University of Cincinnati

Did you have a good day off yesterday? Did you do anything productive? We know at least some students took advantage of not having school to spend the day making college visits... and part of the reason we know that is because we saw Kilbourne represented on campus while we were out making a campus visit of our own!

All of the district staff spent the day learning and focused on different aspects of professional development to help them improve in the work we do with and for students. The school counselors were given the opportunity to go and visit a college campus that none of us had seen in person before - the University of Cincinnati.

We picked visiting UC not only because it was a campus we hadn't seen previously, but also because it is a college that so many of our Kilbourne students end up going to and we wanted to learn more about the opportunities on the campus and what makes UC special.

It was an AWESOME day! We had beautiful weather for a campus tour (and yes, that definitely makes a difference...), and we also got to spend meaningful, quality time with the UC Director of Admissions.

On campus tour at UC

In addition to spending time on their Uptown (main) campus, we also made a trip to their Blue Ash campus which is one of their two regional campuses available for students.

UC Blue Ash (look how beautiful!)

We are all so excited to be able to talk about our visit to UC with any and all students and families who are considering becoming a Bearcat in the future. But for now, we will leave you with 5 facts we enjoyed learning today:

1. UC admits students specifically into their major. It's ok if you aren't sure what you want to do some day and you can even change your major once on campus, but they are going to work really hard to help match students to their intended majors. This is why it is important that you spend time while in high school exploring career pathways that might appeal to you.
2. We were uncertain about the essay because it says it isn't required and we wanted to know more about that. It truly isn't required! They do require the paragraph essay about why you want to study a particular major (because of point number 1 above), but the big overall essay, while they will read it just to learn more about you, the reality is it doesn't have a meaningful role in deciding if you get in or not. (Same goes for rec letters which is why those are also optional!) They use a rubric to score applications and there is not a place to score or give you points your essay or your rec letters. Because they don't require the essay they also don't have to worry about trying to figure out if you really wrote your own essay or if it was written by AI.
3. Your activity section is very important to them. They want kids who will be engaged on campus. We specifically asked if a student should fill all 10 activities and she said no, unless those are all really meaningful experiences. If you volunteered 1 time at a food pantry - that is not something they want to see on your activities list. What did you do that truly mattered to you - those are the activities they want to see and read about in your application! There are so many ways to get involved on the UC campus. From their football stadium which is located in the middle of campus to their nearby rec center and student union to the countless clubs and organizations available for students (we had a little laugh about the fact that they have a hot tub club which meets in the hot tub which is located in the same area as their lazy river) and a lot of great opportunities for students to get real job experiences through co-op programs.
4. What classes you are taking in high school matters a great deal! You want to be sure that you are prepared for college and the work that will be required for admission and for success on campus. The 500 person lecture hall is home to several freshman standard classes such as Chemistry and Anatomy. It is also where the smaller Calculus sections will all come together for their exams. Bigger classrooms like this are more common in freshman year, but as you continue forward in your education and specialize into your particular major, you'll find much smaller classes. In fact, our tour guide shared that she is currently taking a Circuit Analysis Class for her engineering major and there are only 4 students in the class in total. From an admissions perspective, if you are applying to a high demand science related major (think Engineering/ healthcare fields), they would like to see that you have successfully completed Biology, Chemistry and Physics. If you plan on majoring in Business at any Ohio public college, they all must follow a state requirement that you will take Calculus as a part of your Business program. As a result, they want to see that you have successfully completed Pre-Calculus during high school (not stats or something else) and yes, that is even for Marketing majors or other types of Business degrees.
5. Their Blue Ash campus is a beautiful regional campus location with a ton of great supports and resources for their students. The regional campuses do not have their own housing for students, BUT, students can live on the main Uptown campus and take a shuttle bus back and forth to the regional campus. The shuttle takes anywhere from 25-45 minutes depending on traffic, but being able to live with all of the other UC students in the dorms on main campus and travel out to the branch for your classes is a great option for our students who might want to start at a UC branch campus. After successfully completing at least 24 hours at the Blue Ash campus, students can transition over to the Uptown campus.

UC Library

Lecture Hall

Football Field (and lacrosse)

Lazy River and Hot Tub

We were so thankful for the chance to visit UC and meet with the admissions staff - especially because they are super focused right now on trying to read through ALL of the applications that they have received. She guesstimated that each staff member will be reading 50 to 75 applications a day! That is a LOT of reading to do in a day! We hope that if you made a campus visit, you also had a good experience and learned a lot about the college and the opportunities available to you in the future! We can't wait to hear about it.

Ohio Direct Admission

Congratulations! You've been Accepted!

Normally, we tell students, you can't be accepted if you don't apply, but Ohio's new direct admission program which is being piloted this year is turning that phrase upside down because yesterday our seniors received an email from the Ohio Department of Higher Education announcing the colleges that have matched with you and have accepted you without requiring you to even complete an application.

I like the perspective of thinking about this as a way of considering it as the colleges applying to you.

Now, we want to point out a few reminders...

1. Just because you didn't get an offer of direct admission doesn't mean that the college isn't interested in you. We noticed in looking at the list that there are many private and some main campus public colleges that did not participate in offering automatic acceptances to students.
2. These are legitimate acceptances, but if you are interested in considering them for your future, you do still have some additional steps to complete.
3. These acceptances are truly acceptance into the college, but not necessarily into a particular major or program.

So what should seniors do now? Log in! Check out the Ohio Direct Admission portal and review the colleges who have accepted you. Explore the information about the colleges who have offered you admission. For those which appeal to you, click on the option to "Claim Your Spot." You can "claim your spot" for as many colleges as you would like.

Claim your spot is NOT the same as enrollment. According to the FAQ's on the ODHE website here is what they say about claiming your spot: "When students access the portal and review their Ohio Direct Admission offers, they may identify institutions they are interested in enrolling in and then select “claim your spot.” This step does not enroll the student. Instead, it begins the institution’s “claim your spot” process, which allows institutions to collect the additional information needed to verify student details, connect students with financial aid (including award letters), match students with competitive majors or programs, and share next steps. Each institution’s “claim your spot” process may differ, but it is designed to be simple, low-cost or no-cost for students."

Remember, this is a pilot program that has just started this year so the school counselors are learning and exploring right alongside you with regards to the Direct Admission Program. We will be attending a webinar on Friday where we expe

ACT My Answer Key

The December ACT is one of the four ACT testing dates when students have the option of ordering their test questions and answers. This is known as ACT My Answer Key (formerly known as Test Information Release. If you elect to order your Test Information Release report then 3-5 weeks after the testing you will receive a copy of the mulitiple choice questions, your answers, and the correct answer key. If you take the writing section then you will also receive the essay question and scoring rubric.

This year, ACT My Answer Key is only available in the October, December, April and June test dates. So, if you are testing on one of those dates we encourage you to consider taking advantage of this as a strategy you can use to better prepare for an upcoming test.

There is an additional cost of $36 to request this option of receiving your questions and answers.

If you want to learn more about ACT's Test Information Release, please visit their website here.

FYI, the registration deadline for the December ACT is coming up this Friday, November 6th.

Enjoy your day off tomorrow!

November 1st

Congratulations! For so many of the seniors today represents a significant milestone. As you hit "submit" on your college applications, we know there were mixed emotions - relief that the essay revisions were complete, hope for the possibility of being admitted, nervousness about the possibility of being rejected, and excitement that you had accomplished something that is a typical senior task.

We know many of you still have additional applications to work on over the next few months, but for tonight, take a deep breath and be proud of your hard work.

Reminders

Pre-ACT

If you are taking the Pre-ACT tomorrow, you will report directly to the gymnasium when you arrive to school in the morning. You will need to have your student ID with you in order to check in. You will also need a number 2 pencil (no mechanical pencils allowed), a calculator, and I would recommend a watch.

The test will begin promptly by 8:40 and you will most likely finish testing during 5th period.  (If you have lunch during 3rd or 4th period we will be sure you have time to eat and give you pass to go to 5th period.)

We hope this will be a meaningful practice opportunity for you in preparation for future college admissions tests. Get some sleep tonight and good luck on the Pre-ACT tomorrow!

Senior Transcript Requests

Remember, you MUST request your transcript through the transcript request form in addition to inviting your counselor on Common App to submit your school forms. The transcript request form is on the Counselor Website - www.wkhscounselors.com - scroll down to the "Find it Fast" area. You MUST do this BEFORE the noon tomorrow at the absolute latest in order for your counselor to be able to upload your transcript on time.

Trick-or-Canning

And finally, to all of the students out collecting canned goods through the Trick or Canning effort either tonight or on Saturday, thank you for your leadership in our school and community!

Be Brave

I receive and read Daily Discipline newsletters by Brian Kight where he shares information on different topics that emphasize doing the daily actions we all would be better off by implementing in our lives.

One of those messages shared the following information about bravery:

"My six-year-old daughter loves to jump off things. “Dad! Watch this!” she’ll say as she climbs onto something just so she can leap off it.

But sometimes she gets scared. She wants to jump, but she’s afraid to jump. 
Her conflicting feelings create internal misalignment. Interest but hesitation. Excitement but caution. Ready but unwilling.

She gets stuck, unsure which voice to trust.

Her desire says, “JUMP!” Her fear says, “DON’T JUMP!” Her desire is strong enough that she won’t back down. Her fear is strong enough that she won’t leap forward.

So I gave her a strategy for dealing with fear. And now she uses it every time she feels stuck.

I ask her, “What do we do when we’re afraid?” 

And she answers back, “Be brave.” 

We’ve done it so many times that now she takes the lead. She’ll be doing something, start to get afraid, and lock eyes with me. She’ll ask first, “What do we do when we’re afraid?”

“Be brave,” I’ll say.

“That’s what I’m going to do, Dad.”

That’s usually all she needs. Then she takes her fear and she jumps.

She has permission to take risks and try things she wants to do. And permission to feel afraid while doing it. Because fear will always show up when she tries new things.

Her desires push her into her fears. Her fears stand in the way of her desires. One pushes forward. The other pulls back.

I tell my daughter, “It’s ok to be afraid. You don’t have to hide from it or make it go away. You can be afraid and jump anyway. That’s called being brave.” 

Mom and Dad have to do it all the time, too."

 And as I read it, I thought about how accurate this is and how often conversations with students hit on this topic. It’s normal for students to think they are the only ones who find themselves in situations where they are scared and have to respond anyway. But you are not. This is a common experience in life. So know that it is ok for you to be afraid. You can be afraid and find the courage to act at the same time – it is brave and it is possible!

Merit vs. Need Based Aid

Don't you wish money grew on trees and that you would always have all of the money that you needed? I know that is certainly a wish for many people - and it tends to show up big time when you begin thinking about the costs associated with going to college! There is no question that paying for college is expensive and higher education costs add up quickly so trying to find opportunities to get free money is important.

When you are thinking abotu paying for college and financial aid, there are two broad categories – Merit Based aid and Need Based aid.

Merit Based aid is what you think of when you think “Scholarships.” These are usually awarded to students based on academic achievements, leadership, athletics, special talents such as art or music, volunteerism, or other personal qualities that set you apart. These scholarships do not consider financial need. A significant portion of all merit-based aid comes directly from the college/ university. Some schools may require additional scholarship applications, essays, interviews, and many colleges will have earlier deadlines to be considered for their scholarships. It can be helpful to know that a lot of times the smaller, private colleges will have more money available for scholarships in order to help make attending their school competitive with the lower costs of the public colleges. Please also remember that there are scholarship offerings listed on the Counselor Website. It is important to keep an eye out for unique scholarships that might apply to your personal situation. Maybe you would qualify for an Italian heritage scholarship. Perhaps one of your grandparents won a purple heart or maybe you have time to write an essay for one of the other scholarship competitions… no matter what the situation, if you find a scholarship that you meet the criteria for go ahead and apply – you might be pleasantly surprised at the result and if you don’t apply, the answer is definitely a “no.”

Need Based aid is what you will sometimes hear people refer to as “Financial Aid” even though both Merit Based and Need Based aid technically fall under that overarching category. There are a variety of different Need Based aid programs which will require you to fill out the FAFSA in order to be considered for them and some which may ask for a CSS Profile. Grants are considered gift assistance – they give you money and you do not have to pay it back. Loans which can come from a wide variety of sources – the federal government, the college, and private banks is money that you are required to pay back. Work Study programs are on campus job opportunities that the government helps fund that allows you to earn money for college through working on campus. The big difference between Merit Based and Need Based aid is that Need Based aid is that the type and amount of Need Based aid you will receive depends upon the amount of financial need you have.

And, yes, just to add to the confusion – there are absolutely some scholarships that will consider financial need as a criterion. They are still awarding the scholarship based upon some specific aspect of who you are it is just allowing them to narrow down the potential applicant pool. And, there are also some college scholarships that will have the stipulation that you have a FAFSA on file before they can award the money to you.

One last important reminder - NEVER pay to be considered for a scholarship! That is a scam. Don't waste your money!

Hopefully seniors are working on looking for scholarship opportunities and completing the FAFSA. Those are ways to help address both merit and need based aid as potential ways to try to get some money to help make college a little more affordable.

Community Service Seal

In order to graduate from high school, all students must earn at least 2 seals. One of the seal options is the Community Service Seal. 

We know that there are a large number of students who are dedicated to serving others in the school and throughout the community and so we wanted to make sure you know that you can earn the Community Service Seal if you complete and document 40 hours of community service while in high school.

Your service hours do not have to be completed at the same place or over a particular amount of time - if you earn 40 hours in your 9th grade year, you earn the seal. If you didn't complete any service hours until your senior year, but then do 40 hours all in your senior year, you earn the seal. The key is keeping track of your hours using the district's designated community service tracking form. (For future reference, you can also find this form on the Counselor Website.)

Sharing your time, energy, talents and passions with others through volunteer service makes a huge difference in our school and in our community and we believe it also makes a difference in YOUR life too. Earning the seal for graduation is just one more perk to the good that you are doing through your community service outreach.

Career Podcast

It's always fun when we come across a new resource that can be useful to students. Obviously, we spend a lot of time talking with students about different careers. We try to help students have exposure to careers that they might not have previously considered through partnerships with the Delaware Area Career Center, the Pathways and Possibilities Day career professionals who come to school, and the field trips that we take.

But that is only a VERY small snapshot of all of the different careers that are out there. If you are interested in learning more about what people do all day at work in their jobs, then the "What it's like to be..." podcast could be enjoyable for you to check out. The podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, etc and it opens doors to careers you might not have thought much about previously. For example, Lineman, Forensic Accountant, Dog Groomer, Brain Surgeon, Marine Biologist, Hospice Nurse and so many more.

Within the podcast they interview people who love their work and discuss things like what's fun or what's stressful in the job. They also discuss who thrives in the job and share fun stories about the real life ins and outs of the careers.

If you're interested in learning more about careers, this could be a podcast you'll enjoy.

CSS Profile

We wanted to be sure to remind you that you need to look at your desired colleges closely to see what their financial aid requirements include.

At some of the more competitive colleges - particularly those who cover all of demonstrated need for students, in addition to requiring the FAFSA, many of those colleges will also require that students and families will submit the CSS profile. The FAFSA helps colleges determine federal aid, but the CSS profile helps colleges determine institutional aid. The CSS profile typically asks for a lot more detailed information from families than the FAFSA does. And while the FAFSA is free to complete, there are fees associated with the CSS profile.

Usually this is a topic students figure out as they are going through the whole financial aid application process and the CSS profile is just another step in that process, but you don't want to miss if your intended colleges are requiring the CSS profile and to watch your deadlines closely so that you don't miss them along with the FAFSA.

As always, feel free to stop and see your counselor if you have any questions about the CSS profile requirements.

Transcript Request Reminder

Seniors, as you are working on your college applications there are forms you will need to have submitted by the counselors. We need to remind you that you need to submit the forms to us as soon as possible, but at least 1 week ahead of the deadline.

There are 2 pieces you will need to submit if you are applying via Common App.

1. The Common Application Counselor Form. This is in the Recommenders and FERPA section of the application. You will fill out the form and invite your counselor. Be sure to spell your counselor's name and email address accurately.
2. The Transcript Request Form. This is found on the Counselor Website. When you go to www.wkhscounselors.com go down near the bottom to the "Find it Fast" area and select the transcript request option. You will need to fill out the transcript request form for each of the colleges where you are going to apply so that we have the authorization to send your transcript to each of the colleges where you are applying.

If you have questions or need help finding the forms, please come see us and we will help you with it.

We want to emphasize the importance of making sure that you request those forms a week in advance. This is always important to make sure that we get all of the forms processed in a timely manner, but it is even more important this year because November 1st falls on a weekend. So we need to have time so that we can make sure that we have processed everything before your application deadlines

AP Exam Registration

By now, all students enrolled in an AP class should have “joined” the AP course online to be able to access resources from the CollegeBoard throughout the year. You will need your CollegeBoard account information to login and join the AP classes you are taking. (If you have taken the PSAT, SAT, or AP Exams in the past then you already have a CollegeBoard Account.)

If you have a CollegeBoard account, it is important to use that account (and not to create a new one) as your scores from previous CollegeBoard assessments (PSAT, SAT, AP exams) are linked to your account. If you already have established a CollegeBoard account, please visit myap.collegeboard.org and make certain that you can log in. If you have forgotten your password, you may call 1-888-225-5427 or email apstudents@info.collegeboard.org for assistance.

If you have not already established a CollegeBoard student account, please sign up by going to myap.collegeboard.org. Make sure you write down and save your log-in information for future reference. Remember, when you are setting up your CollegeBoard account, you do NOT want to use your school email account as your wscloud account.

If you have questions, about establishing your account or linking it to the AP resources, please contact College Board at 1-888-225-5427 or email apstudents@info.collegeboard.org.

In addition to joining the class through CollegeBoard, students who are planning to take the AP test will need to sign up and pay for the test through the MyPaymentsPlus system. The cost of the test is $100 if students register prior to October 30th. After October 30th there is a $40 late fee up through February 22nd. There are no options for ordering tests after the February 22nd late registration deadline. Please also note that for students who qualify for free/ reduced lunch, you still need to register through the MyPaymentsPlus system, but it will automatically show your fee as $0 instead of $100.

AP Exams will take place at WKHS from May 3-14, 2027.

Please don't miss the chance to register as a way to help earn free college credit!

College Data

When students are searching for a college, digging into data isn't always high on the list of things to do. It is much more fun to explore the campus and meet with a professor and decide that this is "THE" school for you. And yet the data has a valuable story to share as well.

What do I mean?

Think about Retention Data. Information regarding retention rates means how many students who start at the college on the first day of their freshman year come back the following year. This is important to know because it gives you an idea of how happy and successful students are on the campus. Students that get accepted and go only to find that they are completely over their heads at the school might not have built the study and organization skills needed to be successful and so they might not return for the next year. Or students may attend thinking every day would be fun and forget that there is a lot of work involved with college too and so they might elect not to return to school because they didn't enjoy it as much as they had hoped. Sometimes it is because the college is not a good fit for them after all. And so if you notice that a college has a low retention rate it doesn't mean you won't like the school, but it may be a reason to pause and really look in depth to make sure you are going to be happy and successful at the college.

Another critical piece of data is how long it will take you to graduate. Most of the WKHS graduating students anticipate that they will be in college for 4 years. And that would be great. But that doesn't always work out for students in the long run. This can be due to a range of factors including how easy or difficult it is to get the necessary classes for graduation.

The https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ website provides user friendly tools to search for colleges and explore their data.

Cap & Gown Orders

Seniors, don't forget, the deadline to order your cap and gown at the discounted rate is October 31st.

You will go to Buckeye Scholastic's website in order to place your order.

Buckeye Scholastic has a ton of options that students can select of various specialty items such as announcements and frames. We have had many students ask what is REQUIRED to be ordered - that would be the Cap, Gown, Tassel and Stole package. (No keepsake tassel required.) So the total cost for that package is $42.95.

If you have a cap and gown that a sibling wore in the last few years that is the right size for you to wear, that is totally fine! All you need to do is order the package that is the graduation tassel and stole.

It's so wild that it's time to be taking care of all of these official graduation related tasks!

Keep Up...

One of my students told me that in her family they go with the concept of "It's better to keep up than catch up." And ever since hearing that it has stuck with me. It's a catchy phrase and totally true. When we end up in a hole and have to spend time digging out of a hole, it is really challenging to catch up and we feel as if we are perpetually behind. For me, this weekend served as a reset and I hope it did for you too.

As you head into the 2nd quarter, my hope is that you will try to keep up. And, to be totally honest, I hope that I am able to keep up too. But if you find that you are struggling to keep up, I hope this Missing Assignment Recovery Plan article will be helpful to you.

End of First Quarter

Do you feel like this school year is going unbelievably fast? Today marked the end of the first quarter. This is an important point for you to pause and reflect. Remember, quarter grades are not included on your transcript - just semester grades. This means that you have reached the half-way point in earning the grades that will be on your transcript.

Some of the questions you should ask yourself include: Are you where you want to be? If you are not, what do you need to do different to turn things around? If you need ideas for how you can improve your grades, I strongly encourage you to meet individually with your teacher. You should also take advantage of the help available from the academic assistants in the Teaching and Learning Center (which is located in room 205). You are also welcome to stop by and talk to your school counselor and we can try to brainstorm some ideas to help.

If you are happy with your current progress, congratulations! Make sure you think about what you have done that has been helpful to your success and continue to put forward those same actions.

Enjoy your long weekend!

Free Flu Vaccines

I hate getting sick. I don't like missing out on time at school or doing activities that I enjoy. Plus, being ill and not feeling good is certainly no fun! One of the best ways to try to prevent getting sick is to get your annual flu vaccine.

The Columbus Public Health Department will be at Kilbourne providing free flu vaccines to all interested students and staff. This will take place on Friday, October 23rd from 8:30am-12:00pm.

In order to take advantage of this free opportunity, students must have your parent's consent. Students can pick up consent forms in the WKHS Health Office or families can utilize the online registration:Flu Vaccine Clinic Registration

Junior Testing Timeline

Great job today to all of the students who took the PSAT! I suspect many of you walked away from the test thinking, "my brain hurts" or "that was a lot" and we want to assure you that this is a normal reaction. Taking the practice tests helps you to start building up the stamina for when you have to try to focus and take the full ACT/ SAT in the future.

The reality is that students should not anticipate taking the ACT or SAT just one time. Both ACT and SAT have shared reports about how much students improve on their test scores by repeating the tests more than once. For example, CollegeBoard (who runs the SAT), recently shared data with us that the average score for students who participated in the school day testing was 906. For those students who then repeated the test a second time, their average score improved to 1166. So if you go into your college admissions testing experience knowing that you will be taking the tests multiple times it may help to decrease your stress and increase your confidence.

Junior students and parents will hear more about this recommended testing timeline during tomorrow night's Planning for College Information night. (7pm in the auditorium - we look forward to seeing you there!) But we wanted to give you a quick overview of it tonight as well.

1. Hopefully you took the PSAT today which is the practice test for the SAT and it is also the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarships.

2. At the end of this month, take the Pre-ACT. This will be during the school day on Friday, October 30th. It is the practice test for the ACT and it is a great, inexpensive way to practice for the ACT.

3. Use your PSAT results and Pre-ACT results to look at your own individual strengths and weaknesses and develop a testing plan for which test you scored higher on and what areas you need to study/ review to improve your scores for when taking the actual ACT/ SAT.

4. In December, consider strongly taking the ACT or SAT. You don't have to take the test in December, but it's a good chance to take one of the college admissions tests. If you are planning on focusing on the ACT, another great reason of taking the ACT in December is that you can also order your score questions and answers with the test which would allow you to review how you answered and what the right score is which can help better prepare you for the future tests.

4. In March, take the SAT. This will be during the school day on Tuesday, March 2nd and is the FREE test opportunity that all juniors will get to take.

After that, depending on how you have scored you can determine the rest of your testing plan.  There will be more opportunities to test in the spring and summer as well as the early part of the fall during your senior year.

If you have any questions about these testing opportunities or why we are making these recommendations, come to the Junior Night presentation tomorrow night where we will talk about this and so much more!

Good luck on the PSAT

Don't forget - tomorrow is the day when many Kilbourne sophomores and juniors will take the PSAT.  

If you are one of the students who will be taking the PSAT, you will report directly to your testing location at your designated testing time.  (For most juniors, that will be the gym in the morning- 8:30 check in for an 8:40 start.  For most sophomores, that will be the gym in the afternoon - 11:45 check in for a 12:00 start.)  You will need to bring your student id with you in order to check in.  One of my most important reminders is do NOT forget your FULLY CHARGED district issued chromebook!  If you haven't already opened and launched BlueBook to make sure that it is updated and working properly, I strongly encourage you to do that tonight before you get to testing tomorrow. 

As with every standardized test, you will not be allowed to have your cell phone or smart watch on you at any time during testing.  With the test being digital, I would still encourage you to bring a calculator if you like using a traditional calculator better than the digital one online, a writing utensil to use with the scratch paper you will be given, and I would recommend a normal watch if you prefer to track timing on your own. 

You will be able to have water and a snack under your table for easy access during breaks, but you cannot eat or drink at all during the test.  As you know, the temperature in the building varies greatly.  So because we don't know what to expect in the gym, I strongly encourage that you dress in layers so that you can add a sweatshirt or take it off depending on how hot or cold you might be during testing.  As with normal school days, you are not allowed to put up a hood during testing - this is a school rule, but more importantly, it is also a testing rule you must follow. Additionally, you are not allowed to wear hats during the test either.

If you haven't already watched this short (less than 3 minute) video about the digital PSAT, I would strongly recommend that you review it. Knowing ways that you can flag a question, eliminate options, etc will only help you tomorrow when you are testing.

To those of you who will be testing, get a good night's sleep, be sure to eat breakfast and good luck testing tomorrow!

What do you want to be someday?

This past week I had a "question of the day" in my office for students asking about their memories of when they were little and what they had wanted to be someday when they grew up. I heard lots of unique answers - astronaut, professional athlete, teacher, nurse, doctor, actress and more. It's fun to dream about what you'll be some day when you are little. When you hit high school, those dreams can start to feel like pressure. And we definitely don't want that to be the case!

Yes, of course, as you hit high school, it is important to start considering your future goals and dreams. But we would encourage you to think of it more as a hypothesis... something you can test out and compare to the facts and see if it continues to hold true. And, at the same time, to know that it is ok to have an idea for now about what you think you'd like to do, but that as time continues moving forward and you learn more about yourself, the world, and careers available to you, that it is also ok to change your mind and adjust your goals. Just like from when you were little to today and your ideas about what you wanted to be when you grow up.

There are lots of opportunities and experiences that we put in front of you to help you explore options so that you can test out various ideas to find those which fit you best. This week happens to be important dates for several career related items.

1. All freshmen will complete your YouScience career aptitude assessments during your core classes at school on Tuesday. This is a great opportunity to learn more about yourself, your own personal strengths, and how you can potentially leverage your strengths into areas of interest and passion for your future careers.
2. All sophomores who are interested in attending the Delaware Area Career Center field trip have until Thursday to sign up using the link on the handout from DACC and to fill out and return your completed signed permission slip. If you have lost your copy of the permission slip handout, please stop by the counseling center as there are extra copies available on the black shelves on the left of the front lobby in the counseling center.
3. Juniors and Seniors are invited to TWHS at 6pm on Wednesday night for the Pre-Apprenticeship night presentation. This will give you and your parents information about getting involved with the various programs Worthington has partnerships with for current high school students.
4. And, finally, all 10th through 12th graders are invited to take the ASVAB which is the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. While this is a test that the military uses similar to the ACT, it is also a helpful career assessment even for those students who are not interested in a career in the military. Additionally, please know that earning a high enough score on the ASVAB can be a replacement option for one of the honors diploma categories for students who have that as a personal goal. The ASVAB will be offered at WKHS on Friday, October 23rd so students are encouraged to register to take the test this week if you are interested.

So if you are a student thinking, "I have no clue what I want to do some day" know that is totally ok and try to take advantage of some of these opportunities to start exploring ideas and see what jobs are of more or less interest to you and you can gradually start narrowing your search down to areas that appeal to you most.

Net Price Calculator

Yesterday several of the counselors were out of the building for a meeting about Financial Aid. My head is still swimming with information that they shared, but I want to remind students of every grade about the benefits of using 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, I 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 this tool will be useful to you as you investigate schools.

Don't forget, tomorrow from 1-3pm is the Columbus Suburban College Fair at Otterbein University. It's a great opportunity to meet with a lot of college admissions professionals in a short period of time!

Schedule a Campus Visit

We have a long weekend coming up next weekend as all students have Friday October 16th off from school. And then a few weeks later, you also have Tuesday, November 3rd off of school for election day. Why am I pointing that out today? Because those are two GREAT days to consider making visits to colleges for students in every grade!

Both of the days that we are off, the colleges will be in session which means you don't have to worry about missing out on school content AND you get to visit the colleges while students are on campus. This is a win-win opportunity for students and families because making college visits while classes are in session gives you a more accurate feel for campus life, learning experiences, and how you could possibly picture yourself (or not) at that college in the future.

Even if you are thinking that you want to go to colleges that are far away and can't make a trip on such short notice to visit them with these two days off, I'd suggest you spend some time at local area colleges. In central Ohio we are lucky that there are so many schools within a very short drive that you can visit. Why would you visit a college that you're not particularly interested in attending? Because it will help you to gain insight and awareness into what opportunities are available to you on campuses, it will make you a smarter consumer when you go to visit your top choice colleges, and you just might be surprised and you could even fall in love with a school you didn't think would be a fit for you.

If you want to make a college visit on October 16th or on November 3rd, we strongly encourage that students talk to your parents about what your plan would be and then the students should contact the colleges to set up the visit including the admissions office information session and the campus tour.

Juniors Planning for College Night

Next week, on Wednesday, October 14th the WKHS Counseling department will be hosting a Student and Parent College Planning Information Night. Historically, this presentation has received some of the best feedback out of all of the information nights we host. The students and parents who attended this meeting in the past have expressed how much this helped them get started and move forward with the college search process and developed a better understanding of what to expect along the way. The meeting is primarily targeted at juniors, but sophomores and freshmen are welcome to attend if interested. The meeting will take place at 7:00pm in the Auditorium.

We hope you will plan to attend! And yes, we want you to bring your parents to this meeting and no, we don't want you to just send your parents instead... this is YOUR future and you are responsible for deciding what direction you will take. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.

Next Week Senior Events

We have 2 events that primarily target seniors happening next week.

The first is a College Application Completion Workshop on Monday evening, October 12th from 5-6:30 in the WKHS "fishbowl" counseling center conference room. This is a great time for you to come together with your other friends and work on your own college applications with the support of the counselors. Need us to help read through your essay, no problem! Want to ask questions about your activities, we're right there. Not sure how to invite your counselor and request your transcript, we will guide you through it all step by step. If you haven't already completed and submitted your applications, this is a helpful chance to make some real progress on finishing up your application before the deadlines.

The second event will take place on Wednesday evening, October 14th at 6pm at TWHS. This night is the Pre-Apprenticeship Information Session. This is a districtwide presentation and so the meeting rotates between WKHS and TWHS each year and this year it will be held at TWHS. During this evening, each of the Worthington Pre-Apprenticeship partners will spend a little bit of time explaining to students and your parents/ guardians about their companies, what they do, what the opportunities are for participating in a pre-apprenticeship with their organization, and details about what your schedule would look like, if it is paid or not, and opportunities for careers in the future. The partners who will be presenting include: Worthington Enterprises, Worthington Steel, Independent Electrical Contractors, Hamilton Parker and Performance Columbus.

We do ask that you register so that the pre-apprenticeship partners who will be coming to present know how many people to expect and so that we can get you information on where to go when you arrive at TWHS for the presentation. The RSVP link is available on the Counselor Website. Additionally, while the pre-apprenticeship experiences are for seniors, younger students are also invited to attend the presentation to begin the process of learning more.

Parent/ Teacher Conferences

Parents, if you are interested in arranging to meet with one of your son or daughter’s teachers during conferences, the online system opened today for you to register for a meeting slot. Conferences will be scheduled as people sign up for them, so if you want to make sure you have times that work well for you, we strongly encourage you to register right away.

Conferences will be held on Monday, October 12th from 4:00 - 7:30pm and on Wednesday, October 14th from 5:00 - 8:40pm. Each conference will be scheduled in 15 minute time blocks. Conferences allow parents the chance to learn about your student’s classroom performance from the teachers, it allows the opportunity for you to ask questions and they provide an opportunity to build a dialogue with the teachers regarding any thoughts and concerns you might have.

Please follow the steps below to register for a parent/ teacher conference:

- Follow this link to take you to the conference scheduler:  http://ptcfast.com/schools/Worthington_Kilbourne_High_School 

-  Click on the teacher you would like to meet with for a conference.

-  Sign up by entering your child's last name, first name, your name and your e-mail address and then click Submit.

-  The next screen will direct you to check your e-mail inbox for a message with the subject "Select Date/ Team for Teacher Conference Now."

-  Open the e-mail and click on the link to select a conference time.  If you do not receive an e-mail, please check your junk/ spam folder.  Please note, you MUST follow the link in the e-mail in order to complete the sign-up process.

-  The link will take you to a Time Picker.  Available time slots will appear on this page.  If there are no available appointments that suit your schedule, please e-mail the teacher directly to set up an alternate meeting time.

-  After submitting your time slot, you will be prompted to finish, schedule another appointment for the same student or register another student.  Once you have completed your reservations, you will receive an e-mail confirming the date and time of your conferences and a link by which you can make changes to your date or time if you need to do so.

If you have any problems using the online conference registration system, please contact Caitlin Stead at WKHS. She can be reached by e-mail at cstead@wscloud.org or by phone at 614-450-6400.

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.