Navigating College Admissions: Your Guide to Success

2018-2019seniors Applying to College: The extracurricular activity you never knew you signed up for Presented by Your College and Career Counselors

COLLEGE & CAREER ADVISORS Ms. Shaw • Students with last names A-K Mr. Trevino • Students with last names L-Z *Our offices are in the counseling suite!

GOALS AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS PRESENTATION YOU WILL KNOW HOW TO: • Get in touch with your college and career counselor • 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

NAVIANCE LOGIN WEBSITE • Lovejoy High School Homepage  Departments  Counseling  College Counseling  Click on “Naviance” LOGIN FOR NAVIANCE • Username:Most likely your LISD Email • Password:If you forgot it, see your college counselor and they will reset it for you

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)

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

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!

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION ‐ TEACHERS VISIT YOUR TEACHER IN PERSON TOASK TEACHER FOR RECOMMENDATION • Follow-up with an email and THEN submit request via Naviance ASK TEACHERS WHOSE COURSE IS RELATED TO YOUR INTENDED MAJOR • Ex: an engineering major might ask a math or science teacher. 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 and post to Naviance PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST MORE RECOMMENDATIONS THAN YOU NEED –GENERALLY NO MORE THAN 2-3 LETTERS

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION ‐ TEACHERS PROVIDE TEACHER WITH: YOUR RESUME or a “brag sheet” COLLEGES OF INTEREST AND DEADLINES FOLLOW UP WITH THE TEACHER A FEW DAYS PRIOR TO DEADLINE **WRITE A THANK YOU NOTE TO YOUR TEACHERS**

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 • COMMON APP REQUESTS **THESE SURVEYS ARE ONLY REQUIRED FOR STUDENTS IN NEED OF A COUNSELOR LETTER**

transcripts FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) and CLASS RANK OPT-IN (Rank or DNR) • TRANSCRIPT CONSENT FORM: MUST BE COMPLETED IN ORDER FOR YOU TO REQUEST TRANSCRIPTS THROUGH NAVIANCE. • SEE OUR TRANSCRIPT SECRETARY, MRS. ELLIS, IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED THIS FORM Request transcripts through Naviance • NAVIANCE HOMEPAGE→ COLLEGES TAB → TRANSCRIPTS (left-hand margin) *Connect your Common App account with Naviance by adding FERPA info, etc. Don’t wait until the last minute!!!

Transcript Sending WHAT IS SENT 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 NEEDED OR REQUESTED: • Teacher recommendation letters • Counselor recommendation letters

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

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???

AP SCHOLAR AWARD LEVELS AP Scholar: Granted to students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams AP Scholar with Honor: Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams AP Scholar with Distinction: Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams State AP Scholar: Granted to the one male and one female student in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia with scores of 3 or higher on the greatest number of AP Exams, and then the highest average score (at least 3.5) on all AP Exams taken National AP Scholar: Granted to students in the United States who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams

AP CAPSTONE AP Seminar and Research Certificate™: Granted to students who earn scores of 3 or higher in both AP Seminar and AP Research. AP Capstone Diploma™: Granted to students who earn scores of 3 or higher in AP Seminar and AP Research and on four additional AP Exams of their choosing. “AP Capstone Diploma Candidate”

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.

COLLEGE APPLICATIONS – TYPES REGULAR ADMISSION ROLLING ADMISSION EARLY DECISION • BINDING AGREEMENT WITH ONE SCHOOL EARLY ACTION • NON-BINDING • Some schools offer RESTRICTIVE EARLY ACTION….

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 ONLY AUTOMATICALLY ADMITS THE TOP 6% • REMEMBER: BEING AUTOMATICALLY ADMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU WILL BE ADMITTED INTO THE MAJOR OF YOUR CHOICE AT THAT TIME

Scholarships SCHOOL SPECIFIC SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH ENGINES • FASTWEB SCHOLARSHIPS • Big Future (College Board) • Scholarships.com NAVIANCE

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.

We are here to support you through this process! Please come see us any time!

Navigating College Admissions: Your Guide to Success