Princeton Review and Recommendation Letters

The Princeton Review just published their list of colleges with the happiest students. These ratings are based on surveys taken by thousands of college students. Check out the article in the Huffington Post or see the full list by creating an account with the Princeton Review.

Juniors (and some seniors) if you need help narrowing down your college search take a minute to create an account with the Princeton Review. They have several "lists" broken down by academics, campus life, athletics, administration, politics, social scene, anything you could imagine! This is a great resource especially if you are looking at schools outside of Mississippi.

The Princeton Review also offers free online ACT prep classes. The next class is November 19. They offer one class each month. This is a great option if you cannot make the classes offered at the Get2College center in Southaven. The Get2College Center offers subject area intensive classes the week leading up to the ACT. Check out their schedule at Get2College.org

Finally, recommendation letter season is upon us. If you need a letter of recommendation from me these are the steps you will need to take:
1. Request a letter from me, preferably via email at least one week in advance.
2. Provide me with a copy of your resume and fill out the Jr/Sr Survey. I will email you the link after you request your letter.
3. Be prepared to give me details about the scholarship or program to which you are applying. Committees don't want me to re-write your resume; they want to know specifics about you and how your involvement has made the school/community a better place. Below are four questions I use to write your recommendation letters:

• How does this student balance academic achievement with school and community involvement?
• What is the one accomplishment, qualification or quality that sets this student apart from his/her peers?
• How has the student's school involvement made an impact on CHHS?
• How has the student's community involvement made an impact on the Olive Branch area? 

Scholarship Opportunities from Delta State

I just received this scholarship update from DSU. If you are interested in DSU, you can access the scholarship application here.

Academic Scholarships 2015-2016

Priority Deadline: December 1, 2014

Final Deadline: March 1, 2015

Note: Scholarship Application is attached. Please return scholarship application along with a 250 word or less essay and resume to: Delta State University ▪ Office of Admissions ▪ KWH 117 ▪ Cleveland, MS 38733

Delta State University Scholarship Policy: Institutional, foundation, state, and federally funded scholarships and grants are all subject to a maximum yearly amount not to exceed the actual cost of tuition, average room and board, and a $600 per year book allowance. Scholarships are applied to student accounts to cover institutional costs of attendance.

First-time freshmen:                                                                     year                                       Total

National Merit Semi-Finalist                                                              $3,750                                     $16,875

National Merit Finalist                                                                        $5,000                                     $22,500

Opportunity Award                             ACT 22-25 (SAT 1020-1160)    $2,000                                     $  9,000

Achievement Scholarship                   ACT 26-28 (SAT 1170-1270)    $3,006 (Half Tuition)              $13,527

Academic Excellence Scholarship      ACT 29-36 (SAT 1280-1600)    $6,012 (Full Tuition)               $27,054

Scholarship Guidelines:

1. A complete scholarship application (including resume and essay) is required for consideration: priority deadline is December 1, final deadline is March 1.
2. Scholarship applications are reviewed for freshmen that have been admitted to Delta State University with a minimum 22 ACT and 3.00 cumulative non-weighted high school grade point average.
3. The ACT/SAT composite score from a national test prior to enrollment is acceptable; super-scoring is not acceptable.
4. Scholarships are awarded to current year high school graduates only.
5. The FAFSA must be completed for privately-funded scholarship consideration.
6. Scholarship recipients must be enrolled full-time.
7. Scholarships are available for undergraduate study only, up to the completion of 140 earned hours.
8. Scholarship guarantees may be paid with institutional, foundation or privately funded monies.
9. Dismissal from the University will result in forfeiture of all scholarships.
10. Scholarships are not available for summer sessions.
11. Scholarships are renewable each year based on continued eligibility (completion of 30 semester hours with a 3.0 DSU GPA).
12. Scholarship awards are dependent upon available funds; a limited number may be offered.

Salutatorian Scholarship

Award: 1 time award only of $500

Initial Eligibility: verification as indicated by official high school transcript, awarded to current year high school graduates. May be stacked with academic and privately funded scholarship.

Valedictorian Scholarship

Award: 1 time award only of $1,000

Initial Eligibility: verification as indicated by official high school transcript, awarded to current year high school graduates. May be stacked with academic and privately funded scholarship.

Privately Funded Scholarship

Award: varies depending on scholarship

Initial Eligibility: less than 140 earned cumulative hours, criteria as set forth by the scholarship donor. May be stacked with first-time freshmen academic scholarships.

Junior Opportunities and Blood Drive

Below is a list of opportunities for juniors. I know it seems early to start thinking about college or scholarships but it will creep up on you-just ask the seniors!

1. NorthCentral Electric Power Association spoke with your students today about their Youth Leadership Tour and essay contest. NorthCentral selects one student from each school they serve to go to Jackson, MS for a three day leadership tour in the spring, followed by a trip to Washington DC over the summer. This is a great opportunity for your student to enhance their leadership skills while seeing how our government works first hand. To be considered for the Youth Tour, students must submit an essay about electric cooperatives by November 26. They can turn essays in to me before we leave for Thanksgiving and I will make sure they get to the NorthCentral office. Each junior should have received a packet today with more information. If your student did not receive one, please have them come by my office to pick up a copy.

2. The Get2College Center in Southaven is hosting a scholarship competition for high school juniors. The application is very short; it only requires them to answer two questions and submit a resume. The deadline is December 15. Here is a link to the application http://get2college.org/north-ms-get2college-junior-scholarship/

3. The application for MS Governor's School is now available. Again, this is a great opportunity for our students to gain leadership skills and earn college credit. If your student applies, encourage them to print a copy of their completed application prior to submitting. We had a few students last year that had to re-submit their applications at the last minute because of technical issues with the online application.  The application and more information can be found on the MGS website, http://web3.muw.edu/govschool/apply. The deadline to apply is February 4.


In other news, Student Council is hosting it's annual Blood Drive Tuesday, November 25.  We encourage students and parents to give if you are able. Life Blood gives a scholarship (or scholarships) to a senior(s) based on the number of units we collect through our drive. If you have any questions about the Blood Drive you can contact Megan Chapman at megan.chapman@dcsms.org.

Have a great weekend! 

Update from University of Memphis

Good morning! Below are some of the latest U of M events and updates:

• Campus Days for High School Seniors: We are hosting our final Campus Day for High School Seniors on Saturday, November 8. Students can make reservations online or by calling (901) 678-2169. 

• Campus Tours: The University of Memphis offers campus tours each weekday at 9:30am & 1:30pm. Touring campus is the best way for students to know if a university is right for them! Students can sign uponline or by calling (901) 678-2169.

• Lambuth Campus Tours: Tours of our Lambuth campus in Jackson, TN are available on Thursday and Friday each week, and reservations can be made by visiting their web site or calling (731) 425-1964.

• Merit-Based Scholarships: Our scholarship deadline remains December 1^st this year, and students can qualify with a minimum ACT score of 25 and GPA of 3.0. To be eligible for our merit-based scholarships, students must have applied and been admitted by the December 1^st deadline.  For full scholarship details visit the Scholarship web site.

• Emerging Leaders and First Scholars Scholarships: These scholarships require separate applications and have a deadline of February 1^st.  The Emerging Leaders scholarship is awarded to a limited number of students with demonstrated leadership backgrounds and interest in leadership development programs. A comprehensive application and interview is required, and the scholarship award is $5,500 per year. The First Scholars scholarship is awarded to a limited number of first-generation college students whose parents have no education beyond two years of college. A separate application and student’s FAFSA must be completed by February 1, and the scholarship award is $5,000 per year. Students receiving both the Emerging Leaders and First Scholars scholarships are required to live on campus in designated residence halls as freshmen.

• Exciting News: The University of Memphis has received a $10.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to lead the NIH Center of Excellence for Mobile Sensor Data-to-Knowledge (MD2K). The MD2K Center of Excellence, led by University of Memphis computer scientist Dr. Santosh Kumar, will develop novel big data solutions to reliably quantify physical, biological, behavioral, social and environmental factors that contribute to health and disease risk. Computer science, engineering, statistical and biomedical researchers from 11 universities will spend the next four years developing innovative tools to make it easier to gather, analyze and interpret health data generated by mobile and wearable sensors. Please see the press release for more information. We are thrilled to have this cutting edge research happening on campus!