Cheers101a division of Cheer Scholarships 101
Courtesy of 2008 - 2009 Trinity Valley Community College
** NOTE ** Did you know that not all college cheer programs are created equal? Actually, they come in all shapes, sizes, and tryout times! If you think all tryouts are held in the spring, you are wrong. There are many many tryouts in the fall!! Check your college listing to see when they have scheduled tryouts.
** NOTE ** If you have not applied for other scholarship funds,............ GET ON IT!! You can have more than just cheer scholarships to reduce your out of pocket expenses for college! You have alot to pay for.........classes/tuition/fees/housing/meal plan/books........... to name the majors.
Getting Into College
Things to take note of : Most colleges require 4 years of English, at least 3 years of social studies )history, civics, geography, economics, etc0, 3 years of mathematics and 3 years of science. Many require 2 years of a foreign language. Then round out your courses with computer science and the arts. But that's not to say ALL schools require that! Check your school of choice to find out their requirements!
Stay involved in school or community activities. Consider working or volunteering.
9th Grade: Yes, Nineth grade is not too soon to start looking at what to do for school. Start looking at your interests. Is there a direction of work you'd like to go into? Talk to your counselors and try to get a direction. Start making a list of what you've done volunteer wise, and school wise up until this point. You can even start looking at some of the scholarship opprotunities there are for your interests and the schools you are thinking about going to. But be flexible on the school. You may be suprised in a few years that your first choice right now is not the place you decide to go to later!!
While you are looking at those first schools on your list. Go to their websites. If you are thinking of going into cheerleading, dance or mascot at any of them, look at their qualifications for tryouts. These are the basic minimum skills required right now. This list may change by the time you are ready to go to school there. But if you can start with these, the better off you will be. If it is a college that has coed squads, the best advise is to start taking some private lessons to learn to stunt with guys in a safe environment.
10th Grade: Start thinking about taking a practice ACT/SAT/PSAT/NMSQT). This will prepare you for what you are up against in the years to come. Once again, these can change, but probably not alot.
Use your summer carefully. Yes, have fun, but also do some volunteering, or work or even take a summer class at a community college in your area. Start looking at career events scheduled at your school or in your community. Meet with your counselor again. Talk to your coaches.If you are going to college for cheer, dance or mascot.......see if there are any clinics or camps you can go to outside your school designated camps. Keep taking privates Lessons!!
11th Grade: Now the fun really starts. Go to college fair days, college prep aration presentations by college representatives. Take the PSAT/NMSOT with the NMSOT (National Merit Scholarship Program, you must take it in the 11th grade to qualify. n the spring, start taking your ACT/SAT exams. If you don't do well, that's fine. You can take them again. Its only the best scores that count!! Check the college tryout requirements. Are you on track to get at least the basics? Can you do more?
Start visiting colleges. It can even be over the summer if you need that extra time. If you know some of the college kids there at the college you are looking at, spend a weekend with them. Walk around campus during a regular school day. Sit in on a class even!! Alot of professors will let you sit in a class as a high school person to "test the waters" . If the college offers clinics or camps for cheer, dance or mascot........GO!!! And if you go.......participate. These people have been exactly where you are at some point prior to making the team! They will encourage you to do your best and help you figure out skills that you ar estill needing before you tryout. You will also be able to start judging whether or not this is the school for you! Start making list of schools and what they offer. Scholarships, college size, number of students, size of crowds for games, what events would you have to cheer, dance at.......mascots are everywhere.....find out your seasonal activities and time commitments.
12th Grade: It's all on!! Take your ACT/SAT exams, start sending out letters and applying to schools. Direct your GPA's to the respective colleges you are looking at. One thing to caution........make sure your GPA is correct. I realize that the school district gave you that GPA, but if it doesn't look right, get the formula for calculating your GPA and figure it out yourself. If it is wrong from the school, you may have to sit at the district office awhile, but fight to get it corrected!!! This is your college entrance we are talking about!!! Check out the colleges you are interested in. Walk the campuses. Go there more than once if you can. Go to clinics, open practices and visit with the current teams. This is very important!! Talk to the coaches, the assistant coaches, the trainers. You will need all of them when you make the squad.
******** More info to come.......... we are just getting warmed up!!! ********* keep checking back for updated info ********
Remember to fill out and submit your FAFSA as soon as you can in each given year.....the sooner you submit, the more funds are available.
Go To WWW.IRS.GOV And Look At The Education Tax Credits!! You May Be Eligible For Them!!!
Taking the SAT is an important step in applying to college and making college dreams a reality.
- Understand the SAT—what it measures, how it is developed, and why you should take it, including:
- Find out how to prepare for the SAT
- Access free and low-cost resources the College Board offers to educators and students
- Register for the test and find:
- Policies they need to know, including test accommodations
- Dates and deadlines
- Fees
- test day tipss:
- What to bring to the center
- Standby testing
- Acceptable IDs
- Get, interpret, and send SAT scores. Learn more about:
- Multiple-choice and essay scoring
- Score cancellation
- When scores will be delivered
http://sat.collegeboard.com/practice/sat-question-of-the-day
http://sat.collegeboard.com/home
follows:
http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp
http://www.window.state.tx.us/scholars/faidalpha.html
Be careful for scholarship scams!! According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), many questionable organizations make guarantees or unrealistic promises in exchange for advance fees, monthly payments, or personal information. If an organization is requesting information such as checking account numbers or credit card numbers in order to provide scholarship assistance, it is probably a scam! It is important to remember that there may be legitimate companies or services that require a sign up fee, no company can guarantee or promise a scholarship! The Scholarship Fraud Prevention Act of 2000 created a fraud-awareness partnership between the US Department of Education and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). For information about scholarship scams or to report a scam, call the FTC toll free 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357.
