HPHS Postsecondary Counseling News

Class of 2025 - You are well into your Senior year of high school and we know this time can feel both exciting and maybe, a little overwhelming! Each of you have many wonderful, exciting experiences ahead of you, and you also need to be exploring the question: what do you want to do next with your one, incredible life? Many of you may have been working on college applications, from personal statement development, to requesting letters of recommendation and working towards those early application deadlines. Many others are finalizing a list and still more may be starting to explore the many options you have for life after high school. No matter what your goals are, the Postsecondary Counseling Team is here to support you through this process with our variety of programs and individual appointment opportunities. Please read through this newsletter as we have put together information about things you need to be thinking about and topics that are likely on your mind at this time of the year. We look forward to connecting with each of you soon and please know, we are here to help.

Your Postsecondary Counseling Team,

Mr. Rob Becker, CRC Coordinator - rbecker@dist113.org

Dr. William Morrison, Postsecondary Counselor - wmorrison@dist113.org

Mrs. Jennifer Pendergast, Postsecondary Counselor - jpendergast@dist113.org

Ms. Holly Siegel, Postsecondary Counselor/School Counselor - hsiegel@dist113.org

This is a reminder that our webinar program ~ Completing College Applications from August 19th was recorded and is available on the website. If you were unable to join us, please make sure to watch the recording and review the presentation slides posted under the Information for Seniors>Programs on our Postsecondary Counseling Website. Included in the slides, is this handout that has lots of information and details you will need if you are applying to colleges this year.

Some of the topics covered in this presentation and handout:

* Types of applications & quantity

* Admission plans

* Components of an application

* College admission testing

* Financial aid

* Appointments with postsecondary counselors

* Upcoming programs

* Application support

Reviewing the information shared will help you as you complete college applications!

Seniors -

If you are interested in pursuing a trade after high school, please join us in a field trip to the Lake County Fairgrounds during the morning of 10/17. This field trip is open to the first 30 students who sign up. Field trip permission slips are available at the Counseling Reception. We have a few more spots available.

Please read the information below to learn more about this exciting opportunity to learn more about careers such as electrician, plumber, roofer, carpenter, painter, and so many more.

Trades Fair Information

CLC has apprenticeship programs that can lead to careers in the following fields:

* HVAC/R

* Industrial Technology (INT)

* Precision Machine Technology

* Automation

* Robotics

* Mechatronics

* Welding & Fabrication Technology (WFT)

Learn more about these programs by reviewing these flyers:

Apprenticeship Awareness Programs

Apprenticeship Programs and Requirements

Individual appointments with your postsecondary counselor (PSC) are available to you. As a reminder, we use Calendly to schedule all appointments and it is an easy tool for students. To sign up for an appointment, simply click on the link for your PSC on the Postsecondary Counseling website. On each of our individual pages, you will find our contact information and the link to schedule an appointment using our Calendly link shared. A reminder that you must make an appointment with your assigned PSC, the one you met with in the spring. If you have not yet had an appointment and are unsure of who your PSC is you can find that information in Maia. Appointments will be held in-person at HPHS in the Counseling office.

College rep visits for seniors began in September and are posted in MaiaLearning but also one week ahead of time in the Giant Liant News. These visits are in person and they are held in the CRC at a designated meeting time. Students should report there at the designated time. Students can see which schools will be coming and when, as well as sign up online for the visit via Maia. To register, go into Maia, click Events > Visits > Actions > View (to see details) then Attend to register. You must register 24 hours in advance in order to attend the visit. Please note: you will need permission from your teacher to miss a class, prior to registering for the college visit.

Check Maia often for an updated list of who will be visiting as colleges will schedule throughout the first quarter. We will also continue to announce visits weekly through Giant Life News and the Postsecondary Counseling Facebook page.

One part of the college application process may be submitting ACT or SAT test scores. It is your responsibilty to know if the colleges you are applying to require a test, are test-blind or test-optional. For each college you apply to, that is test optional, you will need to determine if you would like your test scores to be considered as part of your college application. If you do have a question about a specific college's test-optional policy, please reach out to the admissions office of that college. The HPHS Postsecondary Counselors are also happy to speak with individual students regarding your specific situation and concerns.

Seniors - Yazmin Patino, College and Career Navigator (CCN), will visit HPHS on 10/11/24 from 11am-1pm in the Counseling Resource Center (CRC). She can answer any questions students have about going to CLC after high school. Ms. Patino can also assist students with completing applications to CLC. She will share a flyer of HPHS to CLC programming for this school year; this includes her other visit dates, field trip dates, and placement testing.

If you can't make it on 10/11 but would like to explore the numerous opportunities at CLC, to include direct entry programs, associate degree programs, certificates and apprenticeships - please reach out to our CLC College and Career Navigator - Yazmin Patino ypatino@clcillinois.edu. You can learn more about Yazmin and CLC opportunities by visiting their website. This is a solid, affordable route to achieving your postsecondary goals.

We host a variety of programs for both students and parents throughout the year. Students have been notified of them through emails, HP TV Slides, Homeroom and GLN. Some programs in the coming weeks and other recorded programs available to you:

College Application Workshops (Students) - Come to the CRC on the listed date & time and get application questions answered by the PSC team. Feel free to come and work on apps, and ask ?s as they come up. This is our 4th workshop of the year and we've enjoyed supporting students during each one of them!

October 21st, 8:00am-9:00am

District 113 Financial Aid Webinar - The recording of this program is available on our website and we will move the FAFSA completion night to January 2025, since FAFSA will become available in December for families to begin to complete.

September 14th - 6:30-7:30pm

** There was a Spanish Speaking version of this program, in-person at HPHS and the slides from that presenation are also available (in Spanish) on our website.

For the full Calendar of Programs, please click on the link or check our website.

The best way to get a sense on whether a campus culture feels right to you is to visit the campus. We know that many of you may have already visited campuses, some of you will plan to visit this Fall and others may wait until they know of their admission status and plan a visit for the Spring semester. Many colleges have both in-person and virtual visit options and we encourage you to take advantage of those opportunities. The most accurate and timely information available on visiting a campus will be found on the admissions section of the college's website.

We want to remind you that May 1 is the national candidate reply date. This means that unless you apply under a binding early decision plan, students have until May 1, 2024 to accept one offer of admission, scholarships, and financial aid from a chosen school. Therefore, students will have the majority of senior year to visit campuses before having to make a final decision. Some colleges will host special visit programs in the spring for admitted students. Therefore, in our opinion, it is absolutely okay to apply to a college you have not been able to visit in-person. The exception to this rule is for schools you may be considering applying to via a binding early decision option. If that is the case, then we recommend that you try to visit these campuses officially or unofficially to get a sense of the campus and surrounding area prior to making an early decision commitment.

As we get to halfway through the first semester, we wanted to share some information on sending Quarter Grades to the schools to which you have applied. The only time a school will require Quarter Grades is if you have applied under an Early Decision (ED) or Restricted/Single-Choice Early Action (REA) program. Only some of these admission programs will require grades so if you applied ED or REA check the school’s policy to see if you need to send them. If this is the case, send an email to your Postsecondary Counselor requesting they be sent. The grades will be uploaded within two school days of your request and it your responibliity to confirm your up-to-date grades in Infinite Campus before requesting to ensure everything looks good. As a policy, District 113 does not have official quarter grade reports but there is an "Admissions Grade Report" that can be downloaded in Infinite Campus to represent your grades in progress, which will be used for these purposes.

We will only send official grade reports through Common App to schools that require quarter grades as part of the process. If the grades are not required but you would like to send them to enhance your application you can download a copy of your grade report from Infinite Campus and email it to the admissions office of the respective schools.

We recommend students who are sending quarter grades complete this task by Nov. 1, Mid-October is the midway point of our semester and colleges and universities will begin reviewing applications more intently after the Nov. 1 deadline.

Again, it’s important to note that the vast, vast majority of students will not need to send quarter grades and the few that will need to send will have applied ED or REA. If you have questions, contact your Postsecondary Counselor.