Course Catalog | Foundation for Ensuring Access and Equity

Applying for Scholarships

Applying for Scholarships is a self-guided class containing:

Links to scholarship websites
Scholarship research chapters from "Show Me the Money: Scholarships, Financial Aid, and Making the Right College Choice"

Since institutional scholarships provide the largest amount of funding for college, far out weighing funding from the state and federal government (i.e., Pell Grant, state scholarships); or from private scholarships (e.g., Gates Scholarship, Ron Brown Scholars, Jack Kent Cooke Scholars, Burger King Scholars, Coca Cola Scholars, etc.), there is a module devoted to institutional scholarships. While large private scholarship programs are covered, students are guided in researching local scholarships and identifying scholarships to which their background and body of work are strong matches. Forms and tables are provided to assist students in being well organized and an overview of scholarship essays is provided to ensure that students seek the best support for reviewing and proofreading scholarship essays and applications. Students may email questions or request a one-on-one session to further discussion their college and scholarship application strategies.

What to Do After Applying to College

There are many important steps to be taken after applying to college—while your application being processed or after being offered admission. This class provides step-by-step guidance.

The Meeting Street Scholarship

Overview The Meeting Street Scholarship Fund provides an opportunity for Florence County School District 3 students to receive up to $10,000 of college assistance. If you meet the eligibility criteria, and attend one of the eligible South Carolina 4-year colleges or universities, you may be awarded up to $10,000 through the Meeting Street Scholarship program. The video presented below shares how the scholarship program was inspired and the first scholarship recipients from the Charleston County School District. While the scholarship is limited to 18 South Carolina colleges and universities, each of the units in the class will provide guidance in researching and matching to the college or university best aligned with your educational and career aspirations. The units will also allow you to compare the net price of attending each college after applying the Meeting Street Scholarship. Eligibility

Reside in Florence County
Graduate from a Florence School District 3 public high school
Qualify for the South Carolina LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship
- Two of the following three requirements must be met:
  - Earn at least a 3.0 GPA in high school
  - Score at least 1100 on SAT or 24 on ACT
  - Rank in the top 30% of your graduating class
Attend one of the eligible SC colleges and universities
Qualify for the federal Pell Grant after completing the FAFSA

Eligible Colleges and Universities

2024 College Planning Boot Camp

Our summer college planning boot camps introduce students to our college planning process which has allowed students participating in our College Planning Cohort Program to be awarded full college scholarships at over 25 times the national average. Through a culturally relevant interdisciplinary curriculum, boot camp students are not only introduced to the 3 pillars of scholarship, leadership, and service within a college and career context, but are introduced to the stories of students offered admission to selective colleges and awarded highly competitive scholarships as a result of their intentional college planning efforts. Through our expansive curriculum, students are introduced to such topics as personality type; temperament; mindset; grit; and multiple intelligences as the foundation for examining their interests and engaging in career exploration. Students are guided through researching colleges and scholarships consistent with their college/career aspirations and financial need. Students engage in large group presentations, small group discussions, and self-guided study as they create the framework of near-term and long-term strategies from their current grade through the end of their junior year of high school in preparation for submitting college and scholarship applications. In addition to receiving access to our online curriculum, students receive grade-level appropriate resources. Students who attend our summer boot camp and who choose to return for our full-year program will be in an accelerated discussion group. Students participating in our college planning cohort program have been offered admission to the country's most selective colleges, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and The University of Chicago; the country's most selective liberal arts colleges, including Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, and Vassar; and the country's most selective HBCUs, including Spelman, Morehouse, Howard, and North Carolina A&T State University. Students have been awarded the country's most prestigious scholarships, including the Gates Scholarship, Ron Brown Scholarship, Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship, Rhodes Scholarship, and National Science Foundation Fellowship.

HBCU Academy

This class has been developed to support the California Community Colleges Transfer Guarantee Pathway to Historically Black Colleges & Universities by providing step-by-step guidance in researching the participating schools, identifying scholarships, and preparing high quality college and scholarship applications, with an overarching goal of avoiding student loan debt. The objective of the California Community Colleges Transfer Guarantee to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) program is the development of transfer pathways that will facilitate a smooth transition for students from any California Community College to a partner HBCU. These pathways will simplify the transfer process and reduce students’ need to take unnecessary courses, thereby shortening the time to degree completion and saving student costs. The agreement provides the following benefits:

Any California community college student with a GPA of 2.0 or higher (NOTE:certain partner HBCUs will require a higher GPA) is guaranteed admission to all partner HBCU institutions using either of the following options while at the California Community College, the student must:

Complete an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) using the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) or
Complete the California State University General Education Breadth pattern or
Complete a minimum of 30 UC or CSU units.

Application fee waiver code available for applying to four participating partner schools through the Common Black College Application.
Pre-admission advisement.
Priority consideration for campus housing (when deadlines are met).
Priority consideration for scholarships for students with a 3.2 GPA or higher based on the institution’s available funding.
A one-time $5,000 stipend (per Assembly Bill No. 1400) provided to qualified students who transfer from a California Community College to one of the partner schools. The one-time award would be valid for only one academic year.

For the latest program updates and partner schools, visit the California Community Colleges website: https://www.californiacommunitycollegehbcutransfer.com/. High school students, or students who are interested in applying to HBCUs that are not part of the CCC Transfer Agreement will also benefit from the information contained in this book, as well as the units contained in the HBCU Bound online curriculum. Appendix III provides a listing of all accredited HBCUs as of the publishing of this book. The class is supported by the text, "HBCU Bound: A Step-by-Step Guide for California Community College Students." Regularly priced at $29.95, but complimentary with the class.

Essay Writing Class

First and foremost, our program is about, "Packaging." With so many colleges becoming test optional in 2021 as a result of COVID-19 disruptions to SAT/ACT testing dates, college applications to selective schools are likely to double or triple to 40,000 - 80,000 applications. Only students with the best packaging will be competitive applicants in such a large pool of applications. Becoming a well packaged student requires extensive college and scholarship research and then matching your 'Self Presentation' or your package (i.e., résumé, essays, recommendations, leadership, service, coursework, and grades) in such a way as to make you an exceptional candidate amongst thousands of exceptional candidates. The Essay Writing Sessions are an extension of our High School Senior Classroom, through which we provide comprehensive guidance through such areas as researching colleges and scholarships; matching student aspirations and family's financial need to a well-matched group of colleges; completing the FAFSA/CSS Profile; choosing the best admission cycles; developing an academic résumé as a college/scholarship application supplement; identifying the best teacher recommenders; identifying specialized scholarships and academic programs; and creating high quality college and scholarship applications. The Essay Writing Sessions are designed to result in one fully written and edited essay. The session may be repeated as many times as students need to write supplemental or scholarship essays.

2024-25 9th-10th Grade Cohort

Explore their gifts, talents, and areas where they believe themselves capable of pursuing exceptionality.
Identify their personality type and interest profile, and explore careers and college majors that best match to their personality and interests.
Identify the type and level of coursework aligned with their gifts, talents, and interests.
Identify activities and community service aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.
Explore leadership opportunities, honors, and awards aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.

Students complete monthly presentations outlining what they have learned as part of their small group discussions.

2021-22 High School Senior Cohort (Imported)

First and foremost, our program is about, "Packaging." With so many colleges becoming test optional in 2021 as a result of COVID-19 disruptions to SAT/ACT testing dates, college applications to selective schools are likely to double or triple to 40,000 - 80,000 applications. Only students with the best packaging will be competitive applicants in such a large pool of applications. Becoming a well packaged student requires extensive college and scholarship research and then matching your 'Self Presentation' or your package (i.e., résumé, essays, recommendations, leadership, service, coursework, and grades) in such a way as to make you an exceptional candidate amongst thousands of exceptional candidates. The High School Senior Classroom provides comprehensive guidance through such areas as researching colleges and scholarships; matching student aspirations and family's financial need to a well-matched group of colleges; completing the FAFSA/CSS Profile; choosing the best admission cycles; developing an academic résumé as a college/scholarship application supplement; identifying the best teacher recommenders; identifying specialized scholarships and academic programs; and creating high quality college and scholarship applications. High school seniors are guided through live monthly virtual sessions and small group conversations designed to assist students in becoming the strongest possible college and scholarship applicants. This classroom opened on June 1, 2021

2022-23 High School Junior Cohort (Imported)

While college planning should begin long prior to entering high school, high school juniors literally have one year to get it right. The Brothers triplets joined our program as high school sophomores with a family aspiration of minimizing college costs and avoiding student loan debt for their parents who would be sending 3 children to college at the same time. High school juniors in our program begin the school year with a set of goals aligned with their college and career aspirations. Throughout their junior year of high school they fine tune and perfect their plan across the areas of academics, leadership, service, and their intangibles (i.e., gifts and talents, interests, sociocultural background). Mid-year is an important touch point where we meet with students and families to discuss their goals, monitor their progress, reassess their college list, and reassert student's second semester goals. In May, we engage in a year-end assessment, finalize their college and scholarship lists and enter the phase during the summer months of finalizing their college application and scholarship strategy; brainstorming essay topics; writing essays; identifying application deadlines and admissions cycles within a strategic context. The triplets followed this plan to perfection. Kailer was offered admission to Wesleyan University with a scholarship funding over 95 percent of the cost of attendance. Sydnee was selected as a North Carolina A&T Dowdy in the A&T Honors College and awarded a full scholarship. Tristyn was offered a near full scholarship to Carleton College, but wanted to be closer to home. After making calls to our college partners at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Tristyn and her family toured the campus, met the president of the college, and was offered admission, together with a full scholarship to the Claflin University Alice Carson Tisdale Honors College. The triplets are the best examples of our program providing the guidance and support, and students committing to developing the body of work to make themselves competitive candidates for the many opportunities that our program is designed to expose them to. And their parents, are the best examples of parents who support the process and who embrace the idea that avoiding student loan debt should be a family priority.

2020-21 9th-10th Grade Classroom (Imported) (Imported)

Explore their gifts, talents, and areas where they believe themselves capable of pursuing exceptionality.
Identify their personality type and interest profile, and explore careers and college majors that best match to their personality and interests.
Identify the type and level of coursework aligned with their gifts, talents, and interests.
Identify activities and community service aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.
Explore leadership opportunities, honors, and awards aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.

Students complete monthly presentations outlining what they have learned as part of their small group discussions.

2025-26 9th/10th Grade Classroom

Explore their gifts, talents, and areas where they believe themselves capable of pursuing exceptionality.
Identify their personality type and interest profile, and explore careers and college majors that best match to their personality and interests.
Identify the type and level of coursework aligned with their gifts, talents, and interests.
Identify activities and community service aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.
Explore leadership opportunities, honors, and awards aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.

Students complete monthly presentations outlining what they have learned as part of their small group discussions.

11th Grade Cohort (Imported)

Setting goals within a college context reflects the concept of, "Backwards Mapping," or beginning with the end in mind. For one student, the end may be getting into their top choice college. For another student, the end may be earning a full scholarship. For Juliana, who joined our Florence School District 3 Cohort as a rising 11th grader, her involvement in our program was more than she could have ever imagined. Ranked at the top of her class, Juliana, who will be the first in her family to attend college, was undocumented. Despite her lofty career aspirations of becoming a Civil Engineer and building roadways, bridges, and developing an infrastructure in underdeveloped countries, college was an unaffordable aspiration in her home state of South Carolina. Unable to qualify for any state or federal funding, Juliana could not even afford the cost of technical college classes. Approaching our curriculum with the intellectual curiosity that made her a top academic student, Juliana embraced our curriculum to ensure that she was as competitive as possible across each of the 3 pillars of Scholarship, Leadership, and Service. She also engaged in extensive college research to identify those colleges that extended their full need-based institutional scholarships to undocumented students. However, such colleges are also among the most selective colleges in the United States. Despite receiving initial rejections from Northwestern and the University of Chicago, Juliana remained hopeful, yet undeniably doubtful, of being offered admission to the 'right' college. Then, she received the email congratulating her on being offered admission to Williams College, the country's top ranked liberal arts college, together with a full need-based scholarship! Juliana is an example of how opportunities find their way to students who commit themselves to developing the right plan.

Our Curriculum

Since we do not want our program to present students with another area of stress on an already overloaded schedule, our curriculum is developed around 4 distinctive areas of focus for each year of high school: 9th Grade: The focus is on who you are and how you can make a smooth transition into high school.10th Grade: The primary focus is on building on the successes of 9th grade or overcoming any challenges that may have resulted in failure to achieve all of your goals. The secondary focus is strengthening each of the 3 pillars of our program: Scholarship, Leadership, and Service. 11th Grade: The primary focus is maximizing this critically important year of high school in building a strong brand and making yourself the most competitive college and scholarship applicant possible by the end of your junior year. As in 10th grade, the secondary focus is strengthening each of the 3 pillars of our program: Scholarship, Leadership, and Service—areas that will be critically evaluated when you apply to colleges and for scholarships as a high school senior. 12th Grade: Our Senior Cohort begins in June, prior to beginning your senior year of high school, so that your college application and scholarship plan is developed and essays are written prior to the opening of school so that you are well ahead of classmates and in a better position to reduce your stress and enjoy your senior year of high school. In our 11th grade curriculum, students will:

Assess your body of work and align your college choices.
Determine your brand and market yourself to colleges.
Set junior-year goals across each of the 3 pillars of Scholarship, Leadership, and Service.
Pursue exceptionality in one of more areas aligned with your gifts and talents.
Identify the unique summer and fly-in programs that will put you on multiple college campuses as part of the focus of finalizing your college choices and admissions strategies.

Students are assigned to discussion groups of 6 - 8 students, guided by a college intern, in a supportive and encouraging environment where they become part of a "Conversational Community" of students from throughout the country with similar hopes and dreams for the future.

High School Senior Classroom (Imported)

The COVID-19 impact on high schools and the future impact on college admissions, requires that high school seniors be intentional in their course taking, grades, leadership, activities, and service. Joanne (pictured here), from our 2022 Pinellas County Schools Cohort, begin our program as a high school sophomore with a clear focus on making herself the strongest possible candidate for being offered admission to her top choice school, together with a full scholarship. While Joanne always wanted to get into a great school like Harvard, Rice, or Emory, her research guided her to a summer medical intensive program at Johns Hopkins University during the summer prior to entering her senior year of high school. She returned home to St. Petersburg, Florida with a clear top choice school. She then committed to developing a brilliantly written set of essays and writing responses as part of what we refer to as "Creating the right package." In December, she received news that she had been offered admission to Johns Hopkins, together with a full scholarship. Joanne will be offer to Johns Hopkins in the fall on a full scholarship and majoring in molecular and cellular biology. Jason, a member of our Florence School District Cohort is on his way to the University of South Carolina - Columbia on a full scholarship. While Jason only joined our cohort as a rising high school senior, on the urging of his sister, who was already attending Claflin University on a full scholarship, we were able to successful guide Jason in developing a high qualify application by the USC Early Action deadline so that he was invited into their Opportunity Scholars Program, providing a small learning community and personalized assistance for first generation students. The USC funding, together with the Meeting Street Scholarship available to students in his school district, Jason's entire cost of attendance is full funded. Juliana, who also attends Jason's high school, is on her way to Williams College with the most generous financial aid offer that we have ever seen. Williams is fully funding her education and funding her medical insurance, travel expenses, personal expenses, and summer storage. She will begin Williams in a fully funded residential pre-frosh science program. Juliana, who is also the first in her family to attend college, joined our program as a high school junior and applied herself to following our guidance in developing a meticulous college-bound plan of academic excellence, leadership, and community service. While less than 2 percent of students attending college in the United States are on full scholarships (and that includes athletes), each year nearly half of our participating seniors are like Joanne. Our students have received full scholarships to an impressive group of colleges, which include Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Carleton, Claflin, Claremont McKenna, Duke, Francis Marion, Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins, North Carolina A&T, Princeton, Northwestern, Northeastern, University of South Carolina - Columbia, Swarthmore, Tennessee State, Tuskegee, University of Chicago, University of Southern California, Vanderbilt, Wesleyan, and Williams. Our students have been selected as Gates Millennium Scholars, GE-Reagan Scholars, Georgia Tech Clark Scholars and Georgia Tech Gold Scholars, Marshall Scholars, Meyerhoff Scholars, Richmond Scholars, Rhodes Scholars, Ron Brown Scholars, and Torch Scholars. The comprehensive nature of our curriculum and personalized guidance is unmatched. At a cost of $499.95 per year, students are exposed to information that private college planning consultants charge tens of thousands of dollars to provide.

Our Curriculum

Since we do not want our program to present students with another area of stress on an already overloaded schedule, our curriculum is developed around 4 distinctive areas of focus for each year of high school:9th Grade: The focus is on who you are and how you can make a smooth transition into high school.10th Grade: The primary focus is on building on the successes of 9th grade or overcoming any challenges that may have resulted in failure to achieve all of your goals. The secondary focus is strengthening each of the 3 pillars of our program: Scholarship, Leadership, and Service. 11th Grade: The primary focus is maximizing this critically important year of high school in building a strong brand and making yourself the most competitive college and scholarship applicant possible by the end of your junior year. As in 10th grade, the secondary focus is strengthening each of the 3 pillars of our program: Scholarship, Leadership, and Service—areas that will be critically evaluated when you apply to colleges and for scholarships as a high school senior. 12th Grade: Our Senior Cohort begins in June, prior to beginning your senior year of high school, so that your college application and scholarship plan is developed and essays are written prior to the opening of school so that you are well ahead of classmates and in a better position to reduce your stress and enjoy your senior year of high school.In our 12th grade curriculum, students will:

Identify college and scholarship matches based on each student's body of work and family's financial need.
Develop college and scholarship application strategies.
Maximize their opportunities based on their unique gifts and talents.
Athletes will explore the "Athletic Advantage" and developing a college list across NCAA Divisions I, II, and III providing the best match of the financial aid policies of colleges and financial need of the student's family.
Develop a strategic approach to choosing the best Common Application prompt and writing responses that best provide a narrative context for each student's application.

9th Grade Cohort (Imported)

Our Curriculum

Discover their gifts, talents, personality, learning style, and temperament.
Identify whether they have a fixed or growth mindset.
Be introduced to the concept of 'grit' and its impact on personal success and college admissions.
Set goal across our 3 pillars of Scholarship, Leadership, and Service within the context of who they are.
Be introduced to the concept of 'alignment' within the context of who they are; how hard they are willing to work; and their educational/career aspirations.

9th Grade Cohort (Imported)

Our Curriculum

Discover their gifts, talents, personality, learning style, and temperament.
Identify whether they have a fixed or growth mindset.
Be introduced to the concept of 'grit' and its impact on personal success and college admissions.
Set goal across our 3 pillars of Scholarship, Leadership, and Service within the context of who they are.
Be introduced to the concept of 'alignment' within the context of who they are; how hard they are willing to work; and their educational/career aspirations.

2022 Middle School Boot Camp (Imported)

2022 College Planning Boot Camp for middle school students.