Guidance Staff

  The College Admission Process:

SENIORS!
Early fall start to fill out your applications to the colleges you are interested in attending. Make sure you are aware of all deadlines. Keep up with your school work.
PARENTS:
You may start to file for Governmental Financial Aid (FAFSA) in January. It is highly recommended that you file as soon as possible, as this will help you be eligible for as much aid as possible.
CLASS students:
To remind all students who are currently working on CLASS (Christian Liberty home school program) subjects, it is your responsibility to stay on top of your work.
* Senior who do not have all of your CLASS work completed AND passed to make up for failed credits will not receive diplomas at graduation.
* Senior who do not have all of your CLASS work completed AND passed to make up for failed credits will not receive diplomas at graduation.

High School Timeline

The average student may not have a clue how to get started planning for college application and admission. The following is a rough outline of the admission process. The college that you may be applying to might have a more, selective process, so it would be best to start earlier.

9th and 10th grade:

Start to brainstorm ideas about what your academic interests are, what could you see yourself doing in 5 or 10 years. It is important to keep your grades up throughout High School. Don’t wait until your senior year to take your studies seriously.

11th grade:

• Register to take the ACT, preferably at the beginning of the year. Registration information is in the guidance office or at www.act.org. Decide whether or not you want to send the scores directly to the schools. If you don’t do as well as you hoped, don’t worry, you can take it more than once.
• Stay on top of your grades.
• Visit your guidance counselor to have any questions answered or any direction that you may need. During your time at school, it is essential that you establish a relationship with your guidance counselor and your teachers. You will need recommendations from them for college and the more specific they can be, the better.
• Look for information concerning college fairs in your area.
• Start to gather a list of schools that you are interested in attending. Contact them either by phone, email or letter and request information. See if there is any tour information or any upcoming sneak preview events. During the spring of your junior year schedule a visit at some of your schools of interest. Contact their admissions office and they will be happy to assist you.

12th grade:

• Be aware of early decision, early enrollment or similar plans and have your application prepared accordingly.
• Continue to take classes that challenge you. Don’t slack off!! Make sure to check with the guidance counselor to see if there are any classes that you need to make up or if there is anything in the way of you graduating on time.
• Continue to gather information about colleges, focus on the ones that interest you and discard information from colleges that do not.
• Visit more schools.
• Around October of your senior year you should start to fill out your applications. Be sure to read the section on writing a successful application. You will need recommendations from the counselor and a teacher.
• If you haven’t already done so, schedule a meeting with your counselor to further discuss your plans.
• After January 1st, fill out your FAFSA form and other federal aid forms you might have.
• Be patient and pray that God will continually reveal His will to you. It may take a while to hear back from the schools that you have applied. Do not be discouraged if you don’t get accepted to your top choice, God is still in control!!!!
• By the end of April you should have decided on which college you want to attend. By May 1st you should inform the colleges you have been accepted to as to your decision or whether or not you will attend there.

How to fill out your college application

1. Obtain a copy of the application by either contacting the school directly, or by visiting their website. If you download an application you may either print it out or send it via email.

2. Make sure that you read the application carefully. Be clear on what is needed to complete the application. Do you need a counselor referral? A teacher referral? Is there an official transcript request form? Does the school that you are applying to require you to send your ACT/SAT score directly from the testing center? If not, your score is recorded on the bottom of your official transcript. Know your deadlines!

3. Complete your application. If you are filling out the form by hand, use black or blue ink, no pencils! Write clearly and legibly. It is probably a good idea to type out your essay.

4. Please ensure that all relevant information is filled out before you give your referrer your paperwork, (name, address, signature etc.). Attach a stamped, addressed envelope so they can mail directly to the college.

5.  Please alert the Guidance Counselor before you send out your application so as ensure that all information arrives as closely together as possible.

Check to see if the colleges you are applying to uses the Common Application. 300 Colleges and Universities now accept the Common Application around the country. Please visit this website to check which Colleges are accepting the Common Application (www.commonapp.org)