News/Announcements from the GHS Counseling Department

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Attention seniors: Need help with the FAFSA?  Rebecca Hammond of the Educational Opportunity Center is accepting appointments at GHS to assist students and their parents in completing the application on Wednesdays.  Appointments with Mrs. Hammond can be made in the Attendance Office with Mrs. May.  Please see your counselor for more details.

The following are some scholarships with May deadlines: 

  • QuestBridge College Prep Scholars (for JUNIORS) – No application deadline
  • Buster Bynum Education Scholarship – Application Deadline: 05/19/2017
  • Why My Teacher Makes Me Smile Flax Scholarship – Application Deadline: 05/29/2017
  • CoilLaw LLC Scholarship – Application Deadline: 05/31/2017
  • First In Family Scholarship – Application Deadline: 05/31/2017
  • SCW DREAMers Scholarship – Application Deadline: 05/31/2017
  • Sessions Law Firm College Scholarship – Application Deadline: 05/31/2017
  • Thomas, Webb & Willis Academic Achiever Scholarship – Application Deadline: 05/31/2017
  • Tuite Law DUI Accident Scholarship – Application Deadline: 05/31/2017
  • Links to all of these scholarships and more are on the GHS scholarship page at https://sites.google.com/a/gilmerschools.com/ghs-scholarship-page/home. Please check this site on a weekly basis throughout the spring semester, and fill out those applications!

This Week’s Feature: Important Information for Seniors and Parents!

Seniors have to take care of several items at the end of the school year.  Here are some reminders for seniors and their parents.

If a senior does not have an account on gafutures.org, it is important that he or she set one up.  The account should be in the student’s name, and the profile information should be updated.  The gilmerschools.com student email account should not be used for this purpose, because the student needs to use an email that can communicate with those outside Gilmer Schools for emails from the Georgia Student Finance Commission and colleges.  There are lots of important tasks to do on gafutures.org.  If a senior has not filled out a FAFSA, he or she must apply for HOPE on the gafutures website before May 19th.  Seniors should not wait until the last minute for this; the website could bog down and applications may not submit properly!  Seniors will need their GTID number, full name, social security number, and date of birth.  Also, seniors can track their HOPE eligibility on the site.

It is extremely important that students request their final transcripts be sent to the college or colleges where they are applying.  Students submit a transcript when they apply to a college, but they must request a final transcript be sent so that college(s) have a record of the final high school grades and graduation status.  If this is not done, colleges cannot complete the acceptance process.  There must be an official written or electronic request made in order for final transcripts to be sent by GHS due to laws surrounding the release of transcripts; these are considered legal documents and are under confidentiality laws that make a request necessary.  Beginning on May 15th, seniors may request final transcripts.  Please be aware that any request for a senior’s transcript received on or after May 15th will be held until final spring grades are posted.  If you are a senior and need a transcript sent before May 15th because you are just starting a college application, you will need to request a transcript before May 15th for the application packet, and another May 15th or later so a final transcript can be sent.  Please note that an email is not considered an official written request.  Official transcript requests may be done for free on gafutures.org.

Seniors must also complete the Capstone project in order to graduate.  It is important that they have completed the project and present to their advisement group early in May.  Parents may wish to contact their student’s advisor if they need more details on what their student has completed so far.

Remember to watch grades in these last few weeks.  If a student is in a course with a Milestones exam at the end, it is particularly important that they talk with their teacher now to see where they are; those exams count 20% of a student’s grade, so students may need to make a higher grade than just the usual 70 to pass the course if they do not anticipate doing well on a Milestones exam or are concerned at all about the test.

These are some of the most important items for families to keep in mind as the time for graduation approaches, but this information should be helpful in keeping on track for the big day!

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