MHS Career Counseling News
2023-2024
Welcome!
Thank you for viewing the MHS Career Counseling Newsletter! Please explore the links below for support with post-secondary planning. If you have any questions or want to meet, Schoology message me or email me at abollander@hcps.us.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Bollander
Senior Awards
Attention Seniors! We are beginning to collect outside scholarship and award information for the 2024 Senior Awards ceremony. Senior Awards allows us to recognize our graduating seniors receiving honors, awards, and scholarships. Additionally, we want to acknowledge seniors who have received their Eagle Scout rank from the Boy Scouts or the Gold Award from the Girl Scouts. To be recognized, you must upload your official documentation and complete the following form to confirm your achievement by Monday, May 13th at 11:59 p.m.
Outside Scholarships & Eagle/Girl Scout Gold Awards 2024
Please contact Mrs. Bollander, your Career Counselor, with any questions. Senior Awards will take place on Monday, May 20th at 6:30 p.m. in the MHS Auditorium.
Save The Date! Summer Virtual College & Career Bootcamp & Mini Expo
Rising 11th and 12th graders will be invited to participate in this year's event being held July 29-August 1! Monday, July 29 through Wednesday, July 31 will feature virtual sessions on the following topics:
Kickoff & College Application Process 101
Finding Your Path After High School
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Trade Schools & Trade Options
College Essay Writing
How To Make a Great First Impression
The week ends with a culminating in person College & Career Mini Expo the morning of August 1 at Hanover High School with dozens of colleges, military recruiters, and business to help students kick start their planning! There is also a great session for parents called Transition to Adulthood to help parents & guardians prepare their students for the reality of turning 18 and being a legal adult
Oliver Hill/Samuel Tucker Pre-Law Institute
The Institute reaches future lawyers at an early age to provide them with exposure and opportunity to explore the legal profession, all at no cost to the participants. For one week, students are introduced to the legal profession by living on a college campus and attending several mock classes (complete with overnight reading assignments) and seminars on career opportunities in the law, test-taking strategies, and the college admissions process. The students meet with law school professors, judges, guest lecturers, and state and local bar association members. At the end of the week, the students participate in a mock trial based on pre-written trial materials used in national trial competitions. The Institute culminates in a graduation banquet where a prominent member of the Bar is the featured speaker.
This year’s Institute will be held from Sunday, July 7, 2024, to Friday, July 12, 2024, at the University of Richmond. Please complete the attached application in its entirety.
If you have any questions, please send an email to hilltuckerinstitute@gmail.com
FAFSA Delayed
The Department of Education announced that completed FAFSA applications would not be sent to colleges until the first half of March. This means that families will not learn of their financial aid award packages from colleges until likely April or later. Some colleges have chosen to move their May 1 deposit deadline to June 1. Please pay close attention to communications from the colleges applied to. If you have questions or need support, contact the financial aid office at the college or reach out to Mrs. Bollander or Mrs. Hassett (GRASP).
Scholarships 101 - How to Prepare, Search, & Organize
Career Counselors maintain a list of scholarships to which Seniors can apply on the HCPS Career Center linked here. There are many scholarships for students who want to pursue a 2-year degree or certificate at Reynolds, a trade or apprenticeship (YES! There are scholarships for trade and apprenticeship programs!), or attend a 4-year college. Here is an easy guide to navigate searching and applying.
PREPARE
Many scholarships will request the following 3 items. Get them ready now so that when you find scholarships, you have everything ready to go and can apply easily.
- Create a resume – Use Google templates to make it easy and so you don't have to create one from scratch!(Go to Google Drive, new Google Doc, hover over the arrow next to Google Doc and select “From a template” and choose a template to create your personal resume. Here are some samples from the College Essay Guy: Sample 1, Sample 2, Sample 3, Sample 4 Plus, you’ll always need a resume so make a good one you can edit and adjust in the future.
- Personal Statement – It’s not uncommon for a scholarship to ask for an essay or a personal statement. Write an essay between 250-500 about yourself! If you’re struggling with how to write this, think about it in thirds: Where do you come from? Where are you now? Where do you aspire to be? Be sure to focus on your why and what motivates you! Then you can adjust this if needed for a specific scholarship. The College Essay Guy also has some great tips: https://www.collegeessayguy.com/blog/personal-statement
- Transcript – Order an up-to-date transcript in Parchment
SEARCH & APPLY
It can feel overwhelming searching for scholarships. Here are the best places to check.
- Institution – Some, not all, institutions may have scholarships you must apply to separately from your admissions application. Two great examples are ECU and Reynolds. The best way to find out if an institution you are considering has any, is to simply Google search the institution name plus scholarships. Or you can try to navigate to the institutions’ scholarships and financial aid page. Know that some institutions might only have scholarships for upperclassmen (not you) because they award scholarships to freshmen automatically when they submit an application for admission (ex: Randolph-Macon).
- Family – Check with your parents or guardians to see if their employer or any organizations they belong to provide scholarships.
- HCPS Scholarship Opportunities – Career counselors add scholarships to this list each week. Set a calendar reminder to check it weekly December – March. Be sure to read the requirements and be aware of the deadlines. https://sites.google.com/hcps.us/collegeandcareercenter/scholarships-financial-aid
ORGANIZE
Create a spreadsheet or Google Sheet to keep track of what scholarships you have applied for and to track scholarships you've been awarded, AND share it with your parents to let them know your scholarship status. This will be incredibly helpful in April and May when you are making final decisions about affordability for your plans after graduation.
GRASP- Mrs. Hassett
Every Thursday starting October 5, our MHS GRASP Representative, Mrs. Hassett, is available in the counseling office to meet with students and families who schedule an appointment.
Questions? Email Mrs. Hassett at mechanicsville@grasp4va.org
Click here for FREE Financial Aid Sessions offered by GRASP.
2023 Virtual College Bootcamp Sessions and College & Career Resources- Check it out!
College and Career Resources:
Career Counselor- Mrs. Alison Bollander
Email: abollander@hcps.us
Website: https://mhs.hcps.us/
Location: 7082 Lee-Davis Road, Mechanicsville, VA, USA
Phone: (804) 723-2200
Twitter: @HCPSCareers