Applying for scholarships might be overwhelming at first, but once you get going, you’ll be churning out applications in no time. For example, save copies of your essays and personal statement – you may be able to use the same essay for multiple scholarships. Print out a copy of an unofficial transcript with your guidance counselor – some scholarships don’t require a sealed, official transcript so make copies of an unofficial transcript to have on hand when you need one.
• Check out the Financial Aid section of this blog for more tips and information on applying for scholarships. Also, I’ve posted many scholarships under the Miscellaneous tab of this blog – check back often for updates!

And as always, if you have any questions, please stop by my office, Room A-121, email me at catherine.melton@acps.k12.va.us, or leave a comment below.