College Application Process and Post-High School Planning

Applying ● Apply to colleges early in your senior year (September, October, November for priority admission; this will also make the financial aid application process smoother). UW Madison’s early action application deadline is Nov. 1. If you apply under early action, you will be notified of your admission decision by the end of January.

UW System Schools You can apply to all UW schools at apply.wisconsin.edu. Applications for other schools can be found on their websites. If you use apply.wisconsin.edu, you can apply to more than one UW school using the same application.

Preparing to fill out the application ● You will be asked to report your involvement in the following: -Extracurricular activities -Community and/or volunteer activities -Honors/awards earned and leadership positions held -Employment *Be specific with position held, hours spent, length of time involved Most colleges require an application fee. (Application fee waivers are available to those who qualify).

Application Essays Most colleges will have at least one essay prompt in their application. A couple of examples: “Consider something in your daily life that you think goes unnoticed, and write about why it’s important to you.” (max. 650 words) “Please tell us about the particular life experiences, talents, commitments and/or interests you will bring specifically to our campus that will enrich our community.”

You can find the essay prompts for all UW schools at: https://uwhelp.wisconsin.edu/admission-guidelines/freshman/application-statements/

Advice on Essays Be specific with answers Use examples Be brief (your essay doesn’t need to be lengthy) Have someone proofread your essay/statement There are resources in the counseling office to help you write your applicant statement.

Things to do after applying: Send your official high school transcript. Go to parchment.com, create an account, and request to have your transcript sent. There is a small fee associated with this service. (Fee waivers are available for those who qualify). Send your official ACT or SAT scores. You may have sent your scores to individual schools when you took the ACT. If you did, you can omit this step. Go to actstudent.org to send your ACT scores to colleges that have not received your scores. You will need your ACT ID # from your ACT score report.

Letters of Recommendation: Not all schools require letters of recommendation. Within the UW System, only UW-Madison requires letters (two are recommended). If you don’t quite meet the admission requirements for a school you’re applying to, it would be in your interest to submit letters of recommendation (one or two is plenty).

Many schools, including UW schools, have a recommendation form that you can either invite teachers to access online, or print out for them. Please ask your recommenders to submit your letters to your counselor; they can be printed out or emailed. We will submit your letters with your transcript. Please contact your counselor prior to submitting your transcript request.

You can use the last sheet in your packet to help your recommenders learn more about you. Please give your recommenders plenty of time (two weeks if possible) to write a letter on your behalf. Please remember to thank the people who write letters of recommendation for you.

Madison College (MATC) Go to their website – madisoncollege.edu click on “apply for admission.” Follow the admissions checklist step-by-step. The counselors will schedule an MATC application learning lab during advisory in the coming weeks to assist students in filling out applications. Fee waivers will be given to all students who attend that day.

Important things to consider for Madison College Some programs have priority application deadlines. Check the program’s webpage for application deadlines. Some programs have specific admission requirements, which may include courses taken in high school. Make sure you’ve met those requirements. Some health care programs require ACT or Accuplacer test scores for admission.

Crucial Application Date! Many technical-degree programs at Madison College have waitlists. To ensure an early placement on a waitlist, students should apply by October 15.

Madison College does not require the ACT for admission, but they will use your ACT score for placement purposes. If your ACT score is low, it may be to your advantage to take MATC’s Accuplacer Test. You can register for it online and take it anytime this school year (students often wait until spring), but check the requirements for your program. You may need to have testing completed by a certain date.

MATC requires an official copy of ACT scores from the testing agency MATC requires an official copy of ACT scores from the testing agency. If you didn’t have your scores sent there when you took the ACT, you’ll need to go online to actstudent.org and order a score report to be sent to MATC.

Information about the Accuplacer test is available on MATC’s website Information about the Accuplacer test is available on MATC’s website. Type “Accuplacer” into their search window on their homepage to learn more about the test and to register. madisoncollege.edu/course-placement-testing

Scholars of Promise Geared toward lower income students Pays tuition and fees (after financial aid has been applied), for up to 6 consecutive semesters Provides support through the admissions, financial aid and class enrollment process Provides advising support throughout MATC career Offers opportunities for career guidance and readiness, financial literacy, academic support, transfer information and more

College Reps Many college representatives visit our school to meet with interested students. The calendar can be found on the school counseling webpage: deforestschools.org/schools/high/dahs-school-counseling.cfm This is a great opportunity to get answers to your questions in a smaller setting and to make an impact on an admissions representative.

Military Representatives from all branches of the military will visit the Guidance Office during the year. Any interested students should feel free to stop by to meet with them or ask questions. These visits are also posted on the school counseling webpage calendar.

College Fairs Wisconsin Education Fair Sun Prairie High School Thursday, Sept. 28, 9:00-11:00 am Thursday, Sept. 28, 6:30-8:30 pm NACAC National College Fair in Milwaukee Wisconsin Center Sunday, Oct. 15, 3:00-6:00 pm

Financial Aid Families can start applying for financial aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) beginning on October 1, 2017 https://fafsa.ed.gov/

Financial Aid Night October 17, 6:00pm in the Little Theater A financial aid specialist from UW Madison will be presenting.

College Goal Wisconsin Receive free & professional on-site assistance completing the FAFSA Oct 25th 6:00 p.m. at the middle school Other dates and locations can be found at: collegegoalwi.org/

Scholarships A list can be found on the school counseling webpage deforest.k12.wi.us/schools/high/dahs-scholarships.cfm You can apply for scholarships throughout senior year.

Questions The counselors are happy to meet with you to help you through this process.