1. Senior/Junior Year Information Session WELCOME!!!! Atlantic County Institute of Technology September 2014

2. Guidance Counselors Separated by LAST Names… A – Ec Mr. Anthony Ed – Le Miss Ragone Li – Re Miss Cappelluti Ri – Z Mrs. Exadaktilos – Currently Mrs. Eubanks Case Manager: Ms. Rinier

3. Functions of the Guidance Office Information Updates: Address Change New Phone Number Attendance Notes Doctor notes We have a wealth of information to help you Career and College Plans PSAT/SAT/ACT We have what you need! Working Papers Agenda Books ($5) New IDs ($2)

4. How to Schedule an appointment with your Guidance Counselor: ATLANTIC COUNTY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GUIDANCE APPOINTMENT REQUEST Student’s Name:________________________________ Counselor:________________________________________ REASON FOR REQUEST:CLASS SCHEDULE: (indicate teacher and room #) Academic _____ College _____Period 1 ________________________________________________ Scholarship ______ Schedule ______Period 2 _________________________________________________ Personal _____ Other ______Period 3 _________________________________________________ Lunch ABCD (please circle) 11:02-11:30 11:31-11:59 12:00-12:28 12:29-12:57 Period 4 _______________________________________________ Date:___________________________________ Student Signature:__________________________ *Upon receipt of this request, your guidance counselor will schedule an individual appointment in a timely manner.

5. Progress Reports & Reports Cards 1 st Semester 1 st Quarter Progress Report Oct. 3 rd 1 st Marking Period Report Card Nov. 10 th 2 nd Quarter Progress Report Dec. 16 th 2 nd Marking Period Report Card Jan. 28 th 2 nd Semester 3 rd Quarter Progress Report March 4 th 3 rd Marking Period Report Card April 14 th 4 th Quarter Progress Report May 15 th 4 th Marking Period Report Card June 17 th

6. Harassment Intimidation Bullying Physical Bullying: Harm to another’s body or property Emotional Bullying Harm to another’s self-esteem or feeling of safety Social Bullying Harm to another’s group acceptance Cyber Bulling Harm to another via all technological devices (texting, FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) Behavior: On AND Off Campus you are still an ACIT Red Hawk!

7. Junior Year Action Plan September Get involved with extracurricular activities! Start exploring college and careers Visit websites like www.collegeboard.orgwww.collegeboard.org or www.careersandcolleges.com.www.careersandcolleges.com October & November Attend College Fairs: NATIONAL COLLEGE FAIR November 13, 2014 Atlantic City Convention Center 9:00-12:00 & 6:00-8:30 Visit: www.nacacnet.org/atlantic-citywww.nacacnet.org/atlantic-city Concentrate on classes and improve your grades. Start your search for colleges that match your interests. December Review your academic record and PSAT scores with your Guidance Counselor. Decide on how you might improve your standardized test scores.

8. Junior Year Action Plan continued… January Start preparing for the spring SATs or ACTs. Free study aids are available in the Media Center, Guidance Office as well as online. See your counselor to determine eligibility for Fee Waivers. February If possible, schedule campus visits now for the spring when colleges are still in session. (One college visit will be excused per semester with school documentation. Discuss college choices with your school counselor and evaluate how realistic your choices are. March Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) *Dates TBA* April Narrow your college choices to five to eight schools & request admission and financial aid information from the colleges that interest you. May Do volunteer work or an internship this summer. It will give substance to your resume and may provide experiences for your college application essay.

9. Senior Year Action Plan September Continue exploring colleges and careers. Start looking over college applications by going to the school’s website or do a college search on www.collegeboard.org or www.careersandcolleges.comwww.collegeboard.org www.careersandcolleges.com Register to take (re-take) the SAT or ACT. Watch out for deadlines. (See guidance to see if you are eligible for a fee waiver). 1 st and 2 nd marking period grades are important-colleges WILL ask for them! Collect application materials and keep careful track of due dates. Start working on your essay and resume. October Need to pass or take the HSPA? Fall HSPA will be Oct 7 th, 8 th, & 9 th Take care of college application basics: Contact teachers for recommendations, make sure your transcript is accurate, and continue working on your college essay. Visit colleges in which you are interested & finalize your college choices (One college visit will be excused per semester with documentation from the school). Consider using the Common Application at www.commonapp.orgwww.commonapp.org November Attend College Fairs: **NATIONAL COLLEGE FAIR- November 13, 2014 Atlantic City Convention Center 9:00-12:00 & 6:00-8:30 Visit: www.nacacnet.org/atlantic-citywww.nacacnet.org/atlantic-city Talk to CIE coordinators Mrs. DeMaio (gdemaio@acitech.org) if you are interested in earning credits through work experience.gdemaio@acitech.org

10. Senior Year Action Plan continued… December Complete ALL applications and submit them on time. Do not forget to enclose your application fee or fee waiver (check with guidance for fee waiver eligibility). Make sure you have a copy of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) worksheet. Visit www.fafsa.ed.gov for worksheet and to apply for a PIN # (which both you and your parents will need).www.fafsa.ed.gov Sign up in Guidance for the ACCC Jumpstart program which helps seniors apply, take the placement test, and register for courses all before they graduate! January Submit the FAFSA on or after January 1 st. February If you applied for aid on January 1 st, you should receive a Student Aid Report (SAR), noting eligibility for aid. March Continue to search for scholarship $$ HSPA – March 3 rd, 4 th and 5 th April Look for admission notices in the mail or via e-mail and review financial aid packages. May Decide which college you will attend, notify all other colleges of your decision. Send required deposit to the school of your choice. June Make sure your counselor knows where to send your final transcript and proof of graduation.

11. SAT DATES www.collegeboard.org CEEB Code: 310780 www.collegeboard.org Test DateRegular RegistrationLate Registration October 11September 12September 30 November 8October 9October 28 December 6November 6November 24 January 24December 29January 13 March 14February 13March 3 May 2April 6April 21 June 6May 8May 27

12. ACT DATES www.act.org CEEB Code: 310780 www.act.org Test DateRegular RegistrationLate Registration September 13August 8August 9-Aug 22 October 25September 19September 20-Oct 3 December 13November 7November 8-21 February 7January 9January 10-16 April 18March 13March 14-27 June 13May 8May 9-22

13. Prepare for the SAT! SAT BOOT CAMP!! Free sessions to help you prepare to take the SAT by reviewing test taking strategies October 6 th – 10 th after school November 3 rd & 4 th after school December 1 st - 5 th after school January 17 th 9:00 am-2:00 pm March 7 th 9:00 am-2:00pm

14. College Open House links New Jersey College Open Houses link: http://njsca.org/content/resources-links/college-open- houses http://njsca.org/content/resources-links/college-open- houses Pennsylvania College Open Houses link: http://njsca.org/content/pa-college-open-houses Delaware, Maryland, New York and Virginia College Open Houses link: http://njsca.org/content/de-md-ny-va-open-houses

15. Searching for Colleges Think about geographical location, climate, size/population of school, class size/student-to- professor ratio, cost, campus life, and extracurricular activities. Use college guidebooks or College Matchmaker at www.collegeboard.org to narrow down your searches. Ask your friends in college or recently graduated how they made their decision and if they would do anything differently.www.collegeboard.org Colleges first look at your academic record. Then colleges also look at involvement/leadership in clubs & community services, extracurricular activities, & special talents. They look to enroll a diverse class by reviewing ethnic background, urban/rural experiences, gender, and first- generation college students.

16. The Common Application www.commonapp.org www.commonapp.org What is it? The Common application is an organization that serves students and member institutions by providing an admission application that students complete ONCE and can submit to any of the over 500 member colleges and universities. Why Use It? Once completed online, it is sent to any number of participating colleges. This allows you to spend less time on the busywork of applying for admission, and more time on what is really important: college research, visits, essay writing, and senior year course work. Is it widely used? YES!! Last year almost 2.5 MILLION applications were submitted via the Common Application online Is it treated fairly?: YES!!! All 500 members fully support its use, and all give equal consideration to the Common Application and the college’s own form. When you create an account www.commonapp.org, you must first indicate what high school you attend. Once this information has been saved, you can access a “School Forms” section of the Common App where teachers and counselors can be identified. By adding a teacher or counselor to the list of school officials (along with their email), an email is triggered to the teacher/counselor which lets them know that you require them to submit either a letter of recommendation, transcript, etc. You are then able to track the progress of your various teachers and counselors. www.commonapp.org

17. FAFSA The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the financial aid application form that ALL students should complete in order to apply for federal and state student grants, loans, and work-study. The FAFSA cannot be completed until January 1 st of your senior year. You can complete, submit, and track your application using FAFSA on the web at www.fafsa.ed.gov. This is the ONLY way to apply for federal aid.www.fafsa.ed.gov Prior to January 1 st visit http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1314/pdf/fafsaws13c.pdf for a FAFSA worksheet that you can use to write down notes to help you easily complete your FAFSA anytime after January 1, 2015. http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1314/pdf/fafsaws13c.pdf This Worksheet is optional and should only be completed if you plan to use FAFSA on the Web. Sections in purple are for parent information. This Worksheet does not include all the questions from the FAFSA. The questions that are included are ordered as they appear on FAFSA on the Web. When you are online you may be able to skip some questions based on your answers to earlier questions. Seniors will have a FAFSA presentation that goes into more detail in December 2014. For now, be sure to apply for a PIN for both you and your parents, which is count as your electronic signature.

18. Scholarships Visit www.acitech.org for our 2014-2015 scholarship list.www.acitech.org Additional scholarship search engines are available there as well.

19. Finally—take a breath and get ready for an exciting and busy 2 years!!!! Thank you