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.