College and Career Development / Support
Job Corps Information
Find Your Fit College Search
Not all colleges are created equal and not every college will have the program you want! We highly encourage all students to use the BigFuture tool, created by The College Board, to explore the thousands of colleges across the United States (and even some abroad). BigFuture helps you filter through college options based on features that matter to you – what majors a college offers, what colleges are within a specific state, how expensive a college is, and even what kind of sports teams a college has!
Explore the BigFuture tool here.
College Visit and Job Shadowing Form
College Admissions Vocabulary
There are several different ways that colleges admit students each year and while the differences may not sound like that big of a deal, they can make all the difference between getting in or not.
Regular Admissions:
All colleges have a deadline by which they need to have applications submitted. All applications are reviewed at the same time and most students who meet the college’s requirement are accepted. This deadline typically occurs in January or February.
Rolling Admissions:
It is to a student’s advantage to apply early in the senior year for schools with a rolling admissions policy. These colleges accept students who meet their admissions criteria as the applications are received. There is no hard deadline - but the earlier, the better.
Early Action:
Some colleges allow students to apply early, usually in October or November, wherein they are notified about admission in mid-December or January. Unlike Early Decision, this admission option is not binding. This is a good option for students who are highly interested in a particular school, as the applicant pool is smaller for Early Action applicants; however, you do not have to attend if you are accepted.
Early Decision:
Students who are very sure of the school they want to attend may complete an early decision application. Students are usually notified of early decision acceptance by December. Early decision plans are binding, requiring a student to attend if they are accepted.
SAT/ACT Information
- For more information about PSAT, click here.
- For more information about SAT, and to register for an exam, click here.
- For more information about the ACT, and to register for an exam, click here.
For college applications and exam applications, you may need to use our School CEEB code. It is 391260.
NCAA Information
How to Apply to College (IMPORTANT READ)
➔ How to Request Recommendation Letters through Naviance Video
➔ Before requesting any counselor recommendation letters via email, please complete
your “Recommendation Letter Brag Sheet” on Naviance FIRST. This will help us to better
write your recommendation letter.
◆ Log into Naviance
◆ Go to “About Me”
◆ Click on “Surveys from Your School”
◆ Click on “Recommendation Letter Brag Sheet”
➔ VERY IMPORTANT - Do not request an “unofficial” transcript through Naviance for
self-reporting!!!
➔ Please come to the counseling office and ask Mrs. Lohnes to print an unofficial transcript
out for you.
➔ If you are unsure whether you need an “official” transcript vs. “unofficial” transcript, you
can find that information on your college’s admissions page.
➔ Find out if your college requires test scores by looking on their admissions page
➔ Comprehensive List of Test-Optional Schools
➔ For SATs - login to your College Board account
➔ For ACTs - login to ACT.org
Financial Aid Information
Federal Student Aid
Federal Student Aid is the largest provider of student aid in the nation. Every year, they award over $150 million in federal grants, loans, and work-study programs to more than 15 million students. Students must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to qualify.
Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA)
Go to www.pheaa.org for more information about Pennsylvania state aid.
Many colleges offer financial aid from their own funds. Find out what might be available to you:
1. Visit your school’s financial aid page on its website, or ask someone in the financial aid office.
2. Ask the department that offers your course of study; they might have a scholarship for students in your major.
3. Fill out any applications the school requires for its own aid, and meet the deadlines.
Some colleges may require that you complete the CSS/Financial Aid Profile, which is an application for nonfederal financial aid that is distributed from the colleges’ own scholarship/aid programs. This information helps a college determine which of their students are in the most need of the financial aid they have to distribute.
Many organizations offer scholarships or grants to help students pay for college. This free money can make a real difference in how affordable your education is. There are several online scholarship search tools listed on our website! Please take advantage of these to help find scholarship opportunities. Also, there are local scholarships that are awarded every year, so please check this website regularly to see any updates! All seniors will receive a scholarship bulletin several times a year in their homerooms, so keep an eye out for these too.
Scholarship Information
Scholarships are awards given to students in the form of financial aid to help further their education. They can be awarded based on various criteria, which are usually specific to the organization who awards them.
There are five basic types of scholarships:
These awards are based on a student’s achievements in an applicant’s academic history, extracurricular activities (like sports or music), and community service record. The most common merit-based scholarships, awarded by either private organizations or directly by a student’s intended college, recognize academic achievement or high scores on standardized tests.
In the United States, these awards are based on the student and family’s financial record and require applicants to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to qualify if the scholarship is a federal award. Private need-based scholarships also often require the results of a FAFSA, which calculates a student’s financial need through a formula that looks at the expected family contribution and cost of attendance at the intended college.
This website is one of the leading online resources for finding scholarships. Students can sign up and have scholarship opportunities that match their future plans sent to them via email on a regular basis.
This website, from The College Board, has a great Scholarship Search tool, as well as up-to-date information about grants, scholarships, and financial aid in general.
This is a great website that has information about financial aid, scholarships, and the opportunity to ask questions with experts about your specific circumstances.
This website is a database of thousands of scholarships that can be sorted in many different ways, which helps students identify awards that match them best.