1. College Application Process and Post-High School Planning

2. Applying ● Apply to colleges early in your senior year
(September, October, November for priority admission; this will also make the financial aid application process smoother).
UW Madison’s early action application deadline is Nov. 1. If you apply under early action, you will be notified of your admission decision by the end of January.

3. UW System Schools
You can apply to all UW schools at apply.wisconsin.edu. Applications for other schools can be found on their websites.
If you use apply.wisconsin.edu, you can apply to more than one UW school using the same application.

4. Preparing to fill out the application
● You will be asked to report your involvement in the following:
-Extracurricular activities
-Community and/or volunteer activities
-Honors/awards earned and leadership positions held
-Employment
*Be specific with position held, hours spent, length of time involved. You do not have to document the hours—you are expected to report this information honestly.
Most colleges require an application fee.
(Application fee waivers are available to those who qualify-see your counselor).

5. Application Essays
Most colleges will have at least one essay prompt in their application.
A couple of examples:
“Consider something in your daily life that you think goes unnoticed, and write about why it’s important to you.” (max. 650 words)
“Tell us about your academic and personal achievements. What have you learned from your successes and/or challenges, and how will this influence you as you pursue your college education?”

6. You can find the essay prompts for all UW schools at:

7. Advice on Essays Be specific with answers Use examples
Be brief (your essay doesn’t need to be lengthy)
Have someone proofread your essay/statement
There are resources in the counseling office to help you write your applicant statement.

8. Things to do after applying:
Send your official high school transcript. Go to parchment.com, create an account, and request to have your transcript sent. There is a small fee associated with this service. (Fee waivers are available for those who qualify).
Send your official ACT scores. You may have sent your scores to individual schools when you took the ACT. If you did, you can omit this step. Your counselor should be able to tell you which schools you sent your ACT scores to.
Go to actstudent.org to send your ACT scores to colleges that have not received your scores.
You will need your ACT ID # from your ACT score report.

9. Letters of Recommendation:
Not all schools require letters of recommendation. Within the UW System, only UW-Madison requires letters (two are recommended).
If you don’t quite meet the admission requirements for a school you’re applying to, it would be in your interest to submit letters of recommendation (one or two is plenty).

10. Many schools, including UW schools, have a recommendation form that you can either invite teachers to access online, or print out for them.
Unless your recommenders use a direct link, please ask them to your letters to your counselor. We will submit your letters with your transcript.
If you need letters of rec to accompany your transcript, please inform your counselor using the Google form that will be shared with you.

11. You can use the last sheet in your packet to help your recommenders learn more about you.
Please give your recommenders plenty of time (two weeks if possible) to write a letter on your behalf.
Please remember to thank the people who write letters of recommendation for you.

12. Madison College (MATC)
Go to their website –
madisoncollege.edu
click on “apply for admission.”
Follow the admissions checklist step-by-step.
The counselors will schedule an MATC application learning lab during advisory in the coming weeks to assist students in filling out applications. Fee waivers will be given to all students who attend that day.

13. Important things to consider for Madison College
Some programs have priority application deadlines. Check the program’s webpage for application deadlines.
Some programs have specific admission requirements, which may include courses taken in high school. Make sure you’ve met those requirements.
Some health care programs require ACT or Accuplacer test scores for admission.

14. Crucial Application Date!
Many technical-degree programs at Madison College have waitlists. To ensure an early placement on a waitlist, students should apply by October 15.

15. Madison College does not require the ACT for admission, but they will use your ACT score for placement purposes.
If your ACT score is low, it may be to your advantage to take MATC’s Accuplacer Test. You can register for it online and take it anytime this school year (students often wait until spring), but check the requirements for your program. You may need to have testing completed by a certain date.

16. MATC requires an official copy of ACT scores from the testing agency
MATC requires an official copy of ACT scores from the testing agency. If you didn’t have your scores sent there when you took the ACT, you’ll need to go online to actstudent.org and order a score report to be sent to MATC.

17. Information about the Accuplacer test is available on MATC’s website
Information about the Accuplacer test is available on MATC’s website. Type “Accuplacer” into their search window on their homepage to learn more about the test and to register.
madisoncollege.edu/course-placement-testing

18. Scholars of Promise Geared toward lower income students
Pays tuition and fees (after financial aid has been applied), for up to 6 consecutive semesters
Provides support through the admissions, financial aid and class enrollment process
Provides advising support throughout MATC career
Offers opportunities for career guidance and readiness, financial literacy, academic support, transfer information and more

19. College Reps
Many college representatives visit our school to meet with interested students. The calendar can be found on the school counseling webpage:
deforestschools.org/schools/high/dahs-school-counseling.cfm
This is a great opportunity to get answers to your questions in a smaller setting and to make an impact on an admissions representative.

20. Military
Representatives from all branches of the military will visit the Guidance Office during the year. Any interested students should feel free to stop by to meet with them or ask questions.
These visits are also posted on the school counseling webpage calendar.

21. College Fairs Wisconsin Education Fair Sun Prairie High School
Thursday, Sept. 20, 9-11 am and 6-8 pm
NACAC National College Fair in Milwaukee
Wisconsin Center
Sunday, Sept. 30, 3-6 pm

22. Financial Aid
Families can start applying for financial aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) beginning on October 1, 2018

23. Financial Aid Night
A financial aid specialist from UW Madison will present an overview of financial aid and the process to apply for financial aid
October date to be determined

24. College Goal Wisconsin
Receive free & professional on-site assistance completing the FAFSA
Oct 17 6:00 p.m. at the middle school
Other dates and locations can be found at:
collegegoalwi.org/

25. Scholarships
A list can be found on the school counseling webpage deforest.k12.wi.us/schools/high/dahs-scholarships.cfm
You can apply for scholarships throughout senior year.

26. Questions
The counselors are happy to meet with you to help you through this process.