Happy October! For our seniors, application deadlines are approaching (I know a bunch of you have your first ones coming on 10/15!). It's a stressful time of year, so please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions! (and remind your seniors that literally every single one of them is feeling the stress - it's very normal...unfortunately!).
Below, I wanted to highlight some "To Do" items for our seniors and juniors and some upcoming events you might want to attend or enroll in.
Senior "To Do" Items:
CSS Profile: This is now available to submit. Please go here to see if any of your schools require it: https://profile.collegeboard.org/profile/ppi/participatingInstitutions.aspx
Personal Essays: At this point, I'd expect your personal essay to be complete or very close to complete. If you have any concerns about this, don't hesitate to reach out to me with questions.
Activities List: Same as above with the personal essay!
Supplemental Essays: Remember that the key to these is specificity! Talk specifics about why each school is the right place for you (i.e. what can you get at school XXXX that you can't get anywhere else).
Common App: At this point, you should be working through the questions on the Common App. Additionally, I strongly recommend students set up a meeting with their high school counselors to ensure they have what they need in Naviance/SCOIR/etc. (whatever platform your school uses) to obtain the official teacher recs and transcripts and send them to the colleges where you plan to apply.
Once You've Applied: Make sure to watch your email closely. You will likely receive a notification to establish your online portal account with each school you apply to. This is very important, as the college will mostly communicate with you moving forward through that portal!
Junior "To Do" Items (these apply for the entire fall semester):
PSAT/SAT/ACT: Oct 11 is the MCPS PSAT test date. We recommend you take the test to get the experience with the digital format. We'd also recommend taking the practice ACT test to see where your strengths lie. The differences between the two tests will be more pronounced now with the ACT staying a paper test and SAT going digital.
Classes: Your grades junior year will be heavily reviewed by colleges! Keep them up and start thinking about which classes you might want to pursue in senior year.
Extracurriculars: Stay active in sports and clubs, consider leadership roles for next year. Additionally, now is the perfect time to start planning your summer (lots of the competitive internships have Nov deadlines)
Research: Begin conducting virtual tours of colleges. Just google the name of the college with "virtual tour" and they should come right up!
Upcoming Events/Programs:
Financial Aid Webinar: We will be holding a free financial aid webinar on 18 October (I know that many of you have already signed up). Even if you can't attend in person, please grab a free ticket and I will send you the slides and recording (and please share with anyone you think would find it useful). Free Tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/understanding-the-fafsa-and-css-profile-tickets-727930930007?aff=oddtdtcreator
Foundry Admissions Cohort Sessions: November/December: Our next iteration of the Cohort (i.e. small group) sessions will begin on November 7th. I've run these cohorts a few times over the last few years and they are perfect for getting our high school juniors and sophomores prepared for the college admissions process ahead. Learn more and enroll here (there are only 10 slots): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/foundry-admissions-cohort-sessions-novemberdecember-tickets-730810813817?aff=oddtdtcreator
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