Black Excel African American Student's College Guide

Isaac Black

Description

Your One-Step Resource for Choosing the Right College, Getting in and Paying the Bill
* Inside tips on admissions
* Profiles of 100 top colleges
* Hundreds of scholarship sources


How do you pick the right college? Can you get in? And if you get in, how will you pay for it? Choosing a college is the most important--and daunting--decision facing today's high school students. Unfortunately, when it comes time to narrow down the choices and throw the perfect admissions punch, young people are often left to navigate the tricky admissions process on their own.

Now, from the nation's top African American college guidance service, comes help at last--a comprehensive, one-stop guide to finding the right college, getting in, paying the bill, and much more. With insider tips on the entire admissions process, including advice on choosing a school, getting into the elite colleges, writing a powerful essay, preparing for the SATs, and packaging the application, the book shows students how to package themselves. No wonder college counselors nationwide look to Black Excel for resource materials. A one-of-a-kind manual for success, African American Student's College Guide also provides:
* In-depth profiles of the top 100 colleges for African American students
* Black Excel's exclusive list of hundreds of scholarships
* The "Get-the-Money Guide"
* Extraordinary sample essays
* Invaluable Internet resources


Whether you're a superstar student shooting for the Ivy League or a high school underachiever who needs a "second chance," African American Student's College Guide will give you that much-needed edge-including the "real rules," insider's tips, and how to beat the admissions odds. BLACK EXCEL: THE COLLEGE HELP NETWORK is the nation's premier college help service for African Americans. Founded in 1988, it has garnered continuous praise for its personal counseling services, information packets, and its award-winning web site
GETTING IN: NAVIGATING THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS.

Getting Started: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

Picking a College: What You Know Can Help You.

Packaging Your Application.

Have You Been Naughty or Nice?: Your High School Record.

Your Test Scores: Beat the Bell Curve!

The Essay: Your Life Preserver.

Recommendations: You'd Better Beware!

Black College vs. White College: Which Is Better for You?

The Top Schools: Can You Do a Four-Minute Mile?

If You've Messed Up Just a Little: "Need a Second Chance" Students.

Transferring: Oops, Let's Do It Again!

THE GET-THE-MONEY GUIDE: FINANCIAL AID, LOANS, AND SCHOLARSHIPS.

Financial Aid: Rules, Myths, and Misconceptions.

Loans and Debt.

Scholarships (or, Make Somebody Else Pay!).

Scholarship Sources.

THE COLLEGES.

Top Colleges for African American Students.

Black Arts: Colleges of Art, Film, and the Performing Arts.

Appendices.

Sujets

• College Guides
• Study Aids
• Sciences de l'éducation
• Historically black colleges and universities

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 21 avril 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470310380
• Langue: English

Extrait

BLACK EXCEL
A FRICAN A MERICAN S TUDENT S C OLLEGE G UIDE
BLACK EXCEL
A FRICAN A MERICAN S TUDENT S C OLLEGE G UIDE
Your One-Stop Resource for Choosing the Right College, Getting In, and Paying the Bill
ISAAC BLACK

JOHN WILEY SONS, INC.
New York Chichester Weinheim Brisbane Singapore Toronto
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 2000 by Isaac Black. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc. Published simultaneously in Canada
Design and production by Navta Associates, Inc.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, [phone], fax [phone], email: [e-mail].
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Black, Isaac, 1943-
African American student s college guide : your one-stop resource for choosing the right college, getting in, and paying the bill / Isaac Black.

p. cm.
ISBN 0-471-29552-3 (pbk.)
1. Afro-Americans-Education (Higher) 2. Universities and colleges-United States-Admission. 3. Student aid-United States. 4. Student loan funds-United States. 5. Universities and colleges-United States-Directories. I. Title.
LC2781 .B4635 2000
378.1 61-dc21
99-088892
10 9 8 7 6 5 4
In memory of my parents, who attended historically black colleges and gave us gifts, insight, and the path. When you finish college-, they began.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE
Getting In: Navigating the Admissions Process
1 Getting Started: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
2 Picking a College: What You Know Can Help You
3 Packaging Your Application
4 Have You Been Naughty or Nice?: Your High School Record
5 Your Test Scores: Beat the Bell Curve!
6 The Essay: Your Life Preserver
7 Recommendations: You d Better Beware!
8 Black College vs. White College: Which Is Better for You?
9 The Top Schools: Can You Do a Four-Minute Mile?
10 If You ve Messed Up Just a Little: Need a Second Chance Students
11 Transferring: Oops, Let s Do It Again!
PART TWO
The Get-the-Money Guide: Financial Aid, Loans, and Scholarships
12 Financial Aid: Rules, Myths, and Misconceptions
13 Loans and Debt
14 Scholarships (or, Make Somebody Else Pay!)
15 Scholarship Sources
PART THREE
The Colleges
16 Top Colleges for African American Students
17 Black Arts: Colleges of Art, Film, and the Performing Arts

Appendix A I Am Somebody: Actual Essays and a Student R sum

Appendix B Gateway to the Internet: Additional Scholarships, Black Excel, and More

Appendix C Historically Black College Tours

Appendix D Organizations

Helpful Education Organizations

The Greek-Letter Organizations

Appendix E State Aid Sources
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

So what if they re taller? We ll play big!

-George Ireland, ex-basketball coach, Loyola U. of Chicago
I love that quote, and have used it when talking to students. This book was a tall order, but the nucleus of the family-Barbie J, Eric, and Kris-was encouraging and supportive. They believed. Special thanks, too, must go to the thousands of students and parents I have met, lectured, and sometimes personally counseled at seminars and college fairs. Often I would think give it your all, my voice actually hoarse at day s end. I could play big because I was truly energized. In this guide, I hope you feel the carryover.
With heartfelt gratitude I must thank Shana Bridgeman, a student at the University of Florida. Our cyber conversations were yearlong and inspirational. She told a national magazine that her experience with Black Excel was like interacting with family. And wow, she hadn t even read our mission statement!
Special thanks to B. Keith Fulton, the former web site and technology coordinator for the Urban League. He sent us his very useful master s honors thesis, Black Students/White Campus, and was really encouraging. Also, my gratitude goes to Thomas Landerfeld, Ph.D., an associate dean at California State University (Dominguez Hills), for his continuous moral support. Helpful was Dr. Aprille Ericsson-Jackson, an engineer at NASA, who amazingly had time to provide scholarship information via e-mails.
I am greatly indebted to Cherreka Montgomery, who does research for The United Negro College Fund, for sending me updated data and material. She made me focus and try to get it right. Thanks for the contribution of Victor K. Wilson, an assistant to the president at the University of Georgia, whose work I hope to use at our web site. His offering helped me along.
I am indebted to Thomas Hubschman, a fine novelist and dear friend, for his writer s perspective. Due respect and appreciation goes to Chris Jackson, my editor at Wiley. He did a yeoman s job, made me smile, and kept me from writing an encyclopedia. A sincere thanks to Marie Brown, who I had met many years ago and who I knew would be my agent. Kudos to the many students, graduates, and educators who filled my mailbox with ideas and insights. Many of you are quoted between these pages.
Lastly, let me give a second shoutout to Kris. She has been the perfect partner, helping shape Black Excel, A thru Z. Imagine that, while making stopovers at Cornell, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Harvard as an Arthur Ashe Fellow.
Thanks to all for the inspiration, thoughtful help, and support.
BLACK EXCEL
A FRICAN A MERICAN S TUDENT S C OLLEGE G UIDE
INTRODUCTION
Help at Last!
That was the headline of one early magazine story on Black Excel: The College Help Network. Later, when Emerge magazine was gathering information for an article on us, a writer spoke to one high school student with whom we d worked. Shana Bridgeman, now a junior at the University of Florida, didn t hesitate. She said, Black Excel has the resources of a large company and the feel of a closely knit family.
Shana is part of a growing roll call of students who have used Black Excel to help them navigate the college admissions maze. Sherice is heading to Penn, Kimberly is at Hampton, Tracy is a senior at John C. Smith, and Alex has just graduated from Johns Hopkins. Shana had it right! Treat every aspiring student like it s your own son or daughter has been our motto from the beginning. As founder of Black Excel, I believe I ve lectured to, shook hands with, or interacted with well over 10,000 students and parents since 1988. Speaking at college fairs and for groups such as the Urban League, I ve seen at firsthand the deep hunger among our students and their parents for good information on the college process.
From observation and experience, we knew our young people were often overlooked, misguided, and left discouraged when it came time to think about college and how to apply. How do you pick a school? Can I get in? And if I get in, where will the money come from? Just three of hundreds of questions. But who would supply the answers? Unfortunately, in many cases it wasn t high school grade advisers, who sometimes have more than 500 students in their caseloads at one time. For whatever reason, it has been that age-old story: neglect! The African American Student s College Guide is intended to supply all the answers you need. Our method has garnered positive, undeniable results. Looking back, we can say we have helped all kinds of students at all levels-from super students shooting for the Ivy League, to high school under-achieves who need a second chance. Students we ve worked with write us from a variety of colleges, including Yale, Spelman, Temple, and even little Miles College in Alabama. We agree with the old clich , A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. But in what direction do you head, and are there specially designed shoes that should be worn?
The startling fact is that even when a black student is a National Merit finalist, he or she usually has pivotal questions. Often students have no clue as to what to do next. That s a fact. But the college decision shouldn t be made in a haphazard way, with students feeling like they re throwing darts at a board. Your decisions, after all, will decide the next four to six years of your life and will certainly impact your future. Well, this guide aims to be your tutorial as you make those decisions.
First off, we re going to help you navigate the admissions process. That s the first step. We try to keep it real, as our young people say. In this book we ll tell you how to rock the admissions process and get in! If there s a way to maximize your chances, this guide will lay out a plan. If your position looks futile, the A, B, C s of recovery are here to use. No matter what your position, today, with more students than ever entering college, this guide will give you an edge. It will be an education about admission strategy and how to make the college review teams STOP and discuss your specific application. You don t want to be onstage for 60 seconds-not with your future on the line.
And if money is an issue-and when hasn t it been?-part two of this guide is going to be a lifesaver. Our 350-plus scholarship list, often cited in ma