Summer Items:

• Check admission requirements.

Know the admissions/acceptance requirements and deadlines for the schools and colleges with the major(s) you are interested in

• Retake SAT & take ACT if needed.

Use Khan Academy test prep to help you boost your score

Senior Year:

• Stay involved and continue excelling!

Remember the classes you take, your GPA, college entrance exam scores, extracurricular activities, and recommendations of your high school are very important factors in college admission.   Keep complete records of your school, extracurricular activities, and volunteer service hours for potential scholarships.  Ask for a reference letter.

• Research financial aid and attend local help sessions (INvestEd! invested indiana.org).

Investigate financial aid possibilities (scholarships, grants, work-study, loans) and check deadlines for special scholarships competition.

• Create your Parchment account (parchment.com) so that you are ready to send your transcripts to potential colleges and employers. 

  Counselors will assist you at your designated Senior Seminar.

• Consider attending a college fair.

Talk directly to college representatives and get first hand information.

• Finalize your list of colleges through Xello.

Select the final list of colleges you want to apply to. Your selections should include at least one that you feel will definitely accept you.

• Pay attention to deadlines!

Submit applications for admission, financial aid, and scholarship applications. Be sure to check deadlines. SSAR deadline, ACT/SAT dates, fill out FAFSA, etc.

• Sign up to speak with visiting college admissions representatives.  

  The FC School Counseling website has the links.

• Visit your top colleges.

Contact the colleges you have applied to and ask to visit. A visit will help you see whether or not you are really interested and will help you see how one college differs from another.

• Complete the Federal Student Aid application.  Utilize Xello to help answer FAFSA questions and attend local help sessions.

Complete the free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) available online at Federal Student Aid (https://fafsa.ed.gov). The window opens each October 1 for the following school year.

• Submit financial aid forms.

Submit the financial aid forms required by the institution(s) where you are applying.

• Check to see if documents have been sent.

Check with your school counselor and teachers to confirm that secondary school reports, mid-year grades, letters of recommendation, and transcripts have been sent to the colleges that require them. Make sure you request these well before your deadline (a minimum of 2 weeks). School counselors and/or teachers may not have time to do them by your deadline if you wait until the last minute.

• Keep your school counselor informed.

Let your school counselor know about your letters of acceptance and/or rejection as you hear from colleges. Knowing your status, your counselor will be better able to assist you and answer any questions you may have about admission and financial aid.

• Make a decision on financial aid.

Be sure that you and your parents clearly understand what is being offered before making a decision on accepting a financial aid package.

• Request final high school transcripts after graduation through Parchment.com.

Parchment will send final transcripts to the college you plan to attend.