College Counseling

09/03/2019

1. The Jesuit Excellence Tour College Fair will take place before school on Monday, September 9 from 8:00 to 9:00. This is a great opportunity for you and your parents to ask questions in a smaller setting. Please plan to attend if you are interested in any of these schools: John Carroll University, Loyola Chicago, Marquette University, Regis University, Louis University, or Xavier University. A schedule of other Indianapolis area college fairs can be found at https://counseling.bishopchatard.org/2019-2020-college-fair-calendar/. You can Google many tips on how to navigate a college fair; this list is simple and provides the most important questions: https://www.colorado.edu/admissions/2018/10/12/top-questions-college-fair.
2. Colleges will be visiting Bishop Chatard this fall. To register: Log in to Naviance Student. (Use your student number without @organd your regular BCHS password.) Click on “Colleges” in the top right. Scroll down to “College Visits.” Click on “Show More.” Next to the collegename for the meeting you want to attend, click on “Register Now” over to the right. You will not receive a pass for the meeting. Attendance will be taken when the bell rings. Meeting locations and room numbers will also be found on the Student Activities calendar on the BCHS website. Our policy for college rep meetings is: You must sign up for a visit in advance to attend the session. Each student is allowed to participate in up to eight meetings. You are responsible to make up any work missed. You are not to miss a test, mandatory presentation, important quiz, etc., for a college meeting. If you are not sure what will take place in class on the day of the visit, be proactive and check with the teacher the day before or the morning of the meeting to see if it is acceptable for you to miss class. You will go directly to the meeting room rather than reporting to class first. Attendance will be taken. You must be in the designated room or area of the meeting prior to the ringing of the bell or you will be marked tardy for that period’s class. College meetings that take place during Seminar take up the entire period. You will not be released from the meeting room for any reason. College meetings that take place during a class period will typically end well in advance of the end of the period; you will be given a pass to return to class promptly. The Guidance Office reserves the right to remove you from the college meeting if your academic profile does not match the admission standards of the school or if your actions do not meet the desired expectations for our students.
3. This is a great time to look for colleges to add to your list. Check out Naviance Super Match (log in with your student number and your regular password, click on Colleges, click on Find your Fit, click on SuperMatch) and College Board Big Future.
4. Juniors should complete three Naviance assessments: Strengths Explorer, Career Interest Profiler, and Career Cluster Finder. Watch this video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1omNN3vJz26To56hID0tP77KSn-Jwnctf/view, then log in to Naviance Student at https://student.naviance.com/bishopchatard. Enter your BCHS student number (do not include @bishopchatard.org) and your regular school password. You should have completed one or two of the assessments last August during homeroom; please be sure all 3 are complete now. Counselors will be calling small groups of students in during Seminar in the next several months to work with these results.
5. This is the time to prepare for and register for taking a winter or spring SATand ACT. Remember that free online test prep tools are available through Khan Academy for SAT and ACT Academy. When you apply to college next year, it will be important that you send your scores directly from the testing service through your CollegeBoard and ACT accounts, so take advantage of the free score sends when you register instead of waiting to see your scores and paying additional money for each school to receive your scores. You must send your test scores to each college or university directly from the testing service for your college applications to be complete as a senior. If you qualify for free or reduced lunch, you also qualify for test fee and score send waivers. See Mrs. Nixon to access your code.
6. The top five things you should do now to set yourself up for admission success next year are: A) Be sure to work hard to do the little things in class to raise your grade in each class. Junior grades are so important to colleges! B) Prepare for the tests on Khan Academy for SAT and ACT Academy. C) Visit college campuses and register for official tours through the admission offices. D) Explore your areas of career interest. Ask family and friends if you can job shadow them. Volunteer at places that are related to your potential careers. Demonstrated interest in career fields can also be important to colleges when they are reviewing students for competitive majors. E) Remember that your choices follow you to college. We have to notify them if you have been suspended from Bishop Chatard. They will also learn additional things about you through your essay, resume, letters of recommendation, and in some cases, your social media accounts. Think about your future when you are making academic and social decisions.
7. Check out these tips for coping with school-related stress: https://www.verywellmind.com/top-school-stress-relievers-for-students-3145179.
8. Don’t forget to check out the School Counseling Canvas page for additional information and helpful links.
9. Thank you to our sponsors at Marian University for supporting Bishop Chatard students.