Written by: Jill Athenour, M.A., C.E.P Jill Athenour, founder of Head to College, is a private college counselor with over 15 years of experience in college admissions. She has earned the profession’s highest designation of Certified Education Planner (CEP). She is a member of HECA (Higher Education Consultants Association) and has recently been elected to the Board of Directors as Standards and Ethics Chair. sContact your Counselor
During the remote learning time frame all of the counselors are still available to students and parents through multiple platforms. For students, counselors have created google forms for students to fill out if they need to set up an “appointment” with a counselor. Those forms can be found in google classrooms, on the counseling website, and in this article at the bottom. Counselors will “meet” with students in ways that students feel most comfortable, whether that is through email, google chat/meet/hangouts, or through telephone calls. We are here to support students who are struggling with remote learning, students who are struggling communicating with teachers, if students are experiencing social/emotional concerns, college/career planning, and/or just to talk to avoid isolation during quarantine. We miss all of our students greatly, and we want them to know we are always here for them. For parents, the best way to contact a counselor is through email. All of our emails are on the counseling website, and we will get back to you within a 24 hour time frame during the weekdays. Just like with students, if we need to meet with you on a different platform we will make ourselves available for that. We want to help support you while you support your students learning at home. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Here is the link to the counseling website, which has links to all of our google forms for students. https://sites.google.com/a/jeffcoschools.us/dhs-counseling-center/. SAT Update The national SAT exam scheduled for June 6th has been canceled. Based on the amount of school closures and recommendations from governments to limit the amount of large gatherings, the College Board has made the tough decision to cancel the national SAT on June 6th. They understand how difficult this may be for many students, so they have added an additional SAT in the fall. They will now be offering the SAT every month during the fall semester. These are the current known dates for the SAT: August 29th, September TBD, October 3rd, November 7th, and December 5th. Students can register for these exams on the College Board website. If for some reason schools do not reopen in the fall, College Board will provide a digital SAT for home use that will be similar the AP exams that will be offered this May. This will only happen if school does not return in the fall. For more information please visit the College Board website. Seniors We have a few updates that we need our seniors to pay attention to, so please read all the way through this section if you are a senior/senior family member. The first piece of information that we need you to tackle is the 2019-2020 Jeffco Senior Survey in Naviance. This survey is required for all students to fill out in order to have their final transcripts properly delivered to their desired institution. Students will not be able to start at a college or university next school year if they do not have their final transcripts sent. Directions on how to complete this survey will be displayed on Monday 4/20, on the senior google classroom. This classroom was created Friday morning, and all of the seniors should have received invites to the classroom through their Jeffco email. In this classroom we will make important announcements for seniors as they approach the end of the school year. We also are being flooded with scholarship opportunities. The current worldwide pandemic is leading to a decrease in scholarship applicants. We have updated the Naviance websites with scholarships, and here is a link to new scholarships that were sent our way this week scholarsapp.com/scholarships/in/Colorado. We encourage students to continue looking for scholarships, as there are multiple organizations looking to give their money away. If you meet the criteria we encourage you to apply, you never know, you may be the only one who does. If you have more scholarship questions please contact Kim McSwain at [email protected]. College Admissions Update Letter Below is a letter from a highly recognized college counselor in the Colorado area. We find this information very valuable, and will hopefully provide families answers to some burning college questions. Students and Parents, As with just about everything, the coronavirus has had a significant impact on college admissions. I work with high school students every day and see the toll this is taking. In an effort to help you through this time, I have provided some general tips and guidance below: Standardized Testing As of Thursday morning, the ACT is still scheduled for June. ACT was planning to offer a computer-based option starting in September anyway so they may be working on moving that option earlier. Many juniors are concerned because they have not been able to take the SAT or ACT since tests were cancelled in March and April as well. Rest assured, colleges are well aware of this and they are making adjustments. The list of test-optional schools is growing daily: University of Oregon, Boston University, Case Western, etc. This week Swarthmore, Tulane and Virginia Tech announced they will be experimenting with test-optional for a year or two. This was a trend that started some time ago, but that trend has accelerated with the recent SAT/ACT cancellations. It is worth noting that even for the schools that are test-optional, generally about 80 - 85% of the students who are accepted did submit test scores. That indicates to me that tests are not going to go away. However, this year, who knows?! With the June tests cancelling, we can expect to see even more schools going test optional. Researching Colleges In response to the Coronavirus, colleges across the nation have moved to virtual learning, closing their campus and sending students home for the duration of the semester. This move impacts not just current students but prospective students as well. There are many seniors making final decisions on which college to attend next fall, and juniors have had to cancel their plans to visit colleges this spring. While online research and virtual tours can’t replicate in-person experiences, there is an abundance of resources available for students to compare and evaluate colleges from home. College Websites: Do a deep dive into the websites. Look at curriculum requirements and opportunities for your prospective major. If you’re undecided, investigate advising resources for students with undeclared majors. Head to the section on student life and learn about student organizations and club sports. There is a wealth of information on every college website. Virtual Tours: Many colleges offer virtual tours on their websites. Campus Reel offers virtual tours of more than 300 colleges: https://www.campusreel.org/. College Admissions Offices: Reach out to your regional admission representative via phone or email to inquire about their plans. Ask for their recommendation on how best to experience the college virtually. See if they can connect you with a student ambassador through Skype or FaceTime. This is also a good way to demonstrate interest. Social Media: Facebook may not be your platform of choice, but most colleges have Facebook groups. Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat are resources as well. Search for YouTube videos on your colleges of interest and you’ll find plenty of students sharing information and experiences. Interviews: Turn to peers, neighbors and family members to ask about their experience if they attended colleges you are considering or ask if they know current students at those institutions with whom you can connect. There is a wealth of information available through virtual experiences so grab your laptop and cellphone and immerse yourself in research and discovery. Staying on Track Seniors, as you are weighing your final decision be sure to stay up on deadlines. May 1 has traditionally been National College Decision Day, although some colleges have extended their deadlines this year in response to the coronavirus outbreak. An updated list of those changes is available on the NACAC website. Juniors now is a good time to start the Common Application (a.k.a. the Common App). The Common App is used by over 800 colleges, and the benefit to you is that you only have to fill out details such as name, address, family information, and extracurricular activities one time. That's a huge time saver!
Be well. Jill Athenour Comments are closed.
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