CLASS OF 2018

SENIOR ORIENTATION

2017-2018PRESENTED BY: MRS. SISOLAK (SENIOR COUNSELOR)

MRS. BAUTISTA (SCHOOL DATA TECHNICIAN/REGISTRAR)

MRS. CAMPBELL (COLLEGE & CAREER ADVISOR)

PEOPLE YOU NEED TO KNOW AS A

SENIOR

Mrs. Sisolak (Senior Counselor) – Scholarship, Personal Counseling, Post Graduate

Counseling, Letters of Recommendation, NCAA, & SAT/ACT (waivers)

Mr. DiBella (Senior VP) – Graduation & Discipline

Mrs. Savoy (Counseling Department Secretary) – Counseling Appointments & Work Permits

Mrs. Bautista (Registrar) - Transcripts

Mrs. Campbell (College and Career Advisor) – Career Counseling, College Counseling,

Financial Aid, & Scholarships

Mr. Cox (Yearbook Sponsor) – Senior Pictures & Yearbooks

Mr. Pauole (Athletic/Club Director) – Eligibility

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

Graduation Requirements

Courses Completed

Courses in Progress

Courses Needed (Graduation Plan)

Cumulative Weighted GPA

Cumulative Unweighted GPA

Class Rank

SSL

TESTING REQUIREMENTS (HSA/PARCC) – Not included on transcript. Notification will be sent to individuals who still have not met.

*Graduation Requirements can be found in the High School Program of Studies located on the CCPS website under the Students/Parents tab.

PREPARATION FOR COMPLETING

COLLEGE/CAREER APPLICATIONS

Finalize your resume ASAP!!!!

Gather all personal / school information & documents needed for completing the application.

Determine “how” each application will be completed according to the school’s website. *Some schools have multiple options for completing an admissions application.

Identify application deadlines for each school.

Determine how much the application fee is to apply.

Identify the “College Application Checklist” of required items needed to complete each application.

Prioritize the order of completing each application according to the application deadlines and begin!

GATHER ALL PERSONAL / SCHOOL

INFORMATION & DOCUMENTS NEEDED FOR

COMPLETING THE APPLICATION

Resume

Unofficial Transcript

Personal Identification & Contact Information*

School Identification & Contact Information*

Recommender Identification & Contact Information*

*School Website: www.ccboe.com/schools/laplata/

School Code: 210685

Determine “how” each application

will be completed according to the

school’s website.School Website

The school has created an on-line application usually accessed directly from their website and in most cases completed electronically.

Submission of additional required documents (such as transcripts/letters of recommendation/Secondary School Reports) may be requested electronic through an online service such as SendEDU (free) or Parchment (additional fee paid by student) and should be stated on the application.

If an electronic service submission is not possible for these additional required documents, then some schools will allow documents to be scanned and emailed to a school Admissions Representative (an email contact should be provided).

If an electronic service or email is not possible, then hard copies will need to be mailed directly to the school’s Undergraduate Admissions Office (address should be provided) and postage is paid by the student.

Determine “how” each application will

be completed according to the

school’s website.

The Common Application (An undergraduate college admission application that applicants may use to apply to any of 731 member colleges and universities in 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as in Canada, China, and many European countries.) www.commonapp.org/

Some examples of schools who participate: American University, Bucknell, Davidson, Duke, Elizabethtown, George Mason, GW, Hood, Howard, John Hopkins, Loyola, Lynchburg, Maryland Institute College of Art, McDaniel, Mount St Mary’s, NYU, NC State, The Ohio State, Old Dominion, Purdue, Randolf-Macon, Salisbury, Spelman, St. Mary’s, Stevenson, Temple, Univ of Delaware, Univ of Mary Washington, UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Wilmington, UVA, West Virginia, Yale

www.commonapp.org/search-colleges

Determine “how” each application will

be completed according to the school’s website.

Coalition Application (An unprecedented coalition of 113 diverse public and

private colleges and universities has come together to improve the college

admission application process for all students. The Coalition has developed a

free platform of online tools to streamline the experience of applying to

college.) www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/

Some examples of schools who participate: American University,

Clemson, Columbia, Davidson, Duke, Elon Georgia Tech, James Madison,

John Hopkins, Lynchburg, Michigan State, NC State, Northwestern, Penn

State, Purdue, Stanford, University of Maryland College Park, University of

South Carolina, UVA, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Yale

http://www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/members.html

Identify application deadlines for

each school.

Regular Deadline (This is the absolute last date to submit an application for a particular semester of admissions.)

Priority Deadline (This deadline is NON-BINDING and may be used as the deadline to qualify for financial aid or in some cases if the school is highly competitive, then the majority of its freshman candidates are chosen by this deadline. It always comes prior to the regular application deadline.)

Early Action (EA) Deadline (This is a NON-BINDING deadline and students who meet this deadline will be notified earlier then those who apply by the regular deadline. It is sometime interchangeable with the term “Priority Deadline”.)

Early Decision (ED) Deadline (This is a BINDING deadline and students who apply using this deadline are COMMITTING to the school prior to any financial aid is determined.)

Single-Choice Early Action (This is a NON-BINDING option under which applicants may not apply ED or EA to any other college.)

Rolling Admissions (This means the deadline to apply is up until classes start and students are usually notified a few weeks after they submit a completed application.

Determine how much the application

fee is to apply.

Most college applications have a fee submit. The cost can range

anywhere between $35 to almost $100 per school.

If you have qualified and utilized an SAT/ACT fee waiver, then you will also

qualify for up to “4” application fee waivers for each test per year.

See Mrs. Sisolak if you have any questions about obtaining fee waivers.

Identify the “College Application

Checklist” of required items needed to

complete each application

Transcripts

Send SAT/ACT/AP scores

Letters of Recommendation

College Essays

Interview

Schedule Auditions

Portfolio Submission

*Most college applications require some if not all of these items. The last 3 items are usually only required from schools that are highly selective or needed for a student’s chosen major.

TRANSCRIPTS

1. Unofficial Transcripts

2. Official Transcripts

Transcript request form

Common App, SendEDU, Coalition (NEW), Mail, Electronic

Counselor Recommendation/Form

$2.00 per transcript ($2.00 one-time fee for Common Application & Scholarship requests are free)

NCAA – Mrs. Sisolak will send these transcripts for free. You do not need to submit a request.

2. DEADLINE DATES

3. Midyear Reports

4. Final Transcripts

*If you are currently a Dual Math/Dual English/Dual Enrollment/Full Time college waiver student, you will also need to contact CSM directly and have your college transcripts sent to each school as well. Additional fees will need to be paid to CSM to send these transcripts. Please contact CSM (Victoria Pasini) for more details.

Send SAT/ACT/AP Scores

www.collegeboard.com – SAT/SAT II/AP www.actstudent.org – ACT

School Code for La Plata High School: 210685

If you are planning on applying to a 4 year institution and you have not taken either the SAT/ACT, then you need to do so NOW!!!!! (fee waivers are available if you qualify – see Mrs. Sisolak)

SAT II – Many highly selective schools (Ivy League & Top Tier) require these subject based tests. Check the schools websites to see if you need them.

La Plata High School does not send test scores with transcripts. You need to log into your account you used when you registered for the test and follow prompts on how to send your scores. There is a fee for each school you are sending scores to. If you are currently registered to take an upcoming test this fall, then you can send all your scores to “4” schools for free, but you must request the schools on your registration page.

Check each individual schools website for their unique school code that you will use when sending your test scores as well as the deadlines each school has for submitting these scores.

AP scores can be sent if you are taking an exam this year. You will need to put the schools you wish to have them sent to when you complete the identification information on the answer sheets in the Spring.

Letters of Recommendation

Teacher Recommendations

Provide teachers with a copy of your up-to-date resume

Give them ample time to complete your letters

Provide the “correct” email address for each teacher if they are being sent electronically

Counselor Recommendation

You must complete the Senior Recommendation Information Sheet an attached copy of your resume.

Please give me at least a week to complete a letter.

You may complete this information now and give it to me so I can get a head start on your letter, but PLEASE make sure a letter is needed before you do so!!!

I do not write letters of recommendations for senior portfolios specifically, but if I already have a letter written for you because of an application requirement I will be happy to provide you with a copy of the letter for your portfolio.

College Essays

Not all colleges require an essay, but if they do make sure you:

Determine the number of essays required and the prompts to be used

when writing them.

Determine the required word count for each essay.

Give yourself enough time to write a “great” essay.

WRITE YOUR OWN ESSAY!!!! You may have others “proofread” and “edit”

your essay.

You may see Mrs. Campbell in the Career Center if you need examples or

assistance with writing these essays.