The 106 community colleges in California have open admissions (e.g. hs diploma, 18 years old or HS Proficiency Exam). These campuses offer numerous vocational programs as well as transfer programs to four-year universities.

The UC system includes nine undergraduate campuses in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. UC San Francisco is a professional/graduate program. The CSU system includes 23 campuses such as San Jose State, Cal Poly, Chico State, Sac State, San Diego State, etc.

There are more than 1400 private colleges in the U.S., including 106 in California. Some private schools have highly selective admissions, such as Stanford, Princeton and West Point. Others have less demanding admission standards.

Soquel High School:  Your high school transcript lists two different GPAs:  Total and Academic.

Portfolio Graduation Requirement

Students in Santa Cruz City Schools are required to complete an English Portfolio prior to graduation in addition to standard graduation requirements. Students have four years to complete a piece in each of the categories below with a collective average score of 3.5.

Beginning with the class of 2007, students will need to complete a writing portfolio as one of the requirements for graduation.

Registrar's Office

• Former Students-$5.00

Information needed: year of graduation or attendance, date of birth, maiden name or name while attending.

• Current Students-$1.00 See transcript request form in basket outside of office door

Official transcripts can also be requested by sending a check to 401 Old San Jose Rd., Soquel, CA 95073
 

Deadline:  December 15, 2008
 
National Competition

• $10,000.00 scholarships to 52 students (one in each state)
• $15,000.00 additional scholarships to 10 national recipients chosen from the pool of 52 state winners. 

The national scholarship winners will also be offered internships at AXA offices.

To qualify students must demonstrate:

• Ambition and drive
• Determination to set and reach goals
• Respect for self, family and community
• Ability to succeed in college

Deadline: January 9, 2009

Santa Cruz Elks lodge has 6 scholarships for graduating seniors in this area.  There is a first, second and third place for both a boy and a girl from the lodge.  Total scholarships are $3,000.00.  The first place students go on to compete in the District contest, on to the State and then on to the National competition.  Local students have won $800.00-$1,000.00.  The Elks Most Valuable Student can win up to $15,000.00 a year for four years!!!  Any high school senior is eligible.  Applications available in the scholarship drawer, or visit www.elks.org/enf/scholars for more details.

Elks National Foundation

In addition to Merit Scholarships, such as the Elks Most Valuable Student, the Elks also have disability scholarships and scholarships for the children and grandchildren of an Elk.  Applications for any of these may be downloaded from the Elks website www.elks.org/enf/scholars .

The Counseling Office is currently staffed with an assistant principal, three counselors, a counseling secretary and a registrar. The office provides a wide range of services throughout the year, including registration, academic advisement, maintenance of records, testing, etc.

Career Pathways

With 35,000 careers currently available in the modern work world, students have the challenge of learning about the variety of options. To assist students in considering fields they may pursue and the courses related to those fields, the career component of our Guidance Program provides information about Career Paths.  A Career Path is a preparation plan for a broad category of related occupations.  The categories include the following:

• Agriculture & Natural ResourcesArts & Communications
• Business, Marketing and Information Systems
• Engineering & Industrial Technology
• Home, Health & Recreation
• Social, Human & Governmental Services

In addition to meeting with your counselor for academic, vocational and personal advisement, there are a variety of other activities throughout the school year, which help students become aware of educational opportunities that enable them to make realistic post-graduation plans. 

The Career Center, facilitated by the ROP counselor, has information regarding ROP (tech prep classes), college/trade/technical/military possibilities and tutoring.