Class of 2017 Meeting With Counselors Tuesday, February 9, 2016
The meeting began at 8:30 am in the Upper Library: a panel of counselors including Darla Shirley,
Stephanie Jackson, Crystal Watts, Karie Culbertson, and Kacy Warren were available to answer any and
all questions from parents. There will be another meeting on February 18 in the evening that will be
more comprehensive regarding the difference in course levels, descriptions of courses, etc.…. you will be
receiving an email about the details.
PLEASE have your student sign up for the FREE SAT School Day test on March 2 (only half the junior class
has done so to date); deadline is Feb 17th midnight! If you a need voucher code, the alpha counselors
have the codes and/or extra vouchers. You must go to CollegeBoard.org to sign up; if you have never
done the initial background information, it takes 20-30 minutes. When choosing the date for testing,
click on the button at the bottom that says “Another Date” to choose March 2. If students want to opt
out, please email the counselor. Non-test takers will come to school as usual; teachers or subs will be in
classes (absences will be unexcused).
Advanced Placement Exams are coming soon! There is a 2-step process: (1) look on the MHS website for
the dates for on-line sign up and payment (dates TBA) and (2) after sign up closes, students will pre-code
their answer sheets, saving much time during the May testing days (pre-coding will be done in the
cafeteria during advisory on April 21 with power point instructions).
The University of Texas at Austin is now automatically accepting the top 7% of the senior class.
Naviance is the online platform for gathering student information, transcripts, and teacher and
counselor recommendations. Parents will learn more about it at future meetings (there are also power
points online at the Counselor’s Corner). Students are learning about how to use Naviance in advisories.
Currently, junior students can only add a list of “colleges I am thinking about”; once they are seniors,
they are able to list the colleges they will be “applying to”. [note: UT, A&M and Georgetown do not
accept the Naviance transcript delivery – students must request their transcripts from the registrar’s
office and mail it themselves!]
Many questions about “Ranking”: SBISD is officially a “non-ranking district”. Because of this, your child
cannot be pressured to provide a class rank by colleges. It is their choice! By October 15, each student
must declare whether or not they want the numerical rank on their transcripts (some may have to
choose earlier if they are applying to a college before that date). Anyone in the top quarter will
probably want the rank listed (families should decide what a student will do), unless they are at the
bottom of the top quarter and are applying to the most highly competitive schools in the USA. Many
colleges may not understand how compressed the grades are at MHS, and those not in the top half may
not want to report their rank. Students will be called in by advisors before October 15 to explain the
options; once the choice is made, it is set and cannot be changed. A form indicating the student’s
decision must be signed and returned to the registrar’s office by the October 15 deadline; the form will
be sent in the mail along with the first class rank this July.
Please note: the top 10% and the top quarter members are still fluid… things may change when grades
come in for this current semester. Please encourage the kids to finish strong! And the final class rank
and standing will be determined at the end of the 7 semesters and posted January 2017.
Students will be watching power points on “Getting Ready for College” on February 11 and 18 in
advisories; the information and packet will be posted online after that. The essay prompts for the
Common App are the same as last year. At this time Apply Texas has not announced any essay prompt
changes for next year. Mrs. Shirley has checked with several college reps, and they are thinking that if
those prompts were changing, we would have been notified before now. Therefore, the Class of 2017
should use the current Apply Texas prompts. If anything changes, you will be notified immediately. The
Universal Common App can be googled; it is often used by foreign universities and accepted by many
colleges in the US, as well. You must check with your university to see if they accept the UCA before you
use it!
The new SAT form is being introduced in March (and our kids will take it “School Day, March 2nd”); the
essay is included, and will be a longer 50-minute length (used to be 25 minutes). When answering
questions about whether or not to fill every page with writing to get a good score (now there will be 4 –
some say to write down to the very last line), Ms. Shirley said the MOST important thing is to write a
strong and positive essay that speaks to the prompt rather than worry about the word count.
All counselors write recommendation letters for their senior students that need one for the Common
App. Very important are the (1) Parent and (2) Student Brag Sheets (see Counselor’s Corner for forms!)
and (3) Resume (see example in the February 18th packet or available online). Also, see Naviance for
help in composing a resume. Click on the About Me tab which will hyperlink with Resume. Start with
academics, then extracurricular, outside activities, jobs, volunteer work, honors and awards, skills and
hobbies—and this can run longer than a single page. All three of these must be turned in to get a senior
parking permit (typed if possible)! All this information is VERY important to help counselors and
teachers with their recommendations. On the brag sheets, parents are encouraged to write about
different things than their student does—can speak to less tangible characteristics and character, about
their heart and their devotion to their pursuits. Knowing more about them helps! Keep the information
about activities, etc. to the last 4 years in high school—nothing before. Please take some time on these
forms because they help recommendation writers craft a strong letter! Note: Naviance password is the
same as their SBISD computer login.
Kids will be told in next advisory that they should be asking 2 junior teachers to write their
recommendations this summer; students need to ask in person (some teachers may get “filled up” early
because it takes so much time, so ask early!), write a thank you email to confirm , and provide them with
the resume sheet at the end of this year or beginning of next, teacher’s preference. Kids should waive
the right to see these letters: teachers WILL be writing positive things! These will be uploaded to
Naviance to be available for all college applications (for UT and A&M, you will have to provide a
stamped envelope to mail).
Do colleges want “well rounded” kids or “expert kids”? Ms. Shirley noted that many elite colleges do
admit on what they need to “round out” a class (make it diverse). And many colleges do ask students to
declare a major when they apply (in Texas, the new Endorsement tracks may be pushing this). But there
is no absolute as to what all colleges want! They definitely need to be a qualified student with good
grades and good character.
Do colleges allow a gap year? It depends on the college: for some, this extra year will add interesting
experiences and time to mature. Some colleges will accept a student and defer their arrival to the next
fall. If you are interested in doing a “gap”, research the policies of the colleges that you are interested in
attending. This is not usually a negative and often a positive.
MHS juniors have 2 college visit days and senior have another 2 college visit days possible. Do plan
ahead and get information from the attendance office on what must be turned in for “excused” status.
Note: Junior college visit absences are not exempted when calculating the final exam absence limit.
Colleges have no preference between SAT and ACT scores. The SAT used to be slightly favored, but with
the new SAT format steering more toward the ACT format, and with ACT experiencing a huge increase,
either test will be accepted by most colleges.
The scores on this year’s PSAT may be higher than in years past, but there is not hard data published yet.
Expect the information when National Merit Scholars are announced.
SAT II Subject Tests (College Board course achievement tests) are required by some selective universities
for admission (in Texas, only Rice and UT Honors). Some colleges will take sectional scores on the ACT in
place of Subject Tests. Do plan to take them in May or June right after completing the class and in time
to get back scores for applications that require them. If taking Chemistry, wait to take after completing
Chemistry II; if going into Calculus, take the Math II exam. Students can take 2 or 3 exams in one
morning; it is NOT possible to take the SAT the same day. And scores can be reported or not based on
their strength; you may take the Subject Tests multiple times if needed, but be aware of deadlines for
your colleges! When in doubt, “Take a test; you don’t have to report the score.”
The September ACT will be the last chance for early admission or early action applications (and many
kids seem to do better then… more mature?); many schools have December 1 or January 1 deadlines
that may allow an October SAT attempt.
The Apply Texas website will be open for work on applications starting July 1, but those applications
cannot be sent in to colleges until August 1.
Don’t forget that even after you are accepted at a college, you may have to apply separately for honors
or other special programs. You may want to research unusual applications at some institutions, such as
those for a 5-year program that earns both an undergraduate and a masters degree.
Scholarship money will be going fast in the fall; be aware of deadlines (many December 1, a few not
until May). For most, the applicant must be a current senior (look on the MHS Counselor’s Corner for a
listing of many scholarship opportunities). The Class of 2017 is the first that will be able to fill out their
FAFSA forms in October 2016 rather than waiting until January 2017. This will expedite many
scholarship applications!
The 2016-2017 course selections are now open in Skyward and students must enter their courses for
next year by the March 11 at 11:59 p.m. deadline. More about this at the Thursday night February 18th
meeting and through email communication. Kids have already seen a power point on the process, and
all students were called in by their counselor to pick what they thought they would take for next year;
they will be choosing their final choices online.
Outstanding junior and senior athletes may be contacted by recruiters from colleges; the 2017 packet
posted online has pertinent information about this. Coaches can also help interested students with the
process.
Respectfully,
Carolyn Bronston