College Readiness for
the Class of 2014
March 19, 2014
Finding the
Right College
Fit
What’s ahead
for collegebound juniors
Upcoming
events!
College
application at
Northwest
AP, ACT
and the
SAT


Mrs. Lance Dempsey, Principal
Mr. John Robertson, Assistant Principal & 9th Grade
Administrator

Mr. Matt Niper, Assistant Principal & 10th Grade
Administrator

Mr. Matt Paushter, Assistant Principal & 11th Grade
Administrator

Mr. Tim Britton, Assistant Principal & 12th Grade
Administrator
Counselors listed with assigned students, alpha by last
name:
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Ms. Theresa Dethlefsen, Resource Counselor (L & Z)
Mr. Jeff Flach, Counselor (A to B)
Ms. Tamela McCarthy-Redd, Counselor (C to D)
Ms. Chrissy Noonan, Counselor (E to G)
Ms. Athena Cois, Counselor (H to K)
Mr. Austin Freeman, Counselor (M to N)
Ms. Ellen O’Connell, Counselor (O to R)
Ms. Sue Bunting, Counselor (S to U)
Ms. Julia Bui, Counselor (V to Y)
Counseling Office (301) 601-4642:
Ms. Cathy Wittenberger, Counseling Secretary
Ms. Jennifer Sambataro, Counseling Secretary & Asst. Registrar
Registrar’s Office (301) 601-4623:
Ms. Debbie Seamone, Registrar
College/Career Information Center (301) 601-4635:
Ms. Rochelle Davis, College/Career Information Coordinator
Step 1: Think about why you want to
Tour
go to college or pursue a particular
Campus
career.
Step 2: Decide what is important to
you in a school.
Step 3: Gather information about the
schools you are considering.
Step 4: Research and compare schools.
Step 5: Make your decision.
Step 6: Meet your deadlines!
Consider
Cost
Meet with your
counselor
www.MDgo4it.org
Spring:
 Tour college campuses and/or vocational schools and talk with admissions
representatives, professors, and students
 Take the ACT/SAT and/or Accuplacer
 Update your list of potential schools using Family Connection ‘colleges I’m
thinking about’
 Explore AP exam prep and register for the AP exam
 Explore summer jobs, internships and pre-college programs
 Complete SSL hours
Summer:
 Attend a senior meeting
 Register for College/Career Summer Workshops
Fall Senior Year:


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Narrow down college list and register for required college tests
Secure letters of recommendation (Ask teachers before leaving in June)
Use high school resources to research local & national scholarships
College essays! Common Application essay prompts are available NOW!!!
College applications!
Connecting online using
Family Connection and
eDocs
WHAT IS EDOCS THROUGH FAMILY CONNECTION?
eDocs is an online feature linked to a student’s Naviance
Family Connection account. eDocs is designed to help
streamline the college application process for Northwest
staff and students. eDocs will be used for the following
purposes:

Application Tracking – the ability for students to keep
track of colleges where they have applied

Transcript Tracking – the ability for students to view
the status of transcript requests for college applications
and scholarships.

College Recommendations – the ability for students
to request college recommendations and view the
status of those requests

Electronic transmission – the ability for school staff to
transmit transcripts, recommendations and supporting
college application documents electronically to colleges
and universities.
WELCOME
to the college and career
FAMILY CONNECTION Program
MCPS provides this unique program
free of charge to all MCPS high school
students, parents and staff. Students
are encouraged to explore both at home
and school an array of college and
career related resources available in
Family Connection.
Alabama State  Allegany College of MD  American U  Amherst College  Berklee College of Music
 Boston U  Bowie State U  Brown U  Bucknell  Carnegie Mellon U  Clemson  Columbia 
Cornell  Dartmouth College  Drexel U  Duke  East Carolina U  Elon U  Emory  Fairleigh
Dickinson U  Fordham U  Frostburg State  George Mason U  Georgetown U  Gettysburg College
 Goucher College  Hampton  Haverford College  Hofstra U  Hood College  Howard U 
Indiana U of PA  Ithaca College  ITT Technical Institute  James Madison U  Johns Hopkins
Kent State  Lincoln U of PA  Marshall U  Maryland College of Art Institute  Marymount Manhattan
College  MIT  McDaniel College  Montgomery College  Morehouse  Morgan State U  Mount
Saint Mary’s U  NYU  Norfolk State  North Carolina State  Northeastern U  Oberlin  Old
Dominion U  Penn State  Princeton U  Purdue U  Rensselaer  Rice U  Rose-Hulman  Rutgers
 Salisbury U  Savannah College of Art & Design  Shenandoah  Shepherd U  Shippensburg U of
PA  Slippery Rock U of PA  Spelman College  St. John’s U  St. Mary’s College of MD  Stanford
U  Stevenson U  Swarthmore College  Syracuse  Temple U  Texas A & M  The Catholic U of
America  The Citadel  The George Washington U  The Ohio State U  Towson U  Tuskegee U 
US Air Force Academy  US Military Academy, West Point  US Naval Academy  UCLA  U of
Colorado Boulder  U of Mary Washington  U of Maryland, Baltimore County  U of Maryland,
College Park  U of Maryland, Eastern Shore  U of Massachusetts, Amherst  U of Michigan  U of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill  U of Oklahoma  U Penn  U of South Carolina  U of Southern
California  UVA  U of Wisconsin, Madison  Vanderbilt U  Villanova U  Virginia Commonwealth
U  Virginia Military Institute  Virginia Tech  Virginia State U  Wake Forest U  Washington U in
St. Louis  West Virginia State U  West Virginia U  Xavier U of Louisiana  Yale University 
COLLEGE APPLICATIONS:

Available on the college web site

Hard copies may be available in the College/Career
Information Center

The Common App @ commonapp.org
COLLEGE RECOMMENDATIONS & THE SELF EVALUATION FORM:

Available on the school web site “Counseling” page

Hard copies available in the Counseling Office and
College/Career Information Center
TRANSCRIPT REQUESTS & THE ELECTRONIC COLLEGE
PROCESSING FORM:

Available on the Counseling web page

Hard copies available in the Counseling Office and
College/Career Information Center

Fees may be required to process
Remember if you take the SAT/ACT that
colleges will have a sample of your writing.
Be your own author.!
WHAT ARE COLLEGES LOOKING FOR IN YOUR ESSAY?
• WRITING ABILITY
• A WINDOW INTO WHO YOU ARE
MOST COMMON MISTAKES:
• SPELLING & GRAMMAR
• PARAGRAPH PROBLEMS
• NOT DEVELOPED
• WORDINESS
• POOR SENTENCE STRUCTURE
I have
nothing to
write about
No one
really reads
my essay
I should not
ask for help
THE MYTHS
www.actstudent.org
Request scores
be sent
electronically to
colleges and
career schools
Online test registration
www.sat.collegeboard.org
High School Code:
201-589
The Accuplacer College Ready Placement Test
Purpose
SAT
ACT
Measures critical reading, writing, and Measures academic achievement in
mathematical reasoning skills
English, math, reading, and science
College Use
Used by universities and colleges as
part of application process
Used by universities and colleges as
part of the application process
Distinguishing
Feature(s)


Measures science reasoning

Essay is required
Math sections include student
response/grid-in questions
¼ point deduction for incorrect
answers
ACCUPLACER
Measures readiness for college level
coursework in math, reading, and
writing
Used by many community colleges
and some four-year schools for course
placement
Online, computer adaptive
Scoring
Highest Score - 2400
MCPS Target Score - 1650
Highest Score 36
MCPS Target Score 24
Score Reporting
Student chooses scores from a specific
test date to be sent to schools. If test
date is not specified, all scores will be
sent.
10 Sections:

Critical Reading – 3

Writing – 3

Math – 3

Experimental - 1
Student chooses scores from a specific Administered and shared with student
test date to be sent to schools.
by the post-secondary institution
requiring the assessment.
Sections
4 Required Sections:

English

Math

Reading

Science reasoning

Optional writing (essay) section
Maryland Community Colleges Target
Scores for college level courses:

Sentence Skills 90 and Reading
Comprehension 79

Elementary Algebra 75 and
College Level Math 0-52
Adaptive – questions depend upon
previous answer.

Arithmetic

Elementary Algebra

College Level Math

Reading Comprehension

Sentence Skills

Writing (optional)
Juniors will receive
permission forms thru
MWH classes the week
of March 24
Northwest College Fair Field Trip
Wednesday, April 9
Buses depart at 9:30 am
Cost: $3.00
Montgomery County College Fair:
Montgomery County
Agricultural Center
(Gaithersburg, MD)
Signed Permission forms should
be returned to the College/Career
Information Center
no later than Friday, April 4
MCPS prohibits students from
driving to this event during the
school day.
Parents and students can attend the evening event together on April 3rd at 6:30 pm

Student/parent meetings with counselors

Summer workshops and college planning in the College/Career
Information Center

Meetings with your counselor (All Year)

Senior Packet (Fall- College Application Process Review)

Senior Parent Meeting (Fall)

National Hispanic College Fair (Fall)

Financial Aid Workshop (Fall)

Alumni Day (December)
http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/northwesths/
Counseling Department
College & Career Info
College Readiness
Navigation Guide for Rising Seniors includes:
 Applying to College at Northwest
 Family Connection for Northwest Parents
 College Test Prep Success at Northwest
Additional Materials:
 Family Connection Parent Registration Form
 Are You Ready for College: A Guide to College
Planning for Maryland High School Students
 College 411 Money Guide
Thank you for joining us.