Everyone knows about Khan Academy, right?
Kahn Academy has produced a wonderful series of short videos covering all aspects of writing your college essays. Click here to access this comprehensive series. The videos cover topics including:
NOW is a good time to check these videos out and start getting ideas down on paper. Ms. Walker and Ms. Reimers are happy to help you proofread/edit your essays. Or, you can ask your language arts teacher or your parents to help do this. Be sure to have someone other than yourself read through all of your application writing before you submit!
DON'T PANIC! College + Coronavirus
The world has changed dramatically over the past months, and it seems the changes will continue to take place at least into the near future. But, DON'T PANIC! Everyone...high school students, college students, teachers, professors and college admissions...have all been affected by the coronavirus in many, many ways, and we're all in the same boat. For now, a good way to help manage the stress you, as a student or a parent, may be feeling will be to keep yourself informed. We will regularly post informative, well-sourced articles here as they become available.
Seniors - Class of 2021
As you know, the April/May/June SAT and ACT test dates were canceled across the country. The testing agencies (College Board and ACT) have published testing dates for late summer, through the entire 2020-21 academic year. Additionally, our current plan is for LHS to administer our "School Day" SAT test Wednesday, September 23rd, to replace the April date which was canceled. There is no fee for the School Day test. Any registration fees that you may have already paid for non-School Day testing ("national" test dates) will be credited back to you or you may transfer the fee to a future testing date. With either type of SAT test, if you need/want to take the essay portion of the test, you must specify that at the time of registration.
More and more colleges every day are changing their admissions policies to become "test optional". At least for now. However, many schools have always used test scores along with GPAs to help them in awarding merit-based awards. It will be important for you to monitor any schools you may be interested in applying to regarding their policies going forward.
Most college campuses have restrictions in place due to Covid-19. This means that no campus tours are available for now But! Most schools have excellent websites many of which include high-quality virtual tours. You can gain a ton of knowledge, insights, opinions and visuals via the Internet. You can also often find out who our region's admissions representative is on the school's website, and communicate with them via email.
Interesting articles:
How Coronavirus Affects College Admission: US News
A List of Temporarily "Test Optional" Schools
SAT & PSAT Coronavirus Updates: The College Board
Coronavirus Pandemic Complicates College Plans for High Schools Students: NPR
Coronavirus May Drive More High School Students to In-State Colleges: CNBC
Every Senior will meet one-on-one, via Google Meet, with a trained Post Grad volunteer either during an OFF period or during after school time during September and early October. Seniors will sign themselves up for these meetings, using the SignUp Genius platform and live links that will be provided by their Seminar teachers. This is the same process that students used last spring to sign up for your Junior Meetings. These meetings will continue the discussion that we began with students during the spring of their Junior year about their lives after high school graduation. Students can choose to focus on the college search and application process, or on the many excellent alternatives to college: skilled trades/tech education and career options, certificate programs, apprenticeships, and the military.
All Seniors should already be familiar with our online college search/planning/application tool, Naviance and how to log on and use the amazing array of tools this platform offers. If students have questions about any of this, feel free to stop by Post Grad for some help. In their virtual Senior Meetings this fall, students will be exposed to lots more information about the college/trade school application process, as well as exactly how to accomplish the required tasks. Remember!...the detailed instructions for requesting a transcript and requesting teacher letters of rec are on the homepage of students' Naviance accounts. There are several steps for both processes, so be sure to follow the instructions carefully.
Attendance at Senior Meetings is required, but don't worry, you won't want to miss out!
The National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) is hosting several virtual college fairs this fall. NACAC has developed a high-quality format. Click here to register for one or more of these FREE events.
Save the date! More than 600 colleges and universities will be online to talk with high school juniors and seniors on each of these dates this fall:
- Sunday, Sept. 13: 10am-6pm MST
- Monday, Oct. 12: 11am-7pm MST
- Sunday, Oct. 18: 10am-6pm MST
- Sunday, Nov. 8: noon-8pm MST
Each virtual fair is a free, one-day event. Attend as often as you like. Parents invited, too.
What to Expect:
NACAC Virtual College Fairs are designed from the ground up as mobile experiences that are intuitive, informative, interactive, and fun.
- During each NACAC Virtual College Fair, more than 600 college and university representatives will be available to talk with you and other students!
- On the day of each fair, log in to virtualcollegefairs.org using your phone or computer. It's totally easy to get around.
- Create your itinerary by selecting which colleges you'd like to learn about! Sign up to attend their live and interactive Zoom sessions on how to apply, financial aid, student life, and more. Watch, learn, and get your questions answered about academics, athletics, diversity, study abroad, and other topics.
- You can also schedule a virtual meeting with a college. Just choose a date and time.
- Don't know where to start? No worries! Each fair offers NACAC Meet-Ups with information (in English and Spanish) on how to find your best college fit, how to pay for college, and more. Plus, you can use chat to talk with college counseling expert
Attention Juniors & Seniors!
Did you know that admissions reps from over 125 schools from across the country will arrange virtual meetings with LHS students who're interested in learning more about that college?
Each rep will hold a separate virtual meeting which Juniors and Seniors can attend to find out more about that particular school and ask specific questions. The meetings last from 30-45 minutes and students must sign up on their Naviance account in order to receive the meeting link. Click the "Colleges I'm Thinking About" link and look in the lefthand column of the page under "College Visits" to sign up. Some of these meetings will be scheduled during after school hours, so that you can avoid missing important class time.
We post the list of schools that are scheduled on the Post Grad bulletin board in the Language Arts hallway and on the Post Grad bulletin board across from the Cafe. The most up-to-date list will always be on Naviance. Schools add constantly, so be sure to check often.
This is a terrific opportunity for you to find out more about schools you're interested in. The reps are often the first people who will review your application, so its a way to connect with those people. Check the most up to date list of schools on your Naviance account. Sign up to attend there, and then stop by the Post Grad Center prior to the designated meeting time to pick up a pass out of class. Piece of cake!
The Post Grad Center strongly encourages all students to develop a plan for their "Life After Littleton". Whether your plan includes pursuing a college degree or not, EVERY student needs to continue their life's education. This can include:
The Post-High School Planning Calendar for both college and career planning is a guide for Juniors and Seniors to use throughout the year to keep track of important events such as standardized testing (SAT, ACT), meetings in the Post Grad Center, and college/career fairs in the community. Also, check out this Doorways Presentation for help with your post-secondary planning.