Guidance Senior Parent College Night “ The College Application Workshop” Xavier High School September 22,

Welcome  Goals of Meeting – understanding of the post high school/college process  Student Responsibility  Counselor’s role in the process  Where Seniors are in the process  Appointments  Communication  Realistic Decisions  Deadline Awareness 2

When to apply to college?  Transcript Permission/Requests/Deadlines Deadlines range from early November - March Apply early: competitive state universities or schools with rolling admissions. Oct – Jan Students need to know the admissions policies and deadlines for the schools to which they are applying! Early decision/action = early deadlines 3

Deciding Which Colleges to Apply  Seniors sign up in Naviance for College Rep visits under Colleges tab/view all college visits.  Visit colleges they are interested in; many have open houses on Saturdays or Sundays.  Meet with your son’s counselor.  Talk with your son!  Attend College Fairs in area such as:  Wolcott High School College Fair on 6-7:30pm  Watch for East Lyme, and HK College Fairs this fall 4

Who’s Responsibility? 5 Student Send SAT/ACT scores Submit applications Draft/Edit/Revise College essay Request letter(s) of rec Request transcripts Apply for scholarships Parents Pay for SAT/ACT scores Pay for applications Complete CSS Profile (some colleges require) Complete FAFSA Check for work- based scholarship Xavier Guidance Send transcript/Q1 grades/mid-year grades Send letter(s) of recommendation Send school profile Send teacher and counselor Common App forms. Send final Transcript

Three sites working together Your College File College Board SATs Common Application College Application Naviance Family Connection Transcript & Rec. Letters 6

The College Board  Register to take the SATs:  Xavier’s CEEB Code: Request that College Board send official SAT scores to each college your son will be applying  You have up to 9 days after taking the SAT test to direct your scores to 4 colleges for no additional cost, after that College Board charges $11.25 per college!  It can take up to three weeks for colleges to receive the scores, so send them early!  Remember that Xavier cannot send official SATs to colleges. 7 Test Dates: October 3 rd (not at Xavier) November 7 th Xavier) December 5 th Xavier)

What is the “Common Application?”  Fill out the Common App online and save time; instead of filling out applications for each college, just do it once! (One application to apply to several schools)  Over600 colleges accept it  Reading directions is critical to success  Begin the Common App in September – you only need to choose one college you’re interested in at first; you can add more later Begin the app by going to: 8

Logging in Click here 9

Logging in 10 Select Student

Tabs help students navigate through the application to complete various tasks.

New school lookup makes finding a high school much easier.

13

14

16

18

19

Testing page is driven by what a student wishes to report.

Activities page remains largely unchanged.

Up and down arrows let students rearrange the order of their activities

23

27

29

30

31

32

Why you really need Naviance! To see college visits and sign up for them To view scholarships that are available To research colleges To add colleges to your apply list To request transcripts be sent to colleges To fill out Guidance surveys To review application deadlines To check the status of teacher rec letters To check for new messages from counselors or Mrs. Wyzykowski To review college application status; have they been sent? To review scatter grams and find appropriate colleges To view college stats based on Xavier Students To help you get a handle on the entire application process 33

Family Connection/Naviance  Your son should be actively working on Naviance, researching college and careers.  Remember as your son adds schools to his Naviance list make sure they are listed as Early Action, Early Decision or Regular, so that the due dates are correctly displayed.  Have your son complete the teacher and counselor survey resume forms in Naviance. They can not write a great rec on your son’s behalf without his input! 34

Surveys can be found under about me tab, listed on left hand side of screen.

37

The Guidance Office We need to know your son’s plans!  They need to tell Mrs. Wyzykowski where they are planning on applying. If they don’t tell her, transcripts and rec letters won’t be sent!  Know if they are applying early action (non- binding), early decision (binding) or regular and what the due dates are for each of the schools.  Please give guidance a three week notice to gather and submit your son’s information to colleges. 38

Teacher Letters of Rec  Who is writing your sons letter of rec?  Did he tell Mrs.Wyzykowski?  Teachers upload their letter of rec & the common app forms: then once all information is collected, the file is sent through Naviance to the colleges by guidance.  Same procedure for guidance counselor recs and forms. No need to ask a counselor for a letter of rec as one will be written for each senior by their counselor. 39

Remember  Have a counselor review the Common App before student pushes the SEND button!  Ask an English teacher to review the essay before submitting it!  Do not list counselor/teacher s in the Common App forms.  If your son has not asked a teacher for a rec yet, please have him do so ASAP! 40

The Transcript  Check to make sure your son’s birthday is correct  Only awards will be listed on the transcript  Activities will not be on your son’s transcript, they will be listed on the application.  Importance of 7 th and 8 th semester Check over for any errors on the transcript 41

Scholarships  Naviance  Collegeboard.org  Princetonreview.com  Fastweb.com  Local scholarships  Be aware of deadlines 42

Financial Aid  What is the FAFSA?  What is the CSS Profile? Financial Aid Night at Mercy on Oct. 7 6:30pm 43

NCAA Xavier is hosting the NCAA workshop on Thursday, October 15 th at 6:30pm  NCAA: register online at if your son is interested in playing Div I or II athletics in college.  Request an official transcript be sent to NCAA 44

Contact Information  Call us:      Visit our website: (Under parent tab, under Guidance) 45