Aiken High School Rising Senior Parent Night Class of 2018

Know your Counselors and Guidance Department Counselor/Staff Email Renee Harper (Last Name A-E) Bobbie Lou Shipman (Last Name F-I) Sally Tice (Last Name J-Q) Gray Hagler (Last Name R-Z) Rashelle Stokes (Registrar) Joanne Lietzow (Secretary) Freshman Counselor TBD rharper@acpsd.net bshipman@acpsd.net stice@acpsd.net ghagler@acpsd.net rstokes@acpsd.net jlietzow@acpsd.net

What do I need to become a Senior in South Carolina? You need 17 credits to become a 12th grader in South Carolina With these 17 credits, you must have 3 English Credits, 3 Math Credits and 2 Science Credits What if I am worried that I will not have the appropriate number and type of credits by the end of this school year? Go see your counselor!!!

Summer Virtual School Registration for Summer Virtual School begins on May 17th for current 11th graders Check out virtualsc.org to see what classes are offered If you do not have a Virtual School account, go speak with your counselor about setting one up There is no cost for taking a class on Summer Virtual School- classes start June 7th and will go until you take your final at AHS between July 31st-August 2nd. You will be contacted about taking your final. If you want to take a class over the summer in lieu of taking one your senior year, please be advised you must be enrolled in at least 4 classes as a senior.

Finish out your 11th Grade year Strong The final transcript from your 11th Grade year will be sent for college applications in the fall of your 12th Grade year. Spend part of the summer researching what colleges you want to apply for and what the applications require. Know which tests you need to take or prepare to take for what you want to do after high school.

SAT and/or ACT is needed for 4 year college entrance upon graduation Still 1 last chance for SAT- there is a test June 3rd with a regular registration deadline of May 9th SAT 2017 Dates August 26- Deadline July 28 October 7- Deadline Sept. 8 November 4- Deadline Oct. 5 December 2- Deadline Nov. 2 Please be aware that there is NO January SAT anymore- the next SAT date after December 2 is March 10 Still 1 last chance for ACT- there is a test June 10th with a regular registration deadline of May 5th ACT 2017-2018 Dates September 9- Deadline August 4 October 28- Deadline Sept. 22 December 9- Deadline Nov. 3 February 10- Deadline Jan. 12

Registration and Practice for the SAT and ACT Sign up for the SAT on www.collegeboard.org, the cost is $57, take at least 1 SAT with Essay Free practice for the SAT on www.khanacademy.org Sign up for the ACT on www.act.org, the cost is $58.50, take at least 1 ACT with Writing Free practice for the ACT on platform.triumphcollegeprep.com/app/ Students can log-on from home. Their TCA prep log-in and password is their student ID number plus -0088 If you have Free/Reduced Lunch, you qualify for 2 SAT and 2 ACT Test Vouchers, meaning you take the tests for free. See Mrs. Hagler for eligibility and vouchers. What if I am not planning to go to a 4 year College after graduation? What tests do I need to be looking into for a 2 year Technical School or the Military?

2 Year Technical College or the Military If you are planning to attend a 2 year Technical College after graduation you can take the Accuplacer. This is a placement test to assist with admittance to a 2 Year Technical School We will have Aiken Tech come several times next year to give the Accuplacer, otherwise you would have to go to the campus to take it. It is free for the school you plan on attending if you take it at that school. More information can be found on www.accuplacer.org If you are planning to join the Military after graduation, you will need to take the ASVAB. The ASVAB is offered twice a year at AHS- once in September and once in March- listen for announcements More information can be found at http://www.official-asvab.com/ Please talk with recruiters and learn all you can about the different branches before committing.

Paying for College How can I pay for college? Scholarships Loans- must be paid back Grants- money from the government that does not get paid back Grant and Loan money are determined by your FAFSA Opens October 1st and will be based on your 2016 income taxes https://fafsa.ed.gov/

Scholarships Most local scholarships are due in the SPRING National scholarships: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search http://www.fastweb.com/college-scholarships Local Scholarships: Advertised through Remind, copies in Guidance and next year will be on the website- Join Remind 101- text @84dk867 to the number 81010- It is called the AHS Class of 2018 Deadlines are absolute If they are not online, you will turn in applications to Ms. Tice to be sent as a group from AHS

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Hints for Obtaining scholarships Stay organized and plan your time! Ask for recommendations in advance. Have a teacher or counselor look over your essays before you send them. Go ahead and work on an academic resume and research opportunities this summer. If you don’t have any community service activities/volunteering, do something this summer! Keep a folder just for scholarships. Make a folder in your email inbox where you receive info from colleges. APPLY! APPLY! APPLY!

Preparing for Senior Recommendations All counselors are happy to write recommendations for senior students We will have a “Senior Brag Sheet” where seniors need to write down everything they have participated in during high school (both in Aiken High and the community) in detail so we can write as much as possible in the letters of recommendation. We will have these sheets ready before school lets out, so if the student wishes to fill out the brag sheet and turn it back in to his/her counselor before the school year ends the counselor can work on the recommendation over the summer.

Dissemination of Senior Information In addition to the Remind 101 text system, counselors will be coming into Senior English classes at the beginning of September to hand out more detailed information for the Senior Year, along with a Senior Brag Sheet and a copy of the student’s most recent transcript. If your student does not have an English class, he/she needs to see his/her counselor for this information. Deadlines and due dates are important!!!! Please give your counselor at least 2 weeks notice if a recommendation is needed for a school or scholarship. We want to write the best recommendation about you and we need an appropriate amount of time to do it!

The Senior IGP and Parchment In September each counselor will hold a 30 minute IGP (Individual Graduation Plan) meeting with each senior and his/her parents/guardians. At this meeting we will discuss plans for after graduation, career aspirations and review a graduation contract. Parchment is the electronic way to send transcripts. Students will set up Parchment accounts with their English teachers and if they do not have an English teacher or the Parchment account has not been created at the time of the IGP, the counselor will help the student set up the Parchment account. We now send ALL transcripts to colleges/universities/technical schools through Parchment. Students must log on to their Parchment accounts and request where the transcript needs to be sent. The counselor will receive the request and send the transcript to that college online. It is a good idea to let your counselor know beforehand that you are requesting a transcript through Parchment so we know to be on the lookout.

Tools for Academic Athletes Interested in Playing NCAA Athletics Student athletes who are interested in taking their games to the next level should work with parents to investigate the links to corecoursegpa.com to enter your academic information for eligibility purposes.  It automatically calculates core GPA for the NCAA and NAIA.  KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO PARTICIPATE IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS!  IT INVOLVES MORE THAN JUST SKILL!  Parents and students using Corecoursegpa.com should use the following information when creating an account: School ID of 410025 and the School Code of 704470072   THEN, jump on over to FreeRecruitingWebinar.org to find ways to get noticed by college coaches.  It is up to you to guide your future.     Click HERE for the direct link to the South Carolina webinar page.   This will be on the main website for Aiken High and the Guidance website.

Questions? We will be having a Senior Parent Night in late September after IGPs are completed. At this meeting you will get information about ordering Senior Supplies and any other information pertinent to your Senior Year.