Applying to Colleges

Tips for Benson's College Bounders

  • Meet with your school counselor: Your school counselor and Kathleen Reid, the college counselor, will offer the resources and guidelines to help you understand the college application process. Schedule follow up visits as needed. College Counselor, Kathleen Reid, can be reached at kreid@pps.net or 971-238-8322.

  • Transcripts: Students can access a copy of their transcript in StudentVUE under course history (it is best to try to access your transcript from a laptop). Review your transcript at the end of each semester. Check transcript carefully for errors. If you find a mistake, notify your school counselor as soon as possible. Official transcripts for colleges must be requested through Maia Learning (see instructions below).

  • College Rep visits: This is an excellent way to learn more about the schools and to ask the college admissions representative questions. Check the visit schedule by going to Maia Learning, click on Universities, then click on Visits.

  • Planning: Make a list of application deadlines and supporting materials needed (i.e., test scores, essays, recommendations). Read through all your applications thoroughly. Post the list somewhere and/or set notifications on your electronic device, so you don't miss critical deadlines.

  • Teacher/Counselor recommendations: When applying to a private college, chances are you will need at least one letter of recommendation. Recommendations must be requested through Maia (see below). Be sure to ask your recommender at least 30 days in advance to complete a recommendation. Follow up with them about their progress before the deadline. In order to receive a counselor recommendation, you need to fill out the counselor survey in Maia Learning. Click on profile and scroll to bottom of the page.

  • Applications: You will need to check each college for application instructions. Many colleges use Common App, but some have their own online application.

  • Essays: If the application requires an essay, look over prompts and begin drafting your essay in a separate document in Google Docs. Ask an adult you trust to review your essay (i.e. teacher, counselor, college counselor). Agree upon a timeline and make edits as needed before the final submission.

  • Financial Aid: Complete the FAFSA/ORSAA in a timely manner. If applying to FAFSA, create your FSA ID so that you can sign electronically. Your parent will need to create an FSA ID as well. FAFSA opens October 1st each year.

  • Athletes: Sign up for the NCAA Clearinghouse, if you are a student athlete intending to play a sport(s) at the NCAA Division I or II college level. You must sign up for the NCAA Clearinghouse, request your transcript be sent to NCAA in Maia Learning, and send your SAT or ACT scores to NCAA.

  • ASK QUESTIONS! When in doubt, visit the counseling center and get help. Waiting until the last minute can make the process overwhelming.

Public Universities in Oregon

Private Universities and Colleges

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Resources

Why Go to College? (English)/ (Spanish)

College and Career Checklist (English)

What to do when you get to campus (English)/ (Spanish)

Finding the right college for you (English)/ (Spanish)

College Tips for Parents (English)/ (Spanish)

College Covered: Getting Into College and Paying for College


College Applications

Log in to MAIA Learning


MAIA LEARNING INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENTS

For Benson Tech Seniors

LOGGING IN

  1. Go to https://www.maialearning.com/

  2. In the top right corner click Log In

  3. Click the "Sign in with Google" button

COUNSELOR RECOMMENDATIONS: (you only need to do this if you are applying to a PRIVATE university and/or a scholarship requires a counselor recommendation)

See important notes below before you start the survey!

Students access surveys from their main student dashboard under the Activities and Tasks section. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to view surveys, or click Filter by to just show Surveys.

You want to complete the “Counselor Recommendation” Survey. There might be two showing so if one doesn’t open you want to try to the second one. Click "Start" to begin a new survey, or "Continue" to keep working on a survey you started previously.

As you answer each question, click "Next" to move to the next question, or click "Finish Later" to save your work so that you can continue responding later. You must provide an answer to each question before you can click "Next". After the first question, you can also click "Previous" to return to earlier questions.

You can continue to edit your survey answers until the due date, or until you click "Finish and Close" on the last question. Clicking "Finish and Close" submits your answers as final, and you will no longer be able to edit. If you'd like to continue working on your responses, click "Finish Later" instead.

Once you have submitted your final responses, the survey will be marked as completed. To view completed surveys, click "View Completed" at the top of the Activities and Tasks section of your dashboard. (This will change to "Hide Completed" once clicked.) Click "View" next to the survey to see your submitted responses)

Important Notes:

  1. You must request letters at least 2 weeks in advance of the date you need it by.

  2. If you need a letter of recommendation from your COUNSELOR, you must 1. Complete the survey (see steps above) and 2. you must notify your counselor that you need a letter (via email). If you do not complete a survey, your counselor will not be able to write you a letter of recommendation.

REQUESTING TEACHER LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

1.On the left-side navigation menu, click Universities and select Request Recs.

2. A list of recommenders (teachers and counselors) are at the top left of the page. Search by name or browse the list, and check the box next to those you want recommendations from.

  1. Use this process only for TEACHER requests. If you need a letter of recommendation from a counselor, see the “important notes” above.

3.In the next box, select the universities you want these recommenders to write letters for.

  1. You must identify the date you need a recommendation by. In Date Picker, select the WEEKDAY that is nearest the application deadline for which you are applying AND that does not fall over a school closure. For example, if your application is due Monday, November 30th, select Friday November 20th as the Date Picker.

  2. Add an optional note to your teacher/counselor if desired

4. Repeat this process as needed with different universities and different recommenders.

Shortcut Steps: Universities > Request Recs > Identify Date

APPLYING TO COLLEGES

1.Click on Universities, then Applying List

2. Click “add University” and search by name

  1. If you already saved colleges in your Considering List, you can click Move to Applying to move them to your Applying List.

3.You can identify level of interest for each college by selection an option under “Choice” (optional)

4.You MUST fill in the application details below:

  1. Application Type: Coalition, Common App, Online App, or Other App (i.e. paper application)

  2. Term (will be fall in most cases)

  3. Application Plan: Early Decision, Regular Decision, Priority, Early Action, Rolling. Deadline will auto-populate once you select a plan

  4. Leave “status” blank and do not change/edit “internal deadline”

Note: You must request all documents you need from counselors and teachers through Maia: transcripts, letters of Recommendation, Common App forms. See instructions below.

Shortcut steps: Universities > Applying List > Add University

REQUESTING TRANSCRIPTS

1. Under Universities, click on your Applying list to see the schools you plan to apply to

2. Check the box next to Request Transcript

Important Note: If prompted to enter a date, select the WEEKDAY that is nearest the application deadline for which you are applying AND that does not fall over a school closure. For example, if your application is due Monday, November 30th, select Friday November 20th.

Shortcut Steps: Universities > Applying List > Request Transcript > Submit Application

SYNCING COMMON APP TO MAIA

If you are applying to colleges using the Common App, you MUST sync it with Maia BEFORE you can request any materials, including transcripts. Follow the steps below in the order written.

PART 1: In the Common App

1.Create & log in to your Common App account

2. Complete the required fields in the Profile section. In the high school portion, use our CEEB Code 380840 to find and select Benson HIgh School

3. Enter at least 1 college on your My Colleges list. Go to "College Search" to add one if needed. Select 1 college from your list, and click Recommenders and FERPA and then Complete Release Authorization.

4.Check the box next to “I have read and understood the FERPA Release...” and click on Continue

5.On the following screen, check the box "I acknowledge that every school I have attended may release all...".

6. Check the box next to "I understand..." and enter your name and date. Click Save and Close.

Shortcut Steps: Select 1 college from your list > Recommenders and FERPA > Complete Release Authorization > Check the box next to “I have read and understood...” > Continue > Check the box "I acknowledge that every school..." > Check the box next to "I understand..." > Name, date, Save and Close.

PART 2: In Maia

1.In your Maia account, click on your Profile

2.Scroll down to Application Systems and select the link Click to link your account

3. A pop up window will appear. Click Continue. You will be redirected to the Common App site. Log in using your Common App account username and password. In the pop-up, check the box next to "I Agree" to share your Common App information with MaiaLearning, and click Connect

Shortcut Steps: Profile > Application Systems > Click to link your account > Continue

CHECK OUT THESE YOUTUBE VIDEOS FOR ADDITIONAL HELP!

Overview of Maia Learning College Search College Planning Requesting Letters of Recommendation Creating a Portfolio Connecting Common App to Maia