Presented by Your College and Career Advisors

1. 2014-2015 seniors Applying to College: The extracurricular activity you never knew you signed up for Presented by Your College and Career Advisors

2. COLLEGE & CAREER ADVISORS Ms. Snyder • Students with last names A-K Mr. Trevino • Students with last names L-Z *Our offices are on the left-hand side of the library

3. GOALS AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS PRESENTATION YOU WILL KNOW HOW TO: • Get in touch with your college and career counselor • Access Naviance • Request teacher and counselor recommendation letters • Request transcripts and understand what is sent out with each transcript • Send SAT/ACT scores to colleges • Identify schools as reach, target or likely schools • Tell the difference between early action, early decision, regular, and rolling admission • Access various applications – ApplyTexas, CommonApp, school specific apps

4. NAVIANCE LOGIN WEBSITE • Lovejoy High School Homepage → Click on “Naviance” LOGIN FOR NAVIANCE • Username: Most likely your personal email address • Password:If you forgot it, see your college counselor and they will reset it for you MOST OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION MAY BE ACCESSED THROUGH NAVIANCE.

5. COLLEGE ADMISSIONS & OTHER TESTING THE ACT & SAT ARE TAKEN IN HIGH SCHOOL TO HELP DETERMINE COLLEGE ADMISSION ELIGIBILITY ACT – www.actstudent.org SAT – www.collegeboard.org ASVAB – www.military.com (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) YOU CAN FIND MOST OF THIS INFORMATION UNDER THE “COLLEGE” TAB IN NAVIANCE BY CLICKING ON “COLLEGE RESOURCES”

6. COLLIN COLLEGE Associates degrees offered through a wide variety of disciplines Benefits of attending Collin College: • Lower costs for transferable coursework • Relationships with local and regional 4-year institutions for transfer • Transfer scholarship opportunities • Opportunity for students to explore areas of interest

7. DEADLINES – 4 TYPES APPLICATION • VARIES AMONG COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES SCHOLARSHIP • SOMETIMES FALLS BEFORE APPLICATION DEADLINE FINANCIAL AID • GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS, WORK STUDY, LOANS HOUSING • SOMETIMES FALLS BEFORE APPLICATION DEADLINE!

8. LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION ‐ TEACHERS POLITELY ASK TEACHER FOR RECOMMENDATION BE SENSITIVE TO TEACHER’S HESITANCY • Pick someone you know will write you a strong recommendation GIVE PLENTY OF NOTICE • At least 3 weeks!!! TEACHERS SHOULD EMAIL YOUR REC LETTER TO YOUR COLLEGE COUNSELOR TO BE SENT OUT WITH YOUR TRANSCRIPT PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST MORE RECOMMENDATIONS THAN YOU NEED –GENERALLY NO MORE THAN 2 LETTERS

9. LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION ‐ TEACHERS PROVIDE TEACHER WITH: YOUR RESUME COLLEGES OF INTEREST AND DEADLINES FOLLOW UP WITH THE TEACHER A FEW DAYS PRIOR TO DEADLINE **WRITE A THANK YOU NOTE TO YOUR TEACHERS**

10. Letters of recommendation - counselor IF ANY OF YOUR COLLEGES REQUIRE A COUNSELOR RECOMMENDATION LETTER YOU MUST DO THE FOLLOWING 3 WEEKS PRIOR TO YOUR APPLICATION DEADLINE: • ASK YOUR COUNSELOR BY EMAIL AND IN PERSON IF THEY WOULD BE WILLING TO WRITE YOUR LETTER • COMPLETE THE “SENIOR LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION SURVEY” • Go to Naviance → About Me tab → Senior letter of recommendation survey • PARENT MUST COMPLETE THE “SENIOR PARENT LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION SURVEY” FOUND ON THEIR OWN NAVIANCE PAGE **THE PARENT SURVEY IS ONLY REQUIRED FOR STUDENTS IN NEED OF A COUNSELOR LETTER**

11. transcripts FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) • ONCE YOU SUBMIT A FORM, IT WILL BE GOOD FOR THE REMAINDER OF YOUR HIGH SCHOOL CAREER • SEE OUR TRANSCRIPT SECRETARY, MS. HERRING, IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED THIS FORM Request transcripts through Naviance • NAVIANCE HOMEPAGE→ COLLEGES TAB → TRANSCRIPTS (left-hand margin) APPLY ONLINE AND THEN REQUEST YOUR TRANSCRIPTS!

12. Transcript Mailing WHAT IS MAILED OUT TO COLLEGE WHEN I REQUEST A TRANSCRIPT? AUTOMATICALLY SENT: • Official transcript • List of senior year courses • Secondary School Report • School Profile SENT WITH TRANSCRIPT WHEN REQUESTED: • Teacher recommendation letters • Counselor recommendation letters

13. SAT/ACT SCORES YOUMUST SEND YOUR SAT/ACT SCORES TO EACH COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY THROUGH THE OFFICIAL TESTING WEBSITES! • LOGIN TO YOUR SAT OR ACT ACCOUNT TO SEND SCORES • SEND SCORES 4-6 WEEKS PRIOR TO APPLICATION DEADLINE TO ENSURE DELIVERY

14. Narrowing college choices REACH: • The majority of applicants have better grades and test scores than you. • You only have a slight chance of being accepted, however, you may have some intangible quality that the college is searching for in its students. TARGET: • You meet most of the admissions criteria. • You have a good chance of being admitted to these colleges, but there is also the possibility of denial. LIKELY: • You should be admitted without difficulty based on grades, test scores, etc. • You researched the school and believe you will get a good education and also be happy HOW DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU STAND??

15. COLLEGE Applications – 3 ways to apply APPLY TEXAS COMMON APPLICATION • WWW.APPLYTEXAS.ORG (NATIONAL) COMMON APPLICATION – “Common App” • WWW.COMMONAPP.ORG COLLEGE-SPECIFIC APPLICATION • FOR COLLEGES WHICH ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THE APPLY TEXAS OR COMMON APP. ORGANIZATION. SOME SCHOOLS SIMPLY OFFER AS AN ADDITIONAL OPTION.

16. APPLY Texas Common Application WWW.APPLYTEXAS.ORG APPLY FOR ADMISSION TO ANY TEXAS PUBLIC UNIVERSITY AND TO PARTICIPATING TEXAS COMMUNITY AND PRIVATE COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION ESSAYS ONLINE APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS FROM PARTICIPATING UNIVERSITIES

17. Common Application WWW.COMMONAPP.ORG THERE ARE NOW OVER 500 COMMON APPLICATION MEMBERS THEY REPRESENT AN ENORMOUSLY DIVERSE VARIETY OF INSTITUTIONS – SMALL AND LARGE, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE, COED AND SINGLE SEX, HIGHLY SELECTIVE AND RELATIVELY OPEN ENROLLMENT ALWAYS CHECK FOR REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

18. COLLEGE APPLICATIONS – TYPES REGULAR ADMISSION ROLLING ADMISSION EARLY DECISION • BINDING AGREEMENT WITH ONE SCHOOL EARLY ACTION • NON-BINDING

19. TEXAS TOP 10% RULE ANY STUDENT RANKED IN THE TOP 10% OF THEIR CLASS IS AUTOMATICALLY ELIGIBLE FOR ADMISSION TO ANY PUBLIC STATE SCHOOL IN TEXAS • YOU MUST STILL APPLY TO THE SCHOOL! • UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS IS THE EXCEPTION AS IT AUTOMATICALLY ADMITS ONLY THE TOP 7% • REMEMBER: BEING AUTOMATICALLY ADMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU WILL BE ADMITTED INTO THE MAJOR OF YOUR CHOICE AT THAT TIME

20. CAUTION!!! YOU are responsible for making sure the college receives all required materials before the deadline. You must check your email and your application status frequently. This is how a college will communicate with you.

21. We are here to support you through this process! Come see us any time!