8th Grade College Planning Night. Welcome, Parents and Students! 2/5/2014

Transcription

1 8th Grade College Planning Night Welcome, Parents and Students! 2/5/2014

2 Tonight s Objectives Introduce you to Pine Lake s four-year college planning process Provide information on Upper School course scheduling and how it affects college admissions Answer your college-planning questions!

3 Pine Lake s College Planning Model 4 College Planners that own a grade level smaller caseloads closer relationships personalized services greater availability more efficient communication better college match/fit College Planners intentionally chosen because they are uniquely suited to meet that grade level s needs Seniors - Tim Rhodes Junior - Jeff Walker Sophomores - Lori Reuter Freshmen - Whitney Triplett College planners meet weekly, receive training, and stay current on trending issues in college planning in an effort to best serve Pine Lake students and families.

4 Pine Lake s College Planning Model Our Primary Goal: To help students identify their interests, abilities and goals in order to find the right college match and fit Our Purpose: To ensure that each student with the desire to go to college has both the CHANCE and CHOICE

5 How do students engage in the college planning process at PLP? Participating in classroom college planning sessions Attending events (i.e. College Planning Night, College Fair, Career Fair, Alumni Day, college rep visits, college bus tours, Financial Aid Planning Night, college Panel Discussion) Exploring PLP s College Planning Website Interacting one-on-one with their college planner Utilizing Naviance

6 Naviance - Online College Planning Hub Personality / learning style inventory, college research tools, ACT test prep, career area matching, goal-setting Track college applications, get scholarship info, request transcripts and recommendation letters Students receive individual accounts and parents access through their child s username/password Used in classroom college planning, but should also be used at home in order to reap full benefits

7 Naviance Activities for Freshmen Do What You Are - assesses your child s personality type, learning styles, strengths, blindspots, and suggests potential careers and majors Supermatch College Search - helps students begin searching for colleges based on 23 criteria. Compares choices and pins their favorites for later Explore the Roadtrip Nation video archive. Interviews of people around the globe who do what they love. Everything from skateboarding to rocket science. Gets students thinking and dreaming about their future. Set GPA goals

8 College Planning Begins Now! The college planning process is a four year journey that starts the first day of your freshman year College admission is largely based on freshman, sophomore and junior years Scholarships are based on all four years College admission revocation is based on senior year progress (report cards and/or final transcript)

9 From here on out EVERYTHING counts! EVERYTHING matters! Grades Course selections Test scores Attendance Extracurricular activities Behavior Character Work ethic Study skills Time Management

10 General College Planning Timeline 9th Grade - Whitney Triplett Get involved (clubs, athletics, etc.) and stay involved for multiple years Service learning - depth not breadth Earn good grades and set GPA goals Rely on parents less to keep you on track start taking more responsibility Begin researching colleges and career pathways

11 General College Planning Timeline 9th Grade - Whitney Triplett College visits - so important - do not put this off until later Continue (start) saving $$$ (NC 529 plan) Browse information on Pine Lake s college planning website and CFNC Complete all Naviance tasks

12 General Timeline 10th Grade - Lori Reuter Continue all of 9th Grade Objectives PLAN Test PSAT AP Class (if applicable) College Tours Campus Visits Naviance CFNC SAT Question of the Day PrepMe College Planning Website

13 General Timeline 11th Grade - Jeff Walker Continue Previous Year's Objectives Grades / Grades / Grades Get on Campus & meet admissions staff Naviance - PrepMe ACT - Free in March SAT/ACT- complete prior to senior year Resume (Pride Project) Summer Essay Camp Financial Planning Research Scholarships College Planning Website

14 General Timeline 12th Grade - Tim Rhodes College Applications - Essays (Plan & Edit) Final Campus Visits Early Action / Early Decision (Binding) Celebrate Acceptance Complete FAFSA as soon as possible after Jan. 1 Apply for scholarships Grades! / Grades! / Grades!

15 8th Grade Registration Timeline Mr. Scholl and Mr. Moceri will work through registration in the 8th grade classrooms before the registration process begins Registration will be delayed from last year as we establish the new system in Homebase. Families will be notified when we are starting the process.

16 Registration Important Documents Each will be available on the Upper School page under "Registration " Registration Timeline Course Offerings Curriculum Guide 9th Grade Course Recommendations Upper School Planning Worksheet

17 Course Selection Affects College Acceptance Did you: Take rigorous courses? Do well in those rigorous courses? Take only the minimum or did you go above expectations? Choose courses in which you were interested and in which you would do well?

18 Course Selection continued... Counselor recommendation component of the college application asks to what degree of rigor students' high school courses demonstrate Colleges want to see a depth of courses in a subject area, if possible Remember PLP requires more than the minimum North Carolina College Admission requirements

19 Course Selection continued PLP offers only ONE diploma type and it is the most academically rigorous of the nine NC diplomas that are available at most traditional high schools ALL courses in the PLP Upper School are college prep courses and highly rigorous Standard-level college prep Honors-level college prep Advanced Placement ("AP") college-level courses

20 Which level is right for my child? Take as challenging a course load as you can handle and still maintain a successful balance between school, extracurriculars, and family/friends Students are encouraged to take honors courses in subjects that they really enjoy AND are strong in academically It is not advised that students take all honors courses UNLESS they are willing to put in the necessary time and work...for many students this often means a substantial sacrifice of cutting back on athletics, clubs, jobs, etc. in order to maintain A's and B's

21 Standard vs. Honors In standard classes the discussions, compositions, and assessments will include: analysis application comparison and contrast contribution to in-class activities evaluation group presentations research based projects In honors classes the discussions, compositions, and assessments will include all required of standard level students, as well as evidence of higher level thinking such as: classification synthesis justification individual project presentations to follow outside literature studies

22 Dual Enrollment (Career and College Promise Program) What parents and students need to know

23 Real college courses in high school Dual enrollment = student is enrolled in high school and college simultaneously. Receive both high school AND college credit. Courses have a 100% transfer-guarantee to any public NC university Tuition is free, but students are still responsible for the cost of books and some minimal fees Courses are semester long and can be taken in the fall, spring or summer Students can choose to take classes online or on local community college campuses Course offerings and scheduling vary by college Eligibility is determined by GPA and test score cutoffs (can be waived in some circumstances)

24 Real college courses in high school Courses available in many subjects - some examples include: Literature Writing Research College Algebra Calculus Chemistry Biology Medical Assisting Renewable Energy Geomatics World Civilizations Psychology Sociology Business Law Management Marketing Economics Computer Info Sys Civil Engineering Electrical Engineer. Mechanical Engineer. Architecture Fire Protection Spanish Communications Early Childhood Dev Childhood Education Graphic Arts Screen Printing Interior Design Video Game Design Art Appreciation Criminal Justice Criminology Juvenile Justice Law Enforcement...and much more!

25 AP What parents and students need to know

26 What is AP? AP = Advanced Placement (curriculum approved by CollegeBoard, the organization responsible for the SAT) Classes are accelerated and challenging with college-level rigor. Student may earn college credit depending upon the student's score on the CollegeBoard AP exam taken in early May. Final exam is required for enrolled students. (Exam fee per class: $89) Students should choose AP classes based on their academic interests, skill sets and teacher recommendations. No more than 2 per semester.

27 AP classes offered at PLP AP Spanish Language AP Chemistry AP Physics B AP Earth and Environmental Science AP Biology AP Calculus AB AP Government and Politics: United States AP US History AP World History AP Psychology AP Language and Composition (11th grade) AP Literature (12th grade) AP Music Theory

28 New Engineering Curriculum 9th grade engineering course available next year Leads to 4-course engineering curriculum including a senior capstone course PLTW - Project Lead The Way Prerequisites: Standardized admission test and excellent grades

29 GPA Weighted vs. Unweighted Colleges will recalculate using their own scale Colleges look at specific courses and grades New weighting scale coming PLP does not rank

30 Attendance Attendance is positively correlated with grades. Many educational experiences cannot be duplicated (class discussions, debates, group activities, etc). Cannot exceed 10 excused/unexcused in any single class After 10 absences: F/no credit, regardless of grade earned Appeals packet Appeals committee determines whether to waive excessive absences 4 tardies = 1 absence (in any course, not just A/B block) # of absences shows on the final transcript sent to colleges! No differentiation between exc/unexc

31 General Reminders What s important to colleges? Challenging courses Grades Meaningful extracurricular activities, community service, work experiences Admissions tests (SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests) Essays Recommendations Teachers and Counselor

32 Transition to Upper School Upper school student panel discussion for 8th graders during the school day (May) Transitioning Your Child to Upper School - evening parent night with multiple break-out sessions (May) Freshman Connection - 3-day boot camp for rising freshmen (July) Whitney Triplett - Upper School Counselor Academic support and counseling Peer mediation Troubleshooting academic challenges Assistance with personal and social issues Counseling website:

33 Useful Sites College planning website: org/collegeplanning Naviance: from college planning website, click orange button in top right corner (NC college planning hub) (SAT info) (ACT info) (estimate college costs) (info on thousands of colleges)

34 Questions?