1. Xavier High School September 8, 2016
Guidance Senior Parent College Night “The College Application Workshop”
Xavier High School
September 8, 2016

2. 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

3. Check over for any errors on 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 7th and 8th semester
Check over for any errors on the transcript

4. Who’s Responsibility? Student Parents Xavier Guidance
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

5. 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.

6. 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.
Teachers are reminded once Mrs.Wyzykowski is informed of the schools they are applying to.
No need to ask counselors for recs, they are done automatically by the counselors.

7. 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:
Watch for East Lyme, and HK College Fairs this fall

8. 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

9. 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!

10. Three sites working together6
Your College File
College Board
SATs
Common Application
College Application
Naviance Family Connection
Transcript &
Rec. Letters
ACTs

11. October 1st (not at Xavier) November 5th (7:00am @ Xavier)
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 $12 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.
Test Dates:
October 1st (not at Xavier)
November 5th Xavier)
December 3rd
Xavier)

12. 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:
Make sure to ONLY have ONE account!!!

13. Logging in
Click here

14. Logging in
Select Student

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

16. New school lookup makes finding a high school much easier.

18. 09/2013
05/21/2017

22. 204

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

24. Activities page remains largely unchanged.

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

26. Essay
Questions

29. Once schools are added to common app and common app is matched to your Naviance account, Naviance will automatically be synced with the schools listed in common app.

36. 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!

37. 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

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

41. Scholarships Naviance Collegeboard.org Princetonreview.com Fastweb.com
Local scholarships
Be aware of deadlines
Start coming in late winter early spring right through graduation!

42. Financial Aid Night at Xavier on Sept. 26th
What is the FAFSA?
What is the CSS Profile?
Financial Aid Night at Xavier on Sept. 26th
@ 6:30pm

43. Mercy is hosting the NCAA workshop on October 5th at 7pm
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 45
Call us:
Visit our website:
(Under parent tab, under Guidance)