Senior Student/Parent Night Bishop O

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Senior Student/Parent NightBishop OConnell High
SchoolClass of 2014

• September 18, 2013

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Senior Year To - Do List
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Senior Timeline

• Fall13
• Meet with your college counselor in
  September/October to discuss college plans and
  review high school transcripts.
• Sign up to take the SAT/ACT and SAT Subject tests
  if needed. (Note you cannot take the SAT and
  subject tests on the same day.)
• Attend College Fairs.
• Sign up through Naviance to meet with college
  representatives who are visiting Bishop
  OConnell.

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SENIOR TIMELINE Class of 2014

• Search for and apply to colleges and
  universities.
• Obtain scholarship information through Naviance,
  your college counselor, the newsletter, and
  online through college websites.
• Decide if applying Early Decision or Early Action
  to a particular school.
• Complete college scholarship/financial aid
  applications if requesting aid.
• Complete your transcript request forms on
  Naviance.

Fall 13
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• Fall 13
• If using the Common Application be sure to link
  it to Naviance so your counselor can upload
  transcripts and recommendations online.
• Make sure to give your college counselor and your
  teachers a two week window to write your
  recommendations and dont forget to give out
  copies of your resume and return the Parent
  Response Form. (Please pay attention to school
  holidays when we are closed.)
• Please note SAT and ACT test scores must be sent
  from the appropriate website. We cannot do it
  from Bishop OConnell.

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Spring 14

• Apply for financial aid if applicable and file
  all forms. (Complete the FAFSA/CSS Profile as
  early as possible, starting in January.)
• Contact all colleges to make sure all materials
  were received.
• Decide on a college after all acceptances/financia
  l aid offers come in, usually by April 1st.
  (Compare financial aid offers.)
• Notify every college of acceptance or rejection
  and send acceptance to the college of your
  choice.

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SENIOR TIMELINE
Spring 14

• If you havent already, visit your final choice
  before
• accepting.
• Wait-listed? If you would enroll if accepted,
  tell the
• Admissions Director your intent and ask how to
• strengthen your application
• Need more financial aid? Ask if more aid can
  possibly
• be awarded.
• Relax and enjoy. You did it!!!

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The College Search
What is the ultimate goal?
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The College Trifecta

• Academic fit.
• Campus culture fit.
• Financial fit.

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What do colleges look for?
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Evaluating an Applicant

• In priority order
• The Transcript School achievement and rigor of
  courses
• Test Scores
• Recommendations
• Essay
• Interview
• Activities

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The College Application
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Dos and Donts

• Do adhere to all deadlines.
• Do be extremely careful when filling out your
  applications online. (Do not work on college
  applications when very tired.)
• Do have your essays evaluated by a trusted
  teacher or professional.

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• Dont wait until the last minute to
• submit your application.
• Dont use an unprofessional sounding
• e-mail address, i.e. dancegal, surfdude
• Dont apply to too few or too many
• schools. (Two is too few, fourteen is too
• many.)

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THE CAMPUS VISIT orIf Its Tuesday, This Must Be
Yale! (or Virginia Tech?)
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(No Transcript)
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Making the Campus Visit Count!

• Plan ahead
• Dress appropriately
• Ask the experts (the current students)
• Dodge the statistics
• Relax
• Dont forget youll be living there

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• See a dorm room
• Try the food
• Visit a class
• Look at the bulletin boards
• Disregard the weather and the tour guide
• Look around and REALLY observe
• Take advantage of overnight housing
• Reflect and write
• Do you feel at home?

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DORM LIFE
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The College Interview
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Interviewing Tips

• Arrive early.
• Dress appropriately.
• Ask intelligent questions (show you have
  researched the school).
• Dont answer questions with a simple yes or no,
  elaborate.
• Be enthusiastic about the school.
• Be courteous and dont forget to send a thank you
  note to the interviewer.

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Writing The Essay
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• Dos
• Write from the heart colleges want to get a
  sense of who you are!
• Check and re-check do not mention the name of a
  school if it is going through the common
  application!
• Have a parent and trusted teacher read your
  essays.
• Read through samples of well written college
  essays.

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• Vary your sentence structure. Avoid
• repetition of compound sentences
• filled with prepositional phrases. Use
• simple, short sentences to give power
• to important points. Show us your
  weaknesses as well as
• your strengthsthey make you
• uniquely you. Incorporate humor (with
  good taste).
• Make us laugh, and your essay will
• stand out. 

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Donts Avoid being wordy, overblown or
flowery. Stay away from colloquial, folksy or
overly informal words such as very, a
lot, cool, awesome and nice. Avoid
clichés, such as as American as apple pie.
Dont leave us hanging. Make sure there are no
ideas introduced without being fully
discussed. Avoid using the same words over
(and over and over) again.
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Your Personal Resume
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• Check out other examples of well-formed resumes.
• Have your college counselor and a trusted teacher
  look it over.
• Be truthful but dont be shy. Now is not the time
  to downplay your accomplishments!

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Types of Admissions Decisions
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• Early Decision Binding
• Outcome Accepted, Deferred, Denied
• Early Action Non-Binding
• Outcome Accepted, Deferred, Denied
• Single Choice Early Action Non-Binding
• (but cannot apply early to any other private
  university)
• Outcome Accepted, Deferred, Denied

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• Regular Decision Non-Binding
• Outcome Accepted, Wait Listed, Denied
• Rolling Admissions Apply anytime
• Notification of acceptance or denial is usually
  within a few weeks.

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Just For Athletes
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GO KNIGHTS!

• Dont forget to register with the NCAA
  Eligibility Center (www.eligibilitycenter.org) if
  you havent already and wish to do so.
• Speak to your counselor and coach regarding NCAA
  eligibility if you desire to play your sport on
  the collegiate level.

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Standardized Testing
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SAT/ACT

• Do not take more than three or four SATs/ACTs
  starting from Spring of Junior year (this does
  not include subject tests).
• We recommend one SAT/ACT Spring of Junior year
  and then concentrating on one or the other Senior
  year.
• Make sure your score reports are sent to each
  college to which you are applying.
• Dont forget to utilize the score choice option.

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Financial Aid And Scholarships

• Show Me The Money!

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Financial Aid Information

• Public vs. private universities
• Whats the difference when it comes to
• financial aid?
• Merit vs. Need Based Aid.
• Where to look for scholarships?
• Financial Aid Workshop to be offered at Bishop
  OConnell on December 17th.

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JUST FOR PARENTS

                                     
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College Admissions Tips for Parents

• Do learn about the process.
• Do discuss restrictions up front.
• Do remind your child of deadlines.
• Help your children prepare, but let them perform.
• Support and encouragement are more appropriate
  than pressure and unsolicited advice.
• Prepare your child for disappointment.

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• Do not compare your children to others.
• Guide your child in choosing colleges that would
  be great fit, but dont force your child to apply
  to a school that only you like.
• Do not let stereotypes, outdated information, or
  rankings steer your child away from schools in
  which they would otherwise have an interest.

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A Time of Celebration and Change!
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Letting Go A Bittersweet Time!

• Be prepared- Recognize your feelings and sort out
  emotions before the day they leave.
• Realize that your role is changing from manager
  to mentor as your child enters adulthood.
• It is okay to grieve but try not to let your
  child see a lot of tears. Save them for the trip
  home.

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• Know that every child handles leaving home
  differently.
• Read relevant literature about parent issues when
  children leave for college.
• Attend the Parent Coffee at OConnell in the
  spring which deals with the issue if you would
  like to talk about it.
• Remember that this is the culmination of many
  years of excellent parenting
  congratulate yourself on a job well done!

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• After all would you want this?

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• Or this?

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NEW BEGINNINGS!

                                               
                            
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PARENTS WEEKEND!

• We Get To Visit! Great Fun!

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THE FINISHED PRODUCT!
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Useful websites

• www.fastweb.com Set up a student profile for
  college and scholarship search.
• www.number2.com Vocabulary builder, SAT/ACT
  practice tests
• www.testprepreview.com - SAT/ACT practice
• www.act.org Register for ACT
• www.actstudent.org ACT info
• www.collegeboard.com Register for SAT
• www.studentaid.ed.gov Financial aid info
• www.fafsa.ed.gov FAFSA
• www.pin.ed.gov Register for our PIN for FAFSA
• www.students.gov Financial aid
• www.collegeprowler.com

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Reference Books

• The Insiders Guide to the Colleges by the Yale
  Daily News.
• The College Prowler The Big Book of Colleges 10
• The College Handbook by the College Board
• The Best 366 Colleges by the Princeton Review
• Colleges that Change Lives by Loren Pope
• Getting Into the Right College by Edward B. Fisk
  and Bruce G. Hammond
• Complete Idiots Guide to Financial
• Aid for College by David Ryes

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Such a lot of information!

• 
  
  

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Questions????
EARLY ACTION
FAFSA
MERIT AID
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Were Here To Help!

• Mrs. Kristina Herbst kherbst_at_bishopoconnell.org
• Seniors A through Berube
• Mr. Tom Giska tgiska_at_bishopoconnell.org
• Seniors Bevan through Ellis
• Iacobucci through Obeid
• Dr. Daniel Stabile dstabile_at_bishopoconnell.org
• Seniors Falcon through Hylton
• Olafsson through Zinzi