Senior Parent Night Post-High School Planning

Testing ACT or SAT scores are required for admission to almost all four-year colleges. MATC does not require ACT or SAT scores. The ACT is preferred by Midwest colleges; the SAT is preferred by East and West Coast colleges. Most or our students take only the ACT.

Most students took the ACT last spring. If your student did not take the ACT then or would like to try for a higher score, he or she should take it this fall.

Upcoming Test Dates: ACT: Oct. 25 Registration Deadline: Sept. 19 SAT: Oct. 11 or Nov. 8 deadline for Oct. 11 test: Sept. 12 deadline for Nov. 8 test: Oct. 9

SAT Subject Tests Very competitive colleges (most often Ivy League schools) may require SAT subject test scores in addition to regular SAT scores. If your student is considering applying to schools of that caliber, have them see their counselor for information.

Test Scores Many colleges will accept ACT scores from the high school as recorded on the transcript. Some colleges require that scores be sent directly from the testing agency. In the UW system, UW- Madison, Green Bay, and La Crosse require that scores be sent from the testing agency.

Your child’s counselor can let you know where his or her test scores have been sent. If you need to have the scores sent from the testing agency, you must do this by going online to actstudent.org.

Tours Touring colleges is a great way to get a feel for the campus and its culture. If your student has not toured any colleges yet, we encourage you to consider doing so. The pink and yellow sheets in your handout have campus tour information for the UW schools and private WI colleges.

Letters of Recommendation Not required by any UW schools except UW-Madison. Required by some but not all of private colleges. Students should consider their odds of getting admitted to the school(s) of their choice when deciding whether or not to submit letters of recommendation.

Typically if a student needs letters of recommendation, he or she should submit 2-3 letters. Colleges often prefer (but not require) that these letters come from academic teachers and be from complementing subjects (English/social studies and math/science).

Senior Profile Sheet The blue sheet in your packet is a helpful tool for students who need to ask teachers for letters of recommendation.

College Reps We frequently have college reps visit our school to meet with interested students. Please encourage your son or daughter to take advantage of these opportunities if they are interested in a college that is visiting.

Upcoming College Rep Visits Thurs. Oct. 2, 2:00: UW-Madison Tuesday, Oct. 14, 10:00: Ripon College Tuesday, Oct. 21, 10:30: St. Olaf’s College Wednesday, Oct. 22, 8:30: St. Norbert College Thursday, Oct. 30, 2:30, Univ. of Alabama

Military Representatives from branches of the military also visit our school regularly to meet with interested students. We inform students about visits from college and military rep in our daily announcements. (The Marines will be here on Tues., Sept. 16 during both lunches.)

Wisconsin Education Fair Sun Prairie High School Tues., Oct. 7, 9-11 am and 6:30-8:30 pm

National College Fair Frontier Airlines Center in Milwaukee Sunday, Sept. 28, 12-3 pm

Senior Meetings We encourage each of our seniors to schedule short meetings with us this fall to discuss their post-high school plans and to go over their transcript to make sure they are on-track to graduate.