College Planning for the Week of 11/23/09

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.

* Cornish College of Arts - Monday 11/30 at 11:00

College of the Week - Smith College educates women of promise for lives of distinction. One of the largest women’s liberal arts colleges in the United States, Smith enrolls 2,800 students from nearly every state and 70 other countries and is renowned for its vibrant intellectual and cultural community. The college’s open curriculum allows students to choose from 1,000 courses in more than 50 areas of study. Students also may take classes through Five Colleges, Inc., a consortium that includes Smith and nearby Amherst, Hampshire and Mount Holyoke colleges and the University of Massachusetts. Smith is noted for its outstanding resources, including the Museum of Art, Botanic Garden and one of the largest undergraduate libraries in the country.

What's the real cost of college? Test your grasp of economics with this recent article from the New York Times.

My Schedule this Week - I will only be on campus on Monday from 9-4:30 but will be checking my email all week.

FOR SENIORS

Your UC and CSU applications are due 11/30 and should be submitted as soon as possible to avoid the usual traffic and computer meltdowns during the last week of November.

Application Help On Monday 3:30-4:30 - See you in the Library!

What happens to my application after I submit it? Click here to view a video that takes you behind the scenes of admission offices at a large and small college to see how they handle the mail they receive. at the bottom. See what Admission Offices look like at this time of year and don't panic if you get word from them that they are missing a transcript or letter of recommendation. After looking at the pictures you'll see that they probably have it but haven't matched it with your file. Check with me if you want me to resend material.

Checklist for each application: For each application, make sure that......

* Someone else has reviewed your application - a good thing to ask parents to do. I am happy to review course and grade entry for CSU and UC applications.
* You have printed and saved a copy of the application.
* You paid the application fee or applied for a fee waiver.
* Your test official test scores have have been sent to the college by the College Board or the ACT.
* You've asked Susan to send any required transcripts, teacher recommendations or Secondary School Report (counselor recommendation).
* You have sent any additional documentation such as writing samples and resumes to the college

SAT/ACT Registration Deadlines - If you need to take or retake the SAT, SAT Subject Tests or ACT this fall, the registration deadlines have passed. To test as a standby, see me.

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Susan Gotshall-Maxon
College Counselor