1. Freshmen Class College Advisements
September 2018
Mr. Lopez
Lead Counselor

2. Table of Contents Remind 101 – Sign up! Mr. Lopez VS Ms. Trevino
Creating your College list!
Letters of Recommendation (LOR’s)
College Visits – On/Off Campus
GPA / Ranks / Transcripts
Resume
Testing
Your “School”
EC’s
Summer EC’s
Making it at IB!

3. Juggling Act Freshmen Year College? MYP Program! (A days – B days)
Personal Project?
Beefcake ?!?
Powder Puff ?!?
I-Ball?!?
And everything else…

4. REMIND 101 Here is how to join! Enter the number 81010
Enter the
Scholarship Reminders!
Summer Programs!
Free food!
College Visits!

5. College VS Academic Counselor
Mr. Lopez = College & Scholarship consultations
As your college counselor, I will be writing, if needed, a letter of recommendation on your behalf.
Summer Internships
College Selections
Resume Building
Everything college and scholarship related
Ms. Trevino = Academic consultations
Course selection
Academic degree plan questions

6. Your “School” You belong to your home school!
Lamar Academy is a building housing two programs!
Indicate your home school when it comes to:
AP/IB exams
Summer Programs
College Applications
You can always “I’m an IB student at Lamar Academy”

7. Testing STAAR Practice SAT (PSAT) – Freshmen – Junior Year
English 1 – Freshmen Year
Algebra 1 – Freshmen Year
Biology – Freshmen Year
English 2 – Sophomore Year
US History – Junior Year
Practice SAT (PSAT) – Freshmen – Junior Year
SAT / ACT – Junior & Senior Year

8. Testing Continued PSAT SAT/ACT
Predicts how you will perform on the official SAT
Officially counts in your 11th grade year.
Why? National Merit Scholarship Competition
DON’T BLOW IT OFF!
Get to know the testing conditions!
Get to know the format of the test!
SAT/ACT
College Entrance Test
One component of your application

9. Letters of Recommendation
As your counselor, I will write an analysis of your character for your college applications. All you have to do is ask.
Most schools will need two letters of recommendation.
I suggest you get your academic teachers to do this.
Know that your recommender can say no!

10. College Application List
Ideally, I like to see students have anywhere between nine to twelve schools. The list is broken up into “Safety” “Target” “Reach” categories.
Likely Schools: Your academic profile far exceeds the quantitative profile of typically admitted students.
Target Schools: Your academic profile falls within the middle quantitative profile of typically admitted students.
Reach Schools: Regardless of your academic profile, the selectiveness of these caliber schools are unpredictable.
Academic Profile: Hard Factors (Test Scores / GPA) & Soft Factors (EC’s / Volunteering / College Campus Factors/ Field of Study)

11. College Visits – On and Off Campus
I highly, highly, highly encourage you to visit colleges!
College Reps visit happen in the College Center!
It allows you to get a feel for the campus and see if it’s a good fit!
Juniors & Seniors get two (2) excused absences for college visits!
Best time to visit colleges are during your time off!
Spring Break
Thanksgiving Break
December break
Summer!

12. Resume
A resume is a living document that highlights who you are and what you have done during your time as a high school student!
Highlighting your IB “ness”
Showcase your MYP Certificate
Showcase your personal project
Highlight your SL’s / HL’s
Highlight your AP courses and challenged exams
Start now! Just get a Microsoft Word Document and just keep a running list of:
What you did.
What organization did you do it with?
How long was the event?

13. EC’s – In School Be involved! If possible, run for office!
Start a club
Get a prospective list of members!
Make your rules for the club!
Get a time table of when you will meet!
Brainstorm ideas on topics and activities!
Get a faculty sponsor!
Get the approval from Ms. Pena!
At the end of the day, be passionate!

14. EC’s – Out of School Everything counts! Be involved and be passionate!
NHI
Scouts
Religious Organizations
Camp Camp
Many More!

15. GPA / RANKS / Transcripts
Grade Point Average (GPA) is on a 100 point scale
Ranked with your home school!
MYP = 10 extra points per semester
AP / DP = 13 extra points per semester
Rank only counts core classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies) – don’t blow off the other classes b/c they appear on your transcript
Transcript is your high school academic history!
Semester & Average is shown

16. Asking for Help! You belong here! Ask your teacher for tutoring!
Know the tutoring hours!
Go to the tutoring club!
Ask your counselors for help!

17. QUESTIONS?
Thank you!