Welcome to the Secondary School Counselor's Corner! I hope that you find this page useful.There are a lot of things happening each month. Please refer to the weekly newsletter and calendar for upcoming events. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at 970-626-5788, ext. 2302 or email me at tmalmstrom@ridgway.k12.co.us I look forward to working with you and your student!

11th Grade Parents and Students

Is your student interested in attending college, do you have questions about this process?
You are warmly invited to join us on February 9th, from 5-7pm, in the secondary library. Please bring your curiosity, enthusiasm, and questions.

This will be an overview of the process with a question/answer session at the end. As always if you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact me and set up an appointment by phone, ZOOM, or in-person. Our goal is to help you and your student to navigate this process with confidence.

Please login to your Naviance account for up-to-date local and national scholarship matches and information.  The link to Naviance can be found on the district homepage. 

KHAN ACADEMY
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat

• Link your College Board and Khan Academy accounts to get automatic personalized recommendations based on your PSAT performance, or take diagnostics if you didn't take the PSAT.

• We'll recommend practice to you based on your results. You can practice other skills any time you'd like, even if we didn't recommend them to you.

• Video and text explanations will help you learn the skills covered on the test and show you how the test is structured.

• Be sure to take some full-length practice exams, too! We recommend taking them without interruption to give you a sense of what to expect on test day.

SAT Test Prep https://www.chegg.com/test-prep/sat

ACT Test Prep https://www.chegg.com/test-prep/act

ACT:ACT is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides a broad array of assessment, research, information, and program management solutions in the areas of education and workforce development. Each year, ACT serves millions of people in high schools, colleges, professional associations, businesses, and government agencies—nationally and internationally. ACT has offices across the United States and throughout the world.

ACT TEST DATES https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/registration.html

SAT: The SAT is the nation’s most widely used college admission exam. Learn more about how the SAT can help you show colleges what you know and what you know you can do.

SAT TEST DATES https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat/registration/dates-deadlines

SAT II Prep "College Board": The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the College Board is composed of more than 5,700 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations. Each year, the College Board serves seven million students and their parents, 23,000 high schools, and 3,800 colleges through major programs and services in college readiness, college admission, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and learning. Among its best-known programs are the SAT®, the PSAT/NMSQT® and the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®). The College Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services, activities and concerns.

Reviews.com ACT/SAT Test Prep:  The Reviews.com research team compiled a list of 38 ACT/SAT prep courses companies and then selected teh 7 best companies to review based on the 28 most important features.

Here are important links to local vocational programs as well as work force support options. I have also included the links to all of the military services. These are all great options to get skill and certifications for students not interested or possibly ready for college after high school.

Vocational Options

• Colorado Work Force

• Technical College of the Rockies

• San Juan Basin Technical College

• IntelliTec

• Lincoln College of Technology

Military Options

• Army

• Navy

• Marines

• Air Force

• Coast Guard

Please take a look at the numerous web links below which are designed to help students and parents navigate scholarships, financial aid, college search links, testing links, and exchange programs.

Sources of Aid and Scholarships:

FAFSA: Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, ensures that all eligible individuals can benefit from federally funded financial assistance for education beyond high school. We consistently champion the promise of postsecondary education to all Americans —and its value to our society. Federal Student Aid plays a central and essential role in supporting postsecondary education by providing money for college to eligible students and families. We partner with postsecondary schools, financial institutions and others to deliver services that help students and families who are paying for college.

Fast Web: For nearly 15 years, Fastweb has been the leading scholarship search provider for every student going to college. As a scholarship matching service, Fastweb matches users to scholarships based on their qualifications, meaning students have a better chance of winning. Their scholarship database contains 1.3 million scholarships worth over $3 billion.

Cappex: With easy-to-use tools that quickly let you find colleges, like College Profiles and Reviews for 3,000+ colleges, College Invites, $11 billion in merit scholarships (powered by MeritAid.com)... even a “What Are My Chances?®” Calculator that instantly tells you your chances of getting into your favorite schools. You've got the source that gives you all the info you need, all conveniently in one place. The resource more than 2 million cumulative students have trusted for their college decisions. MeritAid.com provides Cappex with comprehensive details about $11 billion in merit scholarships offered by colleges across the country. It is the first centralized website dedicated to matching students with merit-based scholarships from more than 3,000 colleges. Knowing what merit-based scholarships are available before students apply to colleges can help them make a more educated decision on where to apply.

College In Colorado: A great site for exploring options after graduation in Colorado. Applies to both Middle School and High School Students.

College Invest: College Invest's mission is to address the challenges Coloradans face regarding both the affordability of and access to higher education. CollegeInvest was created by the State of Colorado in 1979 and is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education. As Colorado's leading education financing resource we provide expert information, simple financial planning tools, scholarships and tax advantaged 529 college savings plans to take education dollars as far as they can go.

Here are important web addresses for students interested in scholarship opportunities associated with the Service Academies or College ROTC Programs. Both scholarship opportunities are very competitive and applicants must start the process early. If selected, you will receive a full ride scholarship.

Service Academies

• West Point (Army)

• Naval Academy

• Air Force Academy

• Coast Guard Academy

• Merchant Marine Academy

ROTC Scholarships

• Army ROTC

• Navy ROTC

• Air Force ROTC

Please visit our District Assessments page for the most up to date test dates.

• Colorado Online Colleges and Universities

• Guide to Online Colleges in Colorado

• Financial Aid for Online Colleges

• Costs of Online Colleges

• Compare Reviews for Online Course Sites - 

Online courses allow students to pursue education on their own schedule. This flexibility makes it possible for learners to tackle ongoing education while also holding down a job and meeting social commitments. Some online courses include fast tracks to certification programs, while others offer degree options. With the convenience of setting their own schedules, online courses allow people to pursue their education when traditional classrooms won't work.