Navigating High School for Grade 9 Parents - College
Opening Welcome Session
1.
2. Where’s the Food?
I. 1:00 p.m.
(outside the FAT)
1:15 p.m. (first session starts)
II. 2:30 p.m.
(outside the Lofthouses)
3. Today’s Program
I. Opening and Welcome
II. Four 35-Minute Sessions on:
Studying in the U.S.
Developing a U.S. College List
Studying in Canada
Studying in the U.K.
U.S. Financial Aid for U.S. Citizens
U.S. Financial Aid for Non-U.S. Citizens
College Testing
Naviance and College
What Parents Can Do Now
TestRocker (Online SAT Prep)
4. Australia
We are very mindful of the fact that we have a number of students considering
Australia as a university destination.
We will have a representative from an Australian University presenting to Juniors
on studying in that country in semester 2.
We will notify both students and parents when that is confirmed.
5. Financial Aid
We have two sessions on Financial Aid today (U.S. citizens and Non U.S. Citizens).
We will also have a representative in from a U.S. college who will facilitate a
Financial Aid workshop in 2016 (before your son/daughter start applying to
college)
6. Today’s Program
All session presentations will be posted on our Counseling blog shortly after today
We will send the link to the blog to all of you via email once the presentations are posted
(in case you do not know it).
8. Three Things You Should Have
• Schedule of Sessions and Descriptions
• Naviance Parent Login
• Junior College Timeline
If you don’t have all three, you can get them
on your way out to the sessions
10. The 11/12 Counseling Team
Janelle Grier
Minnesota, U.S.A.
Curiosity
Doug McQueen
Toronto, CANADA
Honesty
Curt Nichols
New York, U.S.A.
Honesty
David Birchenall
Galashiels, SCOTLAND
Judgment
11. About Us
• Collectively we have a wealth of experience in education, college
admissions and college/university advising.
• Our travels to visit universities span the globe, including extensive travel in
Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Singapore and
the US.
• We have and continue to develop our excellent relationships with
College/University Admissions Counselors around the world
• We are long-standing members and leaders of the National Association for
College Admission Counseling (NACAC), the Overseas Association for
College Admission Counseling (OACAC) and the American School
Counseling Association (ASCA).
• We both regularly attend and lead workshops on college and university
admissions topics for our peers.
12. The Bottom Line
We have:
– A strong, extensive network of professional
relationships with the people who will read your
applications
– A vast working knowledge of tertiary education systems
and their admissions practices and procedures around
the world
– The ability to quickly access the answers to your
questions that we cannot readily answer ourselves
13. Our Philosophy
We believe students must be experts on their colleges
We are encouraging, and we provide honest, data-driven
counseling
We believe college admission is a match to be made,
not a trophy to be won
We seek to help find colleges that fit
We operate with integrity and confidentiality
14. Outside College Advisors?
• the most skilled and resourced counselors in the
country are right here in ISM
• we know the colleges and the people reading the
applications
• each student needs to cultivate a proactive
working relationship with his/her counselor
• students must be engaged in the process
15. Our Program To Help Students
Junior Year
• Initial Counselor-Student
Meeting
• Junior University Kick-Off
• Parent Survey in Naviance
• Second Counselor-Student
Meeting, Including Parents
• US Mock Admissions Session
• Application Essay Writing
• US College Essay Workshop
• UCAS Personal Statement
• Request Teacher
Recommendations
Senior Year
• Senior Profile
• Senior Application Night
• UCAS Application Meeting
• CommonApp Workshops
• Counselor-Student Meetings
• Meetings with Parents, as
Requested
• Application Essay Writing
• US College Essay Workshop,
Part 2
• UCAS Personal Statement, Part
2
• College Interview Workshops
*College Visits*
17. Resources: Online & Books
Online
• ISM College Counseling Site
• Naviance
• University Sites
• Reviews
• Country/Region Specific
Search Engines
Books
• Parent Transition Resources
• The Naked Roommate
• The Global Nomad’s Guide to
University Transition
• Letting Go
• Country Specific Guides
• US - College Board College
Handbook and Book of Majors,
Fiske Guide to Colleges
• UK - HEAP Guides
• Canada – MacLean’s
24. The Role of the Parent
•Communicate
• Support
• Encourage Independence
25. Student Expectations
• Be a good FIT for each university to which you apply
• OWN the process!! Research, test registration, organization
• Be an EXPERT on each university
• Be ORGANIZED
• Know each deadline
• Know test requirements
• Know the ISM and application processes
• Know essay requirements
• Know username and passwords
• Initiate communication with your counselor regularly
• Communicate early with teachers about recommendations
• Continue communication with your parent
• Be respectful of counselor’s time
26. School Responsibilities
• Provide guidance and counsel
• Manage sending of all school documentation
• Maintain records of what school documents were sent
and when
• Provide workshops and information sessions related
to the college application process
• Coordinate teachers’ letters of recommendation
• Advocate for students during the admissions process
• Build relationships with universities
• Support students emotionally throughout the process
28. Selecting Universities
Personal Assessment
• Learning Style
• Strengths/Weaknesses
• Interests
• Environmental Needs
• Social Needs
University Assessment
• Characteristics
– Location
– Size
– Access to family or friends
– Majors
– Personality or Vibe
• Data
– Retention rate?
– % of international students?
• Career Office
– What is job placement?
– What services are offered to
assist students in finding
internships/jobs?
29. Next Steps
• Academic performance
• Engagement both inside and outside of the classroom
• Conversations at home about expectations, limitations, financing, etc.
• Honest student self reflection
• Identify priorities
• Research universities
• Junior Parent Survey in Naviance – Due January 5, 2015
• Summer planning
• Bearcat Career Experience Program
• University Visits
• Summer Programs
• Continue Researching Universities
• Refine University List
• Application Essays
• Senior Profile in Naviance
• Attend some Junior University Kickoff Sessions
Resources: University Application Timeline Handout, Program for the afternoon, Naviance Parent Log-in Information
Thank you for spending your Saturday afternoon with us. This can be both an exciting time and an anxious one for students and parents. Our goal tonight is to provide you with enough information so you can make more informed decisions. We’ll be talking about our university advising program here at ISM, our philosophy, and various resources to help you through this journey.
Our focus today is on the SEARCH and not the specifics of how to complete an application. We will talk in-depth about those specifics at the beginning of the senior year.
Quick overview of today’s program – we hope by the end of today you have a general understanding of the college application process. And know what you and your student should be doing now. We also hope that this session triggers some questions in your mind that we can discuss in our future counselor-parent-student meetings.
Not all sessions offered in every timeslot
Use your program to see when the various sessions are offered
Much is concentrated on the 3rd level – HSMC, Lofthouse. But some also in the LT and the AMR.
Once you have attended all of the breakout sessions that are of interest to you, you are free to leave. There is no final full-group meeting after the 4 breakout sessions.
Quick overview of today’s program – we hope by the end of today you have a general understanding of the college application process. And know what you and your student should be doing now. We also hope that this session triggers some questions in your mind that we can discuss in our future counselor-parent-student meetings.
Not all sessions offered in every timeslot
Use your program to see when the various sessions are offered
Much is concentrated on the 3rd level – HSMC, Lofthouse. But some also in the LT and the AMR.
Once you have attended all of the breakout sessions that are of interest to you, you are free to leave. There is no final full-group meeting after the 4 breakout sessions.
Quick overview of today’s program – we hope by the end of today you have a general understanding of the college application process. And know what you and your student should be doing now. We also hope that this session triggers some questions in your mind that we can discuss in our future counselor-parent-student meetings.
Not all sessions offered in every timeslot
Use your program to see when the various sessions are offered
Much is concentrated on the 3rd level – HSMC, Lofthouse. But some also in the LT and the AMR.
Once you have attended all of the breakout sessions that are of interest to you, you are free to leave. There is no final full-group meeting after the 4 breakout sessions.
Quick overview of today’s program – we hope by the end of today you have a general understanding of the college application process. And know what you and your student should be doing now. We also hope that this session triggers some questions in your mind that we can discuss in our future counselor-parent-student meetings.
Not all sessions offered in every timeslot
Use your program to see when the various sessions are offered
Much is concentrated on the 3rd level – HSMC, Lofthouse. But some also in the LT and the AMR.
Once you have attended all of the breakout sessions that are of interest to you, you are free to leave. There is no final full-group meeting after the 4 breakout sessions.
Quick overview of today’s program – we hope by the end of today you have a general understanding of the college application process. And know what you and your student should be doing now. We also hope that this session triggers some questions in your mind that we can discuss in our future counselor-parent-student meetings.
Not all sessions offered in every timeslot
Use your program to see when the various sessions are offered
Much is concentrated on the 3rd level – HSMC, Lofthouse. But some also in the LT and the AMR.
Once you have attended all of the breakout sessions that are of interest to you, you are free to leave. There is no final full-group meeting after the 4 breakout sessions.
Wealth of opportunities, range of options
This needs work!!
Do we want to talk here about student and parent expectations after this? Or towards the end? Right now, I’ve got it towards the end.
Do we want to include some general information about common myths? Rumor mill? Trends in admission (many universities becoming international and have partnerships around the world with other universities?) How to make a good decision? How to make a bad decision? I have something from ASD that we did related to this…
Now through graduation, student’s primary focus should be on academic coursework and remaining engaged in activities outside classroom. No matter where in the world a student applies, this will be THE MOST important factor in any admission decision. Today, you’ve been given a general timeline for the next 18 months. It includes programming and general ISM and country specific deadlines related to the application process.
Junior Year - At this point, all 11th grade students should be scheduling their Initial Counselor-Student Meeting. In addition to the various workshops and presentations we offer, students should be researching universities, possible courses of study, and admission requirements.
(Maybe a little comment here about how the US is more complex that any other country so while it may seem that we are biased, it’s just that the US system requires far more time, is a more varied and individual process, and has more components to the application itself. Refer to more in depth presentation focused on US at the end of the evening.)
Keep in mind, students will tend to focus on online resources while parents may prefer actual printed books. There will be more online resources than printed books.
Books: Counseling Center and HS Media Center have resources for university admissions. Typically, what is in the HSMC is available for checkout.
Online:
More websites for country specific information will be shared in break out sessions this afternoon. When in doubt, always refer to a specific university’s website for exact and correct information.
Also find reviews of universities – always check out the reliability of the source
Unigo, College Prowler
2 online resources I want to highlight for you. NEXT SLIDE
New Resource for you!!
Thrown away the old paper copy of the college guidebook and created this online version for you! You are the first group to benefit from this.
Tabs on the side – navigate to timeline, country specific information, testing. Our goal is to have all of the college search information in one place for you. One-stop shopping
As we unveil this – not all sections are complete. But the sections of most importance right now for grade 11 are ready. We will continue to tweak and add to it.
Today you received your log in information for Naviance: Family Connection. Many online resources are linked within Naviance.
One of our Breakout Sessions today is devoted to Naviance. It really is an important resource.
So for now, I just want to highlight a few things:
Students have already been using Naviance in grades 9 and 10 for things like personality inventories and career exploration.
Now – we will use it for the college application process:
One of the things you will find helpful are the graphs detailing university acceptance history for ISM students based on IB results, GPA, and SAT/ACT scores
Parents, you need to establish your login today if you have not already been using it.
There is a parent survey in Naviance that we ask you complete by Jan. 5!
NEXT SLIDE
To access the survey, …… (explain)
As college counselors, we gather as much information as possible about the student as we work with you through this process. It helps us as we guide and make recommendations to you, but it also helps us when we write our counselor evaluations. You as parents are a great resource, and this survey gives you the opportunity to share things that we might not otherwise know.
Please jot down a note to yourself that we need the survey by Jan. 5.
Balance between having discussion with student but also not letting this topic dominate every discussion you have. Maybe set a routine or a tradition of talking about this once per week at a scheduled time?
**Students who are most successful and least stressed are organized, begin early, meet and communicate with counselor. Student is in the driver’s seat.
The student must take the lead and own this process. It’s a great time for them to increase responsibility as they prepare to transition to a life of independence at university in just 18 months.
The kids who spend time in the counseling office are typically those who do this process well. Don’t hide and avoid us! We are much less likely to bite that way.
To Begin Process - Know Yourself and Know Your University
We mentioned FIT earlier – here’s how you can evaluate if the school is a good fit for you!
Personal Assessment: Where do you thrive?
Learning: Lecture, discussion, hands on
Interests – can you continue interests and hobbies at the univ? Will there be others there with similar interests?
Environmental needs – weather?
Social needs – are there people like you?
Do you need lots of friends? A few good one? Active social life? Or more quiet?
Begin in grade 9 – help students identify their learning styles, interests, etc through surveys in Naviance.
If haven’t done those – not too late. See your counselor!
University Assessment:
Location – big city; small town; country; climate
Size – campus but also classes
Families are consumers in the process
In our upcoming sessions focusing on higher ed in different countries, each of those presentations will provide tools for researching schools specific to that country
Academic Performance – focus here; students apply in the beginning of grade 12, so universities will see only grades 9-11, and really grade 11 is the most important to them
Gr 11 – IB; more rigorous; how are you challenging yourself
Resources: University Application Timeline Handout, Program for the afternoon, Naviance Parent Log-in Information
Thank you for spending your Saturday afternoon with us. This can be both an exciting time and an anxious one for students and parents. Our goal tonight is to provide you with enough information so you can make more informed decisions. We’ll be talking about our university advising program here at ISM, our philosophy, and various resources to help you through this journey.
Our focus today is on the SEARCH and not the specifics of how to complete an application. We will talk in-depth about those specifics at the beginning of the senior year.
