Seniors, make sure you are tracking your college applications and maintaining good communication with your prospective colleges. Update colleges on any new accomplishments or changes regarding your records or circumstances. Also, remember financial aid deadlines are approaching. Many families believe that they will not qualify for financial aid and fail to realize that many private colleges and universities encourage filing the FAFSA for merit aid consideration. Submitting the FAFSA also gives every student an opportunity to acquire an unsubsidized Stafford Loan and, in case of an emergency, to be positioned to receive aid.
Juniors, if you have not done so already, now is the time to register for those College Entrance Exams. Every junior should try to take the SAT and / or ACT at least once or twice before summer.
Obtaining College Entrance Exam Feedback – For the SAT, you can order the Student Answer Service (March) or Question-and-Answer Service (May) during the process of test registration. Both provide great feedback assistance in prepping for the next SAT test date. For more information, see College Board – Verifying Scores.
For the ACT, through Test Information Release (TIR), you receive a copy of the multiple-choice test questions, a list of your answers, and the answer key. If you took the writing test, you also receive a copy of the writing prompt, scoring guidelines, and scores assigned to your essay. This service is only available on three national test dates per year—December, April, and June, and only if you test at a national test center. If you order TIR when you register, materials are mailed about 4 weeks after scores are reported. You can also order TIR for three months after you test. See ACT – TIR for more information.
9th & 10th Grade Students – To take the AP or not to take the AP is the question! Many of you are planning for next year’s courses and are asking good questions: Should I take an AP Course or a Dual Credit Course? Remember, Dual Credit is a good choice for students who know that they are going to apply primarily to in-state public universities and for some in-state private colleges as well. AP credit is the best route for students who plan to apply to out-of-state private and public universities and for institutions that are more selective. AP is universally recognized and often considered to be more rigorous. With Dual Credit, students will have a permanent college transcript, which cannot be expunged. Ask yourself these two questions: What types of college options do I want? And how much control do I want over what prospective colleges see on my future applications?
Patricia Nehme, CEP