College Advising Update

Students in grades 9-11 should receive access to their PSAT scores on Tuesday, November 7. College Board has a wealth of information about scores online and you are welcome to call or email Sarah Kramer with any follow-up questions. 

Bluebook, which our students downloaded to take the exam, will also be a great resource for your family. It includes full-length practice exams, preparation timelines, and other ideas to help students get ready for the SAT.

The 25 seniors in the Class of 2024 are making excellent progress on their college applications: 96% have applied to one or more colleges, 52% have one or more college acceptances, and 24% have already decided where they will attend next fall. Congratulations to our future Charger alumni on a successful fall semester. 

Parents, if you are applying for financial assistance, the CSS Profile – required by many private colleges and universities – is already open for submissions. The FAFSA is slated to open in December. Each college where your child applies will outline its financial aid process on its website. You will also be able to find a Net Price Calculator, which will outline the anticipated cost of attendance for your family. 

Though fall is a senior-intensive time in our college advising office, work with juniors begins in earnest this December. During the week of December 4-8, seniors will have a brief college meeting and an advisory training in Cialfo (the software we use in the college advising office). Last week, they were invited to complete a survey about themselves (and their ideal college environment). We will also be asking parents to complete a survey about their children. Completion of both surveys will help make our junior family conferences (January 2024) even more productive.

Parents, you are invited to Junior Parent Night on Thursday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m. We will provide an overview of the college search, application and decision process.

Sophomores take their college trip March 5-8 (more details to follow). The intent of the trip is two-fold; first, we model for our students how to tour a school (e.g. questions to ask, things to observe, etc.); second, we show them different types of institutions (e.g. public, private, large, small, etc.). We look forward to working with your children and preparing them for college tours your families may take in the coming years. 

Our freshmen, sophomores and juniors will have the opportunity to attend a college fair on campus March 26 as part of the DARN West Texas swing. Dallas/Fort Worth Admissions Regional Network (DARN) is a community of regionally-based admissions professionals living in Dallas/Fort Worth representing non-profit academic institutions across the United States.