Transcript Senior Parent Presentation September 22, 2012

Medford High School
Guidance Department
 Our goal today is to make the stressful college
search & application process easier by highlighting
many of the key elements students & parents will
need to know
 We understand that every student’s needs are
different, and as a department we feel it is our job
to help ALL STUDENTS develop a plan for life after
high school
Student’s Responsibilities
 Involve parents in the conversation about post high school/ college/career
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plans
Research colleges using Collegeboard, Naviance, or any of the other web or
printed resources available
Register and take (or retake) any standardized tests required for
admission
Make an appointment to speak with counselor about post high school
plans
Visit potential schools of interest to see if they might be a good fit
Know each school’s deadline and turn in all transcript request at least 2
weeks prior! (Brag sheets need to be submitted at least 1 month prior)
Maintain a rigorous senior year schedule & put forth your best academic
effort (all year long)
Student’s Responsibilities
Use all the online resources available to you
Collegeboard’s college comparison is a great tool!
Student’s Responsibilities
Use all the online resources available to you
Consider student-faculty ratio & freshman year retention rate
Student’s Responsibilities
Know your DEADLINES and whether or not the colleges
on your list accept the Common App.
Student’s Responsibilities
Use Naviance to compare yourself to other Medford high students
who have previously applied to a particular college!
Student’s Responsibilities
Use key features under the college tab in Naviance
“Colleges I’m Thinking About / Colleges I’m Applying To”
Student’s Responsibilities
Use key features under the career tab in Naviance
“Career interest profiler, Personality type, Cluster finder”
Student’s Responsibilities
Visit the Medford high guidance website for news, tips & advice
www.medfordhighguidance.com
Counselor’s Responsibilities
What to expect from your counselor:
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An individual meeting with or without parents present
Interest, support and encouragement
Suggestions for schools to look at (assistance fine-tuning your “list”)
Ongoing Feedback
Guidance through the college application process
Sharing of knowledge and resources with you
Suggestions for further independent college exploration
What not to expect from your counselor:
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Ability to read your mind/Know your thoughts
Keep track of deadlines and appointments for you
Apply to schools or scholarships for you
Write recommendations without notice or your completed Senior Brag Sheet
Financial aid consultation/advise (we ask that you seek outside experts or this)
Parent’s Responsibilities
What parents can do to help:
 Foster an open and ongoing dialog with your child about what they
envision for their future
 Be honest and realistic with your child about any financial concerns that
may affect their college search or application process
 As much as possible, try to let your child take the lead
 Pick a time and place to bring up the “college” topic, (maybe once per week
over coffee @ Starbucks, or at Sunday dinner, etc…)
 Realize that for many teens, every day may feel too often to be talking
about college or their “future”
What parents should not be doing:
 Applying to colleges ON BEHALF of your son or daughter
 Writing application essays FOR your child
 Visiting potential colleges solo, without your child present
 Calling up admission offices to “explain” away a poor grade your child
recently received
Class of 2014
Graduation Requirements
 112 credits minimum
 Required courses: 4 English, 3 Math,
3 Social Studies, 3 Science, 4 Wellness, 1 Fine Art
 MCAS (English, Math, and Science)
 60 Hours of Community Service (or 15 hours for
each year enrolled at MHS)
4 Year College Requirements
 4 years of English
 3-4 years of Math (through at least Algebra II)
 3-4 years of Social Studies
 3-4 years of Science (2 years of lab sciences)
 2-4 years of the same foreign language
 MCAS (ELA, Math, & Science)
 As you can see the MHS graduation requirements are
closely aligned with most 4 year college requirements.
Post High School Options
 4 year colleges or universities
 2 year colleges
 2 + 2 colleges
 Technical colleges
 Military Academy
 Military Service (www.military.com)
 Post Grad Year
 Gap or Service Year
 Employment
Community College
 The price is right
 Students often take the same courses as they would at
a 4 year college
 Do not require SAT/ACT
 Do not usually require letters of recommendation
 Students are able to transfer to 4 year colleges after 1 or
2 years
 Some community colleges have agreements with the
state colleges (MassTransfer Program)
 No housing on campus
Mass Transfer Program
 MassTransfer has two main purposes:
 Provide community college students who complete associate degrees
(consisting of at least 60 college-level credits) and enroll in linked
MassTransfer programs with the full transfer of credit, guaranteed
admission, and a tuition discount (each based on final GPA)
 Provide any student in the Massachusetts public higher education
system who completes the MassTransfer Block (consisting of 34
college-level credits) with the benefit of satisfying the general
education/distribution/core requirements at any other public higher
education institution (with the receiving institution able to add no
more than six additional credits or two courses).
 For more information please visit: http://www.mass.edu/masstransfer/
UMass System & MA State Colleges
 UMass Amherst
 Bridgewater State
 UMass Boston
 Fitchburg State
 UMass Dartmouth
 Framingham State
 Umass Lowell
 Salem State
 Westfield State
 Worcester State
 Mass Art
 Mass College of Liberal
Arts (MCLA)
 Mass Maritime Academy
Massachusetts State Schools
Minimum Admission Standards/ Sliding Scale
UMass System
GPA
 2.51-2.99
 2.41-2.50
 2.31-2.40
 2.21-2.30
 2.11-2.20
 2.00-2.10
SAT / ACT
950/ 20
990/ 21
1030/22
1070/23
1110/24
1150/25
State Colleges
 GPA
 2.51-2.99
 2.41-2.50
 2.31-2.40
 2.21-2.30
 2.11-2.20
 2.00-2.10
SAT / ACT
920 / 19
960 / 20
1000 / 21
1040 / 22
1080 / 23
1120 / 24
This is simply the sliding scale. However, with college admissions getting more
competitive every year, most of public 4 year school in the Massachusetts system are
looking for around a 3.0 GPA and around a 1000-1100 combined SAT (math & verbal).
Umass Amherst rarely takes a student with a GPA below a 3.5 (regardless of SAT scores).
College Admissions Exams
SAT: @ collegeboard.com
 Duration: 3 hrs. 35 mins.
 Cost: $51.00
 Three sections: Critical Reading, Math and Writing (total possible score-2400)
 Lose ¼ of a point for any incorrect answers (random guessing will likely lower your score!)
SAT Subject Area Tests: @ collegeboard.com
 Duration: 1 hr.
 Cost: $24.50 (basic registration fee), $13.00 (per test fee), $24.00 (per language test w/ listening)
 Subjects include: English Lit., Bio., Chem., Math, History, Foreign Langs. (full list on website)
ACT: @ actstudent.org
 Duration: 3 hrs. 30 mins.
 Cost: $36.50 or $52.50 with writing
 Four sections: English, Math, Reading and Science Reasoning (total possible score-36)
 No points deducted for incorrect answers (So go ahead and answer ALL questions!)
TOEFL(Test of English as a Foreign Language): @ ets.org/toefl - $183
*Any student who has taken an ELL class in 9-12th grade, please see guidance counselor for
TOEFL info packet
Scores MUST be sent to colleges directly from testing agency
(www.collegeboard.com or www.act.org)
Some schools no longer require admissions tests, see list @ www.fairtest.org/university/optional
Admission Factors Colleges Consider
 GPA and Class Rank
 SAT/ACT scores
 Rigor of secondary school record (transcript)
 Senior year academic performance
 Extracurricular activities/ Community Service
 College essay
 Recommendations
 Interview (if applicable)
 “Demonstrated Interest”
Admission Categories
 REACH – The student’s GPA and SAT / ACT scores fall below
the historical averages for the college and / or past MHS
students
 MATCH– The student’s GPA and SAT / ACT scores fall within
the historical averages for the college and / or past MHS
students
 HIGHLY LIKELY – The student’s GPA and SAT / ACT scores
fall above the historical averages for the college and / or
past MHS students
Reach Schools
Everyone’s Reach
 The 8 IVY League schools:
Harvard, Dartmouth,
Princeton, Yale, Brown,
Columbia, UPenn, Cornell,
 + MIT, Stanford, John
Hopkins, Georgetown,
Swarthmore, Duke, UC
Berkeley, Olin, Amherst
 (not a complete list)
Almost Everyone’s Reach
 Boston College, Williams,
Middlebury,
 Brandeis, Colby, Hamilton,
Tufts, Vassar,
 Connecticut College,
Wesleyan, NYU,
Northwestern, Rice,
Vanderbilt, Colgate
(not a complete list)
 There are many more qualified applicants than there are spaces.
Being an average to above-average candidate is no guarantee!
Admissions Options
 Regular Decision: This is the most common admission option. It means that you
turn in your application by the college’s deadline, and it lets you know by a
specified date if you have been admitted or not.
 Early Action: With Early Action, you send in your application earlier, and the
college sends you its decision earlier. Make sure you read the instructions from
each college carefully because some colleges have additional restrictions on their
early action programs. Academically strong students will often apply to one Early
Action school.
 Early Decision: You can apply Early Decision to only one college. You are
committing yourself to going to a particular school if you decide to apply Early
Decision and are accepted (the bind can only be broken for proven financial
hardship). You should only apply Early Decision if you have a clear idea of your
first-choice college. If you are looking at several colleges and don't want to limit
your choices yet, Early Decision is not for you.
 Rolling Admissions: There is no deadline for this option. Schools review and
make decisions on applications as they receive them.
Application Deadlines
 Early Decision / Early Action -
Usually Nov 1 or Nov 15
 Regular Admission Often Jan 1st, but can be as early as Nov 30 or Dec 1st
 Rolling Admission Anytime - The earlier, the better
 Application materials must be received by guidance
department 2 weeks prior to application deadline
Admissions officers look for students who…
 Think globally, and act locally
 Challenged themselves academically during high school
 Can handle the academic workload of college
 Will contribute to college life (in a positive way)
 Demonstrate the qualities of a well-rounded student
 Think clearly, logically, creatively, and/or abstractly
New guidelines for the
common application essay
 Same as before: You must submit only one essay
 New this year:
Essay must be no more than 650 words. The word limit was just 500
words last year, but it wasn’t strictly enforced. This year if your essay
is OVER 650 words, you will not be allowed to submit it.
2) There is now a 250 word limit. The system won’t accept anything
shorter than that.
3) The writing prompts have changed, “topic of your choice” is no longer
an option.
1)
Essay Writing Tips
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Admissions officers read 50 essays a day. Make yours stand out!!!
Avoid clichés
Be honest
Watch your tone (tell your story, in your voice)
Write about something familiar to you / something you are
passionate about
 Personalize your essay
 Write Authentically
 Read. Re-read. Ask an English teacher or your counselor to
proofread and give constructive criticism.
Considerations for Special Education
Students
 UMass/State Colleges permit submitting IEP/Testing in lieu
of SAT/ACT
 Search for colleges that provide a Learning/Support Center
or Tutoring in addition to accommodations
 Community Colleges have special programs
 MHS Guidance only submits IEP/Testing information when
requested by the students due to confidentiality
Financial Aid
 Financial Aid Night – Wednesday, Nov. 20th @ 7:00pm
~Presented by MEFA (Massachusetts Educational Financing
Authority) Website: www.mefa.org
 FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid
Available January 1st @ http://www.fafsa.ed.gov
 CSS Profile - College Scholarship Service Profile- Some
private schools require this
 Funding Your Education – See the list of websites in your
packet
Scholarships
 Start at MHS
 Community scholarship applications are available
starting in January
 All scholarships will be posted in Naviance and updated
frequently
 Hard copies will also be available in the guidance office
 Look Local- place of employment, community
organization/affiliation, church, etc.
 Check with your colleges
 See websites in your packet
John & Abigail Adams Scholarship
 Provides a tuition waiver for up to eight semesters of undergraduate education
at a Massachusetts state college or university. The scholarship covers tuition
only; fees and room and board are not included.
 Students will receive this letter by mail in the fall of their senior year. This letter
will need to be presented to college after you are accepted.
 In order to use the scholarship, a student must:
 be accepted at a Massachusetts public college or university;
 complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA);
 send the Adams Scholarship award letter to the financial aid or bursars office at the
college or university that he or she plans to attend; and enroll as a full-time student.
 To continue receiving the Adams Scholarship, a student must
 continue to enroll full-time at a public higher education institution;
 maintain a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 on all college work; and
 annually complete the FAFSA.
Student Athletes – NCAA
(Division I & II)
 Must complete NCAA Clearinghouse Eligibility Form
 Must send NCAA your SAT or ACT scores and a $20 fee
 Must add NCAA to your Transcript Request Form (to
guarantee they receive an official transcript)
 Minimum 2.0 GPA required
 Should be in contact with coaches
1) Read Through Entire Packet
 Important to know MHS Process
 We help you simplify applying to college!
2) Create Two Accounts!
Common
App
Naviance
Account for
STUDENTS to send
their college
applications
Account for MHS
Staff to send the
application materials
Student completes
on his/her own
Student adds
schools, adds
teachers, signs
FERPA waiver, then
MHS Staff completes
Naviance just created a great new
video tutorial of this process!
 Link: https://vimeo.com/73384070
 Create Account
 Remember Your Username & Password! Write them down in your
folder.
 Most colleges use the CommonApp, but if one doesn’t, make sure
you apply on that college’s individual website
NAVIANCE
 Add ALL your colleges to this list, even if they don’t accept the
CommonApp. This is your way of informing us where you are
applying
 Add your teachers writing your letters of recommendation
3) Request Supplemental
Information
 Request Letters of Recommendation
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Give your brag sheet to teachers & counselors
Please allow at least 4 WEEKS
Ask teachers if they will do this electronically or if they need
stamped envelopes & CommonApp forms
 Request online that your SAT/ACT scores be sent
directly to your colleges. Please note: This can take 6-8
weeks!
4) Meet With Your Counselor
 Make an appointment with your counselor
 September/October appointments for Early
Action/Early Decision
 November/December for Regular Decision
 Plan on bringing your parents if possible
 Come Prepared- Bring a list of colleges, your
college folder and all other materials you have
5) Turn in your Transcript
Request Form
 Fill out your transcript request form completely with
all your colleges
 Have your counselor sign the finished form
 Turn in the form to Ms. Sousa with your $15 fee
 Forms must be turned in 2 weeks before deadline
6) Submit Your Application
 Through the CommonApp or the college’s
website, submit your applications
 Be careful of deadlines!
 Review your application checklist
 Double check that your schools have received
all materials
 CELEBRATE!!!
REVIEW
1) Read the college packet
2) Create both the CommonApp & Naviance Accounts,
3)
4)
5)
6)
and complete needed steps (as explained in packet)
Request letters of recommendation & SAT/ACT
scores through Collegeboard
Meet with your counselor
Turn in your transcript request form
Submit your application
Thank you!
 Questions?
 Review the step-by-step instructions in your packet! It’s
fool proof 
 Would you like more information?
 Come Tuesday, Sept. 17th to the Senior Parent College
Presentation held in the Caron Theater at 7pm
 Forms, presentations, announcements, college resources
& links will be available at
www.medfordhighguidance.com
 This presentation will also soon be available online