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As we near the end of the semester, we have kids and parents periodically asking about their schedules for next year.  I want to give you a look inside the process of creating schedules so you’ll get an idea of ALL the stuff that has to happen before we can get them to you.

First, we collect registration forms from students.  Academic courses are chosen by a student’s teachers based on his/her grades and progress in their classes.  It is expected that every student have at least one English, Math, Science, and Social Studies course.  Many will also have a Foreign Language, which is also considered an academic.  In addition to the academics, we ask that students number 8 electives for us to fill in the remaining spots in their schedules.  We ask for 8 because it is inevitable that there will be some schedules that will not “make” with a student’s top choices.  This gives us the ability to go back to the registration sheet and find an alternative in the event that their first choices are full or won’t fit in the schedule.

After this is completed, we must enter ALL the course requests on these registration forms into the computer system.  This can take a while because it is done by hand.  There are always missing forms, so earlier this week, we sent out blank forms to students for whom we had no requests asking them to fill in what was missing.  Generally these were for students whose form was lost, simply did not turn one in, or was not here for registration.  We got many of these back, but there are some students that still have not turned in a form.  For these students, we are left with no other choice but to decide on classes for them based on what we see they need to graduate and previous elective choices.  Sometimes we choose things kids are happy with and sometimes we don’t.  Because we are dealing with about 1900 students, there is not time, nor is it fair for those kids who have turned in their forms according to directions, to have individual meetings with each of these kids.  At some point, we just have to move forward with our scheduling process

Next, a report is created that tells us how many students have signed up for each course.  This tells us how many teachers we need for each subject, based on how large each class can be.  Sometimes we have to hire new teachers and sometimes we lose teachers if there aren’t enough kids needing a particular course.  The number of teachers we can have is determined by the number of students enrolled in the school, but how they are organized based on what they teach is determined by what kids need.  This is why it is such a BIG DEAL when kids decide after the fact that they want to change their schedules.  If we create a class because a certain number of students signed up for it and then, students want to drop it, a teacher’s job could be at stake.  Not good.  If you’re reading this, please explain this to your friends because we aren’t being mean when we won’t change a schedule (hey, I personally never want a kid to be unhappy with their schedule!), but if they signed up for it, each and every teacher is counting on those students to have a job next year.  If even a fraction of the 1900 students at Kell decide to change just one course on their schedule, it could completely rearrange the master schedule, dissolve some courses that are on the border of having enough students to justify a teacher teaching it, and, yes, we could lose teacher allotments for a specific subject, leaving someone searching for a job in August.  We don’t take schedule changes lightly and I hope that this helps explain why.  Not to mention the man-hours it would take to make those changes that would simply be because of preference.  So, courses need to be chosen wisely. 

So, after numbers are determined, a master schedule is created which determines who will teach what course when.  This is easier said than done, because there are certain courses that need to be taught at specific times, certain teachers need a particular planning period, “singleton” courses must not conflict with other “singleton” courses that the same group of kids may be taking, and so on.  It’s like a huge logic puzzle.  Moving one thing may mean that something else has to be moved, which affects something else, etc. In creating the master schedule, the goal is to try to make the courses as accessible as possible so we can maximize the number of individual schedules that will “make” without error. 

Once this is ready, we can run the scheduling program that automatically places students into tentative schedules based on best fit.  I say tentative because there are always tweaks that need to be made and there are always schedules that have errors.  Sometimes we don’t see certain problems until after we run the scheduler.  This can cause us to create different versions of the schedule with the hopes of finding the best.  Often, individual schedule errors happen because a student wants two courses that have been scheduled at the same time.  Because, obviously, only one course can fit in one slot, this knocks the other out and creates a hole that must be filled.  Sometimes this problem occurs for several students and it makes sense to alter the schedule to accommodate this error.  However, sometimes, it is just one student with the conflict.  In these cases, we can’t justify changing the schedule to suit one student.  This is when we must go back to those registration sheets to see what other courses that student had marked.  Another reason for an error could be that the student simply didn’t sign up for enough courses.  There are various other reasons that are a little more complicated so I won’t explain every one, but just know that there’s always clean-up that must occur.

Hopefully, somewhere around this point we can print schedules for kids so they can double-check what was entered and verify that they are correct.  Sometimes course numbers were entered incorrectly (a student gets on-level Biology instead of honors Biology, for example, because the numbers are very similar).  Sometimes students are signed up for the next level of a course but failed the prerequisite (can’t take Spanish II until he/she passes Spanish I, for example).  We hand these out to students who can make notations for errors and then we fix them.  During the summer we continue to tweak and fix in between registrations, phone calls, and records requests - some days, it seems like scheduling never seems to end.  We get constant emails, calls, visits, etc. from people concerning schedules during the summer.  Some things we can fix (parents requesting level changes), some we can’t (if two classes meet at the same time - impossible), and some we won’t (requests for specific teachers or lunch periods).  If all goes well with this process, in August, the schedules are suitable for the majority of students and we can get on with what Kell does best - teaching and learning!

This is a very simplified explanation of the scheduling process, but hopefully it gives you some idea of the process we go through to get schedules created and into your hands by the start of school.  If you have a question or comment, feel free to leave it on the blog and I will respond!

I have a couple of resources that I want to share with the Kell community.  I have known about these for a little while now and have really been wanting to get the word out about what I’ve found.  There are so many things out there on the internet to help you find scholarships and these are two of my favorite.

The first is a podcast.  Before I tell you the podcast that I just love, I need to make sure you know what a podcast is.  A podcast is basically a downloadable radio-type program that you can listen to about a particular topic on your computer, IPod, or MP3 player.  I bet you didn’t know that there were literally hundreds of thousands (maybe more) of podcasts floating around the web??  Anyone who has an internet connection, a microphone, and something to say (whether informative, irrelevant, silly, or extremely important) can make one.  They are called “podcasts” as a combination of the words “IPod” and “broadcast.”  However, you do not need an IPod to listen to a podcast - your computer will do just fine.  I, personally, like to download them to my own IPod and listen to them if I happen to be somewhere and need to kill a little time or am driving somewhere in my car.  I’ve found lots of other relevant “education-type” podcasts, too - SAT Prep, college admissions, AP prep materials, grammer tips, foreign language tutorials, history lessons, etc.  There are podcasts that cover things like cooking lessons, skateboarding tips, new music, knitting news, YouTube videos, worldwide news, audiobooks, politics, sitcoms, and more.  If there’s something you’re interested in, there’s probably a podcast for that.

How do you find podcasts?  If you have ITunes, this is an easy way to search for and download podcasts and get continuous updates.  You can download ITunes for free at www.itunes.com and, again, you don’t need an IPod to have this program.  If you are totally confused, just come see me - I’ll give you a first-rate lesson on podcasts.  I personally have many.

Now, the particular podcast I am referring to is called the Financial Aid Podcast, and  you can just go to  http://www.financialaidpodcast.com/ to download each episode.  It is sponsored by the Student Loan Network, a provider of loans and other financial services.  The host is Christopher Penn, the CTO of this particular company.  On this 15-minute daily broadcast (didja know that there was that much information about financial aid??), he gives a multitude of information about financial aid news, scholarship updates, FAFSA tips, answers to listener questions, and, oh, so much more.  Just today (Tax day) he gave tips on filing your income taxes, an update on a new funding policy at Yale for their medical school, a scholarship update, and gave a tip on how to use Google to search for specific types of scholarships.  He even advertised that Dunkin Donuts is giving away a free donut with a coffee purchase today!  (Wish I had known that this morning on the way to work!  But, I digress).  On Fridays, he offers his Friday Freebies.  Lots, lots, lots of financial aid information.  And he does this, yes, every day.  He’s a financial aid freak.

The second resource is an electronic book written by the same above-named Christopher Penn.  You can find it at http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/ebook/ and download it PDF style.  In this book, he shares his “secret” methods of searching for scholarships.  He also discusses the FAFSA, loans, financial aid offices, avoiding scams, etc, etc., etc.  I, personally, would love to put a copy into everyone of my juniors’ and seniors’ hands but I’m not sure that we have the monetary resources to print and give out that much paper. 

The website that the book is found on is also a scholarship search site, http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/ (the same link w/ ebook removed…).  You can register for a financial aid newsletter and get even more info. 

Now, please realize that this company is out there to ultimately make money through their loan services and this is one of their avenues for getting their name out, but they do so by offering these awesome free resources.  Take advantage and get yourself some financial aid (and let me know what you think!!!)

Welcome back!  I hope that Spring Break was a relaxing and safe time off for everyone.    Now that we’ve rested and gotten refreshed, it’s the time to really buckle down and work hard to bring up any grades that might not be where you want them to be.  This is NOT the time to coast.  If you are failing a course, you need to speak with your teacher TODAY about what you need to do to improve.  If you haven’t been going to tutoring or getting help from someone, don’t expect that things will get better by just sheer desire.  I love the phrase that is so common in counseling - “if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”  Basically, we can apply this thought in this way: if what you’ve been doing hasn’t worked,  you need to try something else. 

 You may even want to set up (or have your parents set up) a parent teacher conference.  To do this, just speak, or have your parents, contact that teacher and arrange a time.  If you have several teachers to coordinate, contact your counselor and we’ll set up a time for everyone to meet. 

Hopefully, this will help matters and you’ll sail into the summer with a stellar report card.  However, sometimes things just don’t go as hoped and there comes a need for credit recovery.  What should you do in this case??

The first option is summer school.  Some general information can be found on the Oakwood HS webpage.  We will be getting registration materials in the next week, so if there is a class that you need to make up or something you’d like to take to get ahead, come see your counselor for the information.  This year, SS will be at Walton and the dates will run from June 11 - July 9.  Cost is $300 for 1/2 credit and $600 for a full credit (not cheap, I know!  More motivation to pass those classes…).  I’ll post this info on the guidance webpage when we receive the materials and we’ll also be making announcements.

E-High School is another option.  If you want to make up math credits through E-High School, they are offering a longer session and registration is going on currently.  These classes begin in April and end in July.  All other classes will begin in late May after school is out and end in July.  Visit the E-High School webpage for more information and to sign up.  Please keep in mind that E-High School is best for those of you who are self-motivated and can dedicate yourselves to working hard every day without a teacher “making” you do the work.  Many students have all the best intentions and end up not succeeding because they fail to realize the dedication it takes to do well.  In all honesty, if you are a procrastinator, you would probably do better with summer school.

Lastly, I want to make you aware of a new credit-recovery program that is being offered by the state through Georgia Virtual High School.  The cost is $200 per half credit and it is a self-paced program that you do at home on your own computer.  The program is only available to students who have failed a course, so this might be a good option for some.  For more information, visit the GA Credit Recovery webpage.  To register, see your counselor.

Summary of Admission to the University of Georgia First Year Class

March 28, 2008

Applications increased again this year, the third year of record number of applications.  The Office of Admissions has continued its commitment to provide a full and equitable review of all applicants and to make the best possible admission decisions for the University and for the students. The Faculty Admissions Committee continues to assist the Office with developing processes and reviewing files.

Each year, the quality of the high school students applying for the 4800 places in UGA’s first-year summer and fall class increases and to accommodate this, the size of the first-year class has increased 50% since 1995.  With increasing numbers of students accepting our offer of admission and UGA having reached its capacity to serve our 34,000 students, we must limit the number of offers of admission to ensure that no more than our class target enrolls this year.

Yet, there are no easy admission decisions; almost all first-year applicants predict an ability to do C work or better at UGA.  Since the odds of being offered admission are driven by how strong a student looks relative to the rest of the applicant pool, first-year applicants are competing against one another for admission to UGA, with the majority of the offers of admission being extended to the students with the strongest academic records. For over 80% of the students offered admission this year, it will be their demonstrated academic performance which drove the decision.

UGA’s First-Year Admissions Process

In short, this is how the process works: Every applicant to the first-year class receives a complete and thorough academic review.  Emphasis is placed on the rigor of the academic curriculum attempted by the student, the grades earned in core courses, and the results of standardized testing.  While most families believe it was the student’s test scores that kept the student from being admitted, it is usually the choice of courses a student takes or the grades made in those courses which are the deciding factors.  The Faculty of UGA has stated that the most important factor they seek in new students is intellectual curiosity.  This is often indicated by the student’s choice of coursework in high school, relative to what is available in that student’s academic environment.  Files are also carefully evaluated for any behavior problems or disciplinary issues.  Based on this initial review alone, many “academically superior” applicants received an offer of admission.

Using this academic review, other students are not competitive for admission.  Before many “non-competitive” students were denied, however, their files received another review to confirm there were neither errors in processing the file nor extenuating circumstances to explain any academic or personal difficulties.

Thousands of students fall in the “academically competitive ” range.  Unfortunately, UGA cannot accommodate all of these students. Since students present very similar academic profiles, UGA’s Faculty Admissions Committee determined that there should be a supplemental review of these “academically competitive” students to consider additional factors such as intellectual curiosity, creativity, commitment to citizenship, integrity, respect for cultural differences, and personal maturity.  The Application for First-Year Admission solicits information in each of these areas, provides additional opportunities for students to express themselves in writing, and requires a recommendation from an academic subject teacher.  The application uses four short answer questions to allow us to ‘hear’ the students’ voice. Additionally, we require that students submit standardized scores with a controlled writing sample from the SAT or ACT.

Early Action

The non-binding Early Action program continues to be popular with students: almost 11,000 first-year applications were submitted to UGA by the Early Action deadline of October 15.  Unlike some selective colleges that use the early admission programs to fill their freshman classes, at UGA, it was not any easier to gain or to be denied admission under the Early Action plan as opposed to Regular Decision, which had a January 15 deadline.  In fact, students admitted as Early Action candidates in December are projected to account for less than 66% of the students being offered admission .  Early Action applicants received decisions mid-December.  As is the case nationally, the Early Action applicants to UGA were very strong academically and approximately 6100 were admitted.  Less than 500 of the Early Action students were denied admission and the remaining Early Action files were deferred to Regular Decision.

Regular Decision

The Regular Decision pool was made up of students who were deferred from the Early Action pool and those who chose to wait to apply for Regular Decision.  Deferred and Regular applicants needed to complete the full application (Only Part I was required for Early Action, while both Parts I and II were required for Regular Decision review), and submit a recommendation from a teacher in addition to their test scores, transcripts and school evaluation.  While Early Action has been very popular, many students applied between December 1 and January 15 and represent a more typical mix of students who apply to UGA.  The 17,600 total applications received this year represent anxious students and families.  The total applicant pool for 2008 was academically very strong with the average student presenting a 3.6 GPA and SAT scores exceeding 1200.  Most of the applicants were enrolled in many honors and Advanced Placement classes.

Following the January 15 deadline for applications and completion of Early Action deferred applications, the Admissions Office once again completed academic reviews of all files. Again, the files were sorted into the “academically superior”, “academically competitive” and “non-competitive” categories. Students identified as academically superior were offered admission in late February.  The staff in Admissions spent February and the month of March reviewing over 6000 files of the students who are “competitive” and making final decisions. These reviews consider much more than just the primary academic performance of the student, as they took into consideration the secondary characteristics valued by the faculty such as creativity, leadership, and service.  The review process was race and gender neutral and did not consider a student’s legacy to UGA.

The final letters notifying students that they have been offered admission or denied will be sent by April 1.  Students may receive their decision in the mail or they may choose to learn of their admission decision via our popular, password-protected Web Status Check (www.admissions.uga.edu ). Prior to learning their admission fate, students will be encouraged to review this information in private or with their family.  In order to protect students’ privacy, no admission decisions will be released over the telephone.  We also encourage families who learn of the final decision electronically to wait to call the Office of Admissions after they receive their full packet of information in the mail.

Results

While the University will be able to offer admission to about 9300 students this year, with 17,600 applicants, many strong applicants will have to seek other college options.  Of the over 8000 students not admitted , UGA will offer some of them the opportunity to keep their options open by taking a place on a waiting list.  Students offered the waiting list will not be notified of a final decision until sometime in late May or June after we have confirmed the acceptance rate of the students already offered admission.  The attached FAQ is being made available to students not admitted to help explain the constraints of our competitive pool of applicants.

The students offered admission are academically strong having completed very rigorous academic curriculums with an average grade point average of an A- and have test scores that place them in the top 15% of test-takers nationally.  They predict to complete their first year with a ‘B+’ average. They are students who will provide leadership, creativity and service to the campus.

Waiting List

Students offered the waiting list are considered academically competitive, but our space constraints keep us from offering them a place in the first-year class at this time. Students offered the Waiting List who choose to accept a place on it can do so at www.admissions.uga.edu/waitlist.  The Waiting List URL www.admissions.uga.edu/waitlist_faq.html is being sent to between 1300-1400 students being offered the waiting list and provides more information on time frames and actions that the student should take.

What’s Next?

All admitted students who choose to join UGA’s Class of 2012 will be required to reserve their space by May 1, 2008 with a non-refundable commitment deposit of $200.  In May,following receipt of a commitment deposit, students will receive an invitation to New Student Orientation.  Admitted students are encouraged to visit a Web site set up for new students at www.admissions.uga.edu/newdawgsand, since First-Year students are required to live on campus, to go online to www.uga.edu/housing to complete the housing form.

Don’t you want to let everyone know where you’re going to college?  The guidance office is working with some of the wonderful Art department students to create a map that will display where each senior will be going after high school.  If you want to have your name added along with the college you’re planning on attending, you will need to bring your acceptance letter to your counselor.  We’ll be displaying the map after spring break, so go ahead and bring those letters in!

We are also interested in how much money you have received for college.  If you have won a scholarship, bring that award letter as well and we’ll keep track on the map as well.  In the past, we’ve announced the grand total at graduation which is always a very impressive number. 

Make sure your accomplishments are counted and bring any of the above info to your counselor.  You do know who your counselor is, right??  Right??!!

Here’s another article I happened to run across in looking for something else.  I found it referenced on College Board in their own article addressing how to combat Senioritis, so I looked up the original article entitled, “Slackers Beware.”  Am I making the point yet??

* Hopping off my soapbox now*

One of the largest studies ever to have been done on AP courses has shown that students who take AP courses do better in college.  Of course, this makes perfect sense when you think about it.  Students who take these challenging courses learn how to write more effectively, analyze content and synthesize it with what they already know, take good notes, STUDY (since many bright students often go through their school years without having to study), among many other things.  One thing that this study does not address (probably due to the fact that it was written last year) is the fact that AP courses are now being audited, which will have an even greater impact, since there will be more mandatory standardization across the nation to ensure that all AP students are learning the same material.  In the past, some schools have labeled courses “AP” but the content was not up to the standards to warrant the label.  Now, College Board is instituting some accountability to the schools to guarantee the quality of the curriculum.

Read this study - do you agree or disagree?  Are there any other positives  to taking AP courses?  Are there any negatives?

Are you interested in participating in one of the 5 service academies?  These include West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, the Merchant Marine Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy.  If so, you will definitely want to participate in Academy Day, which will be on May 10 at Dobbins.  You have to register ahead of time for security purposes, but I have included all the information on how to do this on the announcement page of the guidance webpage.  You do know how to find this by now, right?  If not, let me know and I’ll help you find it.

To quote the information on Johnny Isakson’s website regarding the service academies, “to be considered for an appointment to a service academy, an applicant must meet the eligibility requirements established by law and be nominated from an authorized person including a member of the United States Senate or the House of Representatives.”  For more information, please visit his website.  The exception is the Coast Guard - you don’t need a nomination; rather there is a nationwide competition for acceptance.

This is the time of year that our 12th graders develop the very hazardous characteristic called “senioritis.”  Some may have caught it as early as the fall and, frighteningly enough, as we are working on meeting with our juniors for advisement, there are even some 11th graders who exhibit early signs.  It is a classic occurrence among students on the verge of graduating to a new stage of life, but there is danger in allowing it to progress to the point that the student completely stops working or majorly slacks off, believing that his/her grades are under control, they’ve been accepted into their college of choice, or they just want an excuse to get lazy.  But, what many students need to realize is that the college will be reevaluating their transcript after they graduate to make sure that they’ve continued in the manner by which they were accepted.  In the same way, juniors should also be very careful that they choose courses for their senior year very carefully.  If they have taken honors courses all along and at the last minute decide to drop down to on-level, the admissions counselors will notice.  Yes, they will notice.  This is why we emphasize the importance of course and level choice.

 If a student appears to have misrepresented him or herself as a hard worker and committed to education and then presents grades or courses that are well below their typical caliber, the college may become suspect.  I have personally seen letters from UGA admissions asking that the student explain why their grades dropped, asking for a prompt letter in response.  And, in some rare occurrences, students have had their acceptances withdrawn.  This is no joke - if you take a look at your admission letter, it probably states something to the effect that the student has been “conditionally accepted” pending receipt of the final transcript.  I call this the “senioritis clause” (although there are many other reasons a students’ grades can drop - illness, death of close family member, catastrophic event, etc.  Typically, an explanation in regards to one of these reasons would be excusable).  Do you really think that an admissions counselor would be sympathetic toward a student who gave an explanation similar to this: “Dear admissions office, The reason my grades dropped during the spring semester of my senior year is that I developed a very strong case of senioritis.  I just could not bring myself to work!  You know how it is…”?  Obviously not. 

And this isn’t all just for admissions purposes.  Recall that college is HIGHER education.  College is harder (in most instances) than high school.  Does the logic fit that you should slack off a few months before you will be studying harder than you’ve ever studied before?  Students need to be prepared and ready for the challenges ahead of them.  Athletes - do you spend all your time before the season starts laying around, eating junk food in front of the tv, thinking, “I’m going to be really busy and will be working hard in the next few months, so I’m going to veg while I can!”  Most good athletes I know, anyway, are training, conditioning, working out, etc. so they can become better.  Same rules apply to going to college.  But you all know this already! 

 Anyway, I say all this to introduce an article that I found that addresses this topic from the collegiate perspective so you’ll know that I’m not just spouting a bunch of nothing.   Enjoy! 

I just happened to be browsing on another high school’s website and came across a resource that I had not previously seen.  A US Congresswoman in California, Lucille Roybal-Allard, puts out a scholarship bulletin for students in her state each year with a year’s worth of scholarship opportunities.  This year’s bulletin is 50 pages long and is good for seniors as well as juniors as it goes through December.  Some are only for California students, but many would be useful for students in any part of the country.  Here is the link to this document:  http://www.house.gov/roybal-allard/2008_Resource_Guide.pdf

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