Juniors: The College Office staff has started coming around to advisories to introduce ourselves and the college search and selection process. We have been handing out a JUNIOR YEAR - TO DO LIST - with a check off list of things to be thinking about every month. If you would like an additional copy: CLICK HERE
The Weekly Bulletins are back!
For a copy of the SENIOR bulletin for the week of January 16th: CLICK HERE
In order to save paper - we are not going to post a full scholarship list each week. We will only include New Scholarship opportunities on the paper version of the bulletin. For the current list of upcoming scholarships you can: CLICK HERE
For the JUNIOR bulletin from the week of January 16th: CLICK HERE
The College Office receives information almost daily, for summer opportunities. We will put new opportunities on the bulletin each week and keep an ongoing list here. For a copy of SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES: CLICK HERE
Juniors/Junior Families: What to expect in the coming months...
(the following is also being mailed home the week of January 22nd)...
This is your official WELCOME to the college search and application process! The College Office staff is excited to begin our work with the Class of 2009! In the last two weeks, We have started to visit junior advisory classes to introduce ourselves and mark the official start of the college process. We will be continuing these introductory visits until February 13th. These initial meetings are an overview of what is to come – with an emphasis on the fact that any student who wants to go to college can – regardless of their grades, test scores, differences of ability, financial constraints, citizenship status, etc. Every student has college options!
During the parent/advisor conferences earlier this semester, you should have received a letter outlining a general overview of the college search and selection process. For a copy of that letter you can CLICK HERE. At that time, we also handed out a parent questionnaire. This gives you the opportunity to give us some insight about your students that you would like us to consider when helping them find appropriate college fits. This is an optional form. If you have not filled it out and would like to, you can access another copy by CLICKING HERE.
During the first week of second semester, we will be taking students out of their history classes for one day to get them registered with a web-based computer software system called Naviance, which will allow the students and the College Office to communicate with each other throughout the process. It also has wonderful search features and connects directly to individual college websites.
On February 6th, current seniors will be going into junior advisories to hand out the Junior Packet. At this time, juniors will be able to talk to seniors about how they managed to get through this process. The “junior packet” is a questionnaire that we ask all students to fill out about their experience in high school, and their thoughts about college. It is a detailed packet that we will use to get to know them better so we will be prepared to meet with them in their individual meetings. Individual meetings will be scheduled once the packet is completed. Each student will be given a preference sheet to indicate when they would like to come for their meeting. This will ask if parent(s)/guardian plan to attend and requires your signature. Throughout this process, several forms will require your signature. This is the best way for us to insure that you are in the loop.
Also in February, we will be distributing a Beacon College Planning Guide to every Beacon junior (and every junior advisor). This will be a comprehensive 50+ page guide to many different aspects of the college search and selection process. It will cover many topics such as (but not limited to) – how to search for schools, campus visits, interviews, writing essays, asking for letters of recommendation, issues for students with special needs, athletics, testing, financial aid/scholarship, etc. The College Office staff and advisors will discuss many of these topics at length in advisory. Parents will be able to view or download their own copy from our website in late February.
On Tuesday, March 24th the College Office will be hosting Junior Family College Night for students and parents. We have a guest speaker coming to address many different important aspects of the College Process. In May, we will have a financial aid expert come speak to families about the financial aid process. You are encouraged to attend all events.
During senior year, there will be another College Night, and another round of individual meetings. We will offer group and individual workshops on essay writing and mock interviews. Beginning in September over 75 college representatives will visit Beacon to talk with students interested in attending their institutions. Students are not required to take part in these activities, but are encouraged to take advantage of the many resources that will be provide by the College Office throughout the next year and a half.
The College Office staff is very happy to help you with questions that you may have along the way. We look forward to working closely with you all as we move forward with this often daunting, but also exciting process of college selection.
Happy 2008!
The College Office Staff