Help me find some scholarships to apply to.

Help me find colleges that offer what I want to study.  Organized by state.

Help me do the FAFSA.

How do I address the front of a letter?

Help me or my parents do Taxes (and maybe file free).

Senior To Do List & Important Dates

• Turn in Lunch Application Form
• Registering for the October ACT Test is still available through September 21 at ACT.org/student  If you register for the October ACT between Sept 22 - Oct 5, you will need to pay a late registration fee of $22.
• Visit with your counselor and (1) complete a credit check & (2) discuss plans after high school
• If needed, register for Credit Makeup, classes will begin on October 28.  See your counselor to get signed up before that date to begin working on the 28th.  Work on completing the classes after school and at home or at the library through the website:  ELearn - Moodle
• Changing Email Addresses on Naviance - Login to your Naviance account and make sure your email address is listed correctly under - the "About Me" Tab - (scroll down - left side) "Profile" - (scroll down - right side) Your email address on file will be listed.  Click the pencil icon to change the email address listed.  Please check your email daily.
• Study for the ACT, SAT, Accuplacer or GRAD Tests - see link to right
• Research colleges - Use Naviance & begin applying - Use the Common Application or apply at the school's website - see links to the right
• After applying for a college, notify your counselor that you need a transcript sent to that school.  Your application will not be complete without a transcript.
• Do Not Pay - to apply for scholarships, for scholarship searches, or to fill out the FAFSA.  We will help you with this for free.  Also, many students do not need to pay for the ACT or application fees to many colleges.  There are many scams out there.  Be careful.
• College Admissions representatives will be scheduled to for student visits in the CCC Lab in room 219.  Their intention is to give interested students more information about their schools and assist in the application process. If you are interested in the school, take advantage of the opportunity to meet with them while they are at Edison.  See the calendar on Naviance.  You must register online for the visit, get a pass from Ms. Guerin in room 219, and have it signed by your classroom teacher, excusing you to attend the visit.
• The National College Fair is on October 9 & 10 a the Minneapolis Convention Center.  The event is free.  There will be hundreds of schools at the event meeting with students and presenting information.
• Visit college websites of the schools you are interested in.  Does the school offer a program in the area that you are interested in?  You want to go to a school that offers a degree in your field.  Check into it.
• Also check the Counseling Office website for updates.  It also has the Edison School Profile which lists school address and other information for scholarships.  Some scholarships want this information included with the application.
• Update your resume.  You will need it for the Edison Scholarship and other college, university & scholarship applications.  Also, if you have a copy created, please turn it in to the Edison Counseling Office.  It is of great assistance when writing letters of recommendation.  There are 2 sample resume Word files at the bottom of this page you may use as templates for your resume.  There is also a resume builder in Naviance.
• You will need a copy of either your parent's 2011 tax forms or a statement from the Welfare or Social Security Office stating your parent's income from 2011 for the Edison Scholarship.
• Begin writing and revising your essays for the Edison Scholarship.  The scholarship will be due on October 10 at 4pm.  The sooner you are done with this, the less stressed you will be.  Please don't wait until the last day and last minute to do this.  We had computer issues last year because everyone waited until the last minute & overloaded the site.   You will need to choose 2 of the 3 topics to write about.  These essays will count for your Capstone Project of The My Life Plan and the essays will be reused for many scholarship and college applications in the future.  Writing them now saves you time in the future.  The 3 topic questions are in a pdf link at the bottom of this page.  You can also see the Edison Scholarship link for more information.   
• If you decide to write about the "My Life's Challenge" Essay, write about what happened, how it was resolved and what you learned from the experience.
• Request letters of recommendation from your teachers early (September).  You will need 2 letters of recommendation for the Edison Scholarship. There is a form that needs to be filled out and given to the teacher when you request the letter.  It is also very helpful to give the teacher a copy of your resume at the time of requesting because it gives the teacher more information to write about.  If a teacher will not write you a letter of recommendation, for one reason or another, just ask a different teacher.  You can use teachers from 9th - 12th grade but the teachers from 9th - 11th maybe know you better.  Your 12th grade teachers have only known you for about 3-5 weeks.  The letters of recommendation must be from an English, social studies, math or science teacher.  Remember who you received letters of recommendation from.  You may need to request additional copies in the future for college or scholarship applications.
• Under the Colleges Tab in Naviance are:  Scholarship Match, Scholarship List & National Scholarship Search to help you find scholarships for application.
• Also under the Colleges Tab is:  College Search.  This tool will help to find schools that have programs in the career areas that you are interested in.
• Mr. Rizzardi needs senior photos turned into him in room 129.  If you would like to have them done at Edison, the cost is $10.  See Mr. Rizzardi for details.  If you are in financial crisis and have concerns about the $10, see your counselor.  Everyone should be in the yearbook. :)

• Fastest Growing Careers - Nationally
• Fastest Growing Careers with Median Hourly Wage - In Minnesota
• Most Job Openings - In Minnesota
• Income versus Expenses by - Education Level
• Education Pays - Unemployment Rates  
• Highest Paying Careers - 2011
• Highest Paying Careers - 2012

Chooosing a College MN Guide

• Choosing a College Brochure - * Detailed information about each MN school & the majors offered at each  -  ALL MN Schools
• Other Helpful Publications
• Get Ready for College MN Website
• Compare MN State Colleges Programs - Drop down menus to find which majors are offered at each of the MN State Colleges schools (U of M and Private colleges/universities are not included in this document)

• ISeek Skills Assessment
• MN Careers Assessment
• Naviance also has many assessments to help you determine your interests, an excellent college search engine, a scholarship list, and 2 scholarship search engines.  Method Test Prep is also going to be available on Naviance which is an excellent preparatory program for the ACT Test.

If you have questions, please contact Kris Baumgartner in the Counseling Office - room 101 or at Kris.Baumgartner@mpls.k12.mn.us or 612-668-1315.