Type of task

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Academic

Email your Academic Advisor to plan your schedule, declare your major, and map your four-year plan toward graduation. If you received the Last Access Dollar Scholarship, please include your official university issued e-mail address when you send your fall schedule.

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Financial Aid

Go to the Financial Aid Office on campus. Meet your Financial Aid Processor to take care of all important details regarding on-campus employment and student loan entrance interviews. Update your scholarship accounts like www.fastweb.com with your new college status to receive more detailed scholarship results.  

Inquire about work-study opportunities and resources to budget finances while in college.  Create an estimated budget here

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Career Services

Meet your Career Service Advisor to register your career profile and find out about part-time employment on and off campus. Have a copy of your high school resume handy to upload to your career services account. There is a sample located in your ACCESS College Prep Handbook.

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Student Services

Familiarize yourself with your new online student account and University ID. Learn where to find your new schedule, how to view your financial aid balances, holds, and course syllabuses from each class.

Update all of your contacts, online accounts and scholarship search profiles with your new college e-mail address. This will be the universal email address professors and college staff will use to contact you regarding assignment changes and important university information.

October/November

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Academic

Check in with your Academic Advisor during the 5th -7th week period regarding your academic progress. Ask about services on campus regarding writing assistance and tutoring in your hardest subjects.

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Financial Aid

Check with Financial Aid regarding where to look for scholarships for current college students. Some financial aid offices may require you to fill out an application specific to academic interest. Some colleges may also offer incentives to students who are on the Dean’s List.

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Career Services

Utilize Career Assessment Tools through Career Services. Learn about service learning opportunities like Job Shadowing, Externships, and Co-Operative Education Internships.

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Student Activities

Attend events that will challenge your way of thinking, provoke creativity or allow you to voice an opinion. Offices like Residence Life, Multicultural Affairs and Student Activities post calendars in their offices and on the university website. Get involved with 1 or 2 organizations that will offer you leadership roles in the future.

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Student Support

If you are in danger of having a GPA below 2.5 speak to your Academic Advisor about finding help to manage your academic workload and/or help you manage your resources more effectively.

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Access

Consider giving back during your fall/winter break to your local high school by sharing your college experience with prospective students, doing an alumni panel discussion or being a speaker at an event planned by Access.

December

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Academic

Check your student account for posted grades. Meet with your Academic Advisor before winter break to finalize pre-registration for spring classes.

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Financial Aid

Start gathering your information to re-file your FAFSA in January. If you’ve forgotten your PIN, you can obtain it at www.pin.ed.gov .

Follow-up with scholarships you’ve received that you may need to re-apply for each year.

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Career Services

Utilize career service office to find mentors within your major or potential major of interest. Arrange informal informational discussions with several local alumni over winter break to gain insight into their career field.

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Student Services

Check your student accounts. Resolve any outstanding balances for the fall semester. A balance on your account may prevent you from pre-registering for classes for Spring Semester.

January

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Academic

Meet your Academic Advisor to plan your schedule, declare your major, and re-evaluate your four-year graduation plan. If you had a challenging fall semester, talk to your Academic Advisor about taking classes that play to your strengths in order to boost your GPA. Refer to the GPA calculator on your on-line university account or on this page to get a general estimate of what’s needed to raise your cumulative GPA.

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Housing/ Student Activities

Check with your Housing/Residence Life/Dean of Students Office regarding opportunities to work in Residence Life or Student Orientation. Many applications have deadlines between February and March.

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Financial Aid

Make an appointment with your Access Advisor for help with re-filing the FAFSA as soon as possible after January 1st.

Inquire about work-study opportunities for the spring semester.

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Career Services

Start thinking about summer opportunities for study and internships now. Many great opportunities have application deadlines between February 15th – March 1st.

Consider tutoring on campus if you did especially well in an introductory Math, History, English, or Science class.

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Student Services

Visit the offices on campus that will provide an opportunity for you to get support and give of yourself. Offices that focus community service, and international and cultural programs provide opportunities to meet new people and experience something different.

February

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Academic

Finalize your class schedule with your Academic Advisor.  Keep in mind many college add/drop class deadlines are early in February.

Speak to your Academic Advisor about your classes and graduating on time.

Opportunities like Study Abroad, Co-operative Internships and summer classes may impact your pre-planned map to four-year graduation.

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Housing

Check with your Housing/Residence Life office regarding procedures for fall room assignments. Many colleges may require an early deposit to ensure you receive adequate housing for the following year.

If you are a commuter considering living on campus, visit your housing office to get information on how to register for housing.

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Financial Aid

Make sure your FAFSA is completed before February 15th. To be eligible for the maximum amount of financial aid, you must file the FAFSA by the priority deadline of the colleges you are considering.

Finish your scholarship applications. Scholarships you were awarded may require you to re-apply each year. Many have deadlines on or around February 15th in order to receive an award for the following year.

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Career Services

Attend events through career services like Job Fairs, Etiquette Dinners, Company Information Sessions, Resume Writing and Internships 101 to get a jump on next semester and/or full-time employment.

Investigate 3 career options available to you through your major. Speak with a career services representative to inquire about opportunities to work, intern or volunteer for valuable out-of- classroom experience. Visit the on-line video library here.

March

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Academic

Check in with your Academic Advisor during the 5th week period regarding your academic progress. Refer to the GPA calculator to gauge what is needed from you to raise your GPA.  Ask about services on campus regarding better writing papers and tutoring in your hardest subjects

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Housing

Finalize your housing plans for the following semester. You may be required to submit a deposit to ensure you are housed for the following year.

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Financial Aid

Check your Student Aid Report (SAR) for accuracy. Take it to your Access Advisor. (It should arrive about four weeks after filing your FAFSA.) Contact your Access Advisor to make all necessary updates filing your taxes. If needed, check your student account under financial aid to finalize verification request.

KEEP COPIES OF ALL FORMS YOU SUBMIT.
Your Student Aid Report may indicate that you have unused portions of your student loan being refunded to you.

Financial responsibility is important when choosing how to spend a refund check. It is your responsibility to minimize the total amount of your student loan debt.

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Career Services

Attend your campus career & internship fair in order to find employment opportunities during the upcoming summer break. Career services may offer on campus information sessions regarding your career field and how it relates to your major.

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Access

Consider giving back over spring break to your local high school by doing an alumni panel discussion or being a speaker at an event planned by Access.

April

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Academic

Do your best on final exams and projects. If you are considering declaring your major, speak with your academic advisor for a recommendation on advisors within your new department.

If you are looking to re-take a class due to a poor grade in the summer or fall, finalize your registration for the course before leaving campus.

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Housing

Finalize all deposits to ensure you receive housing in the fall.

If you seek to live on campus during the summer, check with the housing office for opportunities to live and work on campus as an event staff member.

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Financial Aid

Your financial aid award letter should arrive in the mail or posted on-line this month. Be sure to accept your financial aid award and take care of all details regarding outstanding balances.

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Career Services

Continue to explore career options, particularly if you are still an undeclared major.  Utilize career service office to find mentors within your major or potential major of interest.

May/June

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Academic

Grades should arrive to your student account. Finalize your course schedule ensuring you are listed as a full time student. Discuss any discrepancies with grades with your professors before leaving campus.

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Career Services

Use career services to arrange informal informational discussions with several local alumni over summer break to gain insight into their career field.

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Access

Consider giving back over summer break to your local high school by doing an alumni panel discussion or being a speaker at an event planned by Access.