How Class Rank is Calculated

1) Every semester 6 classes, and 6 classes only, will be counted towards your class rank. Therefore, the max number of rank points you can obtain in a semester is 30.

2) In Honors: A=5, B=4, C=3, etc. In Regular: A=4, B=3, etc.

3) IMPORTANT: The order in which classes are counted for rank points: Honors Core, Regular Core, Honors Elective, Regular Elective
[[Therefore, if you are taking a regular science class and an honors music class zero hour, your regular science class will be counted (4 rank points) before your honors music class (5 rank points)]]

4) IMPORTANT: Students who have taken high school math classes, and gotten an A, before entering high school (H. Geometry or H. Algebra 3-4) will have those classes as "extra credit" on their record.
[[Therefore, if they take less than 6 honors core classes, or get less than an A, their previous math credit (5 rank points) will be used for rank calculations, instead of whatever class they took during the year.]]
**This only applies to students who went to a middle school in the Kyrene or Tempe district

EX1: A freshman takes 5 honors core classes and Concert Band. They also took Geometry in middle school and got an A. At the end of the 1st semester, they have gotten all A's.
To calculate their rank, their 5 honors core classes will be used first (25 rank points total) and then one semester of their Geometry credit will be used in place of Concert Band (5 rank points). That way, though they have not taken all honors classes, their rank is still 30 out of 30!

EX2: A freshman takes 5 honors core classes and AP Music Theory. They also took Geometry in middle school and got an A. At the end of the 1st semester, they have gotten all A's.
To calculate their rank, their 5 honors core classes will be used first (25 rank points total). But because AP Music Theory is an elective, their Geometry credit (5 rank points) will be counted in place of AP Music Theory, even though it is an honors class!

......I personally never really understood how the class rank system worked until going in to talk to a counselor, so hopefully, if anyone else was confused, this should clear it up! =] If you have any additional or specific questions, please post a comment and I'll try to answer it for you!

-Audrey

General Scheduling Advice

As the scheduling season rolls around, here are some general tips to consider when selecting your classes for next year:

1. Summer school is a great way of getting credits out of the way that interest you less (e.g. physical education, health, and computer application); thus, take the classes you don't care for over the summer, not the ones which you are passionate about.

2. Be sure to take into account your projected level of involvement in extracurricular activities (everything outside of school) next year. At the same time, however, don’t take an overly easy schedule simply out of a fear that you will be overly committed next year; the key is to strike a balance.

3. Don’t drop a class simply because you have heard that a particular teacher is difficult; be willing to try the class out for yourself, confidently and open-mindedly.

Above all, make sure that you have a parent signature on the form by the deadline. Failing to do so may force you to take classes that you don't want to take.

-Kunal

College Photos Update

Photos of USC (University of Southern California) and Boston University were added to the dvsageclub photobucket album today. Click on the following links to see the new photos:

USC Photos
http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii34/dvsageclub/USC/?albumview=grid

Boston University Photos
http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii34/dvsageclub/Boston%20University/?albumview=grid

A Sampling of Summer Programs

Believe it or not, NOW is the time to start researching and applying to summer programs, especially the more competitive ones. The following is a sampling of some programs, broken down by category. If anything, check out the link at the very bottom of the post; it is extremely helpful.

Competitive Academic Programs
Duke TIP Summer Studies Program
http://www.tip.duke.edu/summer_programs/

Harvard SSP (Secondary School Program)
http://www.summer.harvard.edu/2008/programs/ssp/

EPGY (Education Program for Gifted Youth) at Stanford
http://epgy.stanford.edu/summer/index.html

Programs in Arizona
Curry Summer Music Camp at NAU
https://www4.nau.edu/finearts/musiccamp/campinfo.asp

YAWP (Young Adult Writing Program) at ASU
http://www.asu.edu/clas/english/yawp/news.html

Summer of Excellence at the U of A
http://www.soe.honors.arizona.edu/

Summer Internship Program: High School Biotechnology at ASU
http://www.biodesign.asu.edu/outreach/internship/

Biology/Medicine Programs
National Institute of Health Summer Internship in Biomedical Research
http://www.training.nih.gov/student/sip/index.asp
*Participants receive a stipend

Bio@TECH: Biology at Georgia Tech University
http://www.biology.gatech.edu/biotech.php

Links to Lists of Other Programs
http://www.ams.org/employment/mathcamps.html
A long list of math camps around the country

http://www.cogito.org/Programs/programslist.aspx?summerprograms
One of the best resources available for finding summer programs

Update on "theU" Videos

The post entitled "Informational Videos about Your Favorite Universities" has been recently updated (on 1/21/08). Revisit it to see a link to a complete list of colleges and universities for which these videos have been made. In addition, a description of these videos by the Princeton Review has been added to the post.

How to Use This Blog Effectively

Here are some tips to make the most of your experience at this blog:

1. Check out the links on the right (under the heading "Information by Topic") to view only the posts that contain information germane to a certain topic. This way you can find the information you are looking for more quickly and effectively.

2. Comment! Ask questions, add any relevant information you may have, or simply let us know what you think of our posts. In this way, we will be able to tailor our posts more effectively to your needs. The more everyone contributes to the blog, the more everyone will gain.

3. Be sure to check the blog at least once a week for updates; we will be posting continually.

As usual, if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, feel free to send them to us at dvsageclub.com@gmail.com.

CSS Profile

The CSS Profile is an application that is similar to the FAFSA that is produced by the College Board. The major differences:

1. FAFSA is free. The CSS Profile is not.
2. The CSS Profile is more detailed, which is why some colleges request it.
3. The FAFSA must be filled out after January 1st, while the CSS Profile can be submitted before then. (This point, however, is presently irrelevant.

You can complete the CSS Profile online at https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/index.jsp.

Tips to Avoid Making Common FAFSA Mistakes

As much as possible, you should try to avoid making mistakes on your FAFSA, for they can delay the application process by up to 2-3 weeks. The following is a partial list of ways in which you can prevent that from happening to you:

1. Do not use your nickname instead of your legal name.
2. Do not leave any field blank. Use a zero if the question does not apply to you.
3. Report all required sources of untaxed income.
4. Include yourself in household size, even if you did not live there the previous year.
5. Do not forget to sign the application. If you are filing as a dependent, make sure your parents sign too.

Visit the following websites for more detailed information regarding FAFSA mistakes:
http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/errors.phtml
http://www.fastweb.com/fastweb/resources/articles/index/102183

The FAFSA: An Introduction

Now that the college application process is mostly over, this is the time to start securing scholarships and financial aid. The FAFSA is a major component of that process.

What is the FAFSA?
The purpose of the FAFSA (Free Application for Student Financial Aid) is to determine how much your family can pay to support your college education.

Why should I fill out the FAFSA?
Most schools require it in order to determine your demonstrated financial need -that is, how much money you need in order to attend. Thus, if you want any sort of financial aid, you most likely need to fill out the FAFSA.

When should I fill out the FAFSA?
In order to receive the best financial aid award possible, you should fill out the FAFSA as soon as possible after January 1, 2008. This is because most colleges and universities award aid on a first-come-first-serve basis. If you apply too late, there may be less aid money available.

If you want to actually fill out the FAFSA, or just want more information, visit http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

More College Photos!

As promised, we are continuing to update our database of college photos. Recently we have added photos of Lafayette College and Bucknell College. You can see this new photos (and the old ones as well) at our photobuket.com album:

http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii34/dvsageclub/

In addition, we have found another photobuket.com album (unaffiliated with SAGE) that has a lot of college photos, including some of American University and George Washington University:

http://s203.photobucket.com/albums/aa12/oregonhummingbird/

Remember, the more photos we have, the better this database will be. Thus, if you have any photos that you want to contribute to this database, email us at dvsageclub.com@gmail.com, or contact one of the officers.

The College Confidential Forums

The College Confidential Forums (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/) are a great resource for the high school student. On it, you will find information from students, parents and college official about SAT preparation, college essays, financial aid, summer programs, and more.

However, there is are a few caveats:
1. To find the information, you will have to do some fishing in the sea of posts. It will take time.
2. Take the comments with a grain of salt. A few people's opinion of a testing strategy or college is not authoritative.
3. Many of these posters are egregious overachievers; don't feel intimidated by them or pressured to emulate them.

Notice that the link to the forums is on the right, under "Useful Links". Be sure to browse the other links as well; it's in your best interest, for they really are useful.

Informational Videos about your Favorite Universities

Youtube "theU" (all one word) to get a list of a bunch of informational videos that cover all aspects of a college, from "The Food" to "The Shelter" to "The Scene". You can also find these videos at http://www.theu.com/; however, you must create a free profile first.

This is the Princeton Review's explanation of what these videos are about:

The Princeton Review has partnered with theU to bring you MTV-style college video tours. theU’s videos were created by students, for students to give an uncensored behind the scenes look at some of the most popular colleges in the U.S.

The following are a sample of some of the "Intro" videos; you can view a complete list of all the colleges represented in the series at http://princetonreview.com/college/research/articles/find/theu/schoolvideos.asp.

Yale



Washington University in St. Louis



UCLA



University of Arizona

Videos of Harvard Lectures

Harvard has published a series of videos of classroom lectures, which are a great way to get a glimpse of the Harvard educational experience. Disregard the promotional propaganda that these videos have (they interview students who talk about how much they like the class, etc.) and judge for yourself whether they are good or not.

The purpose of this post is not to further advertise Harvard; instead, it is meant to show what types of resources are available online that prospective students can use as they try to figure out which school is right for them.

Click on the following links to watch the videos:

Justice: A Journey in Moral Reasoning
A basic ethics course; highly recommended -very entertaining

String Theory, Black Holes, and the Fundamental Laws of Nature
An introductory quantum mechanics course

W.B. Yeats: "Among School Children"
This is a sample of a college-level literature course; the topic is W.B. Yeats' poem "Among School Children"

Interpreting the Past
This is a history course; topics include "Who gets remembered and why?" and the Agrarian Revolution, which happened just after the American Revolution.

The full catalog of videos can be found at http://athome.harvard.edu/archive

Always wanted to see what the following schools looked like but never got the chance to visit?

Well now you can.

The University of Chicago

http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii34/dvsageclub/University%20of%20Chicago/?albumview=grid

Northwestern University

http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii34/dvsageclub/Northwestern%20University/?albumview=grid

UC Berkeley

http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii34/dvsageclub/UC%20Berkeley/?albumview=grid

Check out these college pictures and dozens more at photobucket.com.
Brought to you by your friends at SAGE

Stay updated as we continue to add more photos of more schools to our database.