Sharon High School Guidance Department

Senior Post-Secondary Planning Meeting

September 8, 2015

Agenda �  Introductions

�  Graduation requirements

�  Process overview

�  Shared responsibilities

�  The application

�  Naviance

�  Financial aid

�  Q & A with counselors

Guidance Staff •  Bob Pomer, Guidance Director •  Tanya Keeney (Last names A – Ce*) •  Andrea d’Entremont (Last names Ch – Gra) •  Erin Regan (Last names Gre – K) •  Shelley Myerson (Last names L – Ne) •  Susan McAvoy (Last names Ng – Sie) •  Jacquie Kaye (Last names Sig – Z*) •  Maureen Olsen •  Dawn Phelps

*with a few exceptions

Post-Secondary Options

�  College/University

�  Trade/Technical Training

�  Employment

�  Military

�  Service-Based Learning

�  Travel/Exchange Programs

�  Gap Year

SHS Graduation Requirements

�  English – 4 years

� Math – 4 years

�  Social Studies – 3 years including U.S. and World History

�  Science – 3 years

�  Foreign Language – 2 years of the same language

�  PE/Wellness – 2 courses

� Unified Arts – 1 course

� MCAS requirements in Math, ELA, and Science

Where should you be in this process?

�  Each student’s process will be unique; not all students will reach each checkpoint at the same time �  The process is different for everyone

�  Pay attention to deadline dates for your post-secondary plan

Where should you be in this process?

�  Counselors will be meeting with students to discuss individual post-secondary plans

�  For today’s purposes, we will focus on college applications

�  If you do not plan to attend college next fall, you should still schedule post-secondary planning meetings with your counselor!

Review of Admission Terms

�  Early Decision - binding

�  Early Action - non binding

�  Restrictive Early Action/Early Action, Single Choice

�  Rolling - accepting applications ongoing, may find out decision 2 weeks to several months after application is complete

�  Regular - traditional admission decision. January 1st or after. Decisions mailed mid-March to early April

It is important to verify different types of admissions options/deadlines with each individual school

Where is the Guidance Office at this point ?

�  Counselors meeting with senior class and with parents/guardians

�  Counselors are now accepting individual appointments to go over student-specific questions (Students with early deadlines will have priority)

�  We are regularly updating Naviance and the SHS Guidance website with new information.

�  GPA’s have been updated based on last year �  If you had an incomplete or grade change, GPAs will

be updated as those changes become official

Responsibilities �  Student

�  Guidance

�  Teachers

Student Responsibilities �  E-mail �  Consolidate emails into one email address

� You will be busy, no need to be checking multiple emails

�  Make sure it is an appropriate contact name � G.student@gmail.com is fine

�  Check your emails regularly � We know of a student who missed out on an

opportunity because he/she did not read an email from a university

� Guidance info will come via email frequently

Student Responsibilities �  The student is responsible for sending his/

her own application online (or US Mail if desired.)

� Make sure to send or attach any additional information including essays, payment, supplements, portfolios, resume, etc.—students are responsible for researching these specific requirements

�  Students must send their standardized testing information (i.e. Collegeboard.com, actstudent.org) to the colleges that require them

Score Reporting �  Score Choice: students need to carefully read

testing requirements and reporting requirements for each school �  We recommend checking with the college’s

admissions web page for clarification

�  For information explaining Score Choice please see: �  http://sat.collegeboard.com/register/sat-score-

choice

�  Student is responsible for sending scores from collegeboard.com or actstudent.org

For EACH Application, the student must give the Guidance Secretary:

�  A fully completed transcript request form, signed by the parent & student (ONE FORM PER UNIVERSITY)

�  $3.00 transcript processing fee per application (can be paid in a lump sum, preferably by check or money order)

�  FERPA waiver (completed via CommonApp.org)

�  *** We do not need any additional forms from the application, (Secondary School Report, Mid-year report, etc)***

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Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

For Each Teacher You Ask To Write A Recommendation, You Must: •  Complete the teacher recommendation section on

Naviance to request recommendations •  Provide the teacher a completed “Teacher

Recommendation Form” chart which includes student and parent/guardian permission signatures

•  Individual teachers may have additional requirements

***Remember to send teachers a follow-up thank you note***

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Teacher Recommendations via Naviance

“colleges I’m applying to” page

Click on my colleges

THIS DOES NOT REPLACE

THE BLUE FORM!!!

Click add/cancel requests

• To select the teacher, utilize the drag down menu

• Click Update Requests

Follow-up—Teacher Recommendations

�  Junior teachers often write letters for over 25 students each fall.

�  Teachers may require additional information from you, the student, in order to prepare a comprehensive recommendation (statement, resume, etc.)

�  Teacher & Counselor recommendations are sent through Naviance. You do not need to re-invite teachers and counselors through the Common Application

Follow-up—Teacher Recommendations

�  PLEASE respect and trust the teacher’s ability to work within the required timeframe, and to meet required deadlines.

�  Teachers are not required to write recommendations, so a thank you note is appropriate for your recommenders

Additional Recommendations •  Recommendations from individuals who are

not Sharon HS teachers, etc. can not be submitted via Naviance

•  It is the student’s responsibility to have the recommender send the recommendation directly to the college/university. Please contact the Admissions Office to find out their process for receiving additional recommendations.

•  Students may request additional “outside” recommendations through the Common Application

What does SHS send?

�  Official Transcript

�  School Profile with GPA Chart

�  Counselor letter of recommendation

�  Secondary School Report

�  Teacher recommendations

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Grades/Credits Grades/CreditsYear / School Name (continued)Year / School Name

Sharon High School181 Pond Street

Sharon, MA 02067Phone: 781-784-1554 Fax: 781-784-1550 web: www.hs.sharon.k12.ma.us

Last name First name Middle name Date of Birth Anticipated Date of Graduation2016

Home AddressSharon MA 02067City State Zip Grade

12

ACADEMIC RECORD

Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 Total Credits (out of 102)Credits Earned: 30.00 30.00 30.00 0.00 90.00

VISION & MISSION: Sharon High School strives to be a respectful, caring, dynamic, and inspirational learning community.We offer our students the academic, civic, and social tools to be informed, thoughtful, and effective contributors to a globally connected world.

Course Number Key:Courses ending in 0 = Unleveled, not included in the GPACourses ending in 1 = FoundationsCourses ending in 2 = StandardCourses ending in 5 = StandardCourses ending in 3 = HonorsCourses ending in 4 = AP Signature of School Official

Date: 09/07/2015

14-15 Sharon High School630125 Accelerated Algebra II C+ 5.00615002 American Studies/English B 5.00625002 American Studies/Social Studies B 5.00642003 Honors Biology B 5.00621313 Honors Economics A 2.50651043 Honors French IV B 5.00621812 The Ethics, Phil. & History of Altruism A- 2.5013-14 Sharon High School643002 Chemistry A- 5.00612002 English II B+ 5.00630222 Geometry B 5.00651033 Honors French III A- 5.00687022 Newsroom/Digital Editing B+ 2.50684200 Physical Education-10 U A+ 1.25684600 Wellness 10 U A 1.25622002 World History II A- 5.0012-13 Sharon High School631112 Algebra I B+ 5.00611002 English I B- 5.00651023 Honors French II B+ 5.00687012 Intro to Media & TV Production B+ 2.50641002 Physics I A- 5.00684500 Wellness 9 U A 2.50621002 World History I B- 5.00

15-16 Sharon High School651054 AP French V . .628004 AP Psychology . .647002 Astronomy . .614002 English IV . .645003 Honors Anatomy & Physiology . .630512 Introduction to Calculus . .

28

School Profile:

�  Includes information about SHS �  Curriculum

�  Grad Requirements �  GPA (including graph)

�  Course Levels �  Grading �  Standardized test scores

�  Where SHS students have gone to college

29 29

Score Reporting •  Score Choice: students need to carefully read

testing requirements and reporting requirements for each school

–  We recommend checking with the college’s admissions web page for clarification

•  For information explaining Score Choice please see: –  http://sat.collegeboard.com/register/sat-score-

choice •  Student is responsible for sending scores from

collegeboard.com or actstudent.org www.FairTest.org provides information regarding colleges that do not require standardized tests for admission

Additional Information Sent �  1st and 2nd quarter grades

�  Mid-Year Report

�  End-of-Year Grades

�  IF APPLICABLE: �  504 Plan- Consult with your guidance counselor* �  IEP and testing materials*

�  The student will request this through the Office of Student Services (NOW LOCATED AT SHARON MIDDLE SCHOOL)

�  The student is responsible for researching the materials that are requested by each college and where the materials should be sent.

*This information would be sent by the student.

How Does SHS Guidance Office Prioritize What Is Sent When?

�  Transcript request forms must be submitted to guidance 20 SCHOOL days prior to the deadline date

�  We are a deadline driven office

�  Deadline dates take precedence over “rolling”

What are the guidance deadline dates?

�  College Deadline �  October 15 �  November 1 �  November 15 �  December 1 �  December 15 �  January 1 �  January 15 �  February 1 �  February 15

•  Guidance Deadline –  September 16 –  October 5 –  October 19 –  October 29 –  November 13 –  November 23 –  December 10 –  January 4 –  January 15

Suggestions and Advice

�  We do our best to work as efficiently as possible. Transcripts will be processed by the deadline date if given to the counselor with the appropriate 20 school days notice. �  This does not mean that you need to have

your application complete by this date.

�  Please put the correct deadline (not a wishful deadline) date on the transcript request form. It allows us to accurately and appropriately process requests fairly and equitably.

Follow Up � We suggest that the student follow-up with

the college/university after the deadline date. Please understand that it sometimes takes colleges several weeks or months even(!) in order to process email/mail

� Understand that online tracking websites are not necessarily updated on a daily basis—sometimes they are several weeks behind

� When necessary, any follow-up with the college should be done by you, the student. They don’t want to hear from your parents.

Follow Up, Continued

�  Please understand that you might immediately receive correspondence from the college once you file an application indicating that the transcript, or other pieces of information are missing. Because we work on a deadline basis, this can create a bit of hysteria. This information often “crosses” in the mail, and even electronically.

�  Rolling decisions may happen quickly, but can take weeks or even months.

Naviance

�  Log-on frequently! There is great information regardng College Admissions Representative visits and Scholarships.

�  GPAs were updated over the summer, and are accurate.

�  Sign up through Naviance to meet with college representatives visiting SHS

�  YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GETTING AN EAGLE BLOCK PASS BEFORE THE COLLEGE REP VISIT!

Meeting Admissions Representatives at SHS

�  Over 100 colleges are already scheduled to visit SHS this fall

�  Colleges are scheduled at 7:30AM, Eagle Block, and 2:40PM �  Most meetings will take place in Conference Room 111 �  Eagle Block meetings will require advance planning

�  If you sign up for a college meeting, be sure to show up!

�  They will be prepared to present information, but want you to come with questions.

�  While these meetings are not evaluative, you are making an impression. Make sure it is a good one! �  Behavior �  Curiosity �  Dress

Upcoming Events �  College visits

�  Early Decision/Early Action Presentation �  Thursday, 9/24 @ 2:45 in the SHS Library

�  Eagle Block Common Application Help Sessions �  See upcoming Eagle News for details

�  Financial Aid Night…

Financial Aid

�  Financial Aid includes: loans, grants, work-study

�  Check with college which forms they require: �  Fafsa.ed.gov - apply for pin, do not submit

before January 1st but start gathering information, paperwork now

�  CSS Profile - collegeboard.com/cssprofile �  Do not assume you aren’t eligible for financial

aid, filling out this forms may be necessary to qualify for merit based scholarships!

�  The college or university financial aid office can be an invaluable resource in this process

Financial Aid Night �  The Massachusetts Educational Financing

Authority (MEFA) will present important information for parents at SHS on Thursday, October 1, 6:30 – 8:00 PM. Students are welcome to attend.

�  http://www.mefa.org/

Important Note

�  In order to qualify for state-based scholarship, (for example, the Koplik or Adams scholarship), you must fill out the FAFSA!

�  Please be sure to check with the college what forms are necessary. All programs require the FAFSA. They may also include the CSS Profile, an institution specific form or both

Follow Us on Twitter!

@SharonGuidance

Questions??

Counselors with student packets:

�  Packet includes: �  “Everything Report” (unofficial transcript)

�  Please verify grades—Check for Incomplete grades—any issues see THE TEACHER or DEPARTMENT CHAIR

�  1 Transcript request form �  2 Teacher recommendation forms