EHS 11th Grade Newsletter
May 2022-From the EHS School Counseling Department
Inside this Issue:
- Last Newsletter for the Year
- Summer To-Do List
- What is a Gap Year?
- Spotlight on Naviance
- Fun & Relaxation
- College Applications
- Keep Organized
- First to go to College
- Win a Car!
- Be You!
- Contact your School Counselor
Last 11th Grade Newsletter for the Year
Summer To-Do List Ideas
Taking care of these items over the summer will help reduce the load in 12th grade::
- Write a resume or update your current one. For help with formatting a resume you can use the resume builder in Naviance in the “About Me” section under "My Stuff" then choose "Resume."
- If you're college-bound, take a college application essay writing class with Mr. Murray this summer. Keep checking your school email for more information about that. You won't regret it!
- Serve your community somewhere that is meaningful to you, following state safety guidelines. Check out community service opportunities here at the United Way.
- Use technology such as Naviance, Occupational Outlook Handbook, and Vermont Department of Labor to research careers.
- Shadow or intern with someone in a career that interests you.
- Meet with a military recruiter if you want more information about enlisting.
- Research local certificate or apprenticeship programs if you have an interest in a hands-on approach to learning and careers.
- If you plan to go to college, narrow down what you want in a school including size, location, major, degrees, sports/arts options, campus culture, affordability, and whatever else is important to you.
- Visit colleges virtually or in person and take notes and photos to remember what you learned.
- Create your own personal spreadsheet to keep your college applications and interests organized.
- Develop the list of colleges you will apply to next year. Make sure your list includes “safety schools.” See the "Spotlight on Naviance" article below for more info on that.
- If you plan to major in visual or performing arts, research audition or portfolio requirements for each of your schools to prepare well in advance.
- If you plan to play Division I or II collegiate athletics, research and register on the NCAA eligibility center website.
- Start your Common Application at commonapp.org.
- Watch this video on college essay writing tips from an admissions counselor’s perspective. Write a rough draft of your college essay based on the writing prompts in Common App.
- Review SAT/ACT results (if taken in 11th grade) and sign up for SAT/ACT in the fall of 12th grade at collegeboard.org and act.org if necessary. (If your college requires these tests)
- Check out Khan Academy for free test prep at khanacademy.org.
- Check out fairtest.org for a list of test-optional schools if test-taking isn’t your strength.
- Check out the EHS School Counseling website for helpful information for you and your family
- Explore your work values and how they match your career interests at Monster.com.
- Watch the College & Career Pathways videos from VSAC
- Make time to have fun and relax!
What is a Gap Year and is it a Good Idea?
A Gap Year is not the same thing as taking a year off. Students who choose to take a gap year between high school and college have many options, including working, interning, traveling, volunteering, or even participating in an academic program abroad. Your EHS Counselors strongly recommend that interested students have a concrete Gap Year plan with a specific timeline.
Benefits of a gap year can include:
- Growth in independence and maturity
- Renewed enthusiasm for education and eagerness to begin college
- Exposure to careers
- Exposure to diverse cultures, people, and languages
Parents, are you concerned about whether your student will take a Gap Year and still go to college the following year? Students planning to attend college may still apply to colleges during their 12th grade year with the support of their School Counselor. If possible, find out how the college handles Gap Year students before committing to a Gap Year program. When accepted to a college, present specific information about your Gap Year plans to the college admissions staff and request a one-year deferment.
Concerned about whether colleges will look favorably upon this decision? Through conversations with students, families, and college admissions counselors, EHS School Counselors have found that in most cases colleges see a Gap Year as a great opportunity for students, and that it shouldn’t negatively impact college admissions decisions.
To learn more about what GAP Years can be check out the GAP Year Association.
Spotlight on Naviance: Developing Your College List
Use the “Colleges I’m Thinking About” section of Naviance to keep an organized list of potential schools. The summer before your 12th grade year is a perfect time to add schools to that list, determine which are “safety,” “target,” and “reach” schools for you, and then start 12th grade with a final list of colleges you’ve chosen to apply to. On average, college-bound students apply to five to seven schools. Please make sure you have at least one or two "safety" schools on your list.
What are safety, target and reach schools?
- Safety-- 99% chance of admission
- Target– Very good chances, perhaps 75%
- Reach– Less than 25% chance
How do I determine which are safety, target, and reach schools for me?
When colleges review your application they look at many components including grades, the rigor of the course load on your transcript, standardized test scores (if required) , letters of recommendation, your essay, and extra-curricular, volunteer, and work experience. Colleges usually list on their websites what their average accepted student’s profile looks like. Compare that with your own information. Check Naviance for a list of the average GPA and test scores of each college’s accepted students under the “admissions” section when you pull a college up. You can also always ask the college admissions office for that information if you cannot find it.
Not only should you consider safety, target and reach schools for admissions, but cost should be considered too. Be mindful of the overall cost of a school and the aid they may potentially offer you. Use the college's Net Price Calculator to help get an idea of what you may have to pay. You can search a college website for the Net Price Calculator.
As always, contact your School Counselor for help with navigating this college search tool!
Fun and Relaxation is Important!
- When you start to feel stressed, pause and take a few slow breaths. Try to inhale and exhale a bit deeper and slower with each breath.
- Pause for a couple of minutes and notice one thing you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. Take time to experience each one for a few moments. Notice past or future thoughts as they come into your mind, then bring yourself back to the present.
- Take a walk or engage in other exercise.
- Listen to, play, or sing music.
- Talk to a supportive friend, adult or family member.
- Draw/paint/dance.
- Keep a gratitude journal.
- Connect with your School Counselor to brainstorm or practice more ideas for relaxation that work for you!
College Applications
Keep Organized!
- Create a spreadsheet with the colleges you are interested in. Personalize it with the criteria that is most important to you.
- Keep your passwords in a secure location. Applications, college accounts, testing sites, financial forms and so much more require passwords with varying characters. To save yourself some time store your passwords in a safe secure location so you do not need to keep re-creating your passwords every time you log onto a site.
- Create a college-specific email account. We can all attest to the large amounts of email coming into our school email accounts. It can be overwhelming and easy to lose things. You may want to create a personal email just for college correspondence so you don't miss important information. Just remember to check it and make sure the email address is appropriate.
- Keep a calendar. If you don't do this already start using a calendar and put all your due dates on it with reminders so you don't miss an important deadline. Colleges and financial forms have clear deadlines you must follow.
The First in your Family to go to College
Win a New Car!
If you're interested you'll need to email hkennison@ewsd.org AFTER registering with Drive4Excellence online and ask her to send your report card to the Drive4Excellence folks. Ms.Kennison will send all requested report cards before her deadline for submission on July 13th.
Be You!
To our parents and guardians out there, if your student is planning to go to college here is an article on ways to let your student be themselves and find the right fit for them, not someone else.