THE COLLEGE PROCESS
FINDING THE RIGHT FIT!
Cheryl Sanders A-J
csanders@belleyhs.org
Maureen Lawler K-Z
mlawler@bkelleyhs.org
FOCUS OF THE PRESENTATION
 What is your son/daughter looking for in a school?
 What are colleges/universities looking for?
 How to choose a school
 Applying to schools
 The Common Application
 Required paperwork for letters of recommendation
 Admission options
 Transcripts
 Current State University requirements
 Testing
 Scholarships/Financial Aid
 TCC Achieves
THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A
SCHOOL….
• academic programs
• cost
• location
• special college programs (Co-ops, travel abroad,
internships, etc.)
• size
• campus life
• athletics
• Find the Right Fit!! For everyone that will be different!
WHAT COLLEGES LOOK FOR …
• Leadership activities/involvement
• Extracurricular activities
• Community service
• Work experience
• Unique talents/abilities
• Grades
• Test scores
• Level of interest in their school. Have you done a formal visit?
COURSEWORK
 Students need to continue to keep their GPA strong.
 Coursework should be chosen to meet BK graduation
requirements as well college admissions requirements.
 Senior year is NOT a time to choose a “light load”.
HOW DO I CHOOSE A SCHOOL?
• Students should be gathering information about schools by:
• Visiting campuses
• Signing up to hear college representatives who visit BK
• Visiting college/university websites
• Attending College Fairs
CAMPUS VISITS………..
 Always schedule a campus tour through the admissions
office of the college/university. Students can often do this on
the school’s website under “admissions”
 They can often ask to sit in on a class or meet with a
professor. They must give the college/university adequate
time to make these arrangements.
 It looks good if the student has done an official visit, but more
than anything it helps them find that school that “feels right.”
COLLEGE REPRESENTATIVE’S VISITS TO
BK…
 College reps routinely visit BK during the school day. We email the
times/dates of those visits on a weekly basis. (Students should be
consistently checking their BK email!!)
 Sign up must happen the day prior to the visit to allow for passes to be
written/sent.
 If a student can’t make a visit we will be happy to give the rep their
name and contact data & pick up anything they pass out.
Edison College Connection
Sunday,
Expo


September 7, 2014
Square Central Park Hall
1:00-4:00
For more information go to
www.TulsaCollegeConnection.com
WWW.COLLEGEBOARD.ORG
IS A GREAT PLACE TO START A COLLEGE
SEARCH TO FIND SCHOOLS THAT HAVE WHAT
STUDENTS ARE LOOKING FOR.
ONCE I CHOOSE HOW DO I APPLY?
 If students choose schools that use the Common
Application, they can use that application to apply to over
500 schools. They fill out ONE application and can send it
to any participating school. This is all done electronically!
 If a school does NOT participate in the Common Application
the student can use that schools on-line application to
apply.
COMMON APPLICATION WWW.COMMONAPP.ORG
 The Common App lets students apply to over 500
colleges/universities with just one application!
 If you are using The Common App you will need a counselor and
one to two teacher recommendations.
 Students/Counselors/Teachers can submit all paperwork on line.
MORE ON THE COMMON APP…
 Students must also fill out their personal information section and sign the waiver before
counselor/teacher will submit their part.
 Students must select “school forms” and invite their College Counselor and teacher(s),
otherwise we have no way of knowing that they’ve applied. Students invite these school
official by entering our names and email addresses.
 Students can check when things have been submitted and downloaded.
 Students do not have to wait until they finish their part of the application to “invite” their
counselor/teacher(s). We can all be working on things simultaneously.
 Transmission & delivery of data to an admission office is NOT instantaneous.
STUDENTS NEED TO USE THEIR LEGAL NAME
THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PROCESS
For applications
For testing
For Scholarships
Also write down all of their log-in info
NOT ALL SCHOOLS REQUIRE LETTERS OF
RECOMMENDATION…………
• Many public universities do not require a letter of
recommendation from a counselor or teacher(s), if
that’s the case, students just need to request that a
transcript be sent. They will do this through their
parchement.com account.
BUT IF YOU DO NEED A LETTER OF
RECOMMENDATION……….
• Your College Counselor must have the following paperwork
before we will write a letter of recommendation:
• completed questionnaire
• copy of your essay
• a copy of your resume
• a completed parent questionnaire
• We must have all of the above at least four weeks prior to
your application deadline!!
Student
questionnaire
Parent Response
form
Parent letter of
recommendation
Parchment account
enrollment to
release transcripts
650 word essay
written by the
senior
Resume
COUNSELORS LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION…
• Again, students do not have to have their application complete before
giving us our paperwork.
• Even if students are applying to state universities that don’t require a
letter of recommendation, this paperwork is helpful as they might
need “comments” or a “letter” for scholarship purposes.
• Do not assume that a “simple form” can be filled out quickly, our
schools know that we traditionally write letters of recommendation.
TEACHER’S LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION……
 Always ask your teacher(s) if they will write a letter of recommendation
before submitting their name/email electronically on The Common
Application or any other application.
 It is THE STUDENT’S responsibility to ask their teachers to write a letter
of recommendation.
 Again allow a minimum of four weeks before the application deadline.
 Make sure they have a copy of the student’s resume when they request
the letter.
 Do not assume a “simple form” can be filled out quickly!
RESUMES AND ESSAYS ARE USED FOR OUR LETTERS
OF RECOMMENDATION, FOR ADMISSION AND
SCHOLARSHIP PURPOSES.
OUR REPRESENTATIVES KNOW THAT WE DO NOT JUST
WRITE A FEW COMMENTS BUT RATHER WE WRITE
LETTERS!
PARENT RESPONSE FORM….
• Can be filled out on line. Go to the BK website
www.bkelleyhs.org.
• Go to “Academics” tab
• Then “Parent Response Form”
PARENT LETTER OF
RECOMMENDATION……….
• Make sure that you include a letter of
recommendation for your son/daughter.
This component is most helpful! Be specific
with examples to support general
statements, like, my son/daughter is
responsible, mature, compassionate, etc.
ADMISSION OPTIONS
 Early Decision (Binding)
 Usually Nov 1-Dec 1 deadlines
 Ex: Rice, Washington Univ.
 Early Action Single Choice*/Early Action
 Usually Nov. 1-Jan. 1 deadline
 Single Choice ex: Harvard
 Regular EA ex: Notre Dame
 Rolling
 Usually Sept -end of school year.
 Most state universities & some private colleges/universities. i.e.: TU
 Many schools with Rolling Admission will have a Scholarship Deadline.
 Regular
 Usually Jan. 1-Feb. 15
 Ex: TCU, SMU or could include any of the above.
TRANSCRIPTS………
• Students were given instructions to sign up for their Parchment
account. This is how students will request their transcript to be sent
to their schools. If a student has a “hold” on their account we will not
release the transcript until the hold is cleared.
• If it shows that the student is being “charged a fee” to send their
transcript, that means that that school does not accept electronic
transcripts through Parchment. However, Parchment will send the
transcript via the U.S. mail for a fee. You are welcome to do this or
you can just email Mrs. Debra Butler, our registrar, and ask her to
send your transcript free of charge!
TRANSCRIPTS CONTINUED………..
• Students using the Common Application do NOT need to
request transcripts be sent to those Common Application
schools, through Parchment. Their transcript is already
downloaded to the Common Application as part of the
Counselor’s Secondary School Report. Duplicating
transcripts causes confusion at the college/university level.
YET MORE TRANSCRIPT INFORMATION……
 Transcripts sent will have all test scores (ACT & SAT) on them. If students choose
not to have any scores on the transcript, they will be responsible for paying to have
them sent to each college/university that they apply to.
 It is to the student’s advantage to have all scores on their transcript in case a school
“super scores” a test. Meaning they take the highest score from each subtest and
refigure the composite.
 Many schools are now requiring students to have their test scores sent directly from
the testing companies (ACT & SAT) and there is a fee for this. It is the student’s
responsibility to check to see how a school will receive their test scores.
 Schools only look at the highest score and it doesn’t matter if other scores aren’t as
high.
CURRENT STATE UNIVERSITY
REQUIREMENTS…………..
THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA…
Automatic admission:
 3.0 unweighted GPA AND place in the top
25% of your high school class
• OR 24 ACT or 1090 SAT and 3.0 unweighted
GPA
• OR have a 24 ACT or 1090 SAT score and
rank in the top 50% of your HS class
Oklahoma is now a member of the Common
Application so applications are being reviewed
holistically.
OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY….
• Automatic admission:
• 3.0 and rank in the top 1/3 of your high school class
• OR 24 ACT or 1090 SAT
• OR 3.0 unweighted GPA in the 15 unit core curriculum
and a 21 ACT or 980 SAT
• OR 3.0 or 22 ACT or 1020 SAT and answers to the 7
additional application questions. Students should give
careful consideration to their answers as they will be
used to determine admission (this is not guaranteed
admission).
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
•
F
or admission: 3.0 AND a 20 ACT (they will super score)
• To qualify for the non resident tuition scholarship, students
must meet the following requirements:
• 3.6 AND 26 ACT will receive a 90% discount.
• 3.25 and 24 ACT will receive an 80 % discount.
• Native American students w/ CDIB card will receive in-state
tuition
• Alumni that belong to the alumni association can receive in
state tuition for their son/daughter
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
 2.7 unweighted GPA AND rank in the top 50% of your
class, or
 20 ACT or 940 SAT
 If either of these criteria are not met, then they will
look for a 2.7 in the core curriculum
ACCEPTANCE RATES FOR HIGHLY SELECTIVE
UNIVERSITIES
Stanford: 42,167 applicants and sent 2,138
acceptance notices that will yield 1,700. Thus a 5%
acceptance rate.
Georgetown: 19,501 applicants and sent 3,232
acceptance notices that will yields 1,600. Thus a 16.6
acceptance rate.
 Harvard & Yale had a 6% acceptance rate.
Columbia & Princteon had a 7% acceptance rate.
MIT & U. of Chicago had an 8% acceptance rate.
WHAT IS DRIVING THESE ACCEPTANCE
RATES?
• More students applying to more schools.
• Easy to apply to several schools because of the Common
Application.
• Low acceptance rates being a “standard of quality” thus
schools intentionally driving their applicant pool up.
• Students choosing schools “just to see if they can get in”
when they have no intention of going.
• The world is flat………………..
TESTING…………………..
ACT & SAT scores are used for admissions and
scholarships.
If you don’t know where you’re applying then we
suggest you take a writing test.
Some selective schools require SAT Subject Tests.
Check the admissions criteria for the school you are
applying to.
WHICH TEST SHOULD I TAKE?
 SAT has a mandatory essay component, with ACT the
essay is optional.
 Currently there is not a college/university in
Oklahoma that requires the writing component.
 Consider taking both the ACT & SAT and then
continue taking the test that you feel the most
comfortable with and where you score the highest.
You can do practice tests on-line to see which one
you prefer.
.
WHEN DO I TAKE THE TEST(S)?
• Our recommendation is to start taking the tests once you have
completed Algebra II
• Our preference is that all juniors have at least one score prior to the
beginning of their senior year. Keep in mind if a student hasn’t had
Algebra II their math score may be low.
• They can take the tests as many times as they want.
• The State of OK is using a score of 19 to determine basic college
readiness, however, each college/university can have their own
requirements for admissions/class placement. .
MORE TESTING INFO….
 Bishop Kelley’s school code is 373-620
 Student athletes send scores to NCAA Clearinghouse: Code
9999 (student athletes will soon meet w/ Ms. Lawler)
 NAIA 9876
 Register On-line: ACT www.actstudent.org or
SAT www.collegeboard.com
SHOULD I SEND SCORES TO THE
COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES?
• Advantages: Schools receive your scores much sooner (avg. 2-3
weeks) vs. 5-6 weeks if we receive them, transcribe them and then
mail them.
• When looking @ test scores for admissions and/or scholarship
purposes expediency is best.
• If you send directly from the test center there is a cost per test and per
school. Doesn’t cost anything to include them on the BK transcript.
However, some schools require you to have them sent directly from the
test center. Look carefully at each school’s test requirements!
2014-15 SAT DATES
• May 3, 2014*
• June 7, 2014
• Oct.11 , 2014
• Nov. 8, 2014
• Dec. 6 , 2014
• Jan. 24 , 2015
• March 14 , 2015
• May 2, 2015
• June 6, 2015
2014-15 ACT DATES
 June 14, 2014
 Sept. 13, 2014*
 Oct. 25, 2014
 Dec. 13, 2014
 Feb. 7, 2015
 April 18, 2015*
 June 13, 2015
*BK will be test site for these tests.
WHO SHOULD TAKE THE SAT SUBJECT TEST?
 SAT Subjects Tests are one hour subject tests that some
colleges/universities require for either admission or class
placement purposes.
 If students are applying to a school that requires Subject
Tests then they must take them. Pay attention to deadlines!
 Students can take up to three Subject Tests on a test date.
But they can NOT take the SAT Reasoning Test and Subject
Test(s) on the same day.
TEST PREP
• Helps lower anxiety levels
• Gives helpful test taking tips
• Offer familiarity with test format
• Helps students to pace themselves
• Offered at BK, TCC, NSU, Huntington, Kaplan,
etc.
SCHOLARSHIPS/FINANCIAL AID
 Institutional Scholarships
 Private Scholarships
www.fastweb.com
www.nelnet.net
www.collegeprowler.com
www.schoolsoup.com
 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA: www.fafsa.ed.gov) to be filled out
after Jan. 1, 2014.
 Apply for a PIN number for you & your student: www.pin.ed.gov. You must have a PIN
number to electronically sign your FAFSA.
 For the Profile application go to the www.collegeboard.com site
 Grants, work study, and loans
TCC ACHIEVES
• Requirements:
Must be a Tulsa County resident
High school graduate of Class of 2015
2.0 GPA on final high school transcript
•
Must apply, send transcript, sign agreement form
out FAFSA
& fill
• Program Highlights:
63 attempted credit hrs. or 3 yrs. (whichever comes first)
with tuition and fees paid!
Volunteer service required
BE PATIENT, DON’T PANIC….
AND FOLLOW UP IF NECESSARY
 Many universities will process different parts of the application
in different departments, thus a letter or email will get
generated that says that they are “missing something” when
in fact someone else in that department has it but just hasn’t
processed it yet. Always give everyone adequate time to
receive the application and then process it. Be mindful that
the heavier application months are Dec-March, thus things
will take longer! If an adequate amount of time has passed to
allow for the processing of the application and things are still
“missing” then follow up by calling the university and letting
your College Counselor know.
IMPORTANT MANTRAS
• Deadlines are IMPORTANT-They mean what they say and you
are NOT the exception to the rule!
• Teachers and Counselors mean what they say and “ a lack of
planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on
our part!”
• By ignoring deadlines students miss out on admission
possibilities and possible scholarship money.
POST APPLICATION INFO…….
• Choose & deposit at the school of choice by May 1st
• Let other schools know that you won’t be attending
• Turn in copies of all acceptances & scholarship offers as
you receive them. Only those turned in will be included in
the Honors Assembly & in the Graduation Program.
THIS IS A PROCESS..
TRUST NOT ONLY IN YOUR PLAN….
BUT IN GODS’ PLAN FOR YOU!!