BLANCO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
BLANCO HIGH SCHOOL 814 ELEVENTH STREET, BLANCO, TEXAS 78606 – (830)833-4337 FAX: (830)833-5028 Counselor—Linsey Balmos
Go-to-College” Calendar Checklist
Student Name: ________________
Freshman Year Work hard to have good grades, start a resume on a computer using a word document program so that you can edit and save. You are using a computer so that you can update your activities and write them all down. On your resume include all events & activities & sports. Explore careers you find interesting. Evaluate your personality, interests, and skills, take challenging courses, participate in extracurricular activities, like at church, the local library, local festival, church activities, helping the poor, etc., join clubs and get involved with your community. Meet with counselor to talk about and select an endorsement.
Sophomore Year Work hard to have good grades, update resume. The PSAT test will be scheduled by the high school counselor and taken at the high school. Your high school counselor th will go over the PSAT results with you. All 10 grade students will be scheduled to take this test Take challenging courses, continue to participate in extracurricular activities and write them all down in your resume. Meet with counselor to go over your personal graduation plan/endorsements.
Junior Year Work hard to have good grades, update your resume. In the spring or summer you are now ready to take the ACT or SAT. To help with preparation for this college entrance exam you can prepare for free on line. Ask your high school counselor for this free website. Register to take the ACT or SAT online. If you qualify for a fee waiver please see your high school counselor. Take the ACT or SAT at least once in the spring or summer. Please practice the ACT and SAT for free online. Ask your counselor for this free website. Have a family college discussion. Prepare a list of questions to ask college representatives and/or ask your high school counselor for a list. Attend College & Career Fairs. Attend Financial Aid sessions. There will also be a Financial Aid session at Blanco High School. See your counselor for details. Search the internet for scholarships from the university you are thinking of attending. Look at the deadlines and write them down. Your high school counselor has knowledge of scholarships. Review the monthly scholarship newsletter. Ask colleges/universities for their University Bulletin or Course Descriptions and Course Programs. Find out when Freshman Orientation is at the college you are thinking about attending. Attend the college tour, and make an appointment with the college of your choice to visit with the Admissions Office and the Financial Aid Office. Plan a College campus visit. Identify characteristics you want in a college. Attend college fairs and financial aid nights if you haven’t done so. If you are interested in the Military, or Military Academy, sign up to take the ASVAB with your high school counselor. If you are interested in a ROTC scholarship, see your high school counselor. Ask your High School Counselor for the name and contact information of your Military Recruiter assigned to your high school. If you want to play a sport in college you need to register and pay a registration fee to the NCAA. If you qualify for a fee waiver for the NCAA, notify the high school counselor. Get and stay organized. Create files to keep copies of college applications and correspondence emails, letters, and phone logs of who you spoke with at the College, University, Military, Technical, or Vocational Institute. Know that there is a college application fee for each college application you send. If you qualify for a fee waiver for a college application, see your high school counselor. Set up a calendar to track important dates and deadlines. Plan and make College Visits. You are allowed 2 Excused College Day visits at Blanco High School as a junior.
Talk with college friends and family and listen to what they have to say about their college experience and their career. In the spring of your junior year, begin to narrow your college list to a reasonable number. Discuss ways to pay with each college on your list. Keep up family college discussions and career choice discussions. Estimate how much each college will cost. Compare college requirements with your course load and with your official high school transcript. Consider combining vacation plans with college visits. Talk with people in careers you find interesting. Decide who you will ask to write recommendations for your senior year. Schedule an appointment to visit with the high school counselor.
Senior Year Good grades, final resume completed. Register to take the ACT or SAT if you haven’t already. In the FALL apply to a University/College/Technical School/Military. Pay close attention to deadlines for college applications and deadlines to scholarships. Discuss your senior class schedule, college plans, and test scores with your high school counselor. Request college applications; arrange college visits. You are allowed 2 Excused College Visit Days your senior year. Search for scholarships and ways to pay for your college, read carefully the Blanco High School Senior Newsletters each month for college and career updates and scholarship listings with descriptions, eligibility requirements, and scholarship deadlines. Your high school counselor will provide this information for you through email or hardcopy. Stay organized: file copies of applications and correspondence of letters and emails and phone logs of who you spoke with and when. Verify that your high school transcript is correct. Look carefully over your high school transcript and make sure it is correct. Let your high school counselor know if it is not correct. Find out which financial aid applications are required at your choice of colleges. Ask for letters of recommendation to include with your admissions and/or scholarship applications. Please give the person who is recommending you plenty of time to write the recommendation and be sure to thank them with a homemade or store bought card saying thank you for taking your time. Work on your college application. Proof read your college application and essays. They need to be perfect. No grammar or spelling errors! Attend college and career fairs and financial aid nights. st Early Decision and Priority admittance for most colleges and universities come early, usually November 1 or st December 1 . Follow the deadlines and make sure your college application and official high school transcript is sent before the deadline. Meet with a College Representative and Financial Aid Representative and discuss your options. Search for additional sources of financial aid. Begin to collect family tax information in December. Complete and then make a copy of your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Don’t submit the FAFSA before January 1; it will only be returned to you and not processed. Stay organized. The sooner you apply for federal money, the more money is available to you. Watch your email and letters as they come in. Look for your Student Aid Report (SAR). Carefully examine the results. A mistake could cause you to miss out on college funding. Don’t panic if you are selected for verification or if your college application is pending, just provide the college with the documents they need as soon as possible. Respond quickly to college requests for additional documentation. College acceptance and financial award letters start coming in February and March. Carefully analyze your letters and make decisions about where you want to go. Most colleges request your decision by May 1. Notify other colleges that you won’t be attending. Mark your calendar with important deadlines: housing, meals, transportation, financial aid, etc. Send your FINAL official high school transcript to the college of your choice. Return necessary forms and answer all requests from the colleges. Finalize your budget. Send Thank You cards (homemade or bought) to all persons who helped you get to college.
“RELENTLESS IN OUR PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE”
Go-to-College” Calendar Checklist
Student Name: ________________
Freshman Year Work hard to have good grades, start a resume on a computer using a word document program so that you can edit and save. You are using a computer so that you can update your activities and write them all down. On your resume include all events & activities & sports. Explore careers you find interesting. Evaluate your personality, interests, and skills, take challenging courses, participate in extracurricular activities, like at church, the local library, local festival, church activities, helping the poor, etc., join clubs and get involved with your community. Meet with counselor to talk about and select an endorsement.
Sophomore Year Work hard to have good grades, update resume. The PSAT test will be scheduled by the high school counselor and taken at the high school. Your high school counselor th will go over the PSAT results with you. All 10 grade students will be scheduled to take this test Take challenging courses, continue to participate in extracurricular activities and write them all down in your resume. Meet with counselor to go over your personal graduation plan/endorsements.
Junior Year Work hard to have good grades, update your resume. In the spring or summer you are now ready to take the ACT or SAT. To help with preparation for this college entrance exam you can prepare for free on line. Ask your high school counselor for this free website. Register to take the ACT or SAT online. If you qualify for a fee waiver please see your high school counselor. Take the ACT or SAT at least once in the spring or summer. Please practice the ACT and SAT for free online. Ask your counselor for this free website. Have a family college discussion. Prepare a list of questions to ask college representatives and/or ask your high school counselor for a list. Attend College & Career Fairs. Attend Financial Aid sessions. There will also be a Financial Aid session at Blanco High School. See your counselor for details. Search the internet for scholarships from the university you are thinking of attending. Look at the deadlines and write them down. Your high school counselor has knowledge of scholarships. Review the monthly scholarship newsletter. Ask colleges/universities for their University Bulletin or Course Descriptions and Course Programs. Find out when Freshman Orientation is at the college you are thinking about attending. Attend the college tour, and make an appointment with the college of your choice to visit with the Admissions Office and the Financial Aid Office. Plan a College campus visit. Identify characteristics you want in a college. Attend college fairs and financial aid nights if you haven’t done so. If you are interested in the Military, or Military Academy, sign up to take the ASVAB with your high school counselor. If you are interested in a ROTC scholarship, see your high school counselor. Ask your High School Counselor for the name and contact information of your Military Recruiter assigned to your high school. If you want to play a sport in college you need to register and pay a registration fee to the NCAA. If you qualify for a fee waiver for the NCAA, notify the high school counselor. Get and stay organized. Create files to keep copies of college applications and correspondence emails, letters, and phone logs of who you spoke with at the College, University, Military, Technical, or Vocational Institute. Know that there is a college application fee for each college application you send. If you qualify for a fee waiver for a college application, see your high school counselor. Set up a calendar to track important dates and deadlines. Plan and make College Visits. You are allowed 2 Excused College Day visits at Blanco High School as a junior.
Talk with college friends and family and listen to what they have to say about their college experience and their career. In the spring of your junior year, begin to narrow your college list to a reasonable number. Discuss ways to pay with each college on your list. Keep up family college discussions and career choice discussions. Estimate how much each college will cost. Compare college requirements with your course load and with your official high school transcript. Consider combining vacation plans with college visits. Talk with people in careers you find interesting. Decide who you will ask to write recommendations for your senior year. Schedule an appointment to visit with the high school counselor.
Senior Year Good grades, final resume completed. Register to take the ACT or SAT if you haven’t already. In the FALL apply to a University/College/Technical School/Military. Pay close attention to deadlines for college applications and deadlines to scholarships. Discuss your senior class schedule, college plans, and test scores with your high school counselor. Request college applications; arrange college visits. You are allowed 2 Excused College Visit Days your senior year. Search for scholarships and ways to pay for your college, read carefully the Blanco High School Senior Newsletters each month for college and career updates and scholarship listings with descriptions, eligibility requirements, and scholarship deadlines. Your high school counselor will provide this information for you through email or hardcopy. Stay organized: file copies of applications and correspondence of letters and emails and phone logs of who you spoke with and when. Verify that your high school transcript is correct. Look carefully over your high school transcript and make sure it is correct. Let your high school counselor know if it is not correct. Find out which financial aid applications are required at your choice of colleges. Ask for letters of recommendation to include with your admissions and/or scholarship applications. Please give the person who is recommending you plenty of time to write the recommendation and be sure to thank them with a homemade or store bought card saying thank you for taking your time. Work on your college application. Proof read your college application and essays. They need to be perfect. No grammar or spelling errors! Attend college and career fairs and financial aid nights. st Early Decision and Priority admittance for most colleges and universities come early, usually November 1 or st December 1 . Follow the deadlines and make sure your college application and official high school transcript is sent before the deadline. Meet with a College Representative and Financial Aid Representative and discuss your options. Search for additional sources of financial aid. Begin to collect family tax information in December. Complete and then make a copy of your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Don’t submit the FAFSA before January 1; it will only be returned to you and not processed. Stay organized. The sooner you apply for federal money, the more money is available to you. Watch your email and letters as they come in. Look for your Student Aid Report (SAR). Carefully examine the results. A mistake could cause you to miss out on college funding. Don’t panic if you are selected for verification or if your college application is pending, just provide the college with the documents they need as soon as possible. Respond quickly to college requests for additional documentation. College acceptance and financial award letters start coming in February and March. Carefully analyze your letters and make decisions about where you want to go. Most colleges request your decision by May 1. Notify other colleges that you won’t be attending. Mark your calendar with important deadlines: housing, meals, transportation, financial aid, etc. Send your FINAL official high school transcript to the college of your choice. Return necessary forms and answer all requests from the colleges. Finalize your budget. Send Thank You cards (homemade or bought) to all persons who helped you get to college.
“RELENTLESS IN OUR PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE”
