College Planning

1. Pursue and maintain a rigorous course of study during your senior year. Senior grades will be looked at closely by the colleges. Colleges prefer to see an upward swing in grades. For the marginal student it may make the difference as to whether or not you are accepted. (The best predictor of success in college is still grades in high school while pursuing a rigorous program of study.)

2. Use your legal name and the SAME name on all tests, apps, transcripts, etc. - no nicknames.

3. If you are applying to a University of California or California State University campus, you should have the SAT Reasoning Test taken by December (October for impacted campuses). For a UC campus, you must also take the SAT Subject Tests by December. The two SAT subject tests required by UC can be selected from Math (Level II), Science, History, Literature, or Foreign Language.

4. Apply online to the University of California and California State University whether you have your test results back or not. APPLY ONLINE IN NOVEMBER (October and November for Cal State).

5. Listen to the Regent Facts announcements regarding college presentations at lunch or during classes in the guidance room. The college representatives are an excellent source of information; they are also advocates for you in the admissions process. A handout with suggested questions is in 200B.

6. Visit the campus of the college or colleges you are interested in applying to in order to obtain firsthand information about the programs available. It is important to get the "feel" of a particular college.

7. Obtain and read the catalogs from the colleges you are interested in. Many of these catalogs are available for borrowing from the Guidance Room (200B). Virtually all of them are on-line.

8. Applications for UC and Cal State systems will be available online in October and November. Counselors will be in the computer lab every day in Oct. and Nov. to help you fill them out. Remember, file your application in October (CSU) and November (UC, CSU). Community College application/assessment procedures begin next semester.

9. Private school applications are available online or may be obtained by calling or writing the college and requesting an application. Only a few are available here. Check with your counselor or look in the filing cabinet in 200B. You are strongly encouraged to use the Common Application for many colleges, such as LMU, USD, Santa Clara, NYU, and the Claremont colleges. It is available online at www.commonapp.org.

10. Helpful handouts available in 200B are "Letters of Recommendation/Brag Sheets,” "Writing Your Essay,” etc. Pick up any or all of these. There are also DVDs available on college selection, financial aid, and test preparation. See the library resource list.

11. Your counselor has your transcripts, class ranks and GPAs for you. You may get them on Wednesday when you have submitted your Transcript Release Form (which you will receive Tuesday) to her. Please use the class rank when applying for the SAT. If you have taken the SAT previously, you do not need to fill out the Student Descriptive Questionnaire again, but you may (and should) alter any items that need updating, such as class rank.

12. Frequently discuss your career plans, college choice, and financing of college with your counselor. Counselors may be able to help students avoid some of the problems that may occur in the college admission process.

13. Discuss your ideas and involve your parents when planning for college. Ideally, planning for college should be a collaborative effort - among student, parents, and school.