College & Career Planning It’s time to plan and get started!

Freshman Year Get a good academic start- all grades count! Have a family discussion about choices: - Work - Military/ROTC/Military Academy - Technical School/College - 2 Year College - 4 Year College Questions: How far from home? Budget?

Tasks for Sophomore Year Complete the PSAT in October Maintain or improve grades and GPA Use careers class & Naviance to identify skills and preferences to find appropriate career paths Build your resume by joining clubs and doing community service Choose courses for junior year wisely

Tasks to Complete Junior Year Create an email for ONLY college and career planning Complete PSAT and/or ASVAB in the fall and SAT/ACTs before end of school year Complete college search and visits or meet with a recruiter Complete your resume (keep it updated) Ask this year’s teacher (s) for a letter of recommendation in May or June in person Check requirements and procedures for your choice carefully 7. Choose courses for senior year wisely

Military Testing The ASVAB test is given at HHS each November and is required for enlistment There are score requirements for each branch and for job placement If the ASVAB is not taken at HHS, a recruiter will take student to a testing center SAT/ACT required for military academies

Email create one account to use only for all college & career planning Who will ask for my email? SAT ACT NCAA Common Application Each college’s online app Coaches Recruiters Naviance Why? Email address is now like Social Security number Colleges will track student by email address not name. If different addresses are used all of your info cannot be matched to form one file on you. Should not be parent’s email!

NCAA http://web1.ncaa.org/eligibilitycenter/common/ Anyone interested in playing Division I or II athletics must register with the NCAA by the end of their junior year to ensure eligibility. Juniors must complete a release form and request a transcript from guidance by June 20th. Be sure you are using that one and only email address!

SAT Subject Tests (if needed) Standardized Testing ACT www.actstudent.org SAT www.collegeboard.org SAT Subject Tests (if needed) www.collegeboard.com How to register using specific college/career email address. Be sure to check testing requirements When should student test? Junior Year!!! Spring if in Algebra 2 More important- when to be done? Complete by end of Junior year or you may lose “Score Choice” option SAT or ACT? Take both, then only submit the better score

What if I am going to community college? SAT/ACT are not required for admission- however you will be required to do placement testing If submitting SAT/ACT scores, placement tests will NOT be required if minimum scores are met If choosing to transfer before earning an Associate’s Degree at county, SAT or ACT scores may be needed. Grades and high school courses completed can be considered for certain majors

All of the other stuff! Should be done before returning senior year Resume Essays (summer) Request 2 Letters of Recommendation IN PERSON

SENIOR YEAR!!! Students should arrive on the first day of school with their plan finalized! Decision should be made about pathway: college, work, military, tech school, etc. If applying to higher education: list of schools applying to is set

Types of Application Deadlines Early Decision (E.D) May apply to 1 only as E.D. Completely binding Must submit without knowing financial aid Increases acceptance chance Early Action May send more than 1 of these Not binding Typical deadline Nov. 1st Send in early – find out early Regular Application Most are online, few paper Deadlines vary so watch carefully! All apps should be completed by December 15th. Rolling Admissions First come - first served They accept applicants as they review them. Once quota is reached they are done. Complete these first!

What is the Common Application? Over 400 colleges use this one application- some use only the common application Create an account using “college only” email This college application can be completed once and then submitted to multiple colleges If you see a monitor symbol with “CA” in Naviance it is a common app school. Once you enter your common app user ID and password into Naviance and add the college to the common application- the two programs will speak to each other. All forms for teachers and counselors will be automatically be provided to them.

How does it all work?

Senior Year In early September students will have a group training with guidance counselors where they will be trained on the final use of Naviance and the application submission process In mid-September through mid-October students will have a meeting with their guidance counselor where they will be asked for their plan and/or list of schools to which they are applying At this meeting they review the student’s transcript and GPA. Counselors will also review the Colleges I Am Applying to, Transcript Requests, and Letter of Recommendation request sections of Naviance Students are then ready to complete the application process- applications should be completed by Winter break for best chances of an acceptance Starting October 1st begin the financial aid process by filling out the FAFSA online at www. fafsa.ed.gov

IMPORTANT TIPS Use only 1 email address for everything! Students must have their plan in place by the 1st day of school senior year! Student does everything- parents only help them! Watch deadlines! Priority schools applied to by Thanksgiving, all others before Winter break Follow provided calendar to stay on track