SENIORS A PPLYING TO C OLLEGE : T HE EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY YOU NEVER KNEW YOU SIGNED UP FOR P RESENTED BY Y OUR C OLLEGE AND C AREER A DVISORS

COLLEGE & CAREER ADVISORS ❑ Ms. Snyder ❑ Students with last names A-K ❑ Mr. Trevino ❑ Students with last names L-Z *Our offices are on the left-hand side of the library

GOALS ❑ AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS PRESENTATION YOU WILL KNOW HOW TO: ❑ Get in touch with your college and career counselor ❑ Access Naviance ❑ 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 → Click on “Naviance” ❑ LOGIN FOR NAVIANCE ❑ Username: Most likely your personal address ❑ Password: If you forgot it, see your college counselor and they will reset it for you ❑ MOST OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION MAY BE ACCESSED THROUGH NAVIANCE.

COLLEGE ADMISSIONS & OTHER TESTING ❑ THE ACT & SAT ARE TAKEN IN HIGH SCHOOL TO HELP DETERMINE COLLEGE ADMISSION ELIGIBILITY ❑ ACT – ❑ SAT – ❑ ASVAB – (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) ❑ YOU CAN FIND MOST OF THIS INFORMATION UNDER THE “COLLEGE” TAB IN NAVIANCE BY CLICKING ON “COLLEGE RESOURCES”

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 ❑ POLITELY ASK TEACHER FOR RECOMMENDATION ❑ BE SENSITIVE TO TEACHER’S HESITANCY ❑ Pick someone you know will write you a strong recommendation ❑ GIVE PLENTY OF NOTICE ❑ At least 3 weeks!!! ❑ TEACHERS SHOULD YOUR REC LETTER TO YOUR COLLEGE COUNSELOR TO BE SENT OUT WITH YOUR TRANSCRIPT ❑ PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST MORE RECOMMENDATIONS THAN YOU NEED –GENERALLY NO MORE THAN 2 LETTERS

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

L ETTERS 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 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 **THE PARENT SURVEY IS ONLY REQUIRED FOR STUDENTS IN NEED OF A COUNSELOR LETTER**

TRANSCRIPTS ❑ FERPA ( Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) ❑ ONCE YOU SUBMIT A FORM, IT WILL BE GOOD FOR THE REMAINDER OF YOUR HIGH SCHOOL CAREER ❑ SEE OUR TRANSCRIPT SECRETARY, MS. HERRING, IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED THIS FORM ❑ Request transcripts through Naviance ❑ NAVIANCE HOMEPAGE→ COLLEGES TAB → TRANSCRIPTS (left-hand margin) APPLY ONLINE AND THEN REQUEST YOUR TRANSCRIPTS!

T RANSCRIPT M AILING WHAT IS MAILED 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 REQUESTED: ❑ Teacher recommendation letters ❑ Counselor recommendation letters

SAT/ACT SCORES ❑ YOU MUST 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

N ARROWING 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??

COLLEGE A PPLICATIONS – 3 WAYS TO APPLY ❑ APPLY TEXAS COMMON APPLICATION ❑ ❑ (NATIONAL) COMMON APPLICATION – “Common App” ❑ ❑ 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.

APPLY T EXAS C OMMON A PPLICATION ❑ ❑ APPLY FOR ADMISSION TO ANY TEXAS PUBLIC UNIVERSITY AND TO PARTICIPATING TEXAS COMMUNITY AND PRIVATE COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES ❑ SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION ESSAYS ONLINE ❑ APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS FROM PARTICIPATING UNIVERSITIES

C OMMON A PPLICATION ❑ ❑ THERE ARE NOW OVER 500 COMMON APPLICATION MEMBERS ❑ THEY REPRESENT AN ENORMOUSLY DIVERSE VARIETY OF INSTITUTIONS – SMALL AND LARGE, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE, COED AND SINGLE SEX, HIGHLY SELECTIVE AND RELATIVELY OPEN ENROLLMENT ❑ ALWAYS CHECK FOR REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

COLLEGE APPLICATIONS – TYPES ❑ REGULAR ADMISSION ❑ ROLLING ADMISSION ❑ EARLY DECISION ❑ BINDING AGREEMENT WITH ONE SCHOOL ❑ EARLY ACTION ❑ NON-BINDING

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 AUTOMATICALLY ADMITS ONLY THE TOP 7% ❑ REMEMBER: BEING AUTOMATICALLY ADMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU WILL BE ADMITTED INTO THE MAJOR OF YOUR CHOICE AT THAT TIME

CAUTION!!! ❑ YOU are responsible for making sure the college receives all required materials before the deadline. You must check your and your application status frequently. This is how a college will communicate with you.

W E ARE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU THROUGH THIS PROCESS ! C OME SEE US ANY TIME !