Tiger Hi-Line The
Volume 48 Edition 18
AP Exam Reminder
All Advanced Placement (AP) students at Cedar Falls High School will have the opportunity to register for AP exams to be given in May. Registration for the exams runs from Monday, Feb. 4 through Friday, March 7, with Teresa Martin in the English Department. The fee is $84 for each exam. All checks must be written to CFHS AP Exam. While taking an AP exam is optional, Cedar Falls High School encourages its Advanced Placement students to take AP exams. Students who get college credit through the AP program clearly have a head start on their college course work as well as reducing their college tuition costs. It is encouraged that parhttp://hi-lineonline.shorturl.com 1015 Division Street, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613 ents register their sons or daughters for the AP exam.
College Prep: maximizes chances of success
Kellie Petersen News Editor
Like many high school seniors, Arusha Afzal is experiencing the woes of the college application process. “It definitely takes a lot of time, more than you would think. They seem like easy decisions at the time, but they really aren’t,” Afzal said of choosing and applying to colleges. Thankfully, there are ways that seniors can prepare for the college application process. These preparations don’t have to wait until senior year either; there are also many steps that sophomores and juniors can take in order to prepare for college. Guidance counselor Ryan Flaherty said that seniors should decide on the college that they want to attend and that they should focus on applying to that college and gathering letters of recommendation, as well as think about potential financial aid. He said juniors should narrow the number of colleges they are interested in to between five and seven and to go on college visits to some of the potential colleges. Guidance counselor Susan Langan also said that even as sophomores students cans start to explore potential careers and take classes that would prepare them for what they want to do once they have fin-
Making college preparations
ished school, and that it always helps to take as rigorous a schedule as possible. The college application process for any college is a daunting task, but some students face the added stress of trying to get into selective or highly selective colleges. Flaherty mentioned that students that are planning to apply to highly selective schools should consider starting to make preparations, such as taking advanced classes, before their senior years. Langan added that although most of the competitive colleges have the same requirements, it does help to take higherlevel classes, get recommendations from teachers and counselors, write essays and volunteer. Langan also said that for extremely competitive schools, having completed a research project or taking classes during the summer increases students’ chances of getting accepted. Senior Casi Naber kept college in mind throughout high school in order to increase her chances of being accepted to the college of her choice. “Basically I try to get good grades and do well in school, and hopefully that will look good to colleges,” Naber said. Earning good grades seems to have paid off for Naber too. “It’s going pretty good for me,” Naber said of the college application process. “I only applied to one college, and I got into
that one,” Naber said. Even if a student has not yet received that coveted letter of acceptance, there are still plenty of other preparations to be made, such as being an involved student and volunteering. Flaherty said that the importance of volunteering and extra-curricular activities really depends on the school; generally volunteer hours and activities are considered more by private schools where students are judged more individually in order to be accepted as opposed to state schools. He did mention, though, that community service is often included as a part of scholarships; however, both volunteering and being involved in activities were of equal importance. “They both have equally good value and bring good things to the table. They both provide good things for a student to use on a college resume,” Flaherty said. Another aspect of being accepted to colleges that worries many students would be standardized test scores. Flaherty said that depending on the college or scholarship, standardized tests are pretty important, but that a high GPA could possibly balance out a low standardized test score. However, Flaherty also said that a high standardized test score may qualify students for certain scholarships,
but he maintained that GPA, class rank and standardized test score are all important for acceptance to college and receiving scholarships. However, students that do not have high standardized test scores need not worry. Although standardized test scores are still important to being accepted to college and receiving scholarships, they are not the sole factor in determining whether a student will receive either of these. Langan said that colleges are now using a formula, called the Regent Admission Index (RAI) to determine student admission to their school. The RAI combines ACT or SAT score, high school class rank, GPA and the number of completed core courses. Langan said that courses in the math, science, social studies and world language departments are considered to be core courses. Langan also said that a RAI of at least 245 is required for admission into any of Iowa’s three state universities. For more information on RAI and other aspects of college planning, students can visit the CFHS website or www.ICANsucced.org. Planning for financial aid is another essential step in college planning. “It’s an important piece of choosing a college,” Flaherty said of financial aid. Flaherty recommended two main
steps to keep in mind when considering financial aid; one would be staying on top of scholarships and another would be making sure that the FASFA, a government tax form that determines eligibility for financial aid, is filled out correctly and in a timely fashion. There are many different factors for students to consider when choosing the college that is best for them. Afzal listed the prestige of the school, whether or not she would be accepted, the size of the school and how educated the professors were as factors she considered when choosing a college, while Naber mentioned how far away the school is and how good of a school it is as factors she considered when choosing a college. Flaherty said that some important factors he noticed students took into account were the reputation of the school, the programs offered for certain majors, the number of successful graduates for a certain major and the size of the school. Flaherty mentioned the importance of choosing a college that is best for you based upon several different factors. “Just the overall lifestyle, whether or not they are suited for a big college in a big city or a small college in a small town. I think you have to balance college with academics and just moving forward in life as well,” Flaherty said.
Award provides opportunity for recognizing teacher efforts Natasha Woods Staff Writer
With the help of the Gold Star Award founded by RJ McElroy, teachers are getting more recognition. Students, parents, colleagues and administrators can nominate a favorite teacher. Ten teachers from various elementary, intermediate, secondary and schools are chosen around Black Hawk County. The Gold Star committee considers a numerous amount of things such as creativity, classroom effectiveness, unique teaching skills and the impact on students. The teachers should go above and beyond their normal expectations in the classroom. The 10 teachers chosen will be awarded with $1,000 at a ceremony in May. Gerald Ramsey, CFHS band teacher, was a recent winner. “It’s a good program. A lot of teachers go year after year not getting recognized. It’s fun to get the award, but I don’t think too much of it,” Ramsey. To nominate at teachers, fill out a form online or look around the hallways for flyers before midnight on March 1.