College Planning Handbook - New York

2015 Edition

College Planning Handbook

Office of Postsecondary Readiness

Dear Students:

As you begin to map out your next steps, it is wonderful to imagine all that you will accomplish after high school. By now you have probably realized that learning never ends and postsecondary education is a key part of ensuring that you continue learning, so that you have as many options available to you.

Whether you have just begun to think about your future goals, or are well on the way into planning for college, we hope this handbook will help you to think about how college fits into your life after high school. Your friends, teachers, counselors, and advisors have collaborated to create a resource to equip you with as much information as possible.

There has never been a more important time for young people to include college in their future plans. Research shows that the fastest growing and highest paying career fields require postsecondary education. We also know that having a college degree will enable you to earn more, have better economic security, live healthier, and be more involved in your community. This is true across the board, and this includes Associate's Degrees, Bachelor's Degrees, and certificates that lead to employment in business and industry.

In this handbook, you will learn about the differences between high school and college, the types of college options available to you, and how to search for and select a school that best suits your interests and needs. You'll learn ways to successfully navigate the application process, and to make college easier to afford through financial aid and planning. The handbook also includes experiences from New York City high school graduates, including tips about how to get to college, and ideas to help you succeed once you are there.

This resource is best used as a companion to an advisory course focused on college access, or to review with a school counselor or college advisor throughout a semester. Be sure to talk about what you learn from this handbook with your counselor, advisor, teachers, family, and friends. Remember to ask as many questions as possible, and to do your own research ? after all this is about you and your future. In addition, while this handbook provides a lot of key information, there is much more you'll need to know. Be sure to review and explore the many online resources listed throughout and in the back of the handbook.

I wish each one of you incredible success not only in planning for college, but in succeeding once you get there and beyond.

Sincerely,

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Phil Weinberg Deputy Chancellor for Teaching and Learning

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Dear Students,

As an educator and former principal, I believe schools are communities that push young people to achieve things they might think impossible. I am continually amazed at how students, when given the right amount of support, rise to meet the high standards and expectations set before them.

Rigorous experiences in high school ? challenging classes, extracurricular activities, and other experiences outside the classroom ? help form the foundation of skills and dispositions necessary for you to graduate, attend college, and move onto a career.

This handbook can help you navigate the critical steps that will lead you to your next step after high school. It could be a two-year associate's, a four-year bachelor's degree, an apprenticeship, or a combination of school and work. The priority for you will be to take advantage of the resources and knowledge at your current school (including this handbook) to make sure you understand yourself, identify your interests and strengths, start refining long-term goals, and begin mapping out plans for how your postsecondary education fits in with your larger career goals.

These larger goals start with the college application process. And because the application process can be complex, it's important for you make the time to do your own research, reflect on yourself, and give yourself enough time to complete each stage of the application process.

This handbook has information that you, your advisor, a parent, and /or peers can work through to make informed choices about your future. In fact, choices about college is just the start of many choices you'll have to make and one of many projects that you will be responsible for seeing through to completion.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you need to make clear decisions. Throughout high school, you will gain skills and knowledge ? like critical thinking, persistence, engagement, work habits/organizational skills, communication/ collaboration skills, and self-regulation ? and the realization that education ? at any grade level or age ? can push you to the next level of your aspirations.

Sincerely,

Vanda Belusic-Vollor

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Senior Executive Director, Office of Postsecondary Readiness

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