CRC Connection

All students planning on attending a 2 or 4-year college must make a Final Transcript Request. Fill out the final transcript form linked below to have your final transcript sent to the school you plan to attend. Final transcripts will be sent out in early June. If your plans change, you can fill out the final transcript request form anytime over the summer and we will send your final transcript to your new college.

For important information, including how to contact our CLC rep over the summer, please see the link below.

Seniors and parents often struggle to decipher Financial Aid Award Letters, including the different awards like grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships. If you filed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), your financial aid package might include an offer for a mix of an academic merit-based scholarship(s), need-based grant(s), loan(s) and/or Federal Work-Study. Colleges will add up whatever total money you and your family will be offered and subtract that from the total cost of attendance. That difference will be the college’s offer for your out-of-pocket cost.

TIPS FROM YOUR CRC:

• This article on How to Read Your Financial Aid Letter may be helpful, along with this sample financial aid award.

• Make sure you understand the different kinds of federal loans: subsidized vs. unsubsidized, and Parent PLUS loans. Colleges often offer substantial PLUS loans to "fill the gap" between what your family can afford and their total cost of attendance--be cautious when considering a PLUS loan.

• If you are offered work-study (a campus job), consider taking it!

• Utilize ISAC's Financial Aid Award Comparison tool to determine your out-of-pocket cost at each college.

• If appropriate, consider appealing for more financial assistance.

It is not too late to complete the FAFSA or the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid! To connect with ISAC over the summer, please complete ISAC's Form to receive free assistance with financial aid applications. You can also contact Emily Coveny at 847-309-4510 or emily.coveny@illinois.gov.

• FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) Application

• Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid - this allows undocumented students and transgender students to qualify for Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants to attend eligible in-state colleges and universities, and career education programs.

June 17th

9:00-3:00pm (includes 1 hour lunch break--bring your own lunch or students can leave and return)

Location: D128 District Office, 50 Lakeview Parkway, Suite 101, Vernon Hills, IL 60061

We are excited to offer a college application and essay workshop on June 17th. This workshop will be a great chance to get a head start on your college applications before next fall.

This workshop will cover:

• The application process overview and breakdown of parts of the application

• Reviewing and discussing college application examples

• College essays & brainstorming exercises

• Time to draft your essay

• Optional one-on-one essay review with a college admission counselor

• Utilize SchooLinks (Log in with your VHHS Google account)

• Virtual tours can be found on individual college websites

• Virtual admission events: Check college websites and get on their email lists

• Feel free to use and manipulate THIS TEMPLATE to keep your college research organized

• Get organized! There are many different pieces to every college application, and every college has their own specific requirements. Getting this information organized is essential to your application process. You can use this template to organize application requirements for each of your colleges.

• Feel free to work on college applications when they open for the Class of 2025. We will not send official transcripts to colleges until late August, but many colleges accept self-reported grades and do not require official transcripts.

• Over 900 colleges accept the Common App, making it the most used application by VHHS seniors. You can create a Common App account now and begin completing the “Common App” tab now. Do NOT complete any of the questions under the “My Colleges” tab until after Aug 1, 2024, when the Common App officially opens for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle. More info about this can be found here. I have also put together tutorial videos going over the different parts of the Common App, which you can find at this link.

• The Common App put together an Application Guide for students

• The folks at Collegewise put together this Common App Guide for 2022-2023, but most of it still applies to the current version of the Common App.

• Summer is a great time to start working on your college essay and/or personal statement! The Common App personal statement prompts for the Class of 2025 can be found at this link.
• The College Essay Guy (aka Ethan Sawyer) is an amazing resource for seniors across the country. He offers many FREE resources that can be found on this page.

Mrs. Bellito and Mrs. Carson will be in the CRC this summer for drop-in visits if you have any questions on the College search and application process!

• July 2, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM (Mrs. Carson)
• July 15, 1:00-3:00 PM (Mrs. Bellito)
• August 1, 9:00-11:00 AM (Mrs. Carson)

To view testing registration dates, test score release date estimates and more, please visit the link below.