College Planning for the Week of 10/19

Colleges Visiting TMS: A full list of the colleges currently scheduled to visit as well as a list of a few Open House events and local information sessions are posted on the Family Connection site. Here are the colleges scheduled to visit us in the next two weeks. Please add your name to the sign up sheet on my door and get the permission of your teacher to attend.

* University of Washington - Tuesday 10/20 at 12:00
* University of the Puget Sound - Thursday 10/22 at 10:15
* Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising - Monday 10/26 at 11:45
* Goucher College - Wednesday 10/28 at 10:15
* Chapman University - Thursday 10/29 at 12:00

College of the Week - Located In Tacoma, Washington, the University of Puget Sound campus is on a bluff overlooking the water. While a traditional liberal arts curriculum is at its core, UPS also offers business, which is its most popular major. Asian Studies are a big drawing card and every three years, the university offers a 9 month school sponsored mobile classroom through Japan, Thailand, Korea, India, China and Nepal.

Do you know? - What do the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Virginia and Dickinson College have in common? They were all founded by signers of the the Declaration of Independence - Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Rush.

My Schedule this Week - I'll be on campus Tuesday 9-3:30, Wednesday 9-4 and Thursday 9-4:30.

FOR SENIORS

Beware, "You are special" applications - Have you gotten a "special" application from a college, indicating that they want you to apply now, they'll waive the application fee and eliminate an essay? Such applications are essentially a marketing gimmick, encouraging lots of students to apply and thereby making a college appear more selective. It's fine to use such applications if you were planning to apply anyway but don't apply just because you get a "special" application. The truth is that you probably have the same chance of admission whether or not you received a "special" application.

Transcripts and Recommendations - If you need recommendations from teachers ...

1. you should speak to the teacher(s) you'd like to write for you ASAP. Then.......
2. complete the "Request for Teacher Recommendation" form for each teacher and give the completed form to the teacher. The form is available in the document library on Family Connection.
3. The next step is to complete the bright blue " Request for Application Components", which is due to me three weeks before your first deadline but in all cases by 11/1.

Confused? See me and we'll work it through!

Going to the Humboldt Admission Day on 10/24? See me for your transcript prior to 10/23. Print your test scores from the College Board or ACT websites (Humboldt will accept them this way but wants you to follow up later by sending official scores too). Submit your Humboldt application by 10/16 and pay the associated fee. Register to attend the event. Easy!.

Application Help on Wednesday 2:35-4:00 - I'll bring some food, you bring your college stuff and we'll work on whatever is your top priority. Don't know what to do first? No problem - we'll figure it out.

SAT/ACT Registration Deadlines - If you need to take or retake the SAT, SAT Subject Tests or ACT this fall, the registration deadlines are approaching. The regular registration deadline for the December 5th SAT or SAT Subject Tests is October 30th. To register go to wwwcollegeboard.com. The regular registration deadline for the December 12th ACT is 11/6 and you can register at www.actstudent.org.

FOR JUNIORS

PSAT is PAST! Well done, juniors! I'll let you know when your scores arrive in early December. In the meantime, keep working hard in your classes.

College Night for Juniors and Parents - Choose the date you want to attend - either Wednesday November 4th at 6:30 or Thursday November 5th at 7:00 in the Hawk's Nest. The agenda will include all the must-know information for juniors launching the college planning process. We'll talk about testing, characteristics of colleges, types of colleges, how to search for colleges and when to visit colleges. Juniors are expected to attend one of the evenings.

Susan
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Susan Gotshall-Maxon
College Counselor