Senior College/Career Information

• Register for the SAT and ACT if you didn’t take them as a junior or aren’t satisfied with your score and want to retake them. Fee waivers are available in The Instructional Services Center.
• Take a look at some college applications and consider all of the different pieces of information you will need to compile. 
• The SAT date most popular with high school seniors is this month.
• Visit your school counselor to ensure you are on track to graduate and fulfill college admission requirements.
• Take every opportunity to get to know colleges: meeting with college representatives who visit your high schools during the fall, attending local college fairs, and visiting campuses (if possible).
• Narrow down your list of colleges and begin to consider “safe,” “reach,” and “realistic” schools. Make sure you have the application and financial aid information for each school. Find out if you qualify for any scholarships at these schools.

• Standardized test dates, registration deadlines, and fees
• College application due dates
• Financial aid application forms and deadlines
• Other materials for college applications (recommendations, transcripts, essays, etc.)

Some schools require the CSS/Financial Aid Profile. Ask the colleges to which you are applying for their deadlines. You can register as early as September.

• Some colleges will have deadlines as early as this month. These include rolling admission, priority, early decision, and early action deadlines. 
• If you cannot afford the application fees that many colleges charge, ask your counselor to help you request a fee waiver.
• Finalize your college essay. Many schools will require that you submit at least one essay with your application.
• Request personal recommendations from teachers, your counselor, or employers. Use the form provided to the right to request a recommendation from your counselor.
• Research possibilities of scholarships. Ask your counselor, colleagues, and religious and civic groups about scholarship opportunities. You should never pay for scholarship information.

• Finalize and send any early decision or action applications due this month. Have a parent, teacher, counselor, or another adult review the application before it is submitted.
• Every college will require a copy of your transcript from your high school. You can see Javier De La O in Room 104 to request an official transcript.
• Make sure you send your official test scores (SAT or ACT) from your online portals directly to the colleges to which you are applying. 
• The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) will be available this month but cannot be completed before January 1. This is the form you will complete to find out what financial aid you are eligible to receive from the government. Visit www.fafsa.ed.gov to apply.

• Begin to organize regular decision applications and financial aid forms, which will be due in January and February. 
• Register for the January SAT (If needed). It is the last one colleges can consider for a senior.

• Many popular and selective colleges will have application deadlines as early as January 1. Others have deadlines later in January and February. Keep track of and observe deadlines for sending in all required fees and paperwork. 
• Ask the guidance office in January to send first semester transcripts to schools where you applied. At the end of the school year, they will need to send the final transcripts to the college you attend. 
• It is time to file the FAFSA (no later than Feb 1). The sooner you complete it, the sooner you will have an idea of your financial aid options. Watch the mail/email for your Student Aid Report (SAR)—it should arrive within one week after the FAFSA is filed online.

• While most of your applications will be complete and you are waiting to receive admission decisions, don’t slack in the classroom. The college you attend will want to see your second-semester transcript. No Senioritis!
• Acceptance letters and financial aid offers will start to arrive. Review your acceptances, compare financial aid packages, and visit your final choices, especially if you haven’t already.

• May 1 is when the college you plan to attend requires a commitment and deposit. When you’ve made your college decision, notify your counselor and the colleges. Send in your deposit by the postmark date of May 1. Accept the offer and follow the instructions if you’ve been offered financial aid. Also, notify schools you will not attend of your decision. 
• Make sure you have requested that your final transcript be sent to the school you attend. 
• If you are “wait listed” by a college you want to attend, visit, call and write the admission office to make your interest clear. Ask how you can strengthen your application.