Forest Lake High School - Forester Yearbook (Forest Lake, MN)

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COLLEGE How do the academicly-gifted gain entrance to col- lege? Unless you're in a sport, colleges don’t even know you exist before you've taken the PSAT. This test is one of the most influential factors for colleges when determining whether you meet their standards for en- trance, so don’t blow it. Other things that colleges notice include: the SAT, ACT, and Achievement Tests, awards, events participated in (i.e. contests); jobs and job ex- perience; and grades. Grades are not as important to collages as most people think. A 3.5, B+, is about the highest grade point average required by collages. In gen- eral, if you have an A to B average, a couple of extra curricular activities, a part time job, and maybe even and outside group or club, almost any college will want you. Of course, even if you are chosen by a college, money is still needed to pay tuition. This is where the second part of enrollment comes in, scholarships. Most people try to get a student loan or other type of financial aid when paying for tuition. The true academic strives for the free lunch; scholarships. As Mr. Streeter always said, “There's money out there, and all you have to do is find it. Some scholarships come from inde- pendent sources, like the National Merit Association (PSAT). Others are for specific religions and culture. The largest amount, although, come from colleges them- selves. For scholarships, the most important consid- erations are grades, classes taken, and activities par- ticipated in. If you’ve done exceptionally well in school, and did well on the PSAT, you should have no problem trying to get a scholarship from the college of your choice. Next comes the most difficult part of entering college, actual enrollment. As a senior, or even as a junior, you will have recieved tons of information from many different colleges. Most of it is just junk, but sometimes you find a diamond among the coal, so to speak. If you have done VERY well on the PSAT, some colleges will accept you on that alone. The most annoying thing about doing wo well, though, is that these colleges don’t stop with letters, but phone your house and send mail via the school as well! The better schools don’t accept you on just your PSAT, but insist on long, drawn out enrollment processes from which it takes forever to get an acceptance or denial. Applying to your top four choices, and using one of the “already accepted schools as a standby is the best way to get through the harrowing experience of enrollment. SENIOR YEAR MEANS $$$ Qne thing that becomes evident very quickly in nior year is how expensive life suddenly becomes. There are so many things that you NEED, your budget, or your parents, can hardly keep up with it all. Senior pictures are one of the first items on the senior list. Students can expect to spend between one hundred to three hundred dollars on their portraits, depending how extravagent they get. If you haven't already invested in a class ring, over a hundred dollars more may be spent on that too. Then there are the small items that add up rapidly: yearbook, $26; parking permit, $40; activity pass, $10, athletic fees, $40 a sport, and the class picture for another $10. The money that passes threw the fingers of the Senior class can’t always be accounted for in specific items. There is candy, pop, pizza, movies, gas, cars, clothing, dates, dances and last but not least, Prom. Being a senior is alot of fun, but underclassmen, start saving your money now! 14

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1 Cheerleaders have SPIRIT! 2. SCOOBIE CJM!!! 3. Jill and Tami.'’juniors” lean on eachother as they show the results of powder puff 4. YAH!!! SENIORS'! 5. Andy and Katie get royal treatment. Dominoes delivered to their car. SCHOOL SPIRIT IS SCHOOL PRIDE School spirit is an element at Forest Lake that is not always readily identified, but is always there. School Spirit is more than just support for outstanding athletic teams, but also the pride and support for everything else that goes on in our school and community. During Homecoming week many students dressed up and took part in the activities. The football stands were packed for the Friday night game. And even though we lost, many enjoyed themselves at the dance afterwards. Spirit and pride is also shown by the number of students who go out for extra curricular activities, both sports and clubs. There is a lot of pride and honor involved in being on a team, even if the win-loss record isn’t outstanding. So what if not everyone knows exactly what your group does. Everyong should be proud to be a Ranger because it is the students that make this school as special as it is. Right?! 13

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CHOICES After years of hard work, in practice and games, select athletes recieve the privilege of being recruited by colleges to participate in athletics. Many things happen during this time period. This is what happens to an averave college recruit. It starts early by making a name as an athlete. To do this they have to impress coaches and fans with their abilities. Another way of making a name is to attend a recruiting camp. This kind of camp shows scouts how the athlete performs against tough competition. If the athlete does well, then the scouts tell college coaches about the player. Writers from recruiting magazines also attend these camps to find talent to promote their magazine. Once an athlete makes a name, other college coaches and scouts check it out. Recruiting coaches send out questionaires to prospects and wait for a positive reply, then correspondence through mail occurs. This is one of the first stages of recruiting. During this time, phone calls are also made. If a college has reason to believe that the athlete has an interest in the college program, the coaches call to confirm the interest. These phone calls usually consist of questions about family, ability in sport, how much practice is done, achievements in the sport, other interests, and the amount of interest there is in the college, this is restricted to a certain time period by the NCAA. Coaches request a visit in person with the athlete. These visits consist of the coach presenting the college in an impressive way. This is done to familiarize the prospect with the college without boring them to death. These presentations may be interesting and appear glamorous to the athlete. College coaches also try to get the athlete on campus to show them around. The NCAA sets a limit of five expense paid visits for each athlete. The purpose of the visit is to show the athlete the school, campus life, and the athletic programs that are offered. These visits are fun and a good learning experience for the person. Then the athlete has to make the decision of where to go. Some athletes may go on athletic scholarships to pay for part or all of the college expenses. If they decide to attend a college this way, then they sign a letter of intent stating thet they will attend that particular college. If they don’t sign, they may decide to try out for a team and possibly earn a scholarship. This can be a tough route to take. These are some of the things a college prospect runs into as they decide where they are going to continue their education and athletic careers. 15