College Applications. A detailed overview for Seniors

Transcription

1 College Applications A detailed overview for Seniors

2 Brief Reminders Sign up for the SAT/ACT (and SAT Subjects, if needed). College representatives visit CB West and present to students. Sign up through Naviance! Thoroughly review admissions requirements for your colleges. Use the tools available to you in Naviance to finalize the college list. College Match, College Search, and Scattergrams. College reps DO check Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)

3 2254 transcripts sent last year 283 transcript forms received so far 525 students in the Class of school counselors 1 Ms. Matthews

4 Apply to colleges Students will apply directly through the college website, or by using the Common Application. You may have the option to apply to some schools both ways; choose whichever method you prefer, but Common App can cause issues. If you have a few schools that you definitely want to apply to, start now you don t have to apply to all of your schools at once. Recommendations, transcripts, and SAT/ACTs don t have to arrive at once.

5 Apply to colleges Requirements such as application deadlines, sending SAT/ACT, SAT Subject tests, and the CSS Profile may be essential to completing your applications. Be aware of what you need to do! We do not need the counselor forms, Secondary School Reports, transcript forms, or other paperwork the college application may tell you to bring in. We have standard forms for everything. Focus on applying, and getting us the CB West Transcript Request Form.

6 Application Options Early Decision A binding commitment to attend, if accepted. You can only apply to 1 school under ED. Early Action May improve admissions chances and show interest, not binding. May apply to multiple schools. Set Deadlines You must ensure all application materials are received prior to the set deadline. Rolling Applications are accepted until space runs out; however, applying early is still encouraged.

7 Information for Applications Class Size 525 GPA Scale 4.0 weighted Class Rank CB doesn t rank, students should mark NA Secondary School Reports / Application Forms We do not need these forms, we only need a transcript request! We use similar forms in Naviance.

8 Early Decision & Common App Three parties need to sign the Common App Early Decision Agreement (EDA): The student and parent will do their parts using the Common App The counselor will complete his or her part in edocs on the Send tab. The student will use the Common App to specify that he or she is applying to a college using the early decision plan. You MUST complete your part of the EDA in the Common App. An early decision application will have a special alert for the counselor on the Send tab of Naviance. Be sure to check the box marked Early Decision on the Transcript Form.

9 Early Decision Agreement

10 The Common Application Create an account by going to (not.com ) Write down your username and password, do not forget this! Important steps in completing Common App: Complete the Profile and Education sections. List all of the colleges you are thinking about applying to. Click on Recommenders and FERPA, and complete the FERPA waiver. Start to apply to your Common App schools!

11 The Common Application Warning: Do not list any CB West staff member as a recommender in your Common App account! Since we use Naviance to send your information, you should not list any CB West recommenders in your Common App account. You will handle sending school documents/transcripts, counselor and teacher recommendations outside of the Common App system, so don t set that up in Common App. If you ignore this, you will surely cause delays and issues for yourself.

12 Complete the Profile and Education sections.

13 List all colleges you plan on applying to. If a school doesn t come up in the search, they do not use the Common App.

14 After adding your schools, go to My Colleges Complete the FERPA waiver. Be sure to click: I waive my right to review all recommendations and supporting documents submitted by me or on my behalf.

15 Common App & Naviance Link Immediately after completing the previous steps, login to your Naviance account to match your Common App account with Naviance. Before you click on match, make sure you ve followed the previous steps exactly. You cannot redo these steps after matching. In Naviance, go to the Colleges tab. Click on Colleges I m Applying to, and complete the steps listed.

16 If you are not using Common App, click on Not Needed. Fill in the address you used for your Common App account. Enter your Birthdate. Click Match.

17 Sending Transcripts / School Reports Download the Transcript Request Form from the West website. Turn a form in to Ms. Matthews for each college you ve applied to. Do not just drop the form off, she needs to talk to you each time. A parent will need to sign each Transcript Request Form, unless you are 18. The steps described MUST be completed before turning in your transcript form. A handout describing this process will be sent through advisory.

18 Under the Guidance department Scroll down to the Transcript Request page. Print out a form for each college you have applied to.

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22 Recommendations For counselors, check the box on the Transcript Request Form. Students MUST fill out the survey in Naviance if you need a counselor recommendation. This must be done BEFORE Transcript Requests are turned in. For teachers, you cannot request through Naviance. You must contact teachers directly. You cannot choose from multiple recommendations, only ask two. Teachers can send a recommendation through Naviance, or they will ask you for preaddressed/postage envelopes. You should first ask them to write a rec for you, then get back to them after turning in forms.

23 Access the Class of 2015 Counselor Recommendation under the About Me tab of your Naviance account. If you need a counselor recommendation, be sure to complete this before turning in a transcript request.

24 Recommendations Please confirm application requirements for each school Penn State and the PA State System schools do not require recommendations, and do not want them sent (unless there are special circumstances they should be aware of). You don t want teachers writing a recommendation unless it is going to be used! Again, get back to your teacher recommenders after turning in transcript forms. They won t be able to send them until forms are given to guidance.

25 SAT/ACT Scores Scores are included on your transcript; however, some schools require you to send them official scores directly check the admission requirements for each college/university. If you do need official scores sent, you must send your scores to each college through your CollegeBoard account and/or the ACT website. Also, check to see whether SAT Subject Tests are required.

26 Naviance You will be able to see when we send out your transcripts through Naviance. Under Colleges I m Applying to, take a look at Office Status You ll see Initial Materials Submitted or Pending Student s can t add schools to this list directly; college names will appear here after Transcript Forms are turned into guidance.

27 Under Office Status: Initial Materials Submitted or Pending

28 Scholarships / Financial Aid Generally after the application process is complete

29 Go to Pretty thorough information. Become familiar with what aid exists, to help understand the actual costs you will face. Need based vs. Merit Aid vs. Scholarships Loans are considered Aid

30 Important Dates Financial Aid Night November 12 th, 7 PM at CB East HS Grant/Aid amounts will be explained by a college financial aid officer FAFSA Online System Opens January 1 st, 2015 FAFSA Completion Night February 11 th at CB West HS Library (Time TBD) CSS Profile Check individual college deadlines (as early as November)

31 Scholarships Naviance Regularly updated list, sortable by deadline National Database Websites Fastweb, SallyMae Individual Colleges/Merit Aid Some will automatically consider your student for aid when they apply Other schools require a separate application

32 Questions?