Transcript Mrs. Bryce Custodio, Director of Secondary Education
College and Career Options
Mrs. Bryce Custodio, Director of Secondary Education Mrs. Caroline Rubio, School Counselor
Agenda/Topics to Be Covered
• What students can do to help prepare themselves for life after high school • How parents/guardians can support their children in navigating this process • Options for life after high school • College admissions trends • “Affordable” options • College Eligible vs. College Readiness
What can/should students be doing to best prepare for life after graduation?
• • • • • • • Maintain good grades (nothing less than “C” grades for four-year college admission/ preparation for community college). Check your grades on the Portal at least once per week so that you are aware of your progress.
Get help right away if test/quiz scores indicate you are not mastering the material Take a strong pattern of coursework throughout high school Educate yourself about course options at Dublin High School so that you are ensuring that you meet college requirements AND also take classes that you find interesting (Academy classes for special interests) Be a “well rounded student”: Try a career technical education course, play a sport or take music or art.
Develop of resume of what you have been involved with as you go through high school. This will help for job applications, recommendations, working on college applications.
Include your parent/guardian in the process early on, so that you are working as a team.
Dublin High School Trends
• • • • • • • • Class of 2014: 45% attended two-year colleges. 50% attended four-year colleges. 5% had other options (military, full-time work).
Mean SAT and ACT Composite scores for Dublin High School exceed the national and state averages Our AP pass rate is 89.8% 70 students planned to attend CSU campuses 44 students planned to attend UC campuses 92 students planned to attend private/out of state schools. Schools most frequently selected were: BYU, Boise State University, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Chaminade University, Cogswell College, Portland State, U of Oregon, U of Colorado, U of Nevada, St. Mary’s College, Santa Clara 185 students planned to attend community colleges, with 98% doing a four-year college transfer program 11 enlisted in the military and 5 were completing vocational programs. 4 were going to work full-time
Post-Secondary Options
• Community college – certificate or transfer program • Four-year college or university • Trade/Technical school • Military options, including ROTC • Working full-time
Community College Options
• • • • • Local schools are Las Positas College (Livermore) and Diablo Valley College (DVC) in San Ramon and Pleasant Hill These schools have some of the highest rates of transfer to four-year schools There are certificate programs in many areas (auto, fire, culinary, welding) Some students earn an A.A. (Associate of Arts) degree; others earn an A.S. (Associate of Science) degree There are transfer programs to both the University of California and the California State University systems. Some programs are guaranteed admission if students follow a particular pattern of coursework/meet academic expectations • • • • Entrance requirements: 18 years old or high school graduate. No SAT/ACT tests are required.
Less expensive than “traditional” four-year college/university Students who wish to transfer need to ensure that they not only complete the transfer pattern of coursework, but also any supplementary foundational courses required for their major at whatever school they wish to transfer to.
Four-Year College Options
• Public universities (both in and outside of California: University of California and California State University systems) • Private colleges and universities • Student must have a particular pattern of coursework (same as DHS graduation requirements, but with “C” or better in all classes), and SAT/ACT scores • Entrance and performance requirements vary widely. For the BEST information, get on each school’s “Undergraduate Admissions” website.
Military and Technical Options
• Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is offered each year at DHS. Go to Career Center to sign up. Recruiters can be scheduled to meet with students at DHS as well.
• For Vocational/Technical Schools, financial aid is also available. Some schools offer Bachelors degrees. Keep up grades for scholarships for these schools. They often are very specific to a course of study (Heald for Computer Science, Ex’pression for Digital Arts, California Culinary Institute for culinary studies). Some students excel in these high wage, high skilled careers .
• Dublin High School supports all students in whatever career path they choose.
Making Post-Secondary Education Affordable
• • • • • • For academic scholarships, check out each school’s “Financial Aid” website. Look under “Scholarships for Freshmen”. If a student’s performance exceeds the “average” student, there is often money for scholarships.
Have students take the SAT and ACT with Writing several times. At many schools, academic performance scholarships are tied in to high test scores. GPA will also count.
Have students apply for scholarships at each school they are considering. Often this is a separate process from the application process.
Consider Western Undergraduate Exchange schools (WUE) Attending a community college and transferring can save money The Dublin High School Career Center has an online list of scholarship opportunities
College Eligibility vs. Readiness
• DUSD has College and Career Readiness Indicators based on AVID strategies and the Anchor standards for College and Career readiness from Common Core.
• “Silent – Pre-requisites” for college and career readiness include: – Organization and study habits – – – Effective questioning and active learning Class participation and peer collaboration Ability to synthesize information
College Eligibility vs. Readiness (continued)
• DUSD is a Professional Learning Community focusing on continuous improvement.
– Currently we have a 70% success rate for college eligibility. All students at DHS are enrolled in a college prep pattern of course work.
– – – Number of students taking ACT and SAT has risen every year for the past 5 years We have tripled the number of Latino, African American and Asian students taking these tests in the past two years.
Students continue to challenge themselves with more rigorous courses. 541 students took 775 AP tests last year, 315 placements in Honors courses and 1,293 students took a Career Technical Education course last year.
Students Continue to Challenge Themselves
College Readiness
• Cross-district AVID strategies are being implemented to support the “silent pre-requisites” for college readiness.
– – Encourage all students to have a planner to help with organization skills.
Cornell notes and other note-taking devices that emphasize thinking, questioning, study habits and organization.
– – – – Annotation and other Critical Reading strategies that emphasize reading for meaning.
Evidence based discussions and writing with non-fiction.
Socratic Seminars, Philosophical Chairs, Study groups, research strategies Learn the value of PERSISTENCE!
The Parent/Guardian Role
• • • • • Maintain involvement in your child’s life and academic success.
Take trips to schools so that your student can start to develop an idea of what he/she is looking for. Visit a variety of schools/programs. Ideally, this should start early on in high school. You can call up Admissions and they will arrange for a tour.
Attend grade-level nights with your student so that you are both aware of important information Use the FAFSA4caster ( www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov
) to assess your Estimated Family Contribution; finances often drive options Discuss with your student what YOUR expectations are with respect to post-secondary options early on in high school, including financial restrictions. This will help your student have a realistic idea of what their options are.
The Parent/Guardian Role (continued)
• Talk with your child’s teachers and check the student portal regularly.
• Encourage discourse/discussions at home about topics: school subjects, media, current events.
• Give children choices to help them make good decisions. (Both choices are acceptable to you – but they choose one).
• Build independence and foster self-reliance more so over time as they go through middle school and high school.
• Learn how to navigate post-secondary systems and teach your child: Web-sites, admissions offices, tutoring centers, various resources.
What if my child is not engaged?
• • • • • Be vigilant on helping your child find their strengths and interests. Kids need to feel they are good at something. Confidence is
essential to success!
Emphasize the positive! For every criticism- there should be three encouraging statements.
Get your student out to explore what careers and experiences are in the real world.
Be aware of their “emotional temperature”. Stress and anxiety are more prevalent than ever before. (We need happy people!) Seek out a school counselor for resources to assist you.