Volume 5, Issue 3
Spring 2018
It’s time to FINALIZE!
It’s finally “your
year”! You’ve got
just a few short
months until you are
walking across that
stage and receiving
your diploma. Time
is flying! At this
point in the year, you
may have some unan-
swered questions:
Where am I going to
college? What classes
will I take? What is
my major going to
be? The biggest ques-
tion of all is most
likely: How am I go-
ing to pay for it!?
Have no fear! The
Class of 2018
School Counseling
Turn in Scholarship Documentation!!!
If you have received a
scholarship award letter,
please turn in a copy of
the letter to your Arts
Director. Even if you do
not plan on accepting the
money or going to that
specific school, please
Inside this issue:
Bright Futures Information
Getting your BF money
FAFSA Information
FAFSA Help
How to apply for federal aid
How to request transcripts
Scholarship Web Site Searches
Office has several
ways to help you final-
ize your plans! In this
issue, you’re going to
find information about
Bright Futures, the
Fr ee Application for
Feder al Student Aid
and general infor-
mation to help you
plan out the rest of
your senior year. Take
some time to read this
information. As al-
ways, if you have
questions, see your
counselor. We are here
to help!
TURN IT IN! ment during our awards
ceremony, as well as
Turning in a copy of
looking to get an accu-
the correspondence,
rate total count for the
letter is a graduation
Class
requirement.
of
In addition we will 2018!
highlight your achieve-
Spring Senior Points to Ponder
2
 Have you confirmed with a college yet?
2
 Keep aiming for that dream school! Stay
3 focused!
3
 What is your Plan B?
3
 Have you applied for Bright Futures?
4
 Have you submitted your FAFSA?
4
Bright Futures Facts and Information—READ ME!
Fun Facts about Bright Futures
IMPORTANT INFROMATION
Yes—FUN!
1. Funded through Lottery dollars
 The district uploads your information twice. Once in January and again
2. Community service hours are in June
required for all 3 award levels
 Your application on Florida Student Financial Aid is for various grants
3. To maintain Bright Futures in
college, students must meet GPA
and scholarships, not just Bright Futures.
and minimum credit hour re-  The monetary amount you receive from Bright Futures is based on a
quirements
fixed cost per credit hour.
4. If you have already applied for
Bright Futures, you can check  Students MUST APPLY BEFORE GRADUATION! If you haven’t al-
your award status at floridastu- ready, go to Floridastudentfinancialaid.org! Apply NOW! All your
dentfinancialaid.org. If you friends are doing it!
need to apply and need direc-
tions, go to:  Students have up to 2 years after graduation to access available funds if
douglasandersonguidance.blogspot.com they return to Florida from an out of state school and have maintained
the eligibility GPA (but they must apply before graduation this year).

Lock in to Bright Futures before January 29th

If you meet the GPA, SAT/ACT & community service requirements now, you can lock in your scholarship.

The next transmission from district to Bright Futures begins January 29th. This is when district uploads your
GPA, SAT/ACT scores and community service hours for Bright Futures. If you are holding on to community
service hours, turn them in to the school counseling office before Monday, January 27th.

Please note: If you are not eligible now, you should still apply NOW and you will have until the end of 4th
quarter to earn a qualifying GPA and the community service hours. You also have up until the last admin-
istration of the SAT/ACT test in June 2018 to qualify with the needed test scores.

Getting Your Bright Futures Money

The Florida Department of Education will:
Begin funding your scholarship during the Fall term following your high school graduation. The academic
year begins in the fall and ends in the summer. Scholarship recipients are not eligible for funding during
the summer term immediately following high school graduation. Summer disbursements are only made if
funds are available. Check the website each year for summer funding information.
Then, they will send the funds to the eligible Florida postsecondary institution of your choice prior to the
beginning of each term. The money will then be applied to your account after the last day of the drop/add
period at your postsecondary institution.

Page 2 C L A S S O F 20 1 8
 How do I apply for federal student aid?
1. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
Federal student aid comes from the federal government—specifically, the U.S. Department of Education.
It’s money that helps a student pay for higher education expenses (college, career school or graduate
school expenses). This aid covers expenses such as: tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies,
and transportation. There are three main categories of federal student aid: grants, work-study, and loans.
2. Review your Student Aid Report (SAR) After you apply, you’ll r eceive a Student Aid Repor t or
SAR. Your SAR contains the information reported on your FAFSA and usually includes your Expected
Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC is the number used to determine your eligibility for federal student
aid. Review your SAR information and make any corrections or changes, if necessary. The college(s)
you list on your FAFSA will get your SAR data electronically.
3. Contact the schools you might attend. Make sur e that the financial aid office at each school you’r e
interested in has all the information needed to determine your eligibility. If you’re eligible, each school’s
financial aid office will send you an award letter showing the amount and types of aid (from all sources)
that the school will offer you. At this point, compare the award letters from the schools where you ap-
plied and see what aid you can receive from each school.

How do I request mid year transcripts?

ONLY NEED TO DO IF REQUIRED BY THE
COLLEGE: Mid Year Tr anscr ipts can be r equest-
ed through NAVIANCE.
Request transcripts for ALL College/University
through your NAVIANCE account:
 School Counseling office will send transcripts
electronically at no cost to your college/university
for schools participating in Naviance eDocs sub-
mission.
THINK ABOUT YOUR DEADLINES
 The college will post your status on
your application screen. Always
follow up to make sure they have
received your documents!
For colleges that do not accept
eDocs submissions, you will see a
“stamp” logo next to the school
name.

 Transcript requests for colleges where students

are applying via Common App will be sent by
counselor through student’s Common App ac-
count.  Pick up hard copies of the transcript
in the School Counseling office. The
 The college will process your transcripts which first three are FREE. Each one
can take up to 3-4 weeks. Electronic does not after that is $2.00.
mean instant.
 Personally mail them off.
 Most colleges want official SAT and ACT scores

NEED HELP?
StudentAid.gov 1800-4-FED-AID (1800-433-3243)
A college financial aid office 1800-730-8913 (toll free for hearing impaired)
studentaid@ed.gov

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3 Page 3


Douglas Anderson School of the Arts
2445 San Diego Road
Jacksonville, FL
Phone: 904-346-5620
Where Art and Academics meet in
excellence!
HAVE YOU VISITED OUR
COUNSELOR CORNER BLOG RECENTLY?
IF NOT, HERE ARE A FEW THINGS
YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON:
$$$$ LOCAL, STATE & NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS $$$$
PRE-COLLEGE PROGRAMS
COLLEGE FAIRS
FREE SAT/ACT PREP
STUDENT LEADERS PROGRAMS
COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
MAKE SURE TO VISIT US HERE:
HTTP://DOUGLASANDERSONGUIDANCE.BLOGSPOT.COM/
Your School Counselors
KATHY ANDERSON
School Counselor, 9-12, A-F, ext.
119
mortensenk@duvalschools.org
ALLIE ARMSTRONG
School Counselor, 9-12, G-M, ext. 117
armstronga@duvalschools.org
SHANEKA FERRELL
School Counselor, Department Chair
9-12, N–Z ext. 116
ferrells1@duvalschools.org
Looking for a scholarship?
Check out these
website database searches!
www.zinch.com
www.fastweb.com
www.duvalschools.org/scholarships
www.collegeboard.com
www.collegenet.com
www.scholarships.com
www.scholarshipmonkey.com
www.scholarshipFly.com
Want to see reviews on these web sites?
Check out this link for more info!
www.usnews.com/education/blog
Career and College Search Tools
www.bigfuture.collegeboard.com
www.floridashines.org
www.naviance.com