College Application Process Apply by Halloween

College Deadlines begin November 1 To take pressure off you and to avoid missing any deadlines, apply by Halloween. FAFSA opens October 1 this year for the first time and this may cause financial aid decisions to come earlier. You want to be in early to get the most money. You will hear early from rolling admissions schools if you apply early. You should send your application even if you haven’t taken an ACT or SAT and then send those scores later.

Research Colleges to Narrow the Search Naviance Supermatch is a great tool for creating a possible list of colleges. If you don’t know your Naviance email or password, stay after this session or see your counselor. Narrow the list to 3-6 schools to which you will apply. At least one safety school A match school A stretch school A state school A private school

College Representative Visits Go on Naviance to sign up for College Rep Visits. You are only supposed to sign up for 3. These often are the people who actually make the decisions about admission so make a good impression. Schools track interest and one way to demonstrate that is by going to the visit at BMHS. Other ways are campus visits and other events they sponsor. You may do 3 college visits this year. Forms are in guidance and must be completed and given to attendance before your visit to count as a field trip.

College and Career Testing Day October 19 Seniors may choose from the following: College visits: go on the school website and reserve your spot now! College Workshop in the Media Center with English teachers. ASVAB military test. Ohio Means Jobs. OGT test-prep. Practice ACT for seniors who have not tested yet.

Where to begin Apply through the college website or on Common App: Usually, you have to create a username and password to start an application. Save that information in your phone or email it to yourself! If you get free/reduced lunch, you probably get fee waivers. See your counselor about the requirements. If you do the Common App, you must go on Naviance and input your username and password to match us to Common App. That way, we can send your transcript and other materials to the schools.

Recommendations Not all schools require them, so check on the college’s website to see if you need one. All Common Application Schools require two and a counselor recommendation. Ask teachers and your counselor at least 2 weeks in advance to write one for you. Provide a resume for them to use and include a major if you know what you plan to study. Add the teachers to your Naviance account so they can upload the recommendation into your account. Thank them with a thank you note!

Once you complete your application: Go on Naviance and add the school to “colleges I am applying to.” Go to the Guidance Office to complete an application folder. Complete a transcript request form for each school. Give the folder to the guidance secretary.

Checking to see if everything is sent: Colleges frequently auto send warnings that your transcript or other materials are not in yet. Check on Naviance to see if they have been sent. If so, contact the admissions office to make sure they have downloaded the materials. Some schools will require mid-year grades, so make a note in your calendar that you need to request another transcript in January! Bring your acceptance letters to your counselor.

Check your emails!!! Most schools will notify you by email of your acceptance and will give you other important information about scholarships and housing… We will use Naviance to email you about programs and opportunities like scholarships. All seniors have gotten at least two emails already.

Scholarships Some schools have separate scholarship applications, so you should make sure you know those deadlines. Naviance already lists several scholarships. Under the scholarship tab, look for active scholarships. There also is a search engine for national scholarships. Actstudent.org, collegboard.org, collegesoup.com and fastweb.com are all sites you may search scholarships. Our local scholarship newsletters will be posted on the Guidance webpage.

Ask for help!!!! If you get stuck or just can’t motivate yourself to begin, see Dr. Ruebensaal.