1. The Jesuit Excellence Tour College Fair will take place before school on Monday, September 9 from 8:00 to 9:00 AM. 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 @org and your regular BCHS password.) Click on “Colleges” in the top right. Scroll down to “College Visits.” Click on “Show More.” Next to the college name for the meeting you want to attend, click on “Register Now” over to the right. You will not receive a pass for the meeting; please come to room 213 during the passing period.
3. Please remember to avoid the two most common mistakes: forgetting to send your test scores and forgetting to send your transcripts. Transcripts: You have to list Mrs. Nixon as your counselor in order for all of the proper paperwork to be submitted. Do not list anyone as your Advisor. Remember, if a school does not accept the Common Application, you will need to apply through the college’s website and request your transcript through Parchment. You must request a transcript to be sent to each college or university through Common Application or Parchment. Test scores:  It is important that you send your scores directly from the testing service through your CollegeBoard and ACT accounts. Take advantage of the free score sends when you register. You must send your test scores to each college or university directly from the testing service. It takes 2-3 weeks for your scores to arrive to the schools, so you cannot wait until a few days before the deadline to order them.
4. Scholarships and Financial Aid:You can begin filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on October 1 at fafsa.ed.gov. You will be reviewed for financial aid based on your 2018 tax information. Many schools have moved their priority deadlines to December 1 or December 15, so please complete the FAFSA as early as possible. If your income has changed drastically from 2018 to 2019, or if you have special circumstances, please contact each college or university for assistance. We recommend fastweb.com, RaiseMe, and CollegeBoard Opportunity Scholarships for outside scholarship searches.
5. When you apply to a college or university, they will send you login information to access an online portal. Please look for these emails and log in to view your application status, see next steps, and learn about potential scholarship application or interview processes. In related news, it is very important for you to check your email from schools to which you have applied. To make things easier, unsubscribe from emails from schools you are no longer considering.
6. There is still time to complete your College Autobiography. This helps teachers write letters of recommendation for your college applications. After you complete it, you should ask them in person whether they are willing to write a recommendation for you. Then, send them the copies of your College Autobiography responses.
7. Still looking for more 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.
8. To visit a campus, register on the college or university website, preferably at least 3 weeks in advance. Please have a parent or guardian call the BCHS attendance line on the day of your visit and bring a copy of your itinerary or a school excuse form to Mrs. Kaminski when you return. For out-of-town trips or absences of more than one day, please also complete a Pre-Arranged Absence Form – pdf and return it to Mr. Reilly.
9. The Common Application indicates that some schools require Midyear Reports from BCHS. These cannot be completed until first semester grades are stored, so they will be submitted between January 10 and January 20. On January 8, please request any non-Common App transcripts to be sent through Parchment. This is important if you have been deferred or a school has requested additional academic information from you.
10. Check out these tips for coping with school-related stress: https://www.verywellmind.com/top-school-stress-relievers-for-students-3145179
11. Don’t forget to check out the School Counseling Canvas page for additional information and helpful links.

Thank you to our sponsors at Marian University for supporting Bishop Chatard students.

We are excited to host college reps at Bishop Chatard for the next few months. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors are eligible to attend the meetings. 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 School Counseling 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.View the College Reps Schedule

To Signup:

• Log in to Naviance Student. (Use your student number without @bishopchatard.org and your regular BCHS password.)
• Scroll down to “College Visits”
• Click on “Show More.”
• Next to the college name for the meeting you want to attend, click on ‘Register Now’ (over at the right).
• You will not receive a pass for the meeting. Attendance will be taken when the bell rings. Meeting locations and room numbers can also be found on the Student Activities calendar on the BCHS website.
• View the college rep meeting schedule.

Why do we have college meetings?

• Many colleges track students’ demonstrated interest. (If a student shows up at the high school meeting, it goes into the application record and can help chances of admission or scholarship. It is a reality of the admissions process these days.)
• This is a great chance for you to find out whether schools are a good fit for your academic statistics (GPA and test scores) and desired majors.
• These meetings help to make you aware of deadlines, special scholarships, and important information regarding your applications to your top choice schools.
• You will be able to expand your horizons to hear about some schools that you may not have previously considered.

The Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship provides 200 high-achieving high school and college students interested in pursuing a career in education the opportunity to earn a renewable scholarship of up to $7,500 each year for four academic years. In exchange, students agree to teach for five years at an eligible Indiana school or repay the corresponding, prorated amount of the scholarship. Deadline: November 30, 2019

https://www.in.gov/che/4680.htm (more…)

Direct Employers Institute’s offers three types of programs to introduce students in high school to STEM careers.

STEM YES!
This summer program provides students who are low-income, from underrepresented groups, and have disabilities, the opportunity to gain hands-on project-based experiences and workplace learning opportunities with local employers to prepare them to enter high wage careers in STEM and explore business practices with local employers.

During each session, students develop competencies in teamwork, business planning, presentation skills, social etiquette, soft skills and career, and college preparation, while exploring and learning about the various fields that STEM has to offer. Job shadowing (at sites such as Eli Lilly, Salesforce, Duke Realty, Dow AgroSciencews, IUPUI Forensic Science and more), research, projects, information technology, and more opportunities are included!

Job Shadows and Internships

An important part of the organization’s mission is to arrange for local employers to provide one-day to one-week job shadowing opportunities, predominantly for students in grades 8-10, and one to two semester-long internship experiences for students in grades 11 and 12.

Workplace Simulation Program

The Workplace Simulation Program is a project in which we bring central and southern Indiana employers and schools together to show underrepresented and underexposed students what a career in STEM looks like. This program allows the students to apply their classroom learning to a real STEM problem during school hours and under the guidance and mentorship of STEM professionals

What is Direct Employers Institute?

DirectEmployers Institute is a nonprofit organization that enables middle and high school students to explore STEM careers with Central Indiana employers. With a focus on serving Central Indiana students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged due to underrepresentation or disabilities, the foundation’s mission is to inspire and prepare the next generation to meet the needs of a more diverse global workforce.

Read more about programs at the institute at  directemployersfoundation.org .