Prospect High School Junior Parent Newsletter Inside this Issue: November 2017 From the desk of... Diane Bourn, College Counselor Career Exploration College Search College Admission Criteria Campus Visits College Rep Visits College Webpage College & Career Center (CCC) Naviance ACT and SAT Financing College College Athletics Calendar of Events Diane Bourn College Counselor 847-718-5279 diane.bourn@d214.org Jennifer Hamrick College & Career Assistant 847-718-5289 jennifer.hamrick@d214.org Janine Freedlund Career Advisor 847-718-5290 janine.freedlund@d214.org Hello Junior Parents! Can you believe your son or daughter is more than halfway through his or her high school years? This is a good time to begin discussing post-high school plans. While it may seem early, students will be submitting most of their college applications by November of their senior year. It is essential for today s high school graduates to pursue some form of postsecondary education in order to have the greatest potential for lifetime career options and opportunities. Typically, over 90% of Prospect graduates attend college. For this reason, we provide counseling core curriculum sessions, evening events and other activities to assist our families with college planning. Some students, however, may find vocational training, certificate programs or other postsecondary training opportunities to be the best fit for them. Each individual student matures and reaches developmental milestones differently. Some of you may be thinking that your child is far from ready to begin discussing college. Others have already contacted me for consultation on college-related questions. Regardless of where your student is at in the process, starting early will aid in making the next year and a half a more productive and less stressful time. The key is to remain supportive while allowing the process to be student-directed. There are many resources available here at Prospect High School to help you throughout the post-high school planning process. Your child s school counselor will be an invaluable resource as he or she continues to work with your son or daughter for the remaining high school years. Naviance, a web-based collegeplanning tool, is available to assist your student in his or her college/career planning tasks. Please ask your son or daughter to show you the many features of this great tool. Juniors completed a college and career exploration activity using Naviance during the October counseling core curriculum sessions. Students should continue to use the many features of Naviance to begin their college search process. Please refer to this newsletter as questions arise in the coming months. The Calendar of Events on the last page will be particularly useful. Also consult the College Resources section of the PHS website for important dates and information. Please mark your calendars for the Junior Parent Night which is scheduled for Wednesday, January 24 at 7:00 p.m. in the PHS theatre. I look forward to working with you and your children during this exciting time. Please don t hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. Best Wishes! Diane Bourn
Career Exploration And College Majors Junior year is a good time for students to step up their efforts in exploring future careers. Parents can help in this process by initiating conversations and asking their sons/daughters to evaluate their personal strengths, favorite classes, interest areas, etc. Part-time and summer jobs are a great way for students to gain exposure to the work world and may bring into focus the kinds of jobs that interest them. Job experiences may also cause students to realize that they do not have the interest, skills, or ability for certain jobs. As part of the sophomore counseling core curriculum, your children were exposed to the Career Interest Profiler and to a Values Inventory assessment in Naviance. There are other great career-related tools in Naviance and students may continue to access them on their own. As part of District 214 s Redefining Ready initiative, every student is asked to identify a career cluster of interest. Students are then encouraged to further explore their career cluster by choosing career pathway classes recommended for that career cluster and/or completing an internship or other workplace learning experience. Janine Freedlund, Prospect s Career Advisor, is available to help students in their career exploration. Hopefully, you and your junior attended one of the Career Nights this fall to showcase various careers and present information on the specific skills and educational requirements, job outlooks and salary projections for various jobs. If you were not able to attend, please watch for these again next fall. Even with all these suggestions for career exploration, some students may still feel they are no closer to a college major or career decision. Remember, it is fine to enter college with an undecided major or to begin in a liberal arts area of study. There are wonderful resources available through colleges student services offices to aid students in declaring a major. College Search Juniors should begin the college search at this time if they haven t done so already. Students can begin to figure out the features of a college that are important to them by visiting some of the many colleges in close proximity to Chicago. Important features to consider are the distance from home, the type of school (public or private, small or large, urban or college town, etc.) and costs. College Admission Criteria The good news in college admissions is that some colleges have begun using a holistic review process when selecting students for admission. This involves looking at the student as a whole to determine the potential for a good fit at that college. Some colleges have adopted a test optional policy where students may choose whether or not they want their ACT or SAT to be used in the admission process. The majority of colleges, however, are still using the student s GPA and ACT or SAT scores as the primary admission criteria. The standard of reporting the selectivity of a college is the use of the mid 50% statistic. This statistic reports the GPA and test scores (ACT or SAT) of the middle 50% of incoming freshmen who were offered admission during the current year. Students should compare their credentials to the mid 50% statistics for schools in which they are interested. Based on how they compare, they can determine whether the school can be classified for them as a safety, probable admit, or reach school. Students should aim to find colleges they like in each of the three categories. Students who have not taken an ACT or SAT yet are able to estimate an anticipated score by using past results of their PSAT. Guidance Sessions Juniors met for a counseling core curriculum session with their counselors in October to review transcripts and learn additional features of Naviance, our web-based college-planning tool. Students were given an explanation of how colleges look at grades, test scores and other information in the admission process. Counselors reiterated to students that grades received in junior year courses are looked at closely by college admissions staff. Two more junior counseling core curriculum sessions will take place in February.
D214 College Fair Tuesday, April 10 at Forest View Educational Center 6:30 pm 8:30 pm Over 220 colleges will be in attendance Campus Visits College visits are essential in the college selection process. Families should take advantage of the opportunity and talk with an admission representative, take a tour of the campus, talk to students, discuss finances with a financial aid officer, and visit the career placement office. The best time to visit a campus is when classes are in session. Consider visiting colleges over spring break or on days off since many colleges may be in session. Also check college websites for special campus visit days for juniors in the spring. While summer may not be the ideal time for a visit, a summer visit is still better than no visit at all. Please note that parents must call to report an absence for a campus visit and the student must bring to the PHS Attendance Office some proof that they visited the college. College Resources Webpage There is a wealth of information available on the College Resources section of the PHS webpage. To access it, click on the Students tab on the menu dropdown and then select College Resources. The Junior Resources and Financial Aid and Scholarships pages may be especially useful at this time. College and Career Center (CCC) Students are encouraged to visit the CCC for additional help throughout the process. CCC Hours: 7:30 a.m. 8:15 a.m. Periods 4,5,6,7,8 College Rep Visits Admissions representatives from various colleges visit Prospect High School during the school year. This is a great way for students to meet in a small group with a representative from colleges in which they are interested. This fall, over 140 admissions reps visited PHS. Admissions reps will be visiting again in March through May. College rep visits are listed in the CCC, in Naviance, on the College Resources page of the PHS website and are announced on the daily announcements. Students are required to obtain a pass in the CCC in advance of the scheduled visit in order to be excused from class to meet with the college rep. Individual College Counseling Appointments The college counselor, Mrs. Bourn, is available for consultations with students and their parents requiring more individualized attention. Appointments are scheduled on a first-come-first-served basis after students turn in a completed meeting questionnaire that they may obtain in the CCC. Naviance Students have been using Naviance, a web-based college and career planning tool, in counseling core curriculum sessions since freshman year. Some features of Naviance include: College Search Career Exploration Scattergrams showing the GPAs and ACT/SAT scores of PHS students admitted in the past to colleges College Rep Visit Schedule An Activities Resume Tool Scholarship Information
ACT/SAT Testing The majority of colleges require that applicants submit the results of an ACT or SAT. Since colleges will accept either, it may be in the student s best interest to take both tests to determine which test allows them to achieve the higher score. It is recommended that students take the ACT or SAT test in the spring of their junior year. Students may optionally retake these tests in late spring through early fall and still be able to use these scores for fall college application deadlines. All students will be taking the state SAT with the Writing portion on Tuesday, April 10 during the regular school day. Students with active IEPs or 504s who currently receive testing accommodations must apply for ACT or SAT test accommodations at least six weeks before the registration deadline. Please see your counselor or case manager for more information. ACT Test Dates SAT Test Dates February 10 December 2 April 14 March 10 June 9 May 5 July 14 June 2 September 8 August 25 October 27 October 6 Note: Check the ACT or SAT website for registration deadlines and high school test sites for each testing date. Test Prep A variety of test prep classes are offered privately, online, and through Prospect to help students prepare. Prospect s ACT test prep was offered this fall. SAT test prep will be offered in late January with online registration beginning in early January. Additional test prep is available online through the Khan Academy at: https://www.khanacademy.org/sat Assessment Center Webpage The Prospect High School website contains a wealth of information about testing: http://phs.d214.org/students/assessment-center/ Prospect s High School Code: 143-062 Test Center Code for Prospect HS: 174400 ACT The ACT consists of four testing areas: English, Math, Reading, and Science. Sub-scores ranging from 1-36 will be given in each of these areas as well as an overall composite score. The ACT includes an optional writing portion. Individual colleges determine whether they will require the ACT writing test. The national ACT is given on seven Saturdays during the year. SAT A completely redesigned SAT test was launched in March 2016. The SAT contains a Reading, Writing and Language, and Math test plus an optional Essay/Writing Test. The PSAT that sophomores took in school last spring was formatted similar to the newly designed SAT. Students can use their PSAT score to predict how they may score on the SAT. The national SAT is given on seven Saturdays during the year. All juniors will take a practice SAT on Thursday, January 11. SAT Subject Tests Some highly selective colleges require 2-3 SAT Subject Tests in specific academic areas in addition to the ACT or SAT. Subject tests are given on most of the same dates as the SAT tests. It is recommended that students interested in applying to highly selective colleges take SAT Subject Tests upon completion of a course in a subject that they do not plan to continue (e.g. physics, U.S. History, etc). Sending Scores to Colleges Prospect High School does not report ACT or SAT test scores on student transcripts. It is the responsibility of the student to send test scores to all colleges to which they apply. Most colleges will use the highest composite score when multiple scores have been sent. Some colleges will combine the highest sub-scores from multiple tests (superscoring). For this reason, it may be a good idea for students to send all scores. At the time of registration for the ACT or SAT, students may specify up to four colleges to have scores sent for no additional cost. If you would like to send scores to additional colleges at a later time, you must log into your online ACT or SAT account and pay an additional fee (approximately $12 per score per school).
Net Price Calculator Financing College As college costs continue to soar, financial aid must be carefully considered in the college selection process. Students and parents should discuss what parental funds are available to finance college costs and the expectation for the student s contribution. A college s published tuition price should not deter a student from applying to that school if it indeed is a good fit for that student. Colleges will attempt to meet the demonstrated need of the student by providing a financial aid package. The package may consist of scholarships, grants, loans and work-study. Merit and athletic scholarships may also be offered based on the student s academic success or special talents and are usually not related to financial need. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be submitted to begin the application process for financial aid. Students will submit the FAFSA after October 1 of their senior year using the prior year s tax information. The Junior Financial Aid Night for students and parents will take place on March 13 and will provide an in-depth overview of the financial aid process. A Senior Financial Aid Night will be scheduled next fall to provide additional information prior to families filling out their FAFSA. All colleges must now comply with a federal mandate to provide an online Net Price Calculator (NPC) tool to aid families in predicting college costs. Since colleges are only required to follow the basic methodology, there could be variations in what each college figures into the equation. For instance, one college may report all merit scholarships available while another merely reports need-based financial aid. For this reason, use caution when comparing the net price at different colleges. Junior year is a great time to begin identifying scholarships to apply to during senior year. College Athletics If your son or daughter is considering competing in college athletics at an approved NCAA Division I or Division II school, the following must be done: 1. Register with the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse during junior year (or before). 2. Complete the amateurism questionnaire 3. Send ACT/SAT scores to the NCAA clearinghouse 4. Send transcript to the clearinghouse after junior year 5. See your counselor to assure you satisfy the academic eligibility requirements for core courses, ACT/SAT test scores, and GPA. For more information and/or to obtain an information packet, please inquire in the CCC.
Junior Calendar of Events 2017-2018 (Information is accurate at the time of printing on 11/21/17. Please refer to the PHS website for the most up-to-date information.) DATE EVENT TIME & PLACE October Oct-Dec ACT test preparation seminars @ PHS See PHS website for registration or more information. 17-18 Junior Counseling Core Curriculum During History Classes November 20 Advising the Student-Athlete for students considering college 7:00 pm at FVEC Theatre athletics Nov 27-Dec 1 Senior Year Course Selection: Student Services with counselors Choose appropriate courses for post high school planning January 8 Online registration opens for PHS SAT Test Prep Register online at: http://www.d214.org/testprep 11 Practice SAT for all juniors During normal school day 24 Junior Parent Night Post High School Planning 7:00 pm PHS Theatre Late Jan-Feb SAT test preparation seminars @ PHS See PHS website for registration or more information. February 8 Online AP Registration opens Register online at: www.d214.org/ap 21 Ask the College Night Panel Discussion compare and contrast college life at a 2-year and 4-year public and private colleges. 2-16 Junior Counseling Core Curriculum: Post High School Planning Part I 7:00 pm at Forest View Educational Center (FVEC) theatre During US History class 23 Junior Counseling Core Curriculum: Part II During English Classes March 1 Coffee with the Counselors: Junior Parents 13 Financial Aid Seminar for Juniors and parents 7:00 pm Buffalo Grove High School theatre April 10 District 214 College Fair Over 220 colleges and universities represented 6:30 8:30 p.m. at Forest View Educational Center (FVEC) 10 State SAT with Writing all juniors will take during school day May 7-18 AP Exams Most take place at PHS The following are non-attendance days for students and are great opportunities to do a CAMPUS VISIT! Consult the college s website at least two weeks before to register for the campus visit. October 16 (Monday) January 15 (Monday) February 2 (Friday) February 16 (Friday) February 19 (Monday) March 26-30 (Monday-Friday) April 2 (Monday) April 23 (Monday)