The College Process

September - Junior Year - Students should meet with their advisors and guidance counselors to make sure their course choices for the year reflect their possible career paths. Having the necessary amount of languages, maths, and sciences may be critical to your ability to attend certain colleges. Also, make sure your schedule over the final two years allows for the necessary required courses in the arts, FCS, etc. for graduation. As you plan for your community service in your junior and senior year, try to focus your efforts on your true areas of interest. For example, if you are considering a career as a veterinarian, do community service hours at the humane society.

Fall of Junior Year - Start to familiarize yourself with the collegeboard.com, guidance central (you should have a password from last year with Ms. Piffard) and other college search engines. Many require you to “sign in” but their is no cost. It basically just puts you into a data base. One word of caution WRITE DOWN YOUR USER NAME AND PASSWORD somewhere you can access it. Have a file on your computer or keep it in your notebook.

October 16 - TVHS cafeteria - VSAC (Vermont Student Assistance Corp) will be presenting a discussion about various options available to our students regarding Financial Aid. This is strongly recommended for parents of juniors and seniors.

March to June - Junior Year

Files : Students develop a college/career search file. Important information about prospective colleges/trade schools should be located here. Records of any academic awards, or letters of recommendation from jobs or internships can go here too. All future related college documents should go into this file.

Visits : Some students will visit colleges over Spring Break. All colleges and Trade Schools have information about interviews and visits on their web sites. Most visits and interviews require an appointment, so call or e-mail early to get the dates you want. Spring break is a very popular time for students in the northeast to visit schools.

Testing :Typically, SAT I’s are taken once in the spring; at least two SAT II's are recommended in June of the junior year or the fall of the senior year for many schools. In most cases, a college list should be developed by the end of the school year. Be sure to note which of your choices require SAT I’s SAT II’s or ACT’s. The SAT I is a general math/language arts standardized exam. SAT II’s and ACT’s are subject specific in a wide range of subjects from science, to history to language. Barron’s, Kaplan and Schaum all make excellent study guides. Students can also consider taking summer courses to beef up their knowledge in a particular area if they are interested in pursuing a specific career path.

Interviews : Some schools count interviews quite a bit. Many schools offer alumni interviews in the area. Some schools don’t even offer interviews because o their size. Check on-line to see what your prospective schools offer. Junior advisors will provide opportunities for “mock” interviews. Students should consider a list of questions for each school. Questions should generally reflect information that is either not easily available on their web site, or information that needs clarification from what you learned from their web site. Schools will take greater notice if they think you have actually researched their school. Asking a question about size or whether or not freshmen can have cars is probably not the use of your interviewer’s time. Take time to think of how you will present yourself, your work and your possible contributions to your prospective colleges.

Summer

Families visit colleges. Talk to other students than might be interested in the same schools. Perhaps you can go together and see twice as many school. Students start to craft their college essays. Students develop their activity profile which outlines their academic achievement, school related activities, athletic activities, work experience, and community service activities.

September and October of the Senior Year

Students review their college lists and consider Early Decision/Early Action options. Students finalize their essays. Check specific schools for what their applications require. Does it require a supplemental essay ? If so, write the supplemental essays during this time.

Recommendations : Identify the teachers who will write your recommendations and ask them as soon as possible. When asking for a recommendation, please give them a copy of your activity profile so they can write about in the context of your school experience. Also, when you give them the recommendation form, give them stamped and addressed envelopes for your prospective colleges. Make sure there is enough postage on the envelopes. Fill out the top of the recommendation form yourself (the part that has your personal information such as name, school etc.)

Planning : plan a timeline for completing the application process. College representatives visit TVHS each week and meet with interested seniors. SAT I is usually taken a second time in October or November. SAT II’s may be taken in November or December. Guidance counselors are preparing letters of recommendation for each senior and are meeting frequently with students. UVM applications that are filed by October 31st currently do not require an application fee. If you have not interviewed at one of your prospective schools do this NOW.

November

Early Decision applications are typically filed by November 1st or 15th. SAT II's are often taken this month. College lists are firmed-up, essays are revised and polished, the application timeline is reviewed.

December

All secondary school report forms are due in the Guidance Counseling office so that a TVHS transcript and other supporting school documents can be mailed to colleges. This is the last month that we recommend students take the SAT I or SAT II. Early Decision notification is on or about December 15th. All applications due January 1st should be completed.

January

Most regular applications are due between January 1st and February 1st. Students should complete any/all remaining applications. Semester grades are sent to colleges at the end of this month.

Mid-March to April 1st

Admissions decisions arrive. Guidance counselors, advisors and parents help students to sort through their options.

May

Final college choices must be made by May 1st.

June

Final transcripts are mailed to colleges.