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University of Pittsburgh still wants to connect with your Students!!
Good afternoon PPS Counselors,
I am writing to inform you that the University of Pittsburgh Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, Pittsburgh campus, has suspended in-person, undergraduate spring visit programs and tours until further notice. This includes all campus tours, weekday and Saturday presentations, Admitted Student Days, Personalized Visits, and all other campus visit opportunities provided for prospective students.
We in the Office of Admissions understand that you and your students are directly impacted in many ways by this decision. Please be assured that our entire staff will still be available to provide the top-quality customer service that has always been our standard and what you and your students have come to expect.
Your seniors, some of whom are still making their college choice, may be the ones impacted the most; your underclassmen are just beginning their college search and while they have more time, may have planned a spring visit to Pitt. We will make certain that all of them will be in good hands.
- Please feel free, and encourage your students, to reach out to me if they have any questions about the admissions process
- Additionally, our admissions team is available to respond to emails and engage in real-time chats online, with you and your students. Our email is pitt.admissions@pitt.edu and Chat with Admissions can be found at www.oafa.pitt.edu .
- We have moved all of our in-person presentations online. Students can attend virtual admissions and school-specific presentations, or stroll around campus with a Pitt Pathfinder on a pre-recorded campus walking tour, at https://oafa.pitt.edu/visit/ .
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos https:// www.youtube.com/pittadmissions
We also will be communicating this information directly to your students who have applied, been offered admission, and committed to Pitt for the fall, and who already may have scheduled a visit, as well as to prospective students who have scheduled or planned a campus visit.
Our primary concern is of course the safety and well-being of current and future Panthers, their families, and our staff and faculty. You can learn about new campus developments as they happen at
We could not do our job without the support of you and your colleagues, and we thank you for all that you have done and continue to do for your students. This has been a difficult and challenging time for all of us, so please know that we will be here to support you and your students.
If you should require additional information, contact:
Tasha Peacock, M.Ed.
Assistant Director
University of Pittsburgh
Admissions and Financial Aid
412.648.1287| tnf7@pitt.edu
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Virginia Tech invites talented, high-achieving and intellectually curious rising high school juniors and rising seniors to apply to participate in a summer, residential, academic leadership program at the Virginia Tech main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia.
COLLEGE BOARD OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIPS
The College Board Opportunity Scholarships remain open to your juniors, but the program has closed for your seniors. Below you'll find tips on how you can continue to support your juniors through each of the six scholarship steps and help your seniors make a smooth transition to their postsecondary opportunity and beyond. Ensure your students are checking the email associated with their College Board account to claim any scholarships they may have earned
Financial Planning
With the College Board Opportunity Scholarships program, students in the class of 2020 can enter to win a $1,000 scholarship just for completing the FAFSA. Students registered for the scholarship program can also sign up for free, personalized FAFSA assistance by text message.
Our partners at National College Access Network provide dozens of free FAFSA educational, outreach, and
event resources through their Form Your Future campaign.
For the Class of 2020
Seniors who completed all six scholarship steps earned a chance at a $40,000 Complete Your Journey Scholarship. This month, 25 winners will be selected, and at least half will be lower-income students.
Pro Tip: Make sure your students and families are well informed of the official rules that include selection and notification of winners. Refer to the Pledge Resources Booklet, Frequently Asked Questions section, on page 47, to discuss the types of institutions the scholarships can be used for, as well as expenses such as tuition, books, fees, and other relevant educational costs.
For the Class of 2021
Your students should focus on preparing for
the SAT® using Official SAT Practice on Khan Academy® to be eligible for the Practice for the SAT and Improve Your Score Scholarships, while continuing to earn multiple entries for the Build Your College List Scholarship.
Open Through October
Students can earn multiple entries for this scholarship, while preparing for the upcoming Improve Your Score Scholarship. Ensure your students:
- Create a Khan Academy account on satpractice.org and link their College Board and Khan Academy accounts.
- Click the prompt to agree to send their scores from the College Board to Khan Academy to successfully link accounts.
- Practice at least six hours to earn their first entry for this scholarship and continue practicing to earn additional entries—students can earn an extra entry for each additional hour of practice, up to 20 hours
Opening in April
Your juniors can earn $2,000 for practicing for at least six hours on Official SAT Practice on Khan Academy and improving their scores by 100-plus points from the PSAT™ 10 to SAT, PSAT/NMSQT® to SAT, or SAT to SAT.
Pro Tip: Students who take the SAT more than once see improved scores, and significantly increase their likelihood to enroll in a two- or four-year college. Use the Show Up Ready on Test Day—Official SAT Practice on Khan Academy handout on page 33 in the Pledge Resources Booklet to support your students.
Reference your Pledge Resources Booklet and the implementation page for additional resources to support each scholarship step, along with tools and templates on our outreach page to keep students motivated.
Take the Counselor Pledge
Connect your students to scholarships by taking the counselor pledge. You’ll receive a free toolkit and monthly tips and resources for each scholarship step!
SAT
Help Your Students Access SAT Fee Waivers
SAT fee waivers provide eligible students with:
•Two free SAT registrations
•Six free SAT Subject Test™ registrations
•Waived application fees at select colleges
•Unlimited score sends
Students must log in to their student account to complete the steps to accept their fee waiver benefits:
1.Sign in to your College Board account.
2.Click on My SAT.
3.Complete and save Step 1 (update personal info).
4.Return to your College Board account homepage and click on My SAT again.
Board account homepage and click on My SAT again.
5.Acknowledge and accept your fee waiver benefits in the pop-up window (ensure your browser allows pop-ups).
If you’re interested in learning more about fee waivers, be sure to register for the on-demand webinar “Connecting Students with Fee Waiver Benefits.”
Official SAT Practice offers free coaching tools for counselors to support and monitor student practice. Discover the benefits of
Official SAT Practice including:
•Two new full-length practice tests available to students
•Automated essay scoring on new tests to provide instant feedback
•Newly updated coach tools to help you support students
•Thousands of practice questions, videos, and lessons
•Personalized practice plans
•Free practice to all students
College Planning Tips
Grades 9–10
•Use these AP outreach and support resources to host classroom or family information sessions and collaborate with teachers to create a resource system to help students be successful in rigorous classes.
•Encourage students to start exploring colleges and think about schools that might interest them.
Grades 11–12
•Many students invest in their college education by taking out loans. Ensure students and families understand the process and compare options to find the best deal.
•Inform parents and families of their role in helping their children make the best college decision.
PROMPT is the #1 provider of college essay feedback, and we partner with high schools in a variety of different ways to ensure every student has access to this valuable resource.
Attached is the "Getting Started" handout. It contains messages you can share with your students and links for your students to sign-up for our free strategy sessions, as well as fliers you can print and make available.
If you need immediate assistance with anything, our VP of Operations, Patrick Brown, is ready to help. His email is patrick@prompt.com.
How Can You Pay for College with Scholarships?
The following are 8 strategies students can use to pay for college with scholarships.
- Strive to be well-rounded. Participate in extracurricular and community activities. Write about your activities in your scholarship and college essays in a descriptive manner. Describe how you benefit or can benefit others as well as yourself with the extracurricular and community activities in which you are involved or plan to be involved. Scholarship programs look at many factors such as community service, leadership, presentation of your application package, special or unusual talents or skills, and so on. See "Writing Your Scholarship Résumé: How to Stand Out and Why Grades Don't Mean Everything," in Winning Scholarships for College, 5th edition for more information.
- Always remember the five P's: Prior preparation prevents poor performance. Prepare for the scholarship search early. Do not wait until your senior year. Senior Year Head Start can help you with early preparation.
- Do not rely on your parents to do all the work. For parents and adults who are wondering how you can help, see the chapter "For Parents Only: Helping Your Son or Daughter with the College and Scholarship Process," in the 5th edition of Winning Scholarships for College.
- Avoid mistakes on your essays and your applications. Always spell- check, proofread, and ask another person to proofread your applications and essay for errors. Try to do this offline as well. For more information, see the chapter Scholarship Do's and Don'ts: Insider Tips from Scholarship Providers in the 5th edition of Winning Scholarships for College.
- Do not ignore scholarships that may be local or those for small amounts. Scholarship amounts, even as small as $50, can add up. My scholarship total of more than $400,000 included book scholarships as small as $50. See chapter 4, "The Local Scholarship Search: Finding Scholarships in Your Backyard," for additional information.
- Do not rely on only one source such as the Internet for their scholarship search. Use many resources. Most scholarships on the Internet or in the free online scholarship searches are nationally known and may be harder to win due to greater competition. Local and regional scholarships are not found as easily, and they may be easier to win because the applicant pool is smaller. You have to use a combination of resources to find as many scholarships to apply for as possible. The chapter, "The Scholarship Search: Discovering Hidden Treasures," in the 5th edition of Winning Scholarships for College has more information in this area.
- Learn how to effectively recycle essays. Parts and pieces of an essay can be used to create a slightly different one for another organization. Recycling can help you save time, especially when applying for many different scholarships. See "Writing Scholarship Essays That Get Noticed," in the 5th edition of Winning Scholarships for College for help with recycling essays.
- Do not look for the easy way out. Don't believe in a scholarship scam that promises to do all the work for you. Understand that those things for which we work hardest often bring the greatest rewards. Hard work in the scholarship process as a high school student could result in an easy college life without work later, or a loan-free life after college.
- Duane Williams Memorial Scholarship Fund Link
- PPS Student Support Services Scholarship Bulletin Link
- CAS Update Link
- Penn State Admissions Update Webinar Link
- Guidance for the High School Graduation Class of 2020 Link
- PPS 2019-2020 District Scholarship Application
- June 2020 Scholarships Link
- Scholarship Saturday April 18, 2020 Link
- NCAA Eligibility Center COVID-19 Response FAQ's Link
- March 2020 DoSomething Scholarships Link
- March 2020 Scholarships Link
- Senioritis and the Last Semester of Senior Year Link
- 20 Places to Look for Scholarships and Grants Link
- How Many Colleges Should I Apply To? Link
- The Mega List of Scholarships You Should Apply for Class of 2019-2020 Link
- What Happens After Sending In College Applications? Link
- 13 Scholarship Scams to Avoid Link
- Should I Commit to a College Now? Link
- 17 Scholarship Mistakes to Avoid Link
- Important Questions to Ask When Visiting Colleges Link
- Instructions and handouts for SAT Fee waivers Link
- Early Action, Early Decision or Regular Decision Link
- What are Scholarship Judges Looking for in applicants Link
- Useful Tips for the FAFSA Link
- "Why Us?" Admission Essay Tips Link
- Staying in Touch with Scholarship Providers Link
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