4th Quarter
- Joint Parent/Student/Counselor Meeting
- Recommendation Information Questionnaire
Step One In College Planning Completed
Individual College Planning Appointments have been completed with juniors. In these meetings counselors met individually with each junior to begin the college search process. The student and counselor develop together a "college profile". Finally, once the profile is developed, the student obtains a list of colleges (usually twelve to sixteen) that "match" his profile of desired college characteristics.
Your son now has a list of these "matching" schools. Between now and mid-April, when counselors begin to meet with juniors and their parents, your sons should be researching the colleges on their list and writing to them for information. It is also not too early to begin planning some campus visits. Remember that juniors are allowed to take two "excused absences" for college visits. These excused absences must be cleared through Mr. Clark's Office in advance. Besides writing to colleges for more information there is a wealth of information on colleges in the SLUH Guidance office and on the internet. The more research that is done between now and the meeting we will have in May with you and your son, the better we can discuss all of the "next steps" in the college exploration and decision process. Also, remember to keep an open-mind at this stage of the process.
It is probably too early to rule out particular schools on your son's list just because of the sticker price or because you are unfamiliar with a school on the list. We can discuss these concerns in our meeting in April and May.
Joint Parent/Student/Counselor Meetings
Parents of juniors will be receiving a letter in April asking them to make an appointment with their son's counselor. The purpose of the meeting is to review with parents the college planning that has been done with their sons, to discuss the "next steps" in the college decision process and to answer questions parents have about the college admission and financial aid process.
At the beginning of the third quarter your sons spent two class periods in our College Planning Seminar. During this seminar they were give a College Planning Seminar packet. In this packet a whole page was dedicated to internet sites for college research, scholarships and financial aid. We would suggest that prior to the joint parent/student/counselor meeting in April, that you would complete one of the financial aid calculators available on the websites listed. Two of these sites are www.finaid.org/calculators and click on Financial Aid Estimation Calculator or go to www.collegeboard.com and click on paying for college. This calculator will be able to provide you with a basic idea of how much your family will have to pay for college.
Summer Study
Many students find the first few weeks of summer vacation to be relaxing, fun and exciting. They then begin to get bored with so much free time. While many students work a lot in the summer, others wonder how they can make productive use of their time. One suggestion is to take a course over the summer for enrichment, college credit or both.
Many colleges throughout the country offer courses, workshops and career-exploration seminars to students who are completing junior year. These summer programs vary in length from one-week programs introducing students to various career fields, to full six to eight-week college credit courses. Costs also vary a great deal. If your son is interested in the possibility of summer study, send him to the counseling center where we have collected information sent to us on dozens of these opportunities.
Recommendation Information Questionnaire
In June, your son will receive a questionnaire from his counselor which will be the basis of his counselor recommendation for college. Parents will also receive a questionnaire they will be asked to complete which will give us a better idea of their son's personal qualities, strengths and achievements. This information should be returned in the self-addressed envelope along with your son's responses by mid-July. More details will be made available later.
