PHS Jr/Sr Counseling Newsletter
August/September 2017
There is a lot to balance and accomplish this year with setting and achieving goals in and out of the classroom. My hope is that you will accomplish all of your goals and have a very successful year. I'm excited to see your successes this year and beyond!
As your School Counselor, I will help you navigate this process and the steps to come. With planning and preparation this year will be more manageable and successful. I look forward to working with you!
PHS College Night
College Visits to PHS
Admissions Representatives from the following Colleges and Universities have already scheduled visits to PHS! Take advantage of the opportunities to speak with each of them, and learn more about the programs and scholarships offered by each school.
Purdue University, 8/17/17
IU Southeast: 8/30/17
IUPUI: 8/31/17
St. Mary's (Notre Dame): 8/31/2017
University of Alabama: 8/31/2017
Wabash College: 8/31/2017
University of Louisville: 9/7/2017
Bellarmine University: 9/8/16
Holy Cross (Notre Dame): 9/14/2017
Anderson College: 9/18/2017
Franklin College: 9/18/2017
Butler University:9/27/2017
Marian University: 9/27/17
Transylvania University: 9/27/2017
University of Cincinnati: 10/17/2017
Scholarships!
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship has quickly approaching due dates.
For Clark and Floyd residents: Scholarships should be submitted to counselor by end of day 9/7/17. Hard deadline for counselor and student portions are 9/11/17 at noon. http://cfsouthernindiana.com/scholarship-overview/
For Harrison County residents: Submit to counselor by end of day 9/30/17. http://www.hccfindiana.org/scholarship-applications/
Please see the PHS website for more scholarships, scholarship/event calendar, and links to additional resources: https://www.providencehigh.net/academics/guidance/scholarships-to-college/
Junior Year Goals
- Attending College Night on 9/7/2017 at 7pm at PHS
- Improving (or maintaining) GPA
- Getting involved in school organizations/clubs and applying for leadership positions
- Identify college majors of interest
- Ace the PSAT this October and achieve goals for SAT/ACT this spring
- Visit college campuses - Fall Break is a great opportunity
- Attend a summer camp, mission trip, or take advantage of a leadership opportunity that is related to your future field
Student Athlete?
Resources:
NCAA - Registering as an athlete: https://web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/
NCAA- These steps need to be completed senior year/at graduation: https://pub.s1.exacttarget.com/ivxzcfjudgn
NAIA for information and to register: http://www.playnaia.org/eligibility-center
Registering for the dual credit courses this year:
IUS/IU/Ivy Tech dual credit
Students taking the Ivy Tech Communications 101 with Ms, Miller this year, will need to register for the course. Directions and links to apply will be shared later in September. In order to receive college credit the student must be enrolled with Ivy Tech for the course.
Students taking ACP (Advanced College Placement) courses through IU Bloomington will need to register for the course(s). These courses include ACP English 12, ACP Physics, ACP Spanish III/IV, ACP French III/IV, etc. Directions and links to apply will be shared later in September. In order to receive college credit the student must be enrolled with IU Bloomington for the course.
PSAT/SAT/ACT
Juniors will take the PSAT at PHS on October 25th in the morning. This exam is the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) and is a standardized test administered by the College Board and cosponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The scores are used to determine eligibility. Study guides are provided to Juniors for the PSAT exam.
Juniors should register to take the SAT or the ACT in the spring of 2018. Seniors can retake the exam to try for a higher score this fall. Seniors should take either the SAT or ACT, or both.
SAT: To study for the upcoming exams, the College Board recommends the free online Khan Academy course. https://www.khanacademy.org/sat There are also several free practice exams on the College Board website.
For more information about registering, studying, and interpreting scores:
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat?affiliateId=cbhomeexp&bannerId=sat
ACT: Students may pick up a paper copy of the ACT study guide at any time from the counseling department. To register for upcoming test dates, or to order the online study course please visit the website: www.act.org
The College Application
Congratulations to those of you who have started applying! I'm so excited to see students have already begun to apply to their chosen schools! If you haven't started yet there is still time, but use the months of September and October to apply. Early priority date for many colleges is November 1st and this is the ideal deadline to guide your applications by. Many college scholarships may not be available if your application is submitted after this priority date.
Also consider the application type.
- Early Decision: Students may apply to their first choice and if admitted they MUST commit and enroll. Students may only apply to one college in this way at a time and may apply to other colleges with a regular admission application, but if selected to the "Early Decision" college, they must withdraw their other applications. This application type should be reserved for your TOP choice and #1 school.
- Early Action: Students may apply and receive an admission decision earlier than normal but are not required to commit until the regular deadline set by the school.
- Regular Decision: Students submit an application by a specific date set by the college/university and receive a decision by the school's deadline.
- Rolling Admission: An admission policy of considering each application as soon as all required information (such as high school records and test scores) has been received, rather than setting an application deadline and reviewing applications in a batch. Colleges that use a rolling admission policy usually notify applicants of admission decisions quickly.
- Wait List/Deferred List: An admission tool designed to protect an institution against shortfalls in enrollment. This is a list of applicants who may be admitted to a college if space becomes available. Colleges wait to hear if all the students they accepted decide to attend. If students don’t enroll and there are empty spots, a college may fill them with students who are on the waiting list. Learn more about waiting lists.
When applying to your chosen college or university, read all directions before beginning. The Counselor Portion is required and may be sent to the counselor prior to the completion of the students' portion. Only submit ONE application to each college. The application can take multiple hours and require a lot of work.
Take your time with the essay portion and have others proofread it before submitting. This essay gives the admissions committee invaluable insight into what you think, believe, value, and why. Suggestions for who should proof read it are: an adult, teacher, parent, or your counselor. Essay tips: https://youtu.be/0MaLsIu1vdE Avoiding common essay mistakes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t__jNTOwePU
Students received a folder in their theology classes that contained many resources for them to reference in their Junior and Senior year. Juniors received a white folder and seniors a blue folder. If your student hasn't shared their folder with you yet, please ask to review it and discuss the contents with them.
12th grade students received their Senior Guide and a college checklist to help organize and keep track of the application activities throughout the year. They also received a scholarship information packet from the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana, a magazine highlighting area colleges, access to Parchment to send transcripts, and additional resources to help navigate this year.
Juniors also received resources for identifying and setting goals for the year, SAT/ACT information, a campus visit checklist, transcript, and access to Remind for reminders throughout the next two years.
An application tip if planning to apply to more than one of the IU schools (IUB, IUS, IUPUI): Apply through the IU application portal and you will only need to complete one application, one essay, and one application fee. You can then send this application to all three campuses.
Ordering Transcripts
Congratulations! You have completed your college application and now it is time to send your transcript! Log in to Parchment and request your "Credentials" to be sent to your chosen institutions. Check your email for the link to the log-in code if you have not yet logged in. This nine digit code is super helpful with creating your account and will automatically link you with PHS. You may also request to see a copy of your transcript. When using the Common Application, please send your transcript to the Common Application as well. After each semester is complete, the counseling department will upload your current transcript to be sent to the colleges. The final transcript will also be sent to the NCAA and to your chosen college at the end of the year.
Juniors and Seniors:
PHS will host a Financial Aid/FAFSA night on 9/27/17 at 6:30pm. Students and parents are invited to attend. A guest speaker from a local college will be here to answer questions and guide families with the FAFSA application. Two follow up FAFSA Workshop Nights for any family who still needs assistance with completing the FAFSA will be held in November and February. Parents of students in other grades are welcome to attend and hear the information.
FAFSA Window: The application will open on 10/1/17 (Fall Break is a great time to check this off the to-do list). This year, the deadline has been extended to April 15th, 2018. All seniors should complete the FAFSA this year and each year of college enrollment.
Why should I fill out the FAFSA?
If you don’t fill out the FAFSA, you could be missing out on a lot of financial aid! We’ve heard a number of reasons students think they shouldn’t complete the FAFSA. Here are a few:
- “I (or my parents) make too much money, so I won’t qualify for aid.”
- “Only students with good grades get financial aid.”
- “The FAFSA is too hard to fill out.”
- “I’m too old to qualify for financial aid.”
If you think any of these statements apply to you, then you should read “Myths About Financial Aid.” The reality is, EVERYONE who's getting ready to go to college or career school should fill out the FAFSA!
Video for more information: https://youtu.be/gUis5lityCQ
Website to complete application: https://fafsa.ed.gov/
Additionally, some schools will offer scholarships to students just because they completed the FAFSA! The University of Dayton is an example. They award a renewable scholarship for books even if students don't qualify for additional aid if they have completed the FAFSA on time.
PHS College Night
Thursday, Sep 7, 2017, 07:00 PM
707 Providence Way, Clarksville, IN, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
National College Fair at Bellarmine
For more information: E-mail collegefairs@nacacnet.org You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or info@nacacnet.org or call: 571-551-5277.
Event will be held in the SuRF Center.
Saturday, Sep 9, 2017, 01:00 PM
Bellarmine University, 2001 Newburg Rd, Louisville, KY 40205, United States
Coffee with the Counselors!
Tuesday, Sep 12, 2017, 07:30 AM
707 Providence Way, Clarksville, IN, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
UPS College and Career Expo
Saturday, Sep 23, 2017, 12:00 PM
1776 Plantside Drive, Louisville, KY, United States
Financial Aid/FAFSA Night at PHS
Wednesday, Sep 27, 2017, 06:30 PM
707 Providence Way, Clarksville, IN, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
College Acceptances
In future newsletters college acceptances will be published here. We can't wait to celebrate your acceptances! Please share your college letters (or emails) with the counseling department throughout the year. The counseling department will compile a master list of college acceptances as well as all scholarship offers. During Awards Night and at Graduation there will be recognitions of your offers and awards.
Our Lady of Providence High School
PHS Junior/Senior Counseling Newsletter
Contact your counselor, Mrs. Losey, with questions.
CEEB Code: 150540
Remind Code for Class of 2018: https://www.remind.com/join/phs18blue
Remind Code for Class of 2019: https://www.remind.com/join/phs19blue
Visit our website for more information on upcoming events, scholarships, and resources!
Email: elosey@providencehigh.net
Website: https://www.providencehigh.net/index.php/guidance
Phone: 812-945-2538