Click HERE to book your 15-minute session with one of our Counselors.

Parents or students, please click the link to access the Frederick Douglass High School Counseling Services Referal Form.  Our counselors are working hard to meet the needs of our families.

Applying for College

Getting Started

• Go to the college website to apply online. Your application will be designated for Fall 2020. You may be referred to as a first time freshman, undergraduate, bachelor’s degree (4 yr. degree), or associate degree (2 yr school). Record the username and password for your online account. If you will be using a common application, please let your counselor know.
• Many college applications are simple and take less than 30 minutes to complete. Some applications will ask for a “personal statement” or a short essay. Still others will ask for teacher recommendations. Follow the directions for each college.
• Do exactly what the application asks.
• Don’t include teacher recommendations if they are not required.
• Don’t include an essay if it is not part of an application. Colleges like students who follow directions and do not try to include documents not requested
• Allow four weeks for the university to record your application. You may go back on-line and check the status of your application and whether your transcript has been received.
• Most colleges require an application fee. Students may pay with a credit card on-line or you may send a check. Some colleges waive the application fee if you apply on-line or if you apply by a certain date. You will find this information on the college website or you may contact the college’s admissions office. Some colleges will accept a fee waiver letter from your counselor if you qualify. Every college handles the fee waivers differently. See your counselor about college fee waivers.

 

Upon completion of each college application, you must request a transcript. Each transcript includes grades 9-12 (8-12, if applicable) and test scores. 

 

Transcript request link: Request Transcript

Class Change Request Form Link

Please fill out the Class Change Request Form if you have a class that needs to be changed. Please note, not all requests will be honored. Reasons for a class change include, but are not limited to: Student has already taken the class and passed or the Student needs a different class to meet graduation requirements.

Link: Class Change Request Form

College Entrance Exams

 

PSAT

 

The Preliminary SAT, also known as the PSAT/NMSQT® (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test), is a practice version of the SAT exam. You can only take the PSAT once per year, and many students take the test in both 10th and 11th grade. If you earn a high score on the PSAT your junior year, you could qualify to receive a National Merit Scholarship—$180 million dollars in merit scholarships are awarded to students each year. The PSAT is 2 hours and 45 minutes long and tests your skills in reading, writing, and math. Unlike the SAT, the highest score possible on the PSAT is 1520.

 

Given in October to grades 10 and 11

 

Cost is $20 (fee waivers available for grade 11)

 

	ACT	SAT
Time	2 hrs, 55 minutes (plus 40 minutes if taking ACT with writing)	3 hours (plus 50 minutes if taking optional Essay)
Sections	English Math Reading Science Writing (optional)	-Math -Evidence-Based Reading and Writing -Essay (optional)
Cost*	US without Writing: $50.50 USD US with Writing: $67.00 USD	$46 ($60 if taking SAT with Essay)
The purpose of both the SAT the ACT test is to measure a high school student's readiness for college, and provide colleges with one common, unbiased data point that can be used to compare all applicants.

 

 

 

 

ACT 2019-2020 Test Dates (National)
Test Date	Registration Deadline	(Late Fee Required)
September 14, 2019	August 16, 2019	August 17-30, 2019
October 26, 2019	September 27, 2019	September 28-October 8, 2019
December 14, 2019	November 8, 2019	November 9-22, 2019
February 8, 2020	January 10, 2020	January 11-17, 2020
April 4, 2020	February 28, 2020	February 29-March 13, 2020
June 13, 2020	May 8, 2020	May 9-22, 2020
July 18, 2020*	June 19, 2020	June 20-26, 2020

A few weeks after filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), you will receive a copy of your Student Aid Report (SAR) with your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The prospective college(s) will receive your FAFSA information as well. Each school you applied to will send you a Financial Aid Award Letter, breaking down the college costs and summarizing your eligibility for each type of financial aid. The aid offered in the letter will be based on your demonstrated financial need, which is equal to the Cost of Attendance (COA) minus your EFC.

 

To understand the financial aid process better, here are the key terms you need to know: 

 

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA): The FAFSA is a form used to apply for student financial aid from the federal and state government, as well as most colleges and universities. The government uses the information from your FAFSA to determine your expected family contribution (EFC). You can file the FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov. The application for 2020-2021 opens October 1st, 2019.

 

FSA ID: Students, parents, and borrowers are required to use an FSA ID, made up of a username and password, to access certain U.S. Department of Education websites. Your FSA ID is used to confirm your identity when accessing your financial aid information and electronically signing your federal student aid documents. FSA ID's can be created by clicking here.

 

Student Aid Report (SAR): The SAR is the official notification sent to you about a week after filing the FAFSA online. This document includes your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The SAR also provides information about the colleges you are considering, such as the graduation rates. 

 

Expected Family Contribution (EFC): The EFC is a measure of your family's financial strength. It is based on the information you submitted on the FAFSA, including income, assets, family size and the number of children in college. Your EFC represents the amount of money the federal government believes your family can contribute toward one academic year of college. It is a harsh assessment of ability to pay, since it does not consider many types of consumer debt, such as credit card debt, student loan debt and auto loans. The actual amount your family ends up paying could be higher or lower than the EFC figure, depending on the sources of aid available to you. 

 

There are two main formulas for calculating an EFC, the federal methodology (FM) and the institutional methodology (IM). The two formulas differ in the types of assets that are included (e.g., family home, assets of siblings), the assumption of a minimum student contribution, the treatment of paper losses, regional differences in cost of living, allowances for educational savings and emergency funds, the treatment of children of divorced parents and adjustments for more than one child in college at the same time. The FM EFC is used for determining eligibility for federal and state aid and financial aid at most colleges. About 250 colleges use the IM EFC for awarding their own financial aid funds. 

 

Financial Aid Package: The financial aid package is a combination of multiple types and sources of financial aid available to you to help pay for college costs. It may include money from the federal government, state government, the college itself and private sources. It can include scholarships, grants, work-study and loans. The financial aid offered by each college may vary and is summarized in financial aid award letters sent by the prospective colleges. 

 

Financial Aid Award Letter: The financial aid award letter is the list of all the aid from multiple sources that you are eligible to receive through your prospective college, including terms and conditions. You are not required to accept every type of aid found in the letter. For example, you could turn down loans. Turning down loans, however, will not increase the amount of grants and/or scholarships you may receive.

 

Cost of Attendance (COA): The cost of attendance includes the total price of tuition, fees, room, board, textbooks, supplies, transportation and personal expenses for one year of college. This is also known at some colleges as the "Student Budget." There may be separate student budgets for students who live on campus, off campus or with their parents. Some colleges will adjust the cost of attendance to include the cost of a computer, student health insurance and dependent care. 

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Net Price: The net price or out-of-pocket cost is the bottom line cost of college. It is the difference between the cost of attendance and grants. It is the amount of money you must pay from savings, income and loans to cover college costs. 

Scholarship Cheat Sheet

 

• The bulk of scholarship monies, both merit and need based, will come from the college or university and FAFSA. You must pay attention to these deadlines and whether additional applications are necessary. You must look on each school’s web site.

 

–      Example: Tennessee State University requires a separate application for scholarships.

 

–      Example: University of Memphis will only award scholarships to those students admitted before December 1

 

• Do not overlook ROTC Scholarships even if you have never been in ROTC

 

• Start searching as soon as possible. If you wait until spring to start searching, you will miss half the deadlines

 

• Use a free scholarship matching service like Fastweb or Big Future

 

 https://www.fastweb.com

 

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org

 

• Look for scholarship listing books at the library or bookstore, but check the publication date

 

• Prioritize your applications by deadline and the expected value of the scholarship

 

• Use a calendar and checklist to get organized

 

• Create an accomplishments resume

 

• Tailor your application to the sponsor’s goals

 

• Read and follow the instructions

 

• Make your application stand out from the crowd

 

• Ask to be nominated when applicable

 

• If you need a counselor or teacher recommendation, you must ask, don’t assume.

 

Tennessee Promise Scholarship

For scholarship eligibility, students must meet the following deadlines and requirements:

         Apply at www.tnpromise.gov by November 1, 2019.

         File the 2020-2021 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by February 1, 2020 at www.fafsa.gov.

         Attend a mandatory meeting led by the local partnering organization. Failure to attend the mandatory meeting will result in loss of the Tennessee Promise scholarship. Dates TBA.

         Complete and submit 8 hours of community service for each semester to maintain eligibility for the Tennessee Promise scholarship. The initial community service must be completed and submitted by July 1, 2020. Partnering organizations will assist students in finding community service opportunities in their area.

         Apply to and enroll in an eligible institution. Some partnering organizations may ask students to apply to an eligible college program by February 15, 2020. Though this deadline is not an official requirement, it is highly encouraged.

         If selected, provide all requested documentation to complete the process of FAFSA verification.

Once in the program, students must maintain a 2.0 GPA at a community college or four-year institution (or satisfactory academic progress at a TCAT), complete and report eight (8) hours of community service before the start of each term enrolled and file the FAFSA by the required deadline each year. Scholarship funds will be paid directly to the college or university once enrollment is confirmed.

It cannot be emphasized enough that each phase of the Tennessee Promise will require students to complete their requirements, and failure to do so will result in loss of the Scholarship.

Tennessee Hope Lottery Scholarship

Have been a Tennessee resident for one year by September 1 of the application date. For students beginning spring and summer terms, residency determined by February 1 as of application date,

*Graduate from a TN eligible high school

*Enroll in one of the Tennessee public colleges, universities, or private colleges. Click Here for listing.

• *Entering freshmen must achieve a minimum of a 21 ACT or a minimum of 1060 SAT, exclusive of the essay and optional subject area battery tests (concordant equivalent score) OR
• *Overall minimum 3.0 grade point average (GPA*)
• *Home School graduates – minimum 21 ACT exclusive of the essay and optional subject area battery tests
• *GED ® recipients – minimum 21 ACT exclusive of the essay and optional subject area battery tests and qualifying GED ® score. Minimum average Revised GED ® score is 170.
• *HiSet recipients – minimum 21 ACT exclusive of the essay and optional subject area battery tests and qualifying HiSet score. Minimum average HiSet score is 15.
• *ACT/SAT exams must be taken on a national test date or state test date and prior to the first day of college enrollment. The ACT Residual test is not accepted.
• *Must enroll within 16 months following high school graduation at any postsecondary institution.
• However, enrollment at an ineligible postsecondary institution during the 16 months will make the student permanently ineligible.

*Grade point average means a grade point average on a 4.0 scale calculated with additional internal quality points awarded for advanced placement, honors or other similar courses according to the Uniform Grading Policy adopted by the State Board of Education.

UT Promise Scholarships

UT Promise is a new undergraduate scholarship program guaranteeing free tuition and mandatory fees* for qualifying Tennessee residents attending UT’s campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin and Memphis. UT Promise is a student-success oriented scholarship program that requires students to complete volunteer service hours and meet with a volunteer mentor each semester to ensure a successful student experience.

Launching in fall 2020, this innovative scholarship will cover a student’s last-dollar amount of tuition and mandatory fees after other financial aid is applied (such as Pell grants, HOPE Scholarship or other institutional scholarships) to students who qualify for HOPE and whose family household income is under $50,000 a year.

Family household income is defined as “the accurate, verifiable total combined amount of parent and student adjusted gross income and untaxed income of less than $50,000, AND a total maximum asset amount of less than $75,000, as defined on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).”

Transcript request link: Request Transcript

 

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