College Counseling Update - November 2015
CarabelloC@LSCHS.ORG
College Counseling Update – November 2015
Gerard M. Brett
Director of College Counseling
College Counseling Website of the Month
Compiled College Admission Requirements
Check out our Twitter account #LSCHScollege and Facebook LSCHS - College Counseling
Please note that it is the student's responsibility to electronically forward from College Board or ACT any October, November, December SAT or ACT scores to the colleges to which you are applying.Please do not be alarmed by delays in items posting to the college's portal and/or being officially received by the colleges. This is a normal occurrence as colleges are receiving thousands of application items from hundreds of students on a daily basis. It can take them weeks and sometimes months to accurately compile all of the parts of the application on their end. Please be assured that all items will be sent from La Salle's College Counseling office by the official application deadline for the college or university.
College Visits To La Salle
This fall, 103 colleges and universities will visit La Salle College High School. These visits will continue through mid-November. Students are encouraged to sign up to attend these valuable meetings with the college admission representatives in Naviance. This is in addition to the 43 colleges and universities that attended College Interview Day in early October and the seventeen Jesuit colleges and universities that held a college fair for juniors and seniors in late October.
Net Price Calculator
In accordance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act, a college must post a Net Price Calculator on its website (typically the financial aid webpage) that uses institutional data to provide estimated net price information to current and prospective students and their families based on a student's individual circumstances. The following are related articles that explain this tool in greater detail:
College Board What is a Net Price Calculator?
US News & World Report Why Prospective College Students Should Be Using Net Price Calculators
College View Net Price Calculators Help Determine College Costs
Financial Aid
A Financial Aid Information Night for Parents of La Salle's juniors and seniors will be held on Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 7:00 PM at Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School.Bonnie Lee Behm, Director of Financial Assistance at Villanova University, will present. This evening is filled with important information regarding the current financial aid situation and the financial aid application process.
A number of sites dealing with financial aid are listed on our webpage.Go to "Links and Resources" on www.lschs.org/college and look for the section on "Financial Aid".Understanding financial aid is an important part of the college application process. Meeting requirements and deadlines for financial aid is crucial and is the family's responsibility.
In order to qualify for Federal or State funds, parents and students need to complete the FAFSA beginning January 1, 2016. Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov for information and the online form. Prior to completing the FAFSA, students and parents must create an FSA ID which gives access to Federal Student Aid online systems and serves as a legal signature. Information can be found at https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/fsa.... In order to have an early estimate of eligibility for federal student aid, Google FAFSA4caster.
In addition to the FAFSA, many colleges require their own financial aid form or the CSS Profile. Here is a list of colleges that require the CSS Profile. Please note that you can fill out the CSS Profile starting October 1, 2015.
Additional websites are listed at our site.A few particularly helpful ones are https://studentaid.ed.gov/, http://www.finaid.org/ and www.pheaa.org for an excellent overview and specific information, and www.fastweb.com, www.myscholly.com, and www.meritaid.com for scholarships. Click Scholarship Information for information on individual private scholarships that are sent to our College Counseling Office. Last year's senior class earned $36.5 million in documented scholarship aid.Don't miss out! Encourage your sons to take advantage of the opportunities that are available.
NCAA
Any senior who is considering playing Division I or Division II intercollegiate sports must make application for eligibility clearance through the NCAA Eligibility Center. Read the directions carefully and inform Mrs. Diehl in the College Counseling Center so transcripts can be sent to the Clearinghouse.NCAA information is explained on our webpage, www.lschs.org/college. Coaches and counselors are available to answer any questions.
Additions to Lists of Colleges
Seniors are reminded to inform the College Counseling Center by Tuesday, December 1, 2015, about any colleges they are adding to their original list. The counselors need time for processing these requests before Christmas Vacation. Copies of letters of acceptance or scholarship awards also need to be brought to the College Counseling Center.
IMPORTANT REMINDER TO JUNIORS AND SENIORS
As the second quarter begins, keep in mind that the GPA in college preparatory courses is the most important criteria in the college admission process.
Please note that the College Counseling Office follows the La Salle school schedule and will be closed December 23, 2015 through January 3, 2016.
Standardized Test Dates
The SAT and SAT Subject Tests will be offered on November 7, 2015.The December SAT (current version) will be offered December 5, 2015. The registration deadline is November 5, 2015 and the late registration deadline is November 23rd. The ACT will be offered on December 12, 2015.The initial registration deadline is November 6, 2015 and the late registration for this test date is November 20, 2015.
Parents of juniors are invited to the Financial Aid Information Night mentioned above. Also, College Open Houses, Fairs, and Information Nights and the Junior Monthly Planning Calendar are listed on our webpage. These are an excellent introduction to the college search process. Advisory classes for juniors regarding the college search and application process will begin at the start of the second semester.
JUNIORS
Thank you to the large crowd that attended our SAT/ACT Standardized Testing Information Night in October. Juniors should make plans to take at least one standardized test by May of next year. We encourage you to become familiar with the differences between the three tests. Please keep in mind that colleges will accept both the Current SAT (November/December 2015 and January 2016), New SAT (March 2016 and beyond) and ACT and no preference is given to either test. *Virginia Tech will only accept the ACT and/or New SAT. Juniors should receive their PSAT results in mid-December. Juniors are encouraged to take a practice test to find out which standardized test they may possibly perform better in. Most test prep companies, including Kaplan, offer these evaluations for free. In addition, Kahn Academy has partnered with the College Board to offer free test preparation. The junior grade level counselor, Mr. Leahy has introduced multiple college counseling topics to the juniors in Advisory Class. Students and parents are encouraged to research colleges in Naviance through the Parent Portal and Student Portal and to avail of the myriad of resources available at www.lschs.org/college.