NextStepU - Helping students find the right path!

AVID is a preparational program for college. I was in it for two years in middle school. I can say it taught me to take notes very well, remember that. Also time management and prioritizing. As far as high school goes, lets see how much I remember. I graduated HS back in '07. I first wen to public school then transfered to a home study program. It was not so bad, actually not bad at all. Just make sure you pay close attention in class and give it all you got, that way when you get to college you don't have to repeat everything, from english to algebra, spanish and science, everything is the same. Just think of it as going on to the next chapter, or into more detail. The CASHEE is not really hard, it focuses much on algebraic questions and composition and grammar. I took it and passed it the first time. I was even surprised bcuz I hated and misunderstood algebra so bad during that time. I didn't have to take either the SAT or CAT bcuz I went to community college after hs, and not a university, nothing wrong with that either.

Now FAFSA is financial aid offered to students who want to pursue their education but just can't afford it. The first time I filed my fafsa, I didn't have help, its actually that easy you can do it on your own. The only thing you may need is your parental info, as far as your parents' tax info and their social info. It may be a good idea to have your parent with you when you file it. It does help very much, there is a significant difference on spending $26 a unit versus $0 a unit. Just make sure you meet your deadlines, and if you do not know when they are, call the school you are interested in attending and ask them. I hope I helped a little.

Well, the guy before me pretty much told you in great detail about AVID and FAFSA. The high school I went to actually didn't start AVID until my junior or senior year. I don't remember which one. I know that the college I'm going to is doing the AVID program. Based on what I read, the college students would have to apply to interact with high school students, and my high school was one of the schools they worked with. So, it's like a mentor thing where the college students would prepare the high school students. That's how they do it over here, but I'm not sure about other places. The ACT or the SAT is definitely a test you have to take if you want to go to college. It's just a score that kind of gives the college an idea of where you stand on classes and what classes you should take, like whether you're ready for college-level classes or not. If you're not ready for college-level classes, then those students would have to go to developmental classes before they go on with the college-level classes. You don't have to take both of them, but you can if you want. They're different on their scoring and sections. On the ACT, it bases you on English, Math,Science, Reading, and Writing (if you take the Writing portion, it's optional). The SAT is based on Writing, Math, and Critical Reading. I never took the SAT because the schools I applied to also accepted the ACT, and my high school was more about the ACT. It depends on what college you're going to. Some colleges accept both and some accept just one. Be careful about the ACT though because if they do accept the ACT, check to see if they require you to take the writing portion or not. The ACT is about four hours to take, including the break, and it's a little bit longer if you take the writing portion along with it. You can buy books from Kaplan and Barron's that can help you out on the ACT. You can just find those books at your book stores or online, like Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, or Borders.com. They should be about 20 dollars or more. Your school might also provide a class that prepares you for the ACT/SAT, depending on your school. Again, you don't have to take both, but you can if you think you can do better in one than the other. Since you're a freshman, you can start preparing for it or wait a little later to schedule a time and pay to take the ACT or SAT. Because, there's really no limit on how much you can take it, and since you might be a little busy in your workload once you get to your sophomore, junior, or senior year, you can start preparing.