As we head into exam week, please remember that your first semester grades are an important part of your college applications. Prepare well! No regrets! Once first-semester grades are official, your GPA will be recalculated, your transcript will be updated, and the College Office will automatically submit a Midyear Report to all of the colleges on your Green Sheet in late January. There is nothing that you need to do to make this happen, other than to be sure that your Green Sheet is an accurate reflection of your college list. With that in mind: is your Green Sheet an accurate reflection of your college list? If you made ANY changes over break--additions or subtractions, even if you notified Ms. Stratton and/or your college advisor--you must come make changes to your Green Sheet this week.

In the next weeks, you are responsible for checking the status of your college applications. Do all of your colleges have everything that they need? Have you sent your test scores everywhere you need to send them (some colleges, remember, like Wake Forest, Boston College, Princeton, Georgetown, others...require official scores sent directly from the testing service)? Have you checked your portals? Have you scheduled interviews where necessary? Have you answered any essay questions that popped up in your portal? Have you completed Self-Reported Academic Records for schools (like Penn State) that require them? For colleges that track interest, have you expressed interest? Check the websites your colleges have provided for you and READ YOUR EMAIL!! If a college is missing something, they will ultimately let you know, but now is the time to be proactive about this.

Now is a good time to look objectively at your full college list. Are there THREE foundation schools on there--that you like? (You should have three, and you should like them.) Do you like your list? We assume that because this is the list that you have chosen, you will be happy to attend any of your colleges, even if you are admitted to only one. If this is not the case, you need to add to your list! Remember that you want to set yourself up to have as much of a choice as possible in the spring. If you have too few foundation or middle schools on your list, you are risking hearing more “no” than “yes” in March. This year is proving to be another unpredictable one, so adding extras in the safer categories makes a lot of sense.

The next big round of deadlines is January 15. 

If you were deferred from an Early Decision or Early Action school, remember that you want to be thinking about sending a letter of update to that school by the end of January. Talk to your College Advisor about how to do this.

If you are applying to a college that tracks interest, and you have not expressed interest, you must express interest. Schedule virtual visits and information sessions, follow the school on social media, send an email to our admissions representative, and read all of the emails (and click the links inside) the college sends you.

If you are applying for financial aid and haven't already submitted your forms, NOW is the time. Complete the FAFSA (which is finally available) at www.fafsa.gov. Check to see if your colleges require the CSS PROFILE, which you can find on https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/ Check also to see if your individual colleges require any further documents—make sure to read carefully the financial aid page on the website of each of your schools.

If you are starting to think about scholarship money, check out www.finaid.org and www.fastweb.com. Also, read your email and check the College Office bulletin board – we will pass along any scholarship information that we receive.

Good luck on finishing up the semester!

Ms. Mills, Mr. Hudson, Ms. Stratton