College Portfolio Project

We will be creating college portfolios over the next couple of weeks. This is a major project and ALL students will be expected to complete this project. Please note that in addition to this project counting as a major grade, there will be several daily grades that will also encompass this project.

Binder/Folder and Sheet Protectors – you must purchase a pocket folder with brads or a ½” three ring binder, and thank you cards for the letters of recommendations people will write for you.

Thank You Cards . You must have a set of thank you cards ready to complete at any time. Postage Stamps . Postage stamps are needed on all mailing “thank you envelopes” that will need to be mailed. Transcript – your AP English teacher will collect a one-time free transcript from the counselor’s office. Should you need more

transcripts you will be responsible for acquiring one on your own. Promise to write Letter of Recommendation form – you must provide at least three letters of “promise of recommendations”,

or letters of recommendations in your binder. Note: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES request a letter of recommendation 1 to 2 days before due date. You MUST give a professional individual at least 2-3 weeks advance notice for letters of recommendations. Remember, most professionals’ lead busy lives and they must have some time to think about what a great person you are as well as, add a personal touch to your letter of recommendation.

Awards and Certificates – Collect all items from 9th grade year through your senior year of high school. These items will be placed in your college portfolio binder. Nothing from kindergarten to eighth grade are allowed. Should a special circumstance occur, see your AP English teacher for exceptions.

What admission requirements needed to attend the university you are interested in attending. Click here for a checklist on college admissions http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/College_Application_Checklist_4A.doc.

Test Scores – you will need to retrieve your SAT, ACT, AP, STAAR scores for your senior profile as well as your college resume.

College Resume – every binder will need to include a 1-2 page resume only. All resumes will be typed and kept on a flash drive and uploaded to turnitin.com for future use. This assignment will count as a major grade.

College Essays – you must complete the applications at www.applytexas.org, http://www.commonapp.org/, and a new organization www.mycoalition.org. These websites will provide the college essay prompts needed for each college/university you are interested in attending. Click here for further college essay information. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/.

Find out what free money is, scholarship information, and financial aide. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college Look at your credit and understand what colleges can do to a person’s credit. http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/5-

finance-money-tips-for-parents-college-students-1279.php Clean up your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any other social media accounts. Place professional photos of yourself on

any social media site where you have created an account. Do not place photos that contain alcoholic beverages, smoking items, no pictures of bikinis or skimpy clothing of any sort. Colleges look at this and based on your photo alone can determine whether you get into a college or not. As your instructor, I will be looking for your photos too. Please keep it professional at ALL times.

Visit ratemyprofessor.com to discover personal opinions of students who might have taken a college professor you might end up taking in the fall semester.

Visit some local colleges or universities . Meet a local college recruiter see what the university has to offer. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/find-colleges/campus-visit-guide. (Note: Wait until spring semester to begin visiting college campuses or wait until the weekend to visit.)

Research the cost of college books. What is the most expensive college book you can find? How does the NOOK, Kindle, etc. work for college books.

Housing/Food Costs : Know the cost of living expenses needed for college. Keep in mind living expenses must be included in the total amount of your tuition and book costs.

Know each universities’ attendance/absent policies. Know how many absences you are allowed before you are removed from the class.

Research Student Support on the university you are interested in attending. What does student support provide? What is the teacher/student ratio for each college classroom from the university you are interested in attending? Plagiarism – research what happens in the State of Texas if you are caught cheating or plagiarize at a Texas University or Texas

College. What happens in an “out of state institutions” if you get caught cheating or plagiarizing? Visit AP College Board . https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/. Look at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ which deals with federal student aid and whether or not you qualify for this type of program.

You need to understand the implications of colleges and student loans before getting started in this type of program. We will visit this website in February.

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Portfolio DUE DATES

Your AP English Teacher will provide your High School Transcript from Mrs. Tenorio in the registrar’s office. This will be a one-time offer, if you lose your transcript you will have to pay $1 and retrieve from the office yourself.

"College Resume" needs to be completed and a hard copy needs to be brought to class on Monday, September 11th.

Recommendations Forms need to be completed and turned into all teachers, counselors, AP's, members of the community, coaches, sponsors, etc. by Tuesday, September 12th.

You must purchase a set of "Thank You" cards for all those individuals who wrote a letter of recommendation on your behalf.  At the end of the project you will submit those "Thank You" cards to me.  Be sure to purchase postage stamps as well for those "Thank You" cards too.

You must have created a profile at www.applytexas.org and www.commonapp.org no later, than Tuesday, September 12th. You will upload proof of enrollment onto my website or Canvas no later than 11:59 pm.Final College Resume copy will be uploaded via Turnitin.com on Wednesday, September 13 th .

This College Resume will count as “major” grade.

1st draft of your college essay is due Monday, September 18 th . A hard copy of your college essay must be brought to class, along with a college essay rubric.

Examples of past college essays

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Your final draft of your college essay will be due Monday, September 25th. This will be uploaded to Turnitin.com. This college essay will count as a major grade.

Monday, September 25th and Tuesday, September 26th you will need to retrieve all “Promise of Recommendations Forms” from all of your teachers, counselors, members of the community, coaches, sponsors, employers, etc.  You will also need to go through your house/home and gather all your awards, certificates, newspaper clippings, ribbons, anything of importance to include in your portfolios.  If your parents will not let you have your originals make copies of them because you have to have something in your portfolios. Please DO NOT include medallions in your portfolio’s. Scan these items if you have to include them in your portfolio and briefly write a description or type in a description of your medallion(s).Wednesday, September 27 th – PORTFOLIO DUE! You will need to purchase a 1/2, 3 ring binder or pocket folder with brads and a large box of sheet protectors, thank you cards and postage stamps so you can start putting your college portfolio together.  Continue looking through your personal belongings for awards, certificates, newspaper clippings, ribbons, anything that will make your portfolios look professional. 

Bring all your items to school so we can start putting our portfolios together.  You will need hardcopies of everything.

o ½” binder or folder with brads o sheet protectors o High School Transcript o Letters of Recommendations o Resume o College Essays o Awards, Certificates, etc.

This is a major grade! Come prepared as I will not accept a late portfolio.

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