Counselor site guide - key information to help you help your students [June 2006]

Counselor Site Guide -- Key Information To Help You Help Your Students

Encourage your students to set up a free, secure My411 account by going to the GAcollege411 homepage and clicking "Create an Account". Creating a My411 account allows students to track and manage their:

High School courses and grades

SAT, ACT, and other test scores

Extracurricular activities

Career explorations

Honors and awards

College choices

Contacts
"Ask an Expert" available within each section
support@GAcollege411.org Technical problems:
800-Go-To-XAP (800-468-6927)

Career Info

Give your email address to students to gain read-only access to their portfolios.

Assess Interests
Direct students to take one or more of the career surveys to learn more about their personality, interests, and career values.
Build upon the assessment results in the Matching Assistant.
Select "View Matching Careers" for specific opportunities that match the personality profile, career interests, and work values.
Student Planner

Explore Careers
Check out careers through: Student-Career Matching Assistant, List of Careers (choose alphabetically or by occupational concentration), and Fastest Growing/Fastest Declining Careers in Georgia.
Save careers of interest by choosing "Add Career to My411 Careers."
View career videos with subtitles.
Research state and national average salaries.

Link Careers to Education
Scroll to bottom of any career description for a list of institutions with related programs of study.
Click on college to go to more information.
Check the box ( ) next to the school to add that institution or major to the My411 account.

College Requirements and Timeline
Check out the most current admissions requirements for each type of college.
Review what activities students should complete in grades 8-12 in the Student Planner Timeline.
Use the High School Planner as a 4-year
planning tool.
GA Colleges

High School Planner
Encourage students each term to enter high school courses, grades, activities, awards, jobs, etc., into their portfolio.
Electronically compare coursework in the portfolio to the entrance requirements of any college for course planning.
Get read access to each of your student's portfolio information by asking students to add you to their profiles.
Print a Planner Summary report to provide to those individuals who will write a letter of recommendation.
Courses listed in the planner come from your school's NCAA database submissions.

Test Prep
Get helpful test-taking tips and strategies.
Download sample questions for the ASSET and COMPASS tests.
Direct students to the vocabulary builder.
Free SAT, ACT, and GRE practice tests adapt to skill levels and give instant feedback.
With account tools, students can: Invite a coach who will be provided with progress updates; Indicate test date so program of study can be personalized to target the test time; Select days of the week to receive email prompts regarding the test.
Spanish translations provided for SAT and ACT tutorials.

Research
Over 100 colleges are listed in the site in a consistent navigation format.
Each college updates its information at regular intervals.
College information may be enhanced with pictures and video clips as well as direct links to the official institution webpages.
Information is listed about academic programs, admissions, student life, financial aid, and more.

Compare
Use the comparative view to quickly compare colleges across six categories including: undergraduate enrollment, on-campus housing, tuition and fees, and room and board.
Sort schools on any value low to high or high to low.
Select a subset group of schools to compare from the left navigation bar.

Match
Use the matching assistant to find institutions with certain characteristics including size, location, and program of study.
Percent match indicates how many of the criteria were matched in the search.
Find a school close to you or a particular location in the state in the distance search.
Direct students to add schools of interest to their My411 for easy review.

Navigation Tip: You can return to the homepage at any time by clicking on the GAcollege411 logo at the top of every page.

Applications & Transcripts

Admissions
Apply online to all Georgia colleges and universities. Information from the student's high school planner will automatically prepopulate many fields in the college applications.
Once one application has been completed, the majority of fields for another will prepopulate from the previous form.
Once a student begins an application, the school will be notified of the student's interest.
Students may resume an application at another time.
Once an application has been sent, the date is recorded in the My Applications section of My411.
Additionally, when the college downloads the application, that date is recorded in My Applications.
Electronic Transcripts for College Admission targeted for availability Fall 2007

Loans, Grants, and Scholarships
This is THE location for applying for the HOPE program.
Many other loan, grant and scholarship applications can be completed in this section. One application can be used to apply for multiple state funded opportunities.
Students should read screen instructions regarding institution and loan applications to be sure to choose the right approach. Schools utilizing Georgia Student Finance Commission have loan applications in the site. Other institutions may direct students to find appropriate forms on the institution's website.

FAFSA
Students who have created My411 accounts and who complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) through GAcollege411 will enjoy the ability to automatically transfer information to the application form.
Students will need to obtain a PIN from the U.S. Department of Education prior to completing the FAFSA (link provided on site).

Paying for College

Financial Aid 411
Find current college costs and additional expenses to consider.
Learn about the four major types of financial aid: Scholarships and grants, Loans for students and parents, Service cancelable loans, and Student employment.

Eligibility
Review a list of eligibility criteria for each loan, grant, and scholarship.
Determine an estimate of the amount students are expected to pay (Expected Family Contribution, or EFC) toward college costs.
Use the EFC and cost of attendance to help estimate eligibility for need-based financial aid.

Perform a fun and informative scholarship search.

Tools and Resources
Use the SLOPE calculator to determine reasonable borrowing amounts based upon school costs and career earning power.
Download and print brochures and guides regarding the various financial aid offerings.
Use the Ask an Expert section to communicate directly with a person -- or call GSFC toll free at 800-505-GSFC, in Metro Atlanta 770-724-9000.

School Counselors - [homepage - left navigation menu]

Events Calendar
GAcollege411 information sessions Financial aid training sessions Probe Fair dates, times, and locations SAT and ACT test dates and registration
deadlines

Resources
Download resources available through this portion of the site including:
HOPE GPA calculation and transcript exchange process
Handouts for students and parents,
Presentation tools, and
Others recommended by counselors.
Link to the Georgia Career Resources Network

Counselor Center
Monitor your students' progress toward high school graduation and college admission.
Communicate with your students individually or in targeted groups.
Use student grade levels or other profile elements to tailor the information and reminders you send students.
Combine your calendar with that of your students and their intended colleges.

Encourage your students to setup a My411 Account Today!
Give your email address to students to gain read-only access to their portfolios.

for more information: phone: 800-505-4732 email: support@GAcollege411.org web: GAcollege411.org GAC-09 (06-06)