SENIOR YEAR CONTINUE: Your senior year record is MOST important. RESIST the temptation to alter your senior schedule in any way that will reduce its rigor or reduce the number of core courses (English, foreign language, science, math, history/social science). Strength of curriculum and performance in it is the most important factor in college admission decisions. READ-READ-READ! Reading improves many skills including vocabulary and critical thinking. So make sure to take the time and read outside of class. AUGUST/SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER: Add to your folder (which should have been started freshman year) in which you are placing a record of your activities, accomplishments, strengths, and positive qualities. This information will be useful in completing college applications, preparing for campus visits and college interviews, and providing background material for those who write your letters of recommendation. Secure applications and the proper forms for admission, scholarships, and financial aid from the colleges to which you plan on applying. Many schools accept application over the internet. If you apply online, be sure to download forms that must be completed by your College Counselors and submit these when you request to have your transcript sent. (More information on obtaining transcripts and applying can be found on this website on the College Application Process link) Check the Father Ryan webpage (Father Ryan College Counseling Website) at least twice a week to check for information on events, deadlines, scholarships, financial aid, testing, and any other information pertinent to your college search and selection process. MAKE THIS A HABIT! Take time to visit with College Admission representatives who come to visit Father Ryan. Remember that these people are often the ones who will be presenting your application to an admissions committee. Even if you have visited a college campus and had an interview, stop by to say “hello” to these representatives. Make a chart with all deadlines for your applications, scholarships, and financial aid, and then be sure that you meet these deadlines. Student/Athletes planning on playing an NCAA Division I or II sport must register with the NCAA Clearinghouse no later than October 1st. Register online at www.ncaaclearinghouse.net and make sure you print out the form that is to be filled out by your college counselors and return it to them quickly so they can mail your transcript and complete your registration process. Be sure that you have a resume and responses to the Reflection Paper questions on file in the College Counseling Office. Register for the SAT, ACT, and SAT Subject Tests (if necessary) test dates in October, November, and December. Remember registration dates are typically about 4 weeks before the testing date. You must register on your own and you may pick up registration forms in the Guidance Office or register on-line at http://www.collegeboard.comfor the SAT or http://www.actstudent.org for the ACT.

SEPTEMBER:

• Finalize the list of schools to which you will apply.
• Visit college campuses if at all possible. (Review the College Visitation Policy in the Father Ryan Handbook, p. 19.)
• Attend college nights, college open houses, college fairs, and other special events.
• Pick up the CSS/Profile in the College Counseling Office. This is used by selective schools in applying for financial aid.
• Check the College Counseling Website link (Father Ryan College Counseling Website) on the Father Ryan webpage for current information.

OCTOBER:

• Request teacher recommendations for the applications that require them.
• Write, proofread, and revise your application essays; get feedback from others.
• Attend college nights, college fairs, and college open houses. VISIT campuses.
• Check the College Counseling link (Father Ryan College Counseling Website) on the Father Ryan webpage for current information.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER:

• For private colleges, complete your section of the Secondary School Report Form for each application, sign the waiver, and submit it to your college counselors.
• Have all of your applications completed and ready to go before you sit down for Thanksgiving dinner. (Remember that the deadline for scholarships at the University of Tennessee is at the beginning of November. To be eligible for these scholarships you must have your application for admission and the application for scholarships completed and sent in before this deadline.
• Be sure all applications are submitted well before their deadlines. (A good rule of thumb is to have them in the mail two weeks before they are due.)
• Approach teachers for recommendations well in advance of deadlines. Provide these teachers with forms that have been correctly filled out by you and a stamped and addressed enveloped where the recommendation is to be sent. Do not expect teachers to fill in your name, birth date, intended major, social security number, etc.
• Be aware of any independent scholarship deadlines for which you are applying.
• Be sure that your parents attend the Financial Aid Workshop the first week in December. FAFSA forms will be available at this meeting.
• RESIST THE TEMPATATION TO ALTER YOUR SPRING SCHEDULE IN ANY WAY THAT WILL REDUCE THE NUMBER OF CORE COURSES YOU ARE TAKING. DOING THIS COULD HAVE UNDESIRED CONSQUENCES WITH ADMISSION DECISIONS.

JANUARY:

• Keep your college counselors advised of both the admission decisions and scholarship offers regardless of your desire to accept these offers. Be sure to know the exact names of the scholarships you have been awarded and the amount of the awards. FAFSA forms should be submitted as soon after January 1st as possible. Send this form in as soon as possible to position yourself to receive the best possible financial aid package.
• Complete any applications due this month. Be aware of any independent scholarship deadlines for which you are applying.

Once your semester exams are scored and fall grades are computed, Father Ryan will send a 1st semester grade report (seventh semester transcript) to every school that has already received an official transcript from the College Counseling Office. This includes all schools that have already accepted you. Every school that has received your application will receive an update. It is in your best interest to maintain the quality of your academic work through your senior year. “TAKING IT EASY” is something best saved for the summer months. Remember that all offers of admission are contingent upon the successful completion of your high school career. Final transcripts will be sent in June.

FEBRUARY/MARCH/APRIL/MAY:

• Visit schools to which you have applied and been accepted so that you may see them from a new perspective.
• Mail a written acceptance to your first-choice school. Notify all other schools to which you have been accepted that you will not be attending. (If you have paid a refundable deposit, make sure to ask for this deposit back.)
• Respond to financial aid and scholarship offers.
• Notify all colleges that accepted you of your final decision NO LATER than MAY 1st, which is the National Candidate Reply Date. Make your final decision before this date and send a deposit to the school you wish to attend.
• Provide your college counselors with information on the scholarships you have received and the amounts of these scholarships. Let your counselors know where you want your final transcript sent.
• Write Thank You notes to all those teachers and admission people that assisted you during this process.
• Sign up for orientation at the school to which you are attending.

CONGRATULATIONS!