Holliday High School Seniors 2012Your guide to college & career planning for the REAL world!

Senior Contact & Record Release Page

• Plan of action – fill out the senior information sheet & return it to your teacher for an easy 100!

• In order to help you in the best way possible, we need to know which colleges you are interested in & the types of career fields you are looking at so we can locate the right information.

• An authorization of records needs to be signed by you (along with your parent’s signature if you are under 18) in order for the office to send out your transcript.

College bound planner – fall updates

• FALL :• Review your transcript to make sure it is accurate and up to date – check with Mrs. O

if you have any questions• Narrow down your college choices to your top three or four – application fees can add

up!• If you are interested in an apprenticeship program or the military, ask about setting up

an appointment to discuss your options.• Register for ACT/SAT tests if you have not already taken care of this!• Mark the deadlines for applications for admission, financial aid & scholarships –

colleges don’t extend deadlines or accept excuses!• Ask for recommendation letters in the fall – you usually need 2 or 3 from school

(teachers, counselor or principal) & 1 from an employer or community member• Register with NCAA Clearinghouse if you are interested in sports• Build your own resume listing all of your activities, community service , work

experience & awards

College bound planner – spring updates

• SPRING• This is usually the busiest time for scholarship opportunities – make sure

you are keeping up with the deadlines & pay attention to the bulletin board outside my office for scholarship postings.

• FILL OUT THE FAFSA as soon as possible after January 1st 2012 – this is the most important thing you will do for college financial assistance!

• Register for AP tests in the spring, look at information about CLEP tests at the colleges you are looking at & meet with an advisor or admissions representative to make sure you have taken care of everything you need.

• Request your final transcripts to be sent out & make sure to request transcripts from other colleges if you took classes during high school.

ACT/SAT- College Entrance Exams

• If you have NOT taken an ACT or an SAT or if you need to make a better score….register this fall if possible! (Dec. 10th – next ACT/ Nov.3rd* or Dec. 5th next SAT)

• If you have trouble registering for a national ACT/SAT date, contact the college testing office you want to attend and ask about taking a “residual” test.

• Check your TSI exemption status to see if you need to take the ACCUPLACER placement exam. You can be exempt through TAKS scores, or ACT/SAT scores.

ACT test information

• The ACT is designed to test your skill levels in English, math, reading, and science reasoning. On the test, you will have four sections of multiple choice questions for each subject area. ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS on this test! You will also need to register to take the writing section of the test at least once. The total cost is $49.00 for the ACT plus writing. Most colleges are interested in your composite score (combined score) which ranges anywhere from a 1-36. Nearly half of all test takers fall in the 17-23 range.

• YOU have to register for this test on your own at www.actstudent.org - this site has practice test questions & several other resources to help you in your college planning.

SAT test information

• The SAT is designed to test your skill level in math, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. You will also be required to take the writing section every time you take the SAT. The SAT is scored on a scale of 200-800 for each section. A perfect score for all 3 sections – critical reading, math, and writing is a 2400. The national average in each area is usually somewhere between 480-520 in each section.

• YOU have to register for this test on your own at www.collegeboard.com – there are practice test questions & a lot of resources available to help you with college & career plans.

ACCUPLACER – placement exams

• The ACCUPLACER is an exam to test your college readiness in the areas of reading, writing & math. You can register to take this test at Vernon (Century City), MSU or at another college campus. You are exempt from this test for the following:• TAKS score of 2200 in ELA with a 3 or 4 on your essay & a 2200 on

the Math test• ACT score of a 23 or the SAT with a score of 1050 (with at least a 500

in math & reading)• This is a computer based test & you will get your results immediately

after testing. You can retest every 2 weeks. The cost of the test is around $29 or $10 for each test.

• You may also be required to take some other type of placement exam at your college if you entering in certain areas such as engineering.

The application process

• You need to create an account at www.applytexas.org – keep your username & password in a safe place (you might also give it to Mrs. O to keep in your file in case you misplace it)

• Apply Texas makes it easy to create duplicate applications & save you a LOT of time! Almost all of the 2 & 4 year public colleges are listed through apply Texas.

• The Common application is used for around 300 select universities (Tx schools –Rice & SMU)

• Private schools generally have their own applications as well as schools outside of Texas – see Mrs. O if you need help!

The financial aid process

• FAFSA is your friend! Apply after Jan. 1st your senior yr….• Free Application for Federal Student Aid – all grants, federal

loans & work study programs are determined through this application. This application is a fairly easy process if you will prepare ahead of time by gathering the necessary information. You can plan ahead right now by going to the site to see what you will need & get your pin # (your online signature) for both you & your parent. You can also look at the fafsa4caster this fall to get an early indication of what you might qualify for. Go to the website at www.fafsa.ed.gov - NEVER go to fafsa.com because that is a “knock off” website that will charge you a fee & the FAFSA is always FREE!

The scholarship process

• There are a LOT of scholarship resources out there, but YOU have to be the one to take charge in the process!

• Register at www.fastweb.com to fill out a profile & see what scholarships you qualify for – you will get updates frequently in your email – some will be useful & some won’t, but you can make that choice. There are other sites such as www.CollegeForAllTexans.com ; www.finaid.org ; www.schoolsoup.com that will be very helpful.

• I will post scholarships on my board as they come in, but most won’t be until early spring. The BEST scholarship we have locally is the Bingo Kinder award & I should get that information around mid November. The other local scholarships won’t be posted until around spring break.

• Your best scholarship opportunities can be found on the financial aid/scholarship website page of the college you will be attending.

Other useful information

• Important information & links can always be found on the www.hollidayisd.net website – click on high school- & then on the counselor’s corner.

• Overwhelmed about college costs, applications, or just curious to hear from someone else besides Mrs. O?? You can go to a new site at http://youcango.collegeboard.org to see real student stories & learn about your options.

• Registration sites such as www.cappex.com or www.zinch.com allow you to “market” yourself to colleges…you will also find that most colleges have a facebook profile.

Other resources

• If you are interested in taking dual credit/college level courses in the spring you can go to www.txvsn.org to find out what courses will be offered at a discounted price. (Some of the courses will be less than attending Vernon)

• You have 2 college days to use this year – use them wisely! Please make sure to get a sign out sheet a couple of days before you go – we need to keep records of your college days in your file.

• I have some career resources/links on my webpage if you are interested in learning about future job prediction growth, salaries, & education requirements. http://www.bls.gov and http://www.texashotjobs.org (career interest inventory)

Questions??

• Take care of as much as possible this fall because the spring semester is such a busy time!

• If I can help you in any way, please don’t hesitate to come by my office. You can reach me by email at lana.owen@esc9.net or send me a message on facebook.

• Watch out for “senioritis”….it’s a disease that spreads quickly & can rage out of control!!