NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION COUNSELING 2012 & 2013 National Conferences

What is NACAC?  The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), founded in 1937, is an organization of more than 13,000 professionals from around the world dedicated to serving students as they make choices about pursuing postsecondary education.

What is the Conference Like?  About 5000 professionals on both sides of the application there- counselors from private and public schools, admissions representatives, representatives from organizations like Collegeboard, ACT, etc.  Learning sessions designed to equip every attendee with useful knowledge to help students get connected with higher education.  Massive college fair with reps there to talk with school counselors.

Why Send Someone? 1) It supports the Vision and Mission of North Oconee High School.  Vision- North Oconee will be a nationally recognized high school in academic achievement by ensuring all students receive rigorous, balanced education that will enable them to compete in and contribute to a global society.  Mission- Teach, Inspire, Transform And Nurture Students

Why Send Someone? 2) It equips the guidance staff with information about college admission procedures, trends and limitations. Demonstrated Interest Strategic Enrollment Management Expected Family Contribution Dear Roommate Letter Stealth Applicants College Measures.org

Demonstrated Interest/ Stealth Applicants Demonstrated interest is the culmination of acts that a student performs that lets the college know to what degree a student is interested in attending. Some examples are campus visits, early (binding) applications, visiting the college representatives at regional meetings, at college fairs or in the lunchroom, following the admissions office on facebook/twitter, finding a reason to the admissions representative, writing about specific programs or opportunities that lets the college know the student has done his research.

Demonstrated Interest/ Stealth Applicants Stealth Applicant is an applicant to a college who has never shown any demonstrated interest. Colleges use the numbers of demonstrated interest candidates to help to predict their yield, or how many students that they believe that they will be able to actually enroll in the fall. Stealth applicants make this task a little harder. To help colleges manage this, some have put into place “demonstrated interest” as a part of the criteria of an applicant.

Strategic Enrollment Management This is a practice where colleges define what type of students they are looking to make up an incoming class. These decisions affect financial aid offers. The grants/merit based scholarships are used to lure students into matriculating at the college. It is an underlying current that sometimes is not easy or possible to navigate, but a current that we need to know exisists.

Dear Roommate Letter This is a fantastic pre-writing activity for students to get in touch with who they are before writing an essay that is going to require them to sell themselves in 500 words or less. You have to know the product before you can sell it. Many of our students do not know how to sell themselves in applications or in essays.

Collegemeasures.org A website where you can investigate the overall value of a specific college’s education. This website looks at the average amount of debt that students from a particular college accrue versus the average salary that a graduate can expect. This ought to be a part of the consideration of college choice.

Expected Family Contribution This is the dollar amount that the Financial Aid Office thinks you can afford to pay for your child’s college experience annually. It is generated from completing a FAFSA in January before graduation. Income and other tax-implication aspects are taken into this equation. This dollar figure is minus scholarships (like HOPE), merit-based and needs- based grants, and federally-based subsidized and unsubsidized loans.

Why Send Someone? 3) This conference allows us to step on to campuses outside of the state.

Why Send Someone? 3) This conference allows us to step on to campuses outside of the state.

Why Send Someone? 4) This conference allows your guidance counselors to get to know admissions professionals from around the nation. It makes us better agents who connect students with schools that better fit the needs of the student.

Why Send Someone? 5) Our presence at this event helps to market the reputation of North Oconee to colleges. How? School Profiles, Conversations about programs and students. Fact- We have had more college lunchroom visits this year than in previous years. Colleges are seeing this school as a place that churns out well-prepared students who are desirable to the college.

Why Send Someone? 6) We learn about practices that are successful from other guidance professionals from public and private high schools from around the nation.

Future Plans  Maintain membership in NACAC to maintain the good things we have already experienced.  Attend NACAC Conference in Indianapolis next fall.  Seek the benefits of membership in our regional affiliate, SACAC. This will help us to become more connected with the college representatives from the Southeast.  Send a counselor on the Sweet Tea College tour this summer. (Central and Northern Florida colleges)  Send a counselor to the SACAC Conference in Myrtle Beach this spring break.