Columbus Suburban College Fair

The Columbus Suburban College Fair is coming up on Sunday, October 11th from 1:00 - 3:00pm at Otterbein University in the Clements Center (180 Center St., Westerville, OH 43081). This is the largest local fall college fair and a great opportunity for all of our students - grades 9-12.

College fairs give you a chance to meet with admissions representatives in person. They are all gathered together in one place in order to meet you and to answer your questions. Many schools also keep track of the number of interactions/ meetings you have with their admissions representatives during your search and application process so that they can gauge your interest level in their school.
Be prepared before you get to the college fair. Know that there will be far more schools than you are interested in or can even truly take in during one afternoon, so it is useful to come up with a list of colleges that you would be interested in learning more about by doing a search that looks for different criteria that seems to be a good fit for you. With that list in hand you now have a starting point for the colleges that you would like to talk to during the fair.

All students are asked to register with Strive Scan by visiting www.strivefair.com because this will allow for you to have a bar code specific to you. Then, when you are at the college fair next weekend and you talk to a college that interests you, they can simply scan your barcode and that will allow the college to know of your interest. I promise you, this is a MAJOR improvement over the days when students had to hand write out interest cards at each college table.

I encourage you to check out the Columbus Suburban College Fair information on the front page of the WKHS Counselor website for more information about this year's event.

A few other hints:

It can be useful to ask the same questions of each college so that you can compare them and their responses appropriately and we encourage you to consider thinking about the questions you most want to know about the school and can’t find in a brochure or on their website. Everyone is different so your questions are going to be different depending upon your interests, but if you are really interested in playing a club sport in college, you might want to ask about their club/ intramural program and the numbers of students that participate. You may want to ask what the top 2 or 3 majors are on campus as that will give you an idea of what most of the students are interested in studying. If you are undecided about what you would like to study, it would be a great idea to ask them what support and services are available to help students in exploring different majors.

Take something with you to be able to jot some notes on - I suggest a pen or pencil over a phone because even though your phones are amazing for the notes app, the impression it may give to colleges is that you're not engaged in what is happening and are side tracked and paying attention to your phone instead. It is a crazy event with so much happening, so if you don’t write it down as you go you won’t remember much after the fact. The admissions representatives are giving you a small look of the college – what do you think following each glimpse?

When you are walking through the college fair with the list of schools that you want to talk to, don’t forget to leave some time for browsing – you may realize that a school you had not previously considered has just what you are looking for in a college. It can be easy for us to get caught in the cycle of only looking at specific schools because that is what “everyone” else is considering.

Ideally, you will be able to avoid getting caught up in the crowds and confusion so that you don’t walk away from the college fair with a lot of brochures, but no real ideas or impressions about which colleges most interest you. At the end of the college fair you will likely have a bag filled with information about colleges. One of the best college fair articles suggested, “Don’t succumb to the temptation of just piling all those brochures in some obscure corner of your bedroom. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a day or two away from the college search. Then get out all of those brochures, along with the notes you took at the fair, and read through them. You may find that some colleges aren’t as interesting as you first thought. Others only look better the more you research them.”

If you have never been to a college fair before, I admit that it often feels like mass chaos. But it is also the opportunity for you to gain a lot of useful information from a large number of schools in a short period of time. Good luck and happy college searching… we can’t wait to hear about the schools that spark your interest!

Students of the Month

Yesterday morning was the first ceremony of the year to honor Kilbourne's Students of the Month. Students are nominated by teachers to receive the recognition as being a Student of the Month in honor of their outstanding academic commitment, their leadership, their personal effort, the compassion they have shown, or their dedication to being a positive presence in the school community.

There were 30 Kilbourne students who were recognized for their contributions that make WKHS a better place - in the classroom and beyond. This is an honor that students can only earn once during their high school years.

Congratulations to the following students who were recognized this month: Ibrahim Ahmed, Dania Al Adhami, Yousif Alothman, Isatta Bah, Patrick Burns, Jayson Cline, Amara Conley, Alice Deisler, Sage Dickman, Chloe Eberly, Jaiy'Aire Echols, Lilyona Estrella, Abigail Gerschutz, Gretchen Gregg, Duncan Haas, Allan Heieh, Elizabeth Hill, Jonah Johansen, Aubrey Jones, Benjamin Keyes, Adah Kong, Perihan Kucak, Asher Post, Aswini Ragulan, Alexa Ritchey, Arthur Silva De Jesus, Sloane Szabo, Kylie Van De Weghe, Elijah Vincent, and Timothy Wayne.

We are proud of you all and thankful for the positive impact you have at Kilbourne!

Why THIS College?

Why do you like a particular college? What is it about the school that made it stand out to you and left you with the impression that this would be a good place for you to spend your collegiate years?

Hopefully, you have an idea about what you'd answer for both of those questions for each school that you are including on your list of schools where you are going to apply. And, let me be clear - you should like something about every college that you are considering and you should feel good about each of the schools if you are applying there!

In addition to mattering for deciding where you are going to apply, your answers to these questions are essential when you are trying to answer college-specific essay questions.  Some colleges will ask applicants to answer supplemental essay questions and often one of these questions relates to what you like about their school.  They may phrase it in different ways, but the bottom line is that they are trying to determine why you believe their school is a good fit for you.

Remember, the admissions officers who work for the school already think their school is great and they know about the wonderful opportunities available so you need to take it beyond saying that they have a great location, outstanding professors, and wonderful weather.  You need to take it to the next level by identifying specific aspects at the school where you can see yourself contributing to the school and offerings that you plan to take advantage of while you are in college.

Good luck in searching for the right college fit for you and for conveying why it's a good fit in your essays. Also, remember, today is October 1st, which means that seniors are just a month out from the majority of college's early application deadlines.

Delaware Area Career Center

When students enter 9th grade, many are excited about the different choices and opportunities available in high school. Unfortunately, the reality is that the first two years of high school really don't have all that many choices. There is, however, a great deal of flexibility as students reach their junior and senior years. One of those options includes the possibility of attending the Delaware Area Career Center.

Today all sophomores had a chance to listen to a presentation about the Delaware Area Career Center (DACC) and the programs they have available for students. Attending DACC is a great opportunity to earn your elective credits in an area that interests you rather than taking electives that you are selecting simply because they will fill up your schedule.

It was interesting to hear about all of the different programs that are available for students. With over 25 different programs available, there are many unique experiences and opportunities available that can give you a jump start on a career and can also stand out to colleges. If you are interested in participating in the field trip to the DACC, please be sure to return your permission slip to the counseling center soon so that you don't lose the permission slip or forget. (Technically the deadline to return it is October 15th.) The field trip is scheduled for Friday, November 20th.

One thing to realize about the Career Center is that they partner with more than a dozen different high schools from across Central Ohio. So by attending the Career Center you have the chance to meet new people who have similar interests. Each student is still involved in the activities in their home school such as sports and clubs, but this just extends that network of friends and contacts. I will also point out that while it is a huge advantage to have that many different schools all working with the career center, it also means that the 25 spots available in each program are going to be competitive to apply and get a seat. As a result, if this program interests you, we encourage you to make your visit in November so you can apply right away after the field trip.

Net Price Calculator

When you are trying to determine which colleges might be a good fit financially, it is important to know about the Net Price Calculator.

Every college features a net price calculator on their website. This requirement is in an effort to help provide students and parents with the information needed to make more informed decisions and choices about what they can expect to pay for a college education at each school. Now, we will forewarn you that not every net price calculator is the same and some are more detailed than others. Why does this matter? Well, if it is very specific and takes all of the different factors into consideration that the financial aid office will be looking at when creating your financial aid package, then you are likely to get a better picture of what your estimated aid might be, but if it is a more simplistic calculator then there could be more variance when compared to your actual aid package. Plus, of course, the accuracy of the information that you submit will determine the accuracy of the information that you receive back.

Without a doubt, college is very expensive and so trying to figure out the best ways to be able to finance your education is an important factor to consider in your college search and selection process. We hope using the Net Price Calculator tool will be useful to you as you investigate schools for your future.

Also, a quick reminder that tomorrow night, September 30th, at 7pm we will host the Financial Aid Presentation in the WKHS Auditorium with financial aid expert, Faith Phillips. We hope you will make plans to join us!

Creating Your College List

As you determine your list of colleges where you would like to apply, it is important to keep a few things in mind...

1. You will only be attending 1 college in the future.

2. College is a match to be made not a prize to be won.

3. There are no absolute guarantees, but there is a LOT of data available that can inform your decisions.

4. You should only apply to colleges where you would actually WANT to attend.

Applying to tons of colleges "just because" or "just to see what happens" is not a good strategy.  It wastes your time and the college admissions reps time if this is a college where you will never plan on attending. Additionally, if you feel like you need to apply to countless colleges it is usually a sign that you're not really sure what you're looking for in a college and so it might be a good point to pause and really reflect on what you're looking for in a college.

When we talk about creating a college list, you will often hear us (and lots of other college admissions representatives) talking about making a list that includes Reach, Likely/ Target/ Match, and Safety schools. So we want to talk to you a little bit about this because we know it can be confusing to students and parents. (For this blog post I am going to use the term "Likely" schools. You may also hear people call this "Match" or "Target" schools.)

When you are trying to decide if a college is a reach, safety, or likely school, you will want to first look at your own information.  What is your grade point average?  What are your test scores?  How rigorous of an academic course load have you selected each year in high school?  Then, when you have a pretty good idea of what YOUR application profile would look like it is time to look at the college websites and look at their accepted student data and compare to see how you match up.

A safety school would be a college where you are ABOVE their criteria of what they have been accepting for admission. These are often (although not always) colleges where students will get the most money for scholarships as well because they want to entice you to come to their school and therefore they will make it an attractive financial option for you.

A likely school would be a college where you are solidly right in the mix of their accepted student profile.  It is most likely that you will be attending a likely school.  That is why they are also called a target school or a match school.  This is where you should really be focusing your college applications.  Schools where you are more likely to get accepted and that you would be right in the mix academically with all of your peers.  Why does that matter?  Well, it means that you'll be able to have a balance in college of a social life along with school as opposed to needing to study 24/7 if you are in a school where you're struggling to stay afloat academically.

A reach school would be any college with less than a 33% acceptance rate and/ or a school where you are on the lower side of their accepted student data.  Now, let's pause for a moment and think about this. If you are sitting with a very respectable 3.7 GPA and the college you are looking at has an 8% overall acceptance rate and their average GPA is at or above a 4.0 GPA, you really need to decide WHY you are applying to this college.  Are you going to be ok getting a rejection from that school?  Because statistically speaking, you are not going to get into this college which is why, if you choose to apply there, it would be considered a reach school.  There are different levels of reach colleges.  If you are applying to that same school with an 8% acceptance rate and your GPA is above a 4.0 it is still a reach, but it makes far more sense that you'd be a viable candidate for admission.  When you are getting ready to fill out all of those applications, having a hard, honest conversation with yourself can help make sure you are prepared for any heartache that might come this spring as admissions decisions are released.

Sometimes students will ask us if they HAVE to apply to a safety school and our answer is no. Just like students do NOT need to apply to a reach school either. In fact, there are plenty of students who will apply to just 1 college. This is often the case for students who plan to start at Columbus State. We often see students applying to just 1 college if they know they want to go to OSU no matter what and will be happy at a branch or at main campus. And we also have had many students apply to just 1 college if their top choice school utilizes rolling admissions because they can apply now, have a decision back in a few weeks and know if they need to keep applying to other colleges or if they can be done with their applications after getting that first decision back.

As a general rule of thumb, you are probably applying to anywhere from 3-7 colleges. If you are needing help narrowing down your college application list, feel free to stop and see your school counselor so we can talk through your intended colleges. With all of the college application fees, it will save you a lot of money and a great deal of time if you narrow down your college list.

Course Adjustment Reminders

Just a quick reminder that this week marks 6 weeks of us being in school. Wednesday, September 30th is officially 6 weeks and that is also the deadline for students to request to have any of your classes taken with pass/ fail grading or to drop a class without it appearing on your transcript.

Please note that you cannot drop a class if you don't have above the recommended courses. (So, if you have 7 classes currently, you could drop 1 to take you down to 6, but if you only have 6 classes right now then you cannot drop a class until the end of the semester.)

The pass/ fail grading form and course drop forms are available for pick up in the front of the counseling center or you can download them forms from the counselor website in the academic section.

Some students have asked about changing levels to move from Honors or AP classes to regular classes and yes, that is still allowed even beyond the 6 week mark, but we would strongly encourage you to make that transition soon if it is needed as your grades in the current class will go with you to your new class. The form for level changes is also in the counseling center and on the counselor website.

If you have any questions about pass/ fail grading, course changes, or level changes, feel free to stop and see your school counselor.

Pre-ACT Registration

Registration for the Pre-ACT is now open!

There are a few things to know that might help you decide if you are interested in taking the Pre-ACT or not.

1. The test is open to sophomores and juniors only.

2. There is a cost to sign up for the Pre-ACT.  The charge is $20.

3. The Pre-ACT is the practice test for the ACT.  (This year, Juniors will be taking the SAT at WKHS for free in March.  If you decide you want to take the ACT, you will have to sign up and take that on a Saturday national test date instead.)

4. The Pre-ACT is a paper/ pencil test. (The actual ACT is offered both paper/ pencil or digitally, but more students and more national testing sites administer it as a paper/ pencil test so that is what we are doing for the practice test too.)

5. Taking both the PSAT and the Pre-ACT is a great way for students to experience both tests and be able to compare them to see which one gives you a better score. If you know which test you feel more comfortable with (and which one you scored better on for the practice tests) that can help you decide which one you would want to focus your test prep on for the actual ACT/ SAT admissions tests.

6. The Pre-ACT will be offered to Kilbourne students on Friday, October 30th.

7. The PreACT also includes a career component to help students identify career interests and potential career fields to explore.

8. There is a LIMIT to the number of students who can take the Pre-ACT at Kilbourne on October 30th! Space will be limited to the first 200 registrants. (This is important because, for comparison sake, we have over 400 students signed up to take the PSAT. So, we have half of the number of seats available for the Pre-ACT which means if you are interested in signing up you will want to register soon.)

9. Registration is completed through your MyPaymentsPlus account.

If you have any questions or need any help getting signed up for the Pre-ACT, don't hesitate to stop by and see your counselor!

Ask.

Tomorrow at school the counselors will be in the Commons and in the front of the school to participate in a Suicide Prevention Awareness day. We are hopeful that all students will join us!

This month is Suicide Prevention Month. This link takes you to a short 3 minute video clip with information related to suicide. It's intended audience is for the parents of teens, but it applies to kids too. I am going to ask you to stop now and watch it. Please.

We recognize that the video is simple, but wow does it hit on so many of the key messages related to suicide. Most of all, the importance of asking. The feeling of being alone with your thoughts, your feelings, your loneliness, your hurt, your pain, and not being able to see any way out is a key risk factor for teens having thoughts of suicide. So ask. Ask the people around you, "Are you ok?" Ask, "Are you having thoughts of killing yourself?" Ask, "How are you feeling?" And then listen.

If the answer is yes, then it is time to act. Get your family member or friend support and help. Something needs to change in his/ her life so that they don't have to feel this way. And if they say no, but your gut instinct is that something is wrong - trust yourself and still seek support. You know the people in your life best. You know when something is wrong with your friend. You know when they are hurting or not acting like themselves. There is never any harm in pulling more support into their life... and it may truly end up saving their life!

If someone is in immediate danger of taking his/ her own life, please call 911 or go directly to an Emergency Room. If you aren't sure of the level of danger, you can also call or text 988 which is the Suicide and Crisis Hotline. It is available free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you have concerns about a friend while you are at school, please come and see your counselor or one of the other counselors at WKHS. We are here to help! What you and your friend are going through matters to us and you could be helping to save their life by speaking up. And tomorrow is the perfect day to ask, to engage in the conversation to help prevent suicide. We can all make a difference by joining forces together and showing up for those around us.

Financial Aid Night

Seniors, you and your parents have probably already heard that the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) will release for you to begin completing on October 1st.

To help you with the college financial aid process we will have a Financial Aid Meeting coming up on Wednesday, September 30th at 7:00pm in the WKHS Auditorium. We are fortunate enough to have Faith Phillips, a financial aid director for OSU Newark and COTC, sharing her expertise with our parents and students. She always has useful insight and is able to present it in engaging ways that will help you in completing your financial aid application.

Because the FAFSA tends to create a lot of questions, this is likely an important night for senior families - even if you have older siblings who have been through the FAFSA process before. We hope you will make plans to join us on September 30th!

Interim Reports

Can you believe we are at the half-way point of the first quarter? In many ways it feels like we just got started. As you are hopefully aware, you and your parents have the opportunity to check your grades on an ongoing basis. But, if you haven't started checking your greats yet this year, since we are about halfway through, this is the time when you are able to get a good feel for how you are doing in each of your classes. We strongly suggest that you take a look at your grades and make sure you are on track for the quarter.

As a reminder to you and your parents, Infinite Campus is the system that has your schedule, attendance, grades, and transcripts. Your teachers are updating their grades at least once a week so that you can check and have an ongoing update for how you are doing in each class. This continual information provides you with the chance to celebrate if you are doing well and to identify what you might need to change if you are not meeting your own expectations for the goals you had set at the beginning of the school year.

Infinite Campus has a free app that is very easy for students and parents to use and is a great tool for staying up to date on your progress. If you are interested in downloading and using the free Infinite Campus app, you will need to know that the District Code is: YCWTRL

Ohio Direct Admissions

As seniors, one of the most common steps that students complete is applying to colleges and then waiting to see if the colleges will accept you. This year, for the first time ever, Ohio has introduced a Direct Admissions program. What is this? It is essentially a flipping of the script.

With Ohio Direct Admissions, Ohio colleges will reach out to Ohio seniors with offers of admission and then the Ohio seniors who receive these offers will choose which ones to accept for ongoing interest.

It is an interesting concept that has been introduced with success in several other states already. Students are under no obligation or commitment to say yes to any of the colleges that offer you admissions without your application.

In Ohio there are 9 main campuses of public colleges, 27 private colleges, and all of the public branch campuses and community colleges that will be participating in the Ohio Direct Admission program.

If students do not want to have their high school data to be considered for matching with the colleges, you have the option to have your information withheld by Opting Out. The deadline to do this is this Friday, September 25th.

Check out the Ohio Department of Higher Education website for more information about Ohio's Direct Admission program.

Welcome to Worthington

Each year we are lucky enough to welcome students who are moving into the WKHS area as new students. This morning we hosted a welcome breakfast to make sure that all of our new students knew how thankful we are to have them at Kilbourne. It was fun to hear a little bit about the schools where students have attended previously and the things that they like about WKHS already... for example, the food, friendly students, and later start time are definite favorites. The new students come from as close as cities around Ohio to many different states and countries from around the world. Kilbourne is better because of each student who walks our halls and we hope you will join us in welcoming these new students if you see them in your classes or lunch periods.

That's So You

Writing your college essay is often one of the most stressful aspects of the college application for students, but it is actually one of my favorite parts because it is your opportunity to shine. The college essay allows you the opportunity to showcase who you are and all of the wonderful traits that you will bring to your future college community.

All too often students will tell us that they don't have anything unique or that makes them stand out from all of the other applicants, but I promise you that is WRONG! Each of you is different from all of your other classmates. You have your own activities that you enjoy, ways to relieve stress, things that make you smile or laugh and ways of thinking that are completely your own. Those differences may seem small or insignificant to you, but it is what makes you YOU and therefore it is precisely what the colleges want to learn about you in your essay.

In my family, we often laugh about "that's so you" stories. Those little things that each member of our family thinks or does that is "so them." Taking a walk for fun in below zero weather, breaking out in random song, making us laugh with silly words - all of these are but a few glimpses into the little elements that I love dearly about various members of my family. And my guess is, you could imagine why you might want to know more about them from just that simple snippet of information. Your essay is a chance for you to highlight one or more of your classic "so you" stories.  What are things you have done that are quintessentially you? If you are struggling to figure out what all this might include, don't hesitate to ask your parents, siblings, or friends to help you think of the things that you have done that they thought to themselves, "yep, that is so ___ (you)."

That's so you stories can make easy college essays because you get to highlight some aspect of your life that is unique to you and then as you reflect on it, the colleges end up learning about YOU which is their entire goal.

Careers in Healthcare

Are you interested in pursuing a career in healthcare? Is it something you have thought about, but don't know a ton about beyond your desire to work in a medical field and help people? A lot of students end up in that place and so they default to thinking that they want to be a doctor or a nurse. Both of which are incredible professions, but there are SO MANY more options that you can choose from.

The Cleveland Clinic has created the Cleveland Clinic Connected Career Rounds which are cool videos (or live sessions) that students can watch to learn more about different healthcare related careers. I have watched several of them and they are really well done. In the videos you will see a range of different people who work in a select aspect of healthcare and how they all work together for the good of a patient. Information about their career path, education requirements, and job growth is all included in each presentation.

Check out their website for more information: https://healthcareedu.ccf.org/course/view.php?id=645

Additionally, I know that some students are VERY focused on wanting to become a doctor in the future. Did you know that there are some programs that are known as "Early Assurance Programs" where you can be accepted (assuming you maintain strong grades in college) to med school as a high school student? 

Ohio University has an EAP program where you can attend and complete your undergraduate degree at 1 of 7 different colleges with the assurance of being able to be accepted into the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

This is a highly competitive program. Students that are interested can learn more here: https://www.ohio.edu/medicine/med-admissions/apply/eap 

ACT/ SAT Score Submissions

Seniors, if you are planning on applying to colleges and having them consider your test scores from the ACT or SAT, it is important that you have sent your scores directly from the testing agencies to your colleges.  This is a step that can be done far in advance, but because there isn't a key timeline for getting it done ahead of the deadline, it can be a step that inadvertently gets forgotten and then causes problems with applications being marked as complete so that they can be processed.

Your test scores are NOT on your transcript so the only way that the colleges will have access to your scores is if you arrange for them to be sent from the testing agency directly.  You received the option to send your scores to 4 colleges free of charge when you signed up to take the test.  There is an additional charge for any additional tests beyond those 4 that you want to send your scores to for consideration.  

You can log into the ACT and SAT websites to review your scores including where they have already been sent and make sure that every college you are considering that you want to see your scores has received a copy of your test results.  And, it is also directly on the ACT and SAT websites that you will pay to have your scores sent to any additional colleges.

We strongly encourage you to just get this step taken care of and crossed off your list so that you're not scrambling at the last minute or missing the early action deadlines because you didn't send in your scores in time.

Recommendation Letters

I have a love/ hate relationship with recommendation letters.  When they are needed, I am more than happy to write them for my students and I love taking the time to try to show you off and make sure the colleges know just how lucky they will be to have you as a part of their campus. But there is so much confusion that surrounds rec letters and I really do hate when teachers or I are asked to write letters that never go anywhere at all. Many colleges have moved away from requiring letters of recommendation - in part because all students will pick teachers that like them to write letters on their behalf and so the letters often sound similar and therefore it doesn't really help them to differentiate between the students. So, your very first step connected to recommendation letters is to figure out if the colleges you are considering will actually need any letters of recommendation - and if they don't then you just saved yourself and your teacher a lot of time.

There are some colleges that will want a recommendation letter and others that will want multiple letters. You will want to look specifically at what they are asking for you to provide.  Some colleges will require teacher recommendation letters, some counselor letters, others may be open to coaches, bosses, religious leaders or other adults who know you well, and yes, some may even want multiple letters. Each college gets to make up their own mind and determine what information they want to have as a part of your application package.  OSU, for example, does not require any recommendation letters. (Can you blame them? Imagine trying to read 71,000 recommendation letters on top of the applications and essays that they receive.) Harvard, on the other hand, will require 2 teacher recommendations and a counselor recommendation. After reviewing the college websites, if you are still having problems determining if the colleges you are considering require recommendation letters – just stop down to see your counselor and we can try to help you figure it out.

If you find that you do need recommendation letters, you have some work to do. First, give some thought about who you would like to ask for the recommendations. Look at the requirements specified by the school – are they open to coaches or community representatives writing letters or do they want them to come from academic teachers? If it requires that the letters come from teachers can it be from any subject area or are they only open to the core subjects of English, math, science, and social studies? Are you looking at a career in a specific area that a teacher at WKHS can write about your strengths in that field? For example, if you are considering majoring in Spanish perhaps a recommendation letter from one of your Spanish teachers would be appropriate. What teachers know you best? Who can speak to your work ethic and classroom contributions? If possible, it is often ideal to show your strengths across multiple subjects, so if you have a few teachers to pick from and 2 are math and 1 is science perhaps it would be beneficial to ask 1 math and 1 science teacher rather than the 2 math teachers simply to show that diversity. Remember, in recommendation letters from teachers the colleges are asking for information about you as a student and your potential for handling the academic rigors of college.

Once you have figured out the teacher or teachers that you want to ask for a recommendation (if needed) it is then time to ASK them if they are willing to write a letter for you. It is really important to be reasonable in the amount of time that you are allowing them to have to write your letter. (Think at least 30 days - preferably more!) They are very busy with their classroom work and grading homework and papers and of course life in general and many teachers are often bombarded by students requesting recommendations. If a teacher is unable to write a recommendation letter for you – either because they don’t feel that they know you well enough to write a strong letter or because they have too much on their plate, don’t take it personally, simply ask another teacher. You will be thankful that you didn’t force them to write the letter because it wouldn’t be as solid of a recommendation letter if they were rushed or only had vague highlights to discuss.

After you have asked a teacher to write a letter on your behalf (and they agreed), then you will want to provide them with the teacher recommendation letter forms that can be found on the www.wkhscounselors.com website or in the Counseling and Career Center. You will also need to be sure to invite your teachers electronically if you are applying through Common App. It is rare that you will need any of your recommendation letters as a hard copy, but if that is the case you are responsible for providing your teacher with an envelope addressed to the appropriate college. Please be sure that you have indicated to your teachers your application deadline. You can submit your application through Common App even if your teachers have not uploaded their recommendation letter, but your application packet will not be complete until all parts (including the rec letters) have arrived at the college.

If you are applying to schools that do not need teacher recommendation letters, please do not waste your teacher's time by asking them to write a letter. Also, only ask the number of teachers that you need recommendations from - so if you are applying to two schools and both need 1 teacher recommendation letter, just ask one teacher to write a letter that will be used for both schools. You do not need to ask for more letters in case one is "better" than another - if you are not sure the teacher will write a positive letter for you, then you need to pick someone else. If you trust the teacher enough to ask them to write the letter, then you should trust them enough to be able to send their letter (without seeing it) to the college. In fact, you should not be reading your recommendation letters - they are supposed to be confidential.

For those students that will need a counselor recommendation, please be aware that we write the letters on a first come first serve basis. It is the only way we know how to be fair. Recommendation letters are incredibly time consuming - especially when we have so many to write because unlike with teachers, if your college requires a counselor recommendation letter you don't have a choice about who you are asking to write your letter. So please, watch your deadlines and try to help us write the best letter possible by allowing us to have the time with it. As with the teachers, please plan to give us at least 30 days to write your rec letter. Also, there is a Counselor Recommendation Letter supplement form that we ask each student to fill out and a Parent Brag sheet that we ask you to have your parents complete and turn back in to me to use when writing your letter. Please, be detailed and thoughtful when completing these forms because we want to be able to showcase you in the best way possible. Each of you are unique and have wonderful qualities that you will bring to a campus, but when writing recommendation letters generalized praise is wasted space so we need stories and examples to help give people a true image of you and to make it more than just what they can read about you in your application. Once you have turned in your 2 forms, we will add your name to our recommendation letter list. Also, if you have developed a resume or list of activities and awards we would love to have that because this information can also be helpful when writing your recommendation letter.

Before I close I want to point out that the need for counselor recommendation letters is a great reminder of why it is important for students of every grade level (Sophomore, Junior, and Senior) to drop by your school counselor's office throughout the year to allow us to get to know you better. We sincerely want to know students of all ages so that we are more comfortable with talking about some of the incredible things you all are involved in and are accomplishing during your high school careers.

College Application Terms

As you start through the college application process you will be exposed to a variety of new terms. One area that can be confusing is what all of the different application deadlines such as Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Decision and Rolling Admissions mean.

Early Decision

The key to remember with Early Decision is that it is a final decision and a COMMITMENT! Applying to a school in this program is considered a contract between the student and the college. You can apply to only one school as an Early Decision school. If you are accepted, you are promising to withdraw all other applications. Few students will ultimately apply to a school Early Decision because you are promising to attend the school - without seeing their financial aid package - and most students are not 100% certain that they want to attend one particular school. If you are considering applying to a school under the Early Decision program, please stop in and talk to your counselor as there will also be a form we need to complete for you.

Early Action

This is a non-binding option and significantly more students will apply to schools using this option. Early Action has an earlier application deadline and students will typically learn if they have been accepted to the school much earlier than regular decision dates. (Some schools will defer an admissions decision to the Regular Decision deadline if the student is on the bubble and they want to wait to see how the rest of the applications will look.) Early Action is not a contract and, as a student, you are not obligated to attend school at that institution.

Regular Decision

This is the deadline that you will generally see publicized from colleges as it is the most common. This means you are applying and will hear your decision on their regular time schedule. There are no commitments or early notifications. It is important to note that the Regular Admissions deadlines are often AFTER the deadline for scholarship consideration – which adds in a whole additional set of deadlines to watch, but that is a different story for another day.

Rolling Admissions

This means that the colleges look at each application as they arrive and they make a decision as they go. So, if you apply quickly to a school with rolling admissions you are generally going to receive your admissions decision quickly. Schools that function with a rolling admissions policy of evaluating applications will still generally have a regular decision deadline which is the final date that the college is willing to accept any applications for the fall class.

It is really important to be watching your deadlines carefully!  You need to know what the timeline is for being able to complete all of your applications so you can start with the end target date in mind if you are going to be able to plan and organize your time effectively.

College Reps Visiting WKHS

Every year college admissions representatives travel across the country to various high schools in order to meet with students and to talk about the opportunities available at their campus. It always surprises me that more students are not flocking to these chances to meet with the admissions representatives. Because even though you are technically there to learn about what they have to say about their school, perhaps even more importantly, you are expressing your interest and desire to attend their college! The admissions representatives who are traveling to the schools keep track of who they see. Many colleges can go back and tell you exactly how many times a student has come to tour campus, contacted the admissions office, opened the emails that they have sent to you, or had an official interaction with a representative of the school. You never really know what can make a difference when it comes to admissions or getting a scholarship from a school, so if you are able to attend a meeting with a representative, it can only help you. And, as if that isn't enough, at many colleges the regional representatives who make the visits are also the ones reading your applications and making admissions decision recommendations. You have the chance to make a positive impression on them when they are at Kilbourne. My hope, above all, is that as they review your college application, their impression is not, "hmm, they weren't even interested enough to come and meet with me when I was at their school."

College reps will started their visits at Kilbourne this week. We have a list of the upcoming college visits posted in the Upcoming Events calendar on the Counselor website so that you can see which schools are coming to WKHS. The coming few weeks have some of the biggest and most popular colleges that our students tend to apply to and so you need to check out the list. If there are schools that you'd like to meet with, please be sure to sign up on the google sheet within the event calendar and then write down the dates and times so that you don't forget to come to the Counseling Center.  When you get there, a secretary will introduce you to the admissions representative and after your meeting with them is over, the secretary will give you a pass to return back to class.

Juniors and Seniors have unlimited opportunities to attend these sessions. Please be reasonable though. If a visit is scheduled during a time when you have class, you should get your teacher’s approval in advance of attending the information session. You are responsible for all missed work and teachers are not supposed to excuse you from tests, quizzes, or labs. 

Freshmen and Sophomores are also invited to attend the sessions with the college representatives, but are limited to participating in the visits during your lunch or Academic Prep periods. 

These are great opportunities to talk directly with the college admissions representatives so please take advantage of their visits! While meeting with a representative cannot replace the actual experience of walking on campus, seeing the people, and experiencing the classes, it can be a very important piece of your information gathering process. 

PSAT Registration Reminder

The PSAT is the practice test for the SAT and the qualifying exam for the National Merit Scholarship Competition. This test will be administered free of charge here at WKHS on October 13, 2026.

This is a great opportunity for students to begin to assess their progress toward college and career readiness standards. All junior students are strongly encouraged to take this test free of charge and it is also open for sophomores as well.

Students can register for the PSAT using this link.  The deadline to register is September 11 at 3:20pm.

If students would like to practice and prepare for the PSAT, CollegeBoard and the KHAN Academy are offering a free supplemental practice tests. Information for this can be obtained online at https://www.khanacademy.org/sat and https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/practice