Pass/ Fail & Drop Deadline

I wanted to make sure that all of you were aware that the last date to drop a 1st semester course without having it appear on your transcript is this coming Tuesday, October 4th. That is also the last date to submit a request to have a 1st semester class graded on a pass/ fail scale instead of the standard scoring. Please make sure that your requests for these options are turned into the counseling center before the school day ends on Tuesday!

Writing Your College Essays

Writing a college essay is the most time consuming part of the college application – it can be a frustrating, challenging process, but this is your opportunity to put your best foot forward and show the colleges what makes you special. Ideally the college admissions and scholarship officers will learn something about you and see how well you write.

When colleges review your application they can read things like your grade point and test scores, but they still want to know more about YOU – the person behind those grades, scores, and activities. It is important to remember that your essay will be one of hundreds or more-likely thousands that the admissions committee members will read. (Can you imagine reading all of those?!?) Think of it kind of like a first date - try to interest them in what you have to say and be sure that it is written well so that it will hopefully stand out. Think of this as your opportunity to introduce yourself to the admissions and scholarship officers reading your application. Be open, honest and real.

When you have to write an essay you need to keep a few important points in mind:

1. Answer the question!
When they give you a prompt or question – be sure that your essay is answering what they are asking! These are smart people – they know when you are just trying to take a different essay and trying to make it fit for their question. Put in the time to write an essay that answers what they are asking. Also, be sure that you respond to all parts of the prompt.

2. Show me – Don’t tell me.
Great, so you told me that you are organized and honest… good qualities for their future college students, but are you demonstrating that to them with your essay? Show them what you mean – that will usually require specific, concrete stories or examples to illustrate your point.

3. Did I learn something about you?
The whole point of these essays is so that the college admissions officers will learn something new about you. (And trust me, they are learning something about you – even if that lesson is that you didn’t care enough about getting into school to pay attention to details like spelling.) So, step back and look at your essay again – did they learn something about you that they wouldn’t have known prior to reading your essay?

Let me assure you – they really do read the essays! Don’t think you can just throw something down on paper and have it be “good enough.” These are formal essays for an application to a college that will be the launching ground for the rest of your life. I know that it is intimidating, but relax and start writing – and editing – and then do some more writing and editing… One of the biggest challenges as you write your essay is controlling the tone. You want to come across as confident but not boastful, self-assured but not aggressive, accomplished but not perfect. Try to avoid claiming that everything you've ever done has been unbelievably great. Don't be afraid to admit that you are human. Colleges want real, interesting people. Because it's so hard to control the tone of an essay about yourself, you will want to ask several people – teachers, friends, your parents, or even me – to read and respond to your essay. Get a variety of reactions, and then decide how you want to revise the essay. Remember, when getting help with essay revisions it is important to go into it with the thought that you want to get revisions so it can be the best possible essay (instead of going in hoping the editors will just say – good enough.) And yes, that also means you can’t procrastinate and put it off until the last possible second. :-)

Colleges Visiting Kilbourne

Did you know that many college admissions representatives come to WKHS in order to visit with you? Stop for a moment and think about that – the schools are paying someone to come to Kilbourne in order to meet with you and showcase the opportunities available at their college.

While meeting with a representative cannot replace the actual experience of walking on campus, seeing the people, and experiencing the classes, it can be an important piece of your information gathering process. Possibly 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, or had an official interaction with a representative of the school. You never really know what can make a difference so if you are able to attend a meeting with a representative, it can only help you.

We have a list of the upcoming college visits posted on the Counselor website so that you can see which schools are coming to WKHS. You can stop into the Counseling and Career Center to sign up for any of the visits that interest you.

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 MUST 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. (Pick up a pass to have your teacher sign when you are in the Counseling and Career Center to register for the visit.)

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. If you have academic prep, you will need to secure a pass just as the upperclassmen are required.

These are great opportunities to talk directly with the college admissions representatives so please take advantage of their visits.

Seeking Help

I need help. I have been spending countless hours working on the department website and have hit a stumbling block. For over a week I have been trying to figure out what I am doing wrong and why I can't get what I *think* should work to actually work. I realize that this might not be something you will probably know how to fix, but if your parents or anyone you know has experience working with joomla, could you please let me know. I think being able to talk through a few (hopefully) simple questions will get me through this road block. Thanks!

PSAT and PLAN Tests

PSAT Test Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Location: WKHS Gym
Time: 7:00 (check-in) beginning promptly at 7:30am – 10:45am
Cost: $15 (checks payable to WKHS)

The PSAT is the practice test for the SAT. Juniors and interested underclassmen can register in the Counseling and Career Center by bringing in a check made out to WKHS. This is an important practice test for the SAT and it is also the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship competition. Even if you took the test as a sophomore you should re-take the test as a Junior!

PLAN Test Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Location: WKHS Gym
Time: 10:50am (check-in) beginning promptly at 11:15am – 3:00pm
Cost: $12.00 (checks payable to WKHS)

The PLAN Test is the practice test for the ACT. This test intended for sophomores. (Freshman students can elect to take this test, but it is not an option for juniors!) The content of the PLAN test is closely tied to that of the ACT achievement test, which is used for college entrance and placement decisions. It covers the same subjects and gives you estimated ACT scores.

The PLAN test has many benefits. It can help you get started in thinking and planning for life after high school. It will show you areas you may need extra help. The results can also be used to help focus your test preparation to improve your ACT scores. Additionally, one of the other highly valuable aspects is that the PLAN test includes a career component that helps identify career interests and possible career fields. The number of students who have no idea what they might want to do some day is scary and this is one way to help come up with some ideas.

Both of these tests are only practice tests; therefore, scores will not appear on your transcript.

Students can register for these tests in the WKHS Counseling and Career Center beginning tomorrow.

Volunteers Needed

A "Haunted Statehouse" is being planned for this fall and they need volunteers to help with kids activities and face painting. The dates of the events are October 14, 15, 20 and 21. You would need to be there from 6:30 - 9:00pm. (I'm not sure if you have to attend all of the evenings or if you could just select particular nights to volunteer - that would be something you'll have to look into if you are interested.) Parking at the event is free. If you are interested in volunteering for this fun event, please see Mr. Todd in the Co-curricular office.

Application Absolutes

In the college application process there are a few absolutes.

If you don’t apply, you won’t be accepted. Now is the time that you should be working on your college applications. If you haven’t started this process, please make this a priority and know that I am willing to help you. Good first steps would be to list out all of the colleges where you plan to apply, identify their application deadlines, determine their application requirements (for example, do they require essays or any recommendation letters) and then set your plan with deadlines to complete each step of your applications. There is an organization chart in the college application process section of the WKHS Counselor website that you can use to assist you in this process.

Every college will require a copy of your official transcript. Colleges carefully evaluate the courses you have completed during your time at WKHS. In addition to considering the rigor of your course selection, they will also be looking at how you performed in those classes. As a result, providing the colleges with a copy of your transcript is an essential step of the application process.

In order to grant permission for your transcript to be released to a college you must complete the transcript release card. I have your transcript release card in my office and you will simply come in and sign the form indicating exactly which colleges you want to provide with your transcripts. If your application is on the Common App or to BGSU, we will then submit your transcript electronically and there is not a fee. For all of the rest of the transcripts, there is a $1.00 fee per transcript and you will be able to stop back in the counseling center 3 days after you completed the request to pay and pick up your transcript(s).

It is important that you do NOT open your transcript envelope because this is how colleges will know that your transcript is an official copy. Transcripts that are submitted in unsealed and unstamped envelopes will not be accepted by the colleges!

After receiving feedback from parents and students in the past, we are giving the control over mailing the transcripts to you so that you will know exactly when it was mailed and be able to take ownership over your application process. A helpful hint, if you have multiple pieces all going to the same college (such as recommendation letters and transcript), send each of the individual signed and sealed envelopes together in a single larger envelope. This will help the colleges keep your application materials together and decreases the potential of application items being misfiled.

One potentially confusing item is actually quite simple. Many colleges request that a form be submitted along with your transcript – these are usually called a college prep form or secondary school report. Each college has their own individual form that they will instruct you to print off and provide to us, but they all contain the same basic information. In order to simplify and streamline the application process, we have created a single secondary school report form that covers all of the information all of the colleges are requesting that is submitted with each of your transcripts. Since the form is the same for all of the schools you will not need to print off the individual copies of the forms from each school nor do you need to worry about trying to differentiate about which transcript goes to which school as each copy will be exactly the same.

If you have any questions about getting organized with your college application process or with the steps for submitting your transcript, please stop in and see me.