Watertown High School

Post High School Planning 

2012 Post Secondary Planning Guide 

Forms

Parent Override Form for Schedules

Teacher Letter of Recommendation Form

Senior Checklist

• Senior Meeting with Counselor
• Take/sign up for the SAT, ACT, AP, ASVAB
• Visit or contact schools you are interested in for more information
• Attend College Fairs and College Visit here at the High School (sing up in the counselors office)
• NCAA Clearninghouse- if you plan on playing a sport in school, you must register
• Make sure you have signed up for Naviance and use it.
• List of Colleges (2 safety, 2 target, 2 reach)
• Be aware of Deadlines and hand in all materials 2 weeks before it is due.
• Send your SAT scores to your schools - it is the student's responsibility to forward scores through college board. 

Please see your Counselor if you have any questions about the College application process.

** If you are planning to apply to a State School, please be aware in past years they have stopped accepting applications earlier than posted deadlines due to the large amount of applicants.  Especially if you want room and board, get your application in early.

 Watertown High School CEEB Code: 070-882

 Make the Most of your College Fair Visit

• Make a list of college you want to find out more about.  Even do some research ahead of time if you can.
• What do you want to find out?  Write up a few questions to ask the representatives of each school.  Ask the same questions to each school so you can compare later.
• Make sure questions are unique to you are your interests. For example, ask about extracurricular activities.  Even ask about what percentage of students recieve finacial aid.
• Find out what classes a typical freshman in a major of your interest would take.
• If undecied, ask what services and support are offered to help you explore various majors.
• Don't forget to bring a notebook with your questions, a pen or pencil and a bag to put all the college information you will be collecting.
• Also leave time to browse and don't just focus on the well known schools.  You may find a college you never heard of with the exact major or extracurricular activities you are looking for.

 RSP Tuition Break

The New England Regional Student Program (RSB) allows for New England residents to enroll in an out-of-state New England public college or university in an approved major not offered in their home-state's public college or university at a discounted price.  Please visit the follwing webiste or see your counselor for more information.

http://www.nebhe.org/programs-overview/rsp-tuition-break/overview/

Free Test Prep

Help to prepare for the SATs in reading, writing, math and vocabulary for free.

http://www.majortests.com/sat/

FAIR TEST

Colleges and Universities that do not require SATs or ACTs for admitting students.  Some schools exemprt students who meet GPA and class rank requirements, which other schools use the SATs for placement purposes or to conduct research studies. Please visit the website for more information.

 http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional

Terminology

Associates Degree: An undergraduate degree granted upon completion of two years or 60 credits of college cousre work.

Bachelors Degree: An undergratuate degree where you declare a major and complete 120 credits of college course work in about 4 to 5 years.

Commuter: A student who lives off campus and commutes to classes.

Early Decision: Is an early application process where you apply early and hear back early. The decision is binding, meaning if you apply early decision and get accepted to that school, you must attend that school and withdraw your applications from the other schools you are applied to. 

Early Action: Is similar to early decision, but not binding.  You send in your application earlier and hear back earlier, but do not have to choose to attend that school if accepted.

Finacial Aid: Is available from grants, loans, scholarships and work-study from federal, state instituational, and private sorces.  Awards are based on finacial need, funds available, academic performance and sometimes even timliness of application.

Financial Need: The difference between a student's educational costs and the expected family contribution (amount a family is expected to pay).

FASFA: Federal Student Fincial Aid form which the government uses to determine how much aid each student is eligible for. This form is filled out in January each year you attend college.

Federal Aid: Aid that comes from the US Government. This is sometimes disbursed through your college.

Full Time Student:  Most colleges require a full time student to be taking at least 12 credit hours per semester.

Grant: Financial aid based on financial need.

Major: Chosen field of study in which to earn a degree.  Each school and major may require a differnt number of credits to fullfill.

 http://www.collegemajors101.com/

Minor: A secondary field of study, usually requiring less credit hours to complete.

Naviance: A career and college planning tool that also helps keep you and your counselor up to date with your college process.

NCAA Clearninghouse: Organization of athletic programs in college and universities.

Private Aid: Financial aid that comes from sources that are non-government related.

Private University: Are colleges not operated by the government, but operated by a private organization.

Public University: Colleges that recieve funding from the State.  There is usually a difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition.

Resource Services

Scholarship Search Engines:

Fastweb- www.Fastweb.com

Scholarship America- www.scholarshipamerica.org

Financial Aid Resources:

Federal Resource- www.studentaid.ed.gov

State of Connecticut Dept. of Higher Education- www.ctdhe.org

FinAid- www.finaid.org

Loan Resources:

Finacial Aid Resource Center- www.estudentloan.com

College Questions:

Federal Resource- www.college.gov

College Board- www.collegeboard.com