The College Application Process

Class of 2020

Mrs. Corr and Mrs. Bagnick, Counselors

September 4, 2019

TONIGHT’S AGENDA1. General Steps for Applying to College - overview

2. CB West Procedure for:◦ Requesting Transcripts through Naviance

◦ Requesting Teacher letters of Recommendation

◦ Requesting Counselor letter of Recommendation

3. General Q&A

About Tonight’s Presentation:When you leave tonight, we hope you:

1. Understand what must be done to complete and submit your applications.

2. Understand the timelines/deadlines involved in this process.

3. Know where to find all of the information reviewed tonight (hint. . .Guidance Website)

4. FEEL CONFIDENT (and not too overwhelmed!!)

ALL STUDENTS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO SIGN UP IN NAVIANCE FOR A

COLLEGE APPLICATION WORKSHOP

Sept. 4 – Sept 12

Two Workshops per day:

One during school – One after school

Step-by-Step Screenshots of how to Request Transcripts and Teacher Recs

College WorkshopsAll Workshops held in the College/Career Center next to Guidance Office

Sign up through Naviance under “College Visits” – print Confirmation page as your pass

Tues 9/3

Welcome Back!

Wed 9/4

Parent/Student Information Session

6:30 pm

Thurs 9/5

Workshops7:30 am2:40 pm

Fri 9/6

Workshops10:55 am2:40 pm

Mon 9/9

No workshops

Tues 9/10

Workshops9:00 am2:40 pm

Wed 9/11

Workshops1:00 pm2:40 pm

Thurs 9/12

Workshops12:15 pm2:40 pm

Parents – this is for you. . . .

General Steps for Applying to College

STEP ONE: Fill out your college applications using either the Common App, Coalition App, or by filling out the school’s online application available from their website;

STEP TWO: Send your transcript

STEP THREE: Send letters of recommendation from teacher(s) and counselor (if required)

STEP FOUR: Send your SATs/ACTs; and

STEP FIVE: Apply for Financial Aid.

Note: Steps do not necessarily have to occur in this order. But all steps must be taken for applications to be complete.

Step One:

Fill out Applications

The Common Application

• Most schools accept the Common App, including Penn State.

• Fill out one application, send to participating colleges (700+).

✓Create a Common App account at www.commonapp.org.

Other accepted applications at some schools:

• The Coalition App

• College’s individual app on their website.

Common Applicationwww.commonapp.org

PA State Schools

You can set up an account at each PASSHE school you wish to apply to.

SRAR (Self-Reported Academic Record)Many applications now require students to SELF REPORT their courses and final grades from grades 9-11 and the courses they are taking in Senior year.

Students should use their unofficial transcript to fill out the SRAR, making sure it’s complete and accurate.

DO NOT REQUEST A TRANSCRIPT through Naviance for a Self-Reporting school (like Pitt, Penn State, Temple).

Final transcripts will be automatically sent to the college you’re attending after graduation.

Step 2:

Request Transcripts through Naviance

…Starting September 9

Transcripts are requested electronically through Naviance.Transcripts should be sent after applications are completed.

Students must FIRST fill out the RELEASE OF RECORDS AUTHORIZATION. Return to Mrs. Matthews in Guidance.

This authorizes CB West to send your records to colleges. Nothing will be sent until we receive this form.

If applying via Common App, students must FIRST complete certain tasks in Common App and in Naviance before they can request transcripts to be sent through Naviance. See 2019-2020 STEP BY STEP PROCESS handout.

Step 3:

Letters of Recommendation

▪Most colleges ask for 1 or 2 teacher recommendations.

▪Teacher should be from Junior/Senior year, and from major content area. Follow college’s instructions. Ask a teacher who knows you best as a person (doesn’t have to be from the class you got an “A” in).

▪Ask teacher in person (not in email). Follow their instructions for any additional information they may want from you.

▪Follow STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS for requesting a teacher recommendation in Naviance (starting Sept 9th).

Step 4:

Send SAT/ACT Scores

➢If colleges want “Official Scores,” you must send scores from College Board or ACT directly.➢We do not have access to your College Board

accounts. If you lost/forgot your login info, you must call College Board.

➢SAT/ACT scores are on our Transcript; however, those are not considered “official.”

➢Most colleges will Superscore (combine highest Math and English).➢Penn State takes the best “sitting,” and does

not Superscore across multiple tests.

A Note about SAT/ACT Scores:▪Your SAT or ACT Score report contains scores from all prior testing sessions. Colleges prefer that you send all scores. Don’t worry about a low score –colleges want to put you in your best light.

▪If you plan to take the SAT’s this fall, you will indicate on your application(s) the future date of the test you intend to take. You may submit your finalized application prior to that date, and the college will wait to receive those scores before reviewing your file.

▪ Note: Your scores must be received by the application deadline, so time your tests accordingly.

▪ Have a November 1 deadline? The Oct SAT Scores will be sent in time for that deadline.

▪ Your transcript will NOT CONTAIN any scores from SAT/ACTs taken from August forward. Scores from June/July tests WILL appear on the transcript.

Step 5:

Financial Aid:Need Based

▪The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opens October 1, 2019.▪www.fafsa.gov

▪You may also be required to complete the CSS Profile for some private colleges.

▪CHECK FINANCIAL AID DUE DATES ON EACH COLLEGE’S WEBSITE. These are non-negotiable, and may differ from application deadlines.

▪Apply even if you don’t think you’ll qualify –your circumstances may change.

Scholarships and Merit-Based Aid▪ Typically based on GPA/Test scores and does not require additional application.

▪ Colleges will list special scholarships on their FinAid/Scholarship pages – check eligibility and application requirements for these.

▪ Selective schools do not often award merit aid.

▪ CB West lists local scholarships on Naviance. Check lists regularly.

▪ Use Scholarship search engine, like FastWeb, College Board Big Future, or Scholly. See Guidance webpage for links.

CBSD FINANCIAL AID NIGHT

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

CB East – Auditorium – 7:00 PM

Presented by:

Ms. Bonnie Behm, Director of Financial Assistance

Villanova University

Topics will include:

Types of aid; Application Process; Deadlines and Timelines; Comparing Aid Offers between schools

FAFSA Completion WorkshopThursday, October 17, 2019

CB East Auditorium

5:30 PM

Presented by:

Ms. Fran McKeown, PHEAA

Topics will include:

How to fill out the FAFSA; technical issues; questions and answer session

Application Deadlines➢Meet college and financial aid deadlines.

➢Also, meet Guidance Office Deadlines:

➢Allow 15 SCHOOL days (3 weeks) for transcripts and recommendations to go out. All dates are posted on Guidance Website, and Guidance Office windows. Counselors can NOT guarantee that transcripts or recommendations will be sent sooner than 15 days.

➢Naviance allows you to request transcripts the night before they’re due. BUT DON’T. If you do, your materials will NOT BE SENT by that deadline. We need at least 15 school days to process ALL REQUESTS.

Another note about Deadlines

2,313: Transcripts sent last year (2019)

492: Students in the Class of 2020

2: School Counselors

1: Mrs. Matthews

Help us by:

Meeting your deadlines

Checking the website to find “easy” info

SOME MORE SPECIFICS

COMMON APP

TRANSCRIPTS

RECOMMENDATIONS

If you’re using the Common App . . .

Take these steps PRIOR to submitting your Records Release form to Mrs. Matthews or requesting a Transcript in Naviance.

Create an account at www.commonapp.org.Create

Search for and add your colleges in the “My Colleges” tabSearch

In the “Common App” Tab, click “Education” and fill out “Current/Most Recent High School” info. Then. . .

Complete

Fill out the FERPA Waiver for the first listed college (you only need to do this once).

• Then, go to Naviance and “MATCH” your Naviance account to Common App

Fill out

Continue with all parts of the App. SAVE OFTEN.Continue

CREATE A COMMON APP ACCOUNT1. Create an account in Common App at www.commonapp.org.

2. Don’t use your CBSD email –use your personal email for this, as you may continue to receive college email after you graduate.

3. You will use this email to “Match” in Naviance, so that documents can go from Naviance → Common App.

SEARCH for colleges, and add them:

Click on College Search Tab to start adding colleges to your Common App list.

Click on Dashboard to see list of all schools you added in one place.

COMPLETE

information in

Common App tab,

1. Fill out Profile first

(name, address, etc.)

2. Then on Education

Tab, you must fill out

your High School

information.

3. Once you’ve done

this, then you’ll be

able to do your

FERPA Waiver.

4. You can return to do

other sections later.

Info You’ll Need to complete Education Section(All of this is on the Guidance Website)

1. Copy of your high school Transcript (from your portal, under “Reports”).

2. Senior year schedule to input your classes.

3. Graduation date: June 15, 2020.

4. Your counselor’s name, email address, and phone number. Our “job title” is School Counselor.

5. Our class size is 492.

6. Class rank reporting: “None.” (We don’t officially report rank).

7. GPA Scale: 4.0

8. GPA Weighting: Select “Weighted”

FILL OUT the

FERPA Waiver

1. Click on any one

of your listed

colleges.

2. From the left

panel, click on

“Recommenders

and FERPA.”

Follow instructions.

Generally, you want to

WAIVE ALL

RIGHTS to review

confidential letters of

recommendation.

Waiving your rights

reassures colleges that

the letters will be candid

and truthful.

Read all parts of the

waiver, and click

indicated boxes.

Once you do this for

one school, you do not

need to do it again!

Match your Naviance and Common App

NOW you’re ready to submit your Records Release Authorization Form to Guidance!!

. . . . .and request Transcripts

. . . . .and request Recommendations

Requesting Transcripts in Naviance

From “Colleges” TabSelect “Manage Transcripts”

Then, click PLUS button to begin adding your requests for transcripts.

Then, you will go through several steps, answering questions about your application.

Do Not select

➢ If a question mark is in the screen then you are missing something. You must click edit and make sure you pick the correct submission type: Common App or Directly to the Institution

➢ If you are applying through Common App PLEASE make sure you have Common App listed as your submission type.

Requesting Teacher Letters of Recommendation in Naviance

From the “Colleges” Tab, Select “Apply to College”

Select “Letters of Recommendation”

You must click the first bubble: choose specific colleges….

If you see cancelled status, that means that the teacher did not accept your request. You should

contact that teacher personally.

Requesting CounselorLetters of Recommendation

Counselor Recommendations▪ If counselor recommendation is “required” by the college, we will be happy to write one for you.

▪ You do NOT do this through Naviance like you do for teachers.

▪ On the Release of Records Authorization, check the box requesting a counselor rec, and

▪ Attach a copy of your resume

▪ Attach a print-out of the completed Class of 2020 Counselor Recommendation Surveyfound under the “About Me” Tab in Naviance

▪Submit in person to Mrs. Matthews

To Briefly Sum Up:

Students:

Here’s what you do. . . .

BEFORE YOU TURN IN YOUR RELEASE OF RECORDS AUTHORIZATION:

• Complete your applications

• College’s online application, or

• Common Application

• Complete the FERPA Waiver and the Common App-Naviance matching process

• Submit RRA in person to Mrs. Matthews

• Request transcripts through Naviance.

• Request teacher recs and counselor rec (if required) and complete all required forms for each.

• Submit all required test scores.

Here’s what Counselors send. . .

The Guidance Office will send the following to your colleges:

1. Your transcript (which includes SAT/ACT scores);

2. A counselor recommendation if requested;

3. Secondary School Report form (we have these forms online - you don’t need to bring us a paper copy).

4. Our School Profile, which provides data about our school and district.

5. A copy of your senior schedule (if you make any changes to your schedule for senior year after it’s sent, you are responsible for reporting that to your colleges).

Teachers upload and send their letters separately to the colleges you designate when you make your request.

HOW WILL YOU KNOW YOUR TRANSCRIPT HAS BEEN SENT?See status in “Colleges” > “Manage Transcripts”

WHERE IS ALL THIS INFORMATION?

The Guidance Website

This presentation will be posted on the Guidance Website (Class of 2020)