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SENIOR COLLEGE PLANNING CALENDAR
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
?Continue to pray about God’s will concerning your future.
?Start a “college calendar” to note important dates such as deadlines for
admission, financial aid, housing applications, and entrance exam
registration and test dates.
?Senior year classes and grades are important. Do not slack off! Keep
working diligently. College admission committees will give attention to
your senior year classes and grades.
?Continue to update your high school resume with your school, church and
community activities as well as your volunteer and work experiences, honors
and awards, areas of leadership, etc. Make some decisions about what you
can do to strengthen your list.
?Compile a list of what you think will be your strengths and weaknesses as a
college student. This will help you later as you start to write application
essays and/or interview with admissions officers.
?Visit the colleges you are interested in and, if possible, stay overnight
in the dorms.
?Request admission applications, scholarship/financial aid applications and
other pertinent information from colleges.
*Read application instructions carefully step-by-step to find out
what information is required and when it must reach the college:
ACT or SAT scores, essay, letters of recommendation, etc.
*If you are applying for early decision, start filling out
application forms and meet the line. Some colleges with very
competitive admission make early decisions.
?Register for the ACT and /or SAT tests! Again, pay attention to
registration lines.
?Spend time collecting information on scholarship opportunities and other
sources of financial aid. Also, check on opportunities offered by local
businesses, community service organizations, churches, clubs, etc. Watch
your local newspaper for possible announcements on any type of aid.
Register on a free scholarship search web page, such as www.fastweb.com.
Explore all your opportunities!
?Attend college and career fairs. Meet with college admissions
representatives visiting the school. Visit college web sites on the
Internet.
?If you plan to play sports in college, contact the coaches at the colleges
and find out what they need from you. Also, register with the NCAA is the
schools require NCAA registration.
?Male students must register with the Selective Service upon turning 18.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
?Submit early decision applications for admission.
?Watch for information about college open houses and take advantage of these
opportunities. Talk with the college students and alumni.
?Complete your college application: get letters of recommendation, write
essays, have your transcripts sent, etc. Make copies of your applications
for your own records.
?Explore Careers in which you are interested. Career Shadowing is a great
way to do this. You are allowed a Career Shadowing Day (just like a College
Visit Day). Be sure and complete the Career Shadowing Form.
?As you receive acceptance letters and scholarship/financial aid
notification letters, bring a copy of these letters to the CCS Guidance
Department (or bring your original copy and a copy will be made in the
office).
DECEMBER/JANUARY
?Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as
possible beginning January 1. You can fill it out on-line at
www.fafsa.ed.gov or you can obtain a paper copy. Make sure you meet the
deadlines. Keep copies of all forms you submit.
?Monitor the status of any application you have already sent. Be sure the
college received all the information it has requested. If not, it is your
responsibility to get it in.
?Continue searching for and applying for scholarships.
?As you receive acceptance letters and scholarship/financial aid
notification letters, bring a copy of these letters to the CCS Guidance
Department (or bring your original copy and a copy will be made in the
office).
FEBRUARY/MARCH
?If you have already been accepted by more than one college, make a God-
directed choice and then inform the other schools of your decision.
?If you have not heard from colleges to which you applied, contact them and
find out where you stand in the application process.
?Look for your Student Aid Report (SAR) in the mail. Your SAR contains
federal financial aid information from the FAFSA you previously filed. If
you have not received your SAR four weeks after you sent in your FAFSA,
contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 319-337-5665.
?If you will be taking AP tests, begin preparing for them now.
?As you receive acceptance letters and scholarship/financial aid
notification letters, bring a copy of these letters to the CCS Guidance
Department (or bring your original copy and a copy will be made in the
office).
APRIL/MAY
?Follow up on your financial aid and/or scholarship packages. Make sure you
have done all you need to in order to receive your financial
aid/scholarships. Also, if you have been offered loans that you do not want
to accept, make sure you have declined those offers.
?Reply promptly to all requests from your college.
?Complete the CCS Request for Final Transcript Form and turn in to the
Guidance Department. If this form is not completed, your final transcript
will not be sent. The final transcript is required by colleges.
?ENJOY the last months of your senior year and your senior trip!!
?As you receive acceptance letters and scholarship/financial aid
notification letters, bring a copy of these letters to the CCS Guidance
Department (or bring your original copy and a copy will be made in the
office).
JUNE
?Notify the CCS Guidance Department of your college choice and any
scholarships/financial aid you have received, if you have not already done
so.
?Use the summer to earn money for college.
?Keep in contact with Calvary Christian School!
Some of the information above has been taken from KHEAA and Educaid.
Parent Planning Timeline for the Senior Year
Phew! Once your child reaches senior year, the college search kicks up a
notch and will sometimes feel like a full-time job — with all of the toil,
tedium, and triumphs that come with it. But this is the home stretch for
both you and your future college graduate. It might be a lot of work, but
it's a labor of love!
Don't forget to pray daily for God's wisdom and direction for you and your
child.
September
>Start the year off right by planning an evening out (perhaps dinner at a
favorite restaurant) with your college-bound child. Go over your strategy
for the school year. Discuss plans and goals and review your child's list of
target schools. Also discuss plans to attend college fairs and meet with any
college reps who may be coming to the school. Go over which college sites
have been visited and which ones haven't. Finalize plans for visits. If it
all seems overwhelming, reassure your child (over dessert!) that you'll be
there to support them every step of the way.
>Start the application process.
>Does your child still need to take the ACT or SAT? Find out the dates and
get them registered!
October
>Make a decision on early decision. Go over options for early decision and
early action and determine if it's an option you and your child want to
pursue. Help your child draw up a master schedule of application and
financial aid due dates, and put them on the family calendar.
>Monitor the start of applications and encourage your child to mull over
various essay topics to determine if any can be overlapped to reduce the
workload. Your child should also start requesting teacher recommendations
now; that way, they'll be done well in advance of any lines.
>Start making college visits, and schedule any interviews that can be
completed on campus or with college alumni. Attend college fairs, gather
more information, and take a little time to laugh about the process by
renting a good comedy and taking a night off!
>Certain colleges require a supplemental financial aid form, known as the
CSS/PROFILE. This has an earlier line than the FAFSA. Check the schools
to which your child is applying to find out if you'll need to complete this
form in addition to the FAFSA.
November
>You might have to encourage your teen about early application lines, if
applicable. Narrow your college list to those schools to which applications
will be sent. Try to use time over the Thanksgiving break to get in a campus
visit. As your child starts working on (or completing) applications, offer
to proofread and provide constructive criticism.
December
>Get your federal financial aid forms (FAFSA) from the guidance office or
the Web and attend workshops if there any available.
>Leave gentle reminders about any January or February application lines
and have your child confirm that teachers reference forms have been sent.
Also make sure that transcripts are being sent to all short-list colleges.
January
>Remember "parent" lines. If you have everything you need, file your
income taxes and begin filling out financial aid forms, such as the FAFSA.
Finish and mail these forms as soon as possible — and never late! Keep in
mind that many schools list earlier FAFSA filing dates than that which is
listed on the form itself.
>If they have not completed yet, encourage your child to complete all of his
or her applications, even those with later lines. Make copies of
everything and save them!
February
>Unless confirmations have arrived, your child should consult colleges by
phone or online to check the status of applications. They should keep track
of who they speak with and find out if there are any materials that still
need to be sent in.
March
>After nearly four years, the wait is nearly There may be some
decision letters arriving this month and, hopefully, they will bring great
news.
April
>Resist the urge to open letters addressed to your child. (Though holding
them up to the light is an option.) Also, don't despair when thin envelopes
show up — that doesn't always mean it's a rejection letter. Some schools
send out enrollment forms later.
>If your child is accepted, cheer and applaud! If a rejection letter
arrives, try to put things in perspective with a comment like "It's an
extremely competitive college and your math test scores must have hurt."
(Don't say something like "The admission folks at that school seemed like a
bunch of Bozos from the get-go." Even if that's what you think!)
>Compare financial aid offers and contact financial aid offices with any
questions. If you feel you need to, appeal the awards. Plan crunch-time
visits to campuses, as needed, to help with the big decision: which school
to attend.
>Was your child placed on a waitlist? Make sure to return any waitlist cards
and follow up with the admission offices regularly. Send updated records and
other information, if available. Encourage your child to write an
upbeat "Please take me, and this is why you should" letter. It may make a
difference.
>If you and your child have made a final decision about which school to
attend, then congratulations! Now, make sure you send in any required
deposit. Be sure not to dawdle and miss the line or your child may lose
their spot to some other hopeful student. Last but not least, notify the
schools that weren't chosen that your child won't be attending, particularly
if an aid offer was made.
May
>Make sure your child takes any needed AP exams.
>Make sure your child has filled out and turned in the Final Transcript Form
to request that their final transcript be sent to their chosen college.
>Encourage your child to write a thank you note to anyone who may have been
helpful in the college-planning process: those who write recommendations,
scholarship agencies, admission counselors, financial aid officers,
secretaries, tours guides, or other students. Of course this isn't
obligatory, but recipients are sure to be pleasantly surprised.
>Stay on top of housing plans in case there are any forms that need to be
returned. You and your child may also consider alternatives to the dorms, if
there are any. Find out the dates for freshman orientation, as some schools
have them in spring or summer. And of course, make sure your child knows
when course registration is.
June
>Give your child (and yourself!) a pat on the back
Help your child organize a file to keep track of summer mailings from the
college. Categories might include orientation, housing, course registration,
and finances.
>Your child may want to consider summer courses to accelerate or place out
of required courses, but make sure the college has confirmed that it will
accept the credits.
>On a less stressful note, take your child shopping for supplies and dorm
décor. Don't forget about suitcases for packing clothes!
>After everything is done, sit down and have a good cry while you go back
over all the masterpieces your child has created over the years. And
remember, this is a good thing and you've done a GREAT JOB!
Some information taken from petersons.com
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