Latina Talks College

Hey, Class of 2025!🎓

As you gear up for your senior year, it’s time to start thinking about college applications.

Here are 10 essential tips to help you get a head start this summer. From researching schools to drafting your personal statement, we’ve got you covered. Let’s make your college dreams a reality! 💪

PS- stay tuned for 6-10 and for a muchhhhhhh more in-depth explanation of each one of these 10 points ‼️
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🎉 Today is National College Decision Day 🎉

For most U.S. colleges and universities, first-year applicants (who apply regular decision) must decide where to enroll by May 1. This means you can confirm your enrollment and submit your nonrefundable enrollment deposit anytime before this date.

Once you’ve decided which college you want to attend, you will need to do 2 main things.

1️⃣Respond to the college you’ve decided to attend. Make sure to send in the following items by the deadline:
⭐️ Your acceptance letter
⭐️ A deposit 💵
⭐️ A separate acceptance letter for financial aid, if required
⭐️ Any other required items (check your student portal for more info)

2️⃣Respond to the colleges whose offers you're declining. Send a brief note to the other colleges to thank them and turn down their offers. This frees up places for other students.

A big kudos to Former First Lady, Michelle Obama, for declaring May 1st “National College Signing Day” in 2015 to celebrate the college decisions from students. Better Make Room is the organization behind organizing a national celebration of your higher education decision. I’ve had the chance to plan College Signing Day events at several high school campuses before and I must say, they’re one of my absolute favorite events of the year! Swipe right to see a throwback to a College Signing Day event in LA.

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Update from the UC System:
“The University of California system this fall will begin to pay the tuition for California residents who are Native American.”💰

UC President Michael Drake outlined the decision in a letter to UC chancellors, saying it would “advance critical efforts to expand student diversity and make the University of California more affordable.”

Under the new UC Native American Opportunity Plan, the system will cover in-state tuition and student service fees for undergraduates and graduate students who are members of federally recognized Native American, American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.

The plan will be funded by existing state and university financial aid programs and other resources, according to the letter.

The letter said that scholarships may also become available for California residents from non-federally recognized tribes via other organizations.

California is home to more American Indians and Alaska Natives than any other state.

Source:

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Lots of work to be done but it’s a huge win 🏆

☀️ Wakin’ up to some good news today! ☀️

You can still apply for and be eligible to receive Cal Grant dinero 💰 if you submit your FAFSA or Dream Act application between now and April 2nd!

Some important facts about the Cal Grant:
⭐️ Cal Grants can be used at any University of California, California State University or California Community College, as well as qualifying independent and career colleges or technical schools in California.
⭐️ Pell Grants = federal free money 💴 and Cal Grants = state free money
⭐️ You could qualify for both a Pell Grant and a Cal Grant

Anything else you want to know about Cal Grants? Send me a DM or comment your question 👇🏼

While I try to keep things positive on my page and in my life, I also acknowledge that rejection is a part of life.

We cannot do things simply out of fear of failure. We cannot shrink our dreams just because we want to avoid getting some “no’s” along the way.

Today, I made this post especially for all of the amazingly resilient students who follow me on this platform and who I’ve had the honor of working with throughout the years.

I honor you for doing the absolute best that you could given what you have. We might not always get the answer that we wanted, but I really do think that things work out for the best when you give it your absolute best.

Storytime: I didn’t get the “perfect” job offer straight after college. I applied for soooo many “dream” jobs and kept hearing “no.” But, I didn’t give up, I continued giving it my best in every interview and in every job application and that’s exactly how I ended up landing a job in one of the most prestigious organizations helping Latinx youth! I even got to move to my dream city and have been here since. Trust me, it’s all part of your story and the twists and turns our lives take is just part of the fun! ⭐️

Tag someone who you’d like to share this reminder with below👇🏼

TOMORROW 🚨 March 2nd, 2022 is the priority deadline for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) 🔔

For students in California, this is also the deadline if you wish to be considered for the Cal Grant program (aka more free money from the state). Cha-Ching!!! 💵

Overall, there’s been a huge decrease in financial aid applications due to the pandemic. 😣

This is bad news 👎🏼 for students who are hoping to cash in on some generous scholarships. And, if you don’t complete the FAFSA by the deadline, then you’re disqualifying yourself from even being considered for eligible D-I-N-E-R-O!

To submit your FAFSA, visit 👉🏻www.studentaid.gov (or visit dream.csac.ca.gov for the CA Dream Act Application)

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🎭 California State Summer School for the Arts application deadline is only 5 days away!!! ⏰

This 4-week summer program offers high school students to explore one of the following 7 different departments:

Animation 💻
Dance 💃🏻
Film 🎥
Visual arts 🎨
Theater 🎭
Writing ✍🏼

Oh, and did I mention that Edwards James Olmos from Stand and Deliver is part of the staff that you will meet and work with if your are selected as one of the 70-80 scholars?!?! 😱

🌟 Perks include:
-learning from leaders in your dream industry
-earn college credit (3 units)
-do what you love
-once-in-a-lifetime experience

This program is perfect for students who love the arts and they even offer scholarships 💰 to help cover the entire tuition cost! *Scholarships are based on financial need as demonstrated in your application

I would have L-O-V-E-D ❤️ something like this myself. Which one would I have chosen to do??? The 🎶 one especially because they have mariachi special guests to help teach.

Swipe through for more details and don’t forget to save and share with your friends!!!

I had to jump on this Super Bowl 🏈 trend after an epic performance last night. 🎤 ⭐️

Which one of these do you relate to more? 1, 2 or 3?

Swipe through ➡️ and let me know in the comments below!

PS- Gooooooo !!

SCHOLARSHIP ALERT🚨: SENIOR EDITION

Here is another amazing scholarship for top Hispanic students. 👩🏻‍🎓 👨🏻‍🎓

While it’s a highly competitive scholarship, it is most definitely worth it. You can win up to a $100,000 scholarship, meaning $25,000 for each year. 💵 💰 💵

Make sure to swipe through ➡️to read all about eligibility requirements and for where you can go to apply. 📝

365 days a year and 366 days on leap year!