Senior Year The College Application Process

Questions to Consider  Have you discussed your post-graduation plans with your family in depth?  Did you follow up with counselor recommendations that took place at the Junior planning conference last spring?  Have you visited college campuses?  Have you identified your reach, target, and safety schools?

Reach, Target, Safety Schools  Reach Schools (1-2): These are colleges that present an admissions challenge for you, because their admissions criteria exceed your profile.  Target Schools (2-4): These are colleges whose student qualifications closely match yours.  Safety Schools (1-2): These are colleges where your academic profile exceeds the academic profile of the students accepted at the college.

Have You Requested Letters of Recommendation?  You should request 2 teacher letters of recommendation.  You may also want to consider coaches, employers and/or community leaders as character references. These letters, however, do not REPLACE teacher letters, and need to be sent separately.  Counselors write letters of recommendation for all students

Have You Prepared The College Essay?  The college application essay asks ONE basic thing- who are you and what makes you different from all those other qualified applicants? How you answer these questions sheds light on your values, opinions and talents. Write from “the heart”. Speak in your own voice using your own vocabulary.  Ask your parents, a friend, an English teacher and your counselor to read and critique your essay.

 Have you developed your activity sheet?  If you are an athlete seeking a Division I or Division II scholarship, have you registered with the NCAA Clearinghouse? If not, see your counselor immediately!  If you are planning on pursuing a course of study in the Arts, have you inquired about the requirements for admission? You may be required to present a portfolio or audition. These deadline dates are different from the application deadline dates.

NAVIANCE  Have you established an account on Naviance, using an appropriate address as your username?  Have you started a Common Application? Go to commonapp.org to do so.  Counselors will assist you in signing the FERPA waiver, and how to connect your commonapp to Naviance.

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU MEET ALL DEADLINES!!!! IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU MEET ALL DEADLINES!!!! Consider not only Early Action and Early Decision but also “Priority” deadlines in your planning.

The deadline to submit college application receipt forms to the guidance department for colleges with a January 1, 2016 deadline is November 2, 2015 The deadline to submit college application receipt forms to the guidance department for colleges with a January 1, 2016 deadline is November 2, 2015 You should submit receipt forms as soon as you add colleges to your common application and then to Naviance. Do NOT wait until you click submit on the common app.

Early Action vs. Early Decision  Both require that applications are sent early, usually by November 1 or November 15- YOU MUST HAVE YOUR APPLICATION AND/OR RECEIPT FORM IN GUIDANCE TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO DEADLINE : BY MID OCTOBER  Early Decision: allows you to apply early and get an admission decision from the college well in advance of the usual notification date. It is BINDING-you are agreeing to attend the college if you’re accepted and if you receive an adequate financial aid package. You can only apply to one college early decision. You may apply to other colleges under regular admission.  Early Action: Similar to early decision, but it’s NOT binding. You can usually apply to multiple colleges in this way and compare offers of admission and financial aid.

 Submit completed College Application Receipt Forms to the appropriate secretary in guidance  College Application Receipt Forms will be accepted between 7:30 a.m. and 3:00 P.M. each school day  Students are assigned by counselor to the following secretaries in guidance: Ms. DeMarco: Ms. Molof Ms. DeMarco: Ms. Molof Mr. Paranandi, Ms. Rosenblum Mr. Paranandi, Ms. Rosenblum Ms. Kupfer: Ms. Felber, Ms. Hannon, Ms. Aliperti, Ms. Velez Ms. Kupfer: Ms. Felber, Ms. Hannon, Ms. Aliperti, Ms. Velez

Checklist Colleges will not consider your application “complete” without recommendations, activity sheets, essays, SAT/ACT scores, and other special information. SAT/ACT scores must be sent, by you, directly from the appropriate testing service.

A Completed Application Includes  High School transcript  Teacher letters of recommendation  Counselor letter of recommendation  Senior program of classes  Hicksville High School Profile  Essay  Activity Sheet  SAT/ACT scores: Schools require that test scores are sent directly by the College Board and/or ACT— most schools will not accept our photocopies as official score reports

The Common Application  Common Application—apply and pay on-line; accepted by nearly 500 schools  When applying electronically- INFORM THE GUIDANCE OFFICE BY COMPLETING A COLLEGE APPLICATION RECEIPT FORM, ONE FOR EVERY COLLEGE TO WHICH YOU HAVE APPLIED. THEN, ADD TO “COLLEGES I’M APPLYING TO” ON NAVIANCE.  Nassau Community College: Health/Immunization records required with application—NCC. EDU

 SAT Examination--take at least twice  Highest scores in each section will be usually be combined, but NOT always. Be aware of your schools’ processes.  SAT Tests October 3 November 7 (HHS) December 5 (HHS) December 5 (HHS) January 23 January 23 March 5 March 5 May 7 (HHS) May 7 (HHS) June 4 (HHS) June 4 (HHS) You can send SAT to 4 schools for free if you send at the time of testing. See your counselor for advice regarding sending.  Competitive colleges also typically require 2 subject area tests

ACT October 24 December 12 February 6 April 9 June 11

On Site Admissions & College Information Sessions  On-Site Admissions- submit applications two weeks prior to the on site and meet with an admissions counselor in the guidance office. Application fees are waived, decisions are rendered and sometimes scholarships are awarded on the spot! Some of the schools who attend: C.W. Post University C.W. Post University St. Joseph’s College New York Institute of Technology New York Institute of Technology St. John’s University Adelphi University Adelphi University Molloy College Molloy College  Representatives from many other colleges will be visiting and meeting with students to provide college information. Listen for announcements.

Researching Colleges and Careers  is your first source for planning and researching colleges, scholarships and careers. Be sure your account is active, and that you use it in consultation with your counselor and parents.  The Collegeboard website is a comprehensive site for exploring colleges and careers. All students and parents should familiarize themselves with this site as a primary tool for use in your research.  Career Zone is a New York State funded website designed to help you discover your interests and abilities, research potential careers, and even explore colleges within New York State that coincide with your interests  The “Planning Your Future” booklet is a comprehensive guide to assist in planning for college and the world of work. This booklet was distributed at our individual planning meetings last spring..

Financial Aid  FAFSA – (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the required form for any financial aid. File between January 1 st and February 15 th of senior year File between January 1 st and February 15 th of senior year  CSS Profile – This is an additional financial aid form REQUIRED by some schools. Check with colleges for verification of required forms. A link for can be found at

Scholarships and Financial Aid  Questbridge is a program to help high achieving, low income students to attend very selective colleges. Deadline is in September. Visit their website and see your counselor for details.  HEOP/EOP are financial assistance programs for students who are educationally and economically disadvantaged. See your counselor for details.  Fastweb – This is a comprehensive scholarship database to which all students should subscribe.  Monthly scholarship bulletins are distributed via English classes throughout the school year  The local scholarship directory is distributed to each senior student in the spring.

Events to Remember  The College Fair- Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.  Financial Aid Night- December 3, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. Learn all about the financial aid process and have your questions answered by a representative from a college financial aid office.

 All of the information presented can be found on the district website.  Please visit the website frequently since information is updated regularly. Thank you! Thank you!