TIGER TRIBUNE
WPHS GUIDANCE EDITION
FALL EDITION OF THE GUIDANCE NEWSLETTER:
As we enter another school year, please know that your child's school counselor is here to support you and your child. School counselors provide a variety of services to all students such as personal counseling, academic advising, high school program planning, schedule changes, and college and career planning. If you ever need anything, please feel free to reach out; we are here to support you and your children, especially during these difficult times.
Please visit the Guidance Department website linked below for our school counselors contact information.
LOCAL AND VIRTUAL COLLEGE FAIRS:
SUNY College Fairs:
https://www.suny.edu/attend/events/
NACAC Virtual College Fairs:
Westchester Community College:
Open House: www.sunywcc.edu/openhouse
Syracuse University Virtual Events:
https://www.syracuse.edu/admissions/undergraduate/contact/webinars/
Medical Career Expo:
November 4, 2023
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/medical-career-expo-tickets-699888283697
Scarsdale Gap Year Fair:
January 10, 2024
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/scarsdale-high-school-usa-gap-year-fair-2024-registration-741152205197
Engineering Expo:
April 14, 2024
New Schedule Change Policy:
Starting this school year we will be implementing a new schedule change policy. The policy is outlined below:
- Lateral changes (changing periods or teachers but remaining in the same course) are not permitted.
- Students who are in Honors or AP courses, especially if this is their first experience with courses at this level, are encouraged to remain for a minimum of five weeks so that they can get used to the difference in depth and pacing before deciding to leave the course.
- Schedule changes that involve adding a new course or changing from a Regents level to an Honors or AP level course must be done prior to the fifth week of a full year course, or the third week of a one-semester course.
- Schedule changes that involve moving from an AP or Honors to a Regents level course need to be completed within 5 days of the progress reports during 2nd quarter. When entering a new course, the student may be responsible for completing assignments in the new course.
- A student who drops a course outright (does so without changing levels) may do so up until the halfway point in the course without any notation being made on the student’s transcript. Any course dropped after that will appear on the student’s transcript with a “W”.
- Schedule changes of any kind should be made only after a thorough discussion with the student’s current teacher and his/her school counselor.
- Please note that there are times when schedule changes are prohibited. No classes may be changed during the first or final week of any quarter.
COLLEGE VISITS :
Most visits will be in the College and Career Center. Please listen to the morning announcements for the college visits that are coming that day. For virtual visits the students should report to the College and Career Center with their iPad. Headphones will be available.
***Students who have a scheduled class during a college rep visit must receive permission from their teacher prior to the visit. Please get a College Rep Visit Pass from your house Guidance Office signed off by your teacher before coming to the visit. You must then hand that pass into your house attendance office so they can update your attendance.***
Rep visits in the fall are for seniors only. Spring visits are open to juniors and seniors.
SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS:
COLLEGE & CAREER TEXT REMIND
IMPORTANT FINANCIAL AID LINKS:
The TAP, New York State Tuition Assistance Program, application opened 11/1. The website where you can find all of the info is https://www.hesc.ny.gov/pay-for-college/apply-for-financial-aid/nys-tap.htm
There are MAJOR changes being made to the FAFSA! The federal government is not opening the form until sometime in December. For more information on the changes please visit the following website: https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/december-fafsa
Due to the delayed opening of the FAFSA form, we will be hosting a FAFSA Bootcamp in January! More information to follow!
FAFSA (this form is required by all colleges)
https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa
CSS PROFILE (this form is required by many but not all colleges)
https://student.collegeboard.org/css-financial-aid-profile
Colleges Requiring the CSS Profile
Sign up here for Financial Aid Workshops sponsored by NY State
PSAT/NMSQT scores will be emailed to students on November 6th!
Test Dates 2023-2024:
SAT and ACT Testing Accommodations:
Students who are granted testing accommodations on their IEP, 504, or Declassification Documents, about testing accommodations for College Board (SAT) and ACT are not automatically granted. Accommodations on these exams are granted by the organizations that administer the tests. If you are interested in applying for test accommodations through these organizations, we ask that you please research and familiarize yourself with the accommodation application process in its entirety. Both College Board and ACT have informative websites that provide detailed information regarding a variety of topics including: application deadlines/important dates; forms; eligibility criteria; documentation guidelines; taking the exam with accommodations; changing accommodations; appealing an eligibility decision; frequently asked questions; and helpful tips. We also recommend that you contact your child’s guidance counselor to further discuss the College Board/ACT application process after you have had an opportunity to review the College Board and/or ACT website. You are additionally welcome to contact College Board/ ACT directly to ask any questions that you may have regarding the application process.
College Board (PSAT, SAT, SAT Subject Tests and AP Tests):
- Website: https://www.collegeboard.org/students-with-disabilities/request-accommodations
- Once you have reviewed the College Board website, spoken to your child’s counselor, and have made a decision to apply for College Board accommodations, you must complete the College Board Consent Form for Accommodations Request. This form can be found on the College Board website (https://www.collegeboard.org/pdf/ssd/ssd-consent-form-accommodations.pdf) and complete this form https://www.whiteplainspublicschools.org/cms/lib/NY01000029/Centricity/Domain/178/College%20Board%20SSD%20Universal%20App.pdf found on our Guidance website. After you have completed this form, please return it to the school counselor. The school will then begin processing your request for accommodations.
- You can complete the consent form at any time, but at least 12 weeks prior to the exam.
ACT:
- Website: http://www.actstudent.org/regist/disab/
- The process for applying for accommodations for the ACT exam does not begin until you are ready to schedule a date to take the exam. You can apply for ACT accommodations through ACT Extended Time National Testing or ACT Special Testing, depending on which accommodations you are requesting. Again, it is important that you refer to the ACT website to learn about the ACT accommodation process.
- All ACT application materials should be submitted to your counselor at least 10 weeks prior to the exam date. Please submit this form with your materials: https://www.whiteplainspublicschools.org/cms/lib/NY01000029/Centricity/Domain/178/Request%20for%20Testing%20Accommodations%20for%20ACT%20Exams%20-%20Universal%20Form.pdf