COUNSELING CENTER

Mrs. Bonnie Vericella (A-L)

Mrs. Anne Craig-McEldowney (M-Z)

Counselors meet with students on a regular basis. Students and parents may also request to meet with either counselor by scheduling an appointment or on a walk-in basis.

Office hours are usually 7:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.

**************DISAPPOINTMENTS & HOW TO HANDLE **********

SENIORS WHO HAVE BEEN WAIT-LISTED:

The waiting list is the school's safety net: if a number of accepted students decide not to attend, the school will replace them with students on the waiting list, so that the incoming class will still be filled to capacity. Most students who are accepted to a highly selective school will attend, so where does this leave the wait-listed student? According the NACAC, the average chance of being accepted from the wait list is approximately one in five students.

Students should give serious consideration to other options. Celebrate the places that you did get in and "move on." Fewer and fewer schools are accepting applicants from their waiting lists.

Know that decisions are based perdominantly on numbers during a particularly competivite year, and not necessarily on the merits of the applicaiton. As many as two-thirds of the students they reject are fully capable of succeeding academically at their institutions. There is just too much demand for too few spaces. Sometimes parents will hurt more than their child because they are powerless to make it better. Parents need to support rather than go to the depths of despair with their student.

COLLEGE TIME-TABLE:

Freshman Year
When you become a freshman, everything starts to “count.” All of your freshman courses, grades, and credits will be on your transcript, and your freshman grades will be used to determine your GPA. Freshman activities, honors and awards can also be listed on college and scholarship applications. As a freshman, become involved in activities, establish good study habits, and work hard to get good grades. Freshmen can use Career Cruising to begin to develop a portfolio. (The counselors will be taking them to the computer lab to show them how to use the software.)

Athletes need to start meeting with their coachs about the recruiting process for college....each division has different requirements.

There are 16 core, course credit requirement that must be met for the NCAA Clearinghouse for Division 1 College Athletes.

SOPHOMORE YEAR
In addition to working hard in school and being involved in a variety of activities, try to identify your abilities, interests, and aptitudes. Also look for opportunities to further develop your skills and talents.

Take your PLAN test results seriously and explore your interest areas on the World of Work Map on the back of your scantron. Use “Career Cruising” to Develop a resume, portfolio, and to research colleges, majors and / or careers. Be thinking about summer employment.
The user name for Career Cruising is: centralcatholic
The password is: careers

JUNIOR YEAR
Your Junior year is when you should take the ACT or SAT, make college visits, and start searching for scholarships.
All Junior’s at CCHS will take the PSAT test on Wednesday, October 17, 2007. The test results will be interpreted to the students when they arrive and a copy will be sent home to parents via their student.

To get information and to register for the ACT, go to
www.act.org. To get information and to register for the SAT, go to www.collegeboard.com. Continue to update your resume to use for employment as well as the college application process.

SENIOR YEAR
We will work from September until the end of the year with our seniors. Students should continue to complete their college applications and be aware of deadlines.
In September be looking for an invitation to a College Admissions night meeting that will take place at CCHS.
In December be looking for an invitation to a Financial Aid Meeting that will take place at CCHS before the FAFSA is due in January.

Usually by the first of April students decide which college they will attend. Send in housing deposit, sign and return award letters, and notify the other colleges that you have applied to of your decisions.

Make sure your Guidance Counselor has a list of all honors and awards that you have received and knows where to send your final transcript at the end of May.

ONLINE COLLEGE PLANNING PACKAGE
MY COLLEGE QUICK START
www.collegeboard.com/quickstart

All high school students who take the PSAT/NMSQT will receive a personalized MY COLLEGE QUICK START until they graduate from high school. This includes:
Interactive, supplemental PSAT score report
My SAT Study Plan
Personalized lists of college and majors
College and career planning with MY ROAD

Students use MY ROAD to explore colleges, majors, and careers to build a plan for the future. The Password will be available on the score report from the PSAT. The counselors will help the students via the computer lab.