Freshmen Class College Advisements September 2018 Mr. Lopez Lead Counselor

Table of Contents Remind 101 – Sign up! Mr. Lopez VS Ms. Trevino Creating your College list! Letters of Recommendation (LOR’s) College Visits – On/Off Campus GPA / Ranks / Transcripts Resume Testing Your “School” EC’s Summer EC’s Making it at IB!

Juggling Act Freshmen Year College? MYP Program! (A days – B days) Personal Project? Beefcake ?!? Powder Puff ?!? I-Ball?!? And everything else…

REMIND 101 Here is how to join! Enter the number 81010 Enter the message @938keb Scholarship Reminders! Summer Programs! Free food! College Visits!

College VS Academic Counselor Mr. Lopez = College & Scholarship consultations As your college counselor, I will be writing, if needed, a letter of recommendation on your behalf. Summer Internships College Selections Resume Building Everything college and scholarship related Ms. Trevino = Academic consultations Course selection Academic degree plan questions

Your “School” You belong to your home school! Lamar Academy is a building housing two programs! Indicate your home school when it comes to: AP/IB exams Summer Programs College Applications You can always “I’m an IB student at Lamar Academy”

Testing STAAR Practice SAT (PSAT) – Freshmen – Junior Year English 1 – Freshmen Year Algebra 1 – Freshmen Year Biology – Freshmen Year English 2 – Sophomore Year US History – Junior Year Practice SAT (PSAT) – Freshmen – Junior Year SAT / ACT – Junior & Senior Year

Testing Continued PSAT SAT/ACT Predicts how you will perform on the official SAT Officially counts in your 11th grade year. Why? National Merit Scholarship Competition DON’T BLOW IT OFF! Get to know the testing conditions! Get to know the format of the test! SAT/ACT College Entrance Test One component of your application

Letters of Recommendation As your counselor, I will write an analysis of your character for your college applications. All you have to do is ask. Most schools will need two letters of recommendation. I suggest you get your academic teachers to do this. Know that your recommender can say no!

College Application List Ideally, I like to see students have anywhere between nine to twelve schools. The list is broken up into “Safety” “Target” “Reach” categories. Likely Schools: Your academic profile far exceeds the quantitative profile of typically admitted students. Target Schools: Your academic profile falls within the middle quantitative profile of typically admitted students. Reach Schools: Regardless of your academic profile, the selectiveness of these caliber schools are unpredictable. Academic Profile: Hard Factors (Test Scores / GPA) & Soft Factors (EC’s / Volunteering / College Campus Factors/ Field of Study)

College Visits – On and Off Campus I highly, highly, highly encourage you to visit colleges! College Reps visit happen in the College Center! It allows you to get a feel for the campus and see if it’s a good fit! Juniors & Seniors get two (2) excused absences for college visits! Best time to visit colleges are during your time off! Spring Break Thanksgiving Break December break Summer!

Resume A resume is a living document that highlights who you are and what you have done during your time as a high school student! Highlighting your IB “ness” Showcase your MYP Certificate Showcase your personal project Highlight your SL’s / HL’s Highlight your AP courses and challenged exams Start now! Just get a Microsoft Word Document and just keep a running list of: What you did. What organization did you do it with? How long was the event?

EC’s – In School Be involved! If possible, run for office! Start a club Get a prospective list of members! Make your rules for the club! Get a time table of when you will meet! Brainstorm ideas on topics and activities! Get a faculty sponsor! Get the approval from Ms. Pena! At the end of the day, be passionate!

EC’s – Out of School Everything counts! Be involved and be passionate! NHI Scouts Religious Organizations Camp Camp Many More!

GPA / RANKS / Transcripts Grade Point Average (GPA) is on a 100 point scale Ranked with your home school! MYP = 10 extra points per semester AP / DP = 13 extra points per semester Rank only counts core classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies) – don’t blow off the other classes b/c they appear on your transcript Transcript is your high school academic history! Semester & Average is shown

Asking for Help! You belong here! Ask your teacher for tutoring! Know the tutoring hours! Go to the tutoring club! Ask your counselors for help!

QUESTIONS? Thank you!