Welcome!

College Readiness for the Class of 2014

March 19, 2014

Our ProgramFinding

the Right

College FitWhat’s

ahead for college-bound juniors

College applicatio

n at Northwes

t

AP, ACT and the SAT

Upcoming

events!

Who’s Who at Northwest…

Mrs. Lance Dempsey, Principal Mr. John Robertson, Assistant Principal

& 9th Grade Administrator Mr. Matt Niper, Assistant Principal & 10th

Grade Administrator Mr. Matt Paushter, Assistant Principal &

11th Grade Administrator Mr. Tim Britton, Assistant Principal & 12th

Grade Administrator

Our counselors…

Ms. Theresa Dethlefsen, Resource Counselor (L & Z)

Mr. Jeff Flach, Counselor (A to B) Ms. Tamela McCarthy-Redd, Counselor (C to D) Ms. Chrissy Noonan, Counselor (E to G) Ms. Athena Cois, Counselor (H to K) Mr. Austin Freeman, Counselor (M to N) Ms. Ellen O’Connell, Counselor (O to R) Ms. Sue Bunting, Counselor (S to U) Ms. Julia Bui, Counselor (V to Y)

Counselors listed with assigned students, alpha by last name:

Counseling Support Staff

Counseling Office (301) 601-4642:Ms. Cathy Wittenberger, Counseling SecretaryMs. Jennifer Sambataro, Counseling Secretary & Asst. Registrar

Registrar’s Office (301) 601-4623:Ms. Debbie Seamone, Registrar

College/Career Information Center (301) 601-4635:

Ms. Rochelle Davis, College/Career Information Coordinator

Finding the Right College ‘Fit’

Step 1: Think about why you want to go to college or pursue a particular career.Step 2: Decide what is important to you in a school.Step 3: Gather information about the schools you are considering.Step 4: Research and compare schools.Step 5: Make your decision.Step 6: Meet your deadlines!

www.MDgo4it.org

Consider Cost

Tour Campus

Meet with your counselor

Timeline for College-Bound juniors…Spring: Tour college campuses and/or vocational schools and talk with

admissions representatives, professors, and students Take the ACT/SAT and/or Accuplacer Update your list of potential schools using Family Connection

‘colleges I’m thinking about’ Explore AP exam prep and register for the AP exam Explore summer jobs, internships and pre-college programs Complete SSL hours

Summer: Attend a senior meeting Register for College/Career Summer Workshops

Fall Senior Year: Narrow down college list and register for required college tests Secure letters of recommendation (Ask teachers before leaving in

June) Use high school resources to research local & national scholarships College essays! Common Application essay prompts are available

NOW!!! College applications!

How to Apply to College the Northwest High School Way…

WHAT IS EDOCS THROUGH FAMILY CONNECTION?

eDocs is an online feature linked to a student’s Naviance Family Connection account. eDocs is designed to help streamline the college application process for Northwest staff and students. eDocs will be used for the following purposes: Application Tracking – the ability for students to keep

track of colleges where they have applied Transcript Tracking – the ability for students to view

the status of transcript requests for college applications and scholarships.

College Recommendations – the ability for students to request college recommendations and view the status of those requests

Electronic transmission – the ability for school staff to transmit transcripts, recommendations and supporting college application documents electronically to colleges and universities.

Connecting online usingFamily Connection andeDocs

Family Connection & Getting Connected

WELCOME to the college and career

FAMILY CONNECTION Program

MCPS provides this unique program free of charge to all MCPS high school students, parents and staff. Students are encouraged to explore both at home and school an array of college and career related resources available in Family Connection.

College Destinations for NW!

Alabama State Allegany College of MD American U Amherst College Berklee College of Music Boston U Bowie State U Brown U Bucknell Carnegie Mellon U Clemson Columbia Cornell Dartmouth College Drexel U Duke East Carolina U Elon U Emory Fairleigh Dickinson U Fordham U Frostburg State George Mason U Georgetown U Gettysburg College Goucher College Hampton Haverford College Hofstra U Hood College Howard U Indiana U of PA Ithaca College ITT Technical Institute James Madison U Johns Hopkins Kent State Lincoln U of PA Marshall U Maryland College of Art Institute Marymount Manhattan College MIT McDaniel College Montgomery College Morehouse Morgan State U Mount Saint Mary’s U NYU Norfolk State North Carolina State Northeastern U Oberlin Old Dominion U Penn State Princeton U Purdue U Rensselaer Rice U Rose-Hulman Rutgers Salisbury U Savannah College of Art & Design Shenandoah Shepherd U Shippensburg U of PA Slippery Rock U of PA Spelman College St. John’s U St. Mary’s College of MD Stanford U Stevenson U Swarthmore College Syracuse Temple U Texas A & M The Catholic U of America The Citadel The George Washington U The Ohio State U Towson U Tuskegee U US Air Force Academy US Military Academy, West Point US Naval Academy UCLA U of Colorado Boulder U of Mary Washington U of Maryland, Baltimore County U of Maryland, College Park U of Maryland, Eastern Shore U of Massachusetts, Amherst U of Michigan U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill U of Oklahoma U Penn U of South Carolina U of Southern California UVA U of Wisconsin, Madison Vanderbilt U Villanova U Virginia Commonwealth U Virginia Military Institute Virginia Tech Virginia State U Wake Forest U Washington U in St. Louis West Virginia State U West Virginia U Xavier U of Louisiana Yale University

The college application, recommendations and transcripts…

COLLEGE APPLICATIONS: Available on the college web site Hard copies may be available in the College/Career

Information Center The Common App @ commonapp.org

COLLEGE RECOMMENDATIONS & THE SELF EVALUATION FORM: Available on the school web site “Counseling” page Hard copies available in the Counseling Office and

College/Career Information Center

TRANSCRIPT REQUESTS & THE ELECTRONIC COLLEGE PROCESSING FORM: Available on the Counseling web page Hard copies available in the Counseling Office and

College/Career Information Center Fees may be required to process

The college essay…

WHAT ARE COLLEGES LOOKING FOR IN YOUR ESSAY?• WRITING ABILITY• A WINDOW INTO WHO YOU ARE

MOST COMMON MISTAKES:• SPELLING & GRAMMAR• PARAGRAPH PROBLEMS• NOT DEVELOPED• WORDINESS• POOR SENTENCE STRUCTURE

THE MYTHS

I have nothing to write about

No one really reads my

essay

I should not ask for help

Remember if you take the SAT/ACT that colleges will have a sample of your writing.

Be your own author.!

College Readiness!

www.actstudent.org

www.sat.collegeboard.org

Online test registration

High School Code: 201-589

The Accuplacer College Ready Placement Test

Request scores be

sent electronically to colleges and career

schools

College Testing Options…

  SAT ACT ACCUPLACERPurpose Measures critical reading, writing,

and mathematical reasoning skills 

Measures academic achievement in English, math, reading, and science

Measures readiness for college level coursework in math, reading, and writing

College Use Used by universities and colleges as part of application process

Used by universities and colleges as part of the application process

Used by many community colleges and some four-year schools for course placement

Distinguishing Feature(s)

Essay is required Math sections include student

response/grid-in questions ¼ point deduction for incorrect

answers

Measures science reasoning Online, computer adaptive

Scoring Highest Score - 2400MCPS Target Score - 1650

Highest Score 36MCPS Target Score 24

Maryland Community Colleges Target Scores for college level courses: Sentence Skills 90 and Reading

Comprehension 79 Elementary Algebra 75 and

College Level Math 0-52

Score Reporting Student chooses scores from a specific test date to be sent to schools. If test date is not specified, all scores will be sent.

Student chooses scores from a specific test date to be sent to schools.

Administered and shared with student by the post-secondary institution requiring the assessment.

Sections 10 Sections: Critical Reading – 3 Writing – 3 Math – 3 Experimental - 1

4 Required Sections: English Math Reading Science reasoning Optional writing (essay) section

Adaptive – questions depend upon previous answer. Arithmetic Elementary Algebra College Level Math Reading Comprehension Sentence Skills Writing (optional)

The College Fair…

Montgomery County College Fair:Montgomery County Agricultural Center(Gaithersburg, MD)

Wednesday, April 9Buses depart at 9:30 am

Cost: $3.00

Signed Permission forms should be returned to the College/Career

Information Center

no later than Friday, April 4

MCPS prohibits students from driving to this event during the school day.

Northwest College Fair Field Trip

Juniors will receive permission forms thru MWH classes the week of March

24

Parents and students can attend the evening event together on April 3rd at 6:30 pm

Looking ahead to Senior Year…

Student/parent meetings with counselors

Summer workshops and college planning in the College/Career Information Center

Meetings with your counselor (All Year)

Senior Packet (Fall- College Application Process Review)

Senior Parent Meeting (Fall)

National Hispanic College Fair (Fall)

Financial Aid Workshop (Fall)

Alumni Day (December)

Resources at your finger tips…

http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/northwesths/ Counseling Department

College & Career Info

College Readiness Resources & Materials

College Readiness Navigation Guide for Rising Seniors includes: Applying to College at Northwest Family Connection for Northwest

Parents College Test Prep Success at Northwest

Additional Materials: Family Connection Parent Registration

Form Are You Ready for College: A Guide to

College Planning for Maryland High School Students

College 411 Money Guide

Questions and Answers

College Readiness for the Class of 2014

Thank you for joining us.