New FAFSA / New SAT
New FAFSA
- EdNC article What you need to know about the New FAFSA
- NC FAFSA Day: Saturday, January 27th, from 9:00a to 12:00p at HCC (Register at link.)
- Tips for dealing with some of the more common issues
- UPDATE 2/15/24: FAFSA Issue Alerts (from the U.S. Dept. of Ed.)
- Need help? You may contact the Department of Education by chat, phone and/or email.
- Know your prospective institutions’ priority deadline, and complete as soon as possible because grant funding is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. (UNC System: March 1, except WCU March 15)
- UPDATE 3/13/24: NACAC Enrollment Deadlines Directory
- UPDATE 1/23/24: “In a nutshell: The U.S. Education Department’s FAFSA math, for deciding how much aid a student should get, is wrong….The department will fix this mistake in time for the 2024-2025 award year.” (https://www.npr.org/2024/01/23/1226406495/families-colleges-remain-limbo-education-department-promises-fix-fafsa-mistake)
- UPDATE 1/30/24: “The Department will begin transmitting batches of FAFSA information—known as the Institutional Student Information Record or ISIR—to [schools and state agencies] in the first half of March. Students will also be able to make corrections to their form starting in the first half of March.” (https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-announces-more-31-million-fafsa-forms-successfully-submitted-and-update-student-aid-index-calculation)
- UPDATE 3/25/24: “’The FAFSA Processing System (FPS) was not including all data fields needed to correctly calculate the Student Aid Index for dependent students who reported assets,’ the department wrote in an announcement. ‘This issue resulted in inaccurate ISIRs for dependent students with assets delivered to [institutions] prior to March 21, 2024.’” (Inside Higher Ed)
New SAT
- U.S. News & World Report article: “SAT changes include a new digital format, shorter test time and an embedded graphing calculator.”
- Spring 2024 test dates and registration deadlines
Class of ’23 Meeting (Oct. 3): NC Countdown to College Month
- Our regional College Foundation of NC representative Devon McCarthy-James presented an informative overview of financial aid and pro-tips with Haywood County families last Thursday evening. With her permission, I am attaching a recording from last year. Also, I can forward Devon’s slideshow upon request (the file is too large to upload here).
- Below are a few links for easy reference as you begin the process of paying for college, specifically with need-based financial aid. However, some scholarships, like the Haywood County Schools Foundation, require a hardcopy of the FAFSA Student Aid Report, so ALL families are encouraged to apply. Although there is not a deadline, “the early bird gets the worm” – I recommend mid-November.
CFNC’s Navigating FAFSA and RDS
3. I am re-sharing our College Planning Jumpstart Guide from Graduating Senior Family Night in August with updated information (e.g., additional admission application deadlines, FAQs and the announcement of NC College Application Week participating colleges).
4. In addition, CFNC is offering virtual programming throughout October.
5. Finally, I sent a Remind on September 22nd about WCU’s new Catamount Commitment. I am linking it here also for ease.
9th and 10th Grade Meetings 9/2/22
Today, we will be completing the following tasks in preparation for our fieldtrip on Monday, September 12th.
9th Grade
- Create a College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC) account.
- Once logged in, navigate to Plan Your Future -> Career Interest Profiler -> NCCareers.org Interest Finder (Short Version). Later, we will talk about college majors for your possible career(s) and colleges/universities that offer those majors.
9th – 13th Grades
* Remember to submit the HEC permission form with a parent/guardian before we return to school on Tuesday 🙂
Update 9/7 – Slide shared via Remind and TVs
The preliminary application for ETSU’s Roan and UNC-CH’s Morehead-Cain scholarships is due to Dr. Allen before Tuesday, September 6th, at 8:30a.
Prestigious Scholarships (shared via Remind on 8/26 and in a class meeting on 8/29)
This document also includes information about the following scholarships that do not require a school endorsement: Duke/UNC-CH’s Robertson, NCSU’s Park and Goodnight, QuestBridge National College Match and UNC-C’s Levine.
Class of ’23 Family Night
Thank you for attending Thursday’s event! I hope that you feel more informed and confident about next steps and the year ahead. Attached is the organizer. Remember that the underlined text are embedded links to simplify your navigation. If viewing on a mobile device, select “Print layout” for the best formatting.
From Yearbook: Please participate in the following Google Forms before or on December 10th.
Our Yearbook Staff wants to create an exceptional publication inclusive of you all, so please participate and submit well-written responses and quality photographs. You must be signed in to your @student.haywood.k12.nc.us account to access.
Friends, Family, Hobbies & Cars
Graduating Senior Superlatives & 60 Things (All grade levels are invited to vote on Superlatives.)