Summer before Senior Year

how to get prepared for the college application process

1. Take the ACT & SAT
Take the SAT and ACT at least once. Write your scores
below to keep track of them
o ACT score:
o SAT score:
Check the conversion table below to see which exam
you did better on
Take whichever exam you did better on, again. You want
to be done taking the ACT/SAT by Nov 1 (as this is the
early application deadline for many schools) so I would
recommend the Sept 12 and Oct 24 ACT and Oct 11
SAT
SAT & ACT dates:

 SAT- go to www.collegeboard.org
o Username:
o Password:
ACT- go to http://www.act.org
o Username:
o Password:
Make sure you list 4 colleges that you want your scores
sent to. Also make sure you upload a photo!

 On the day of the exam arrive at 7:45 am and bring

your admissions ticket, ID, pencil, calculator, water and
a snack
Make sure you study. You can go to careercruising:
http://www2.careercruising.com/default/cplogin/5AB35E
61-4108-4E81-AE24-766DA06E7D64
Log in then click My Plan at the top left. Then scroll
down until you see Method Test Pep on the bottom left
(three blue hexagons) Start practicing!!
2. Make a resume
This needs to include all of the activities you have taken
part in since your freshmen year.
Include your name and email address at the top. Then
list the name of the organization and the years that you
participated
Underneath the organization use bullets to describe
what exactly you did
File New from TemplateResumes Simple Resumes
Here are two examples:
Resume #1:
Extracurricular Activities
Varsity Soccer
n

Captain

Lettered my 10th and 11th grade year

All Conference, All State my 10th grade year

Key Club
n

Vice President

Organized a can food drive

Met weekly

Volunteered 50 hours

Habitat for Humanity

n

Helped build a house for a family in need

9th, 10

Church
n

Volunteered in the nursery every Sunday

Sang in choir

9th, 10

Awards
Best Calculus Student
n

Nominated by my teacher for being the best all around student in Calculus

Citizenship Award
n

Chosen by the faculty for displaying the characteristics of a good citizen

Resume #2:

Name
Address
Phone: E-Mail:

Academic and School Activities

National Honor Society
n

Inducted into NHS based on having a 3.5 GPA or higher and showing
characteristics such as leadership, community service and academic achievement

Participated in various service events around the community such as holding a

dinner at the Rowan Homeless Shelter, passing out tickets at October Tour, and
collecting tissue boxes for every teacher in the school.

STEM Academy
n

Accepted into the STEM Academy

Achieved Scholar with Distinction for taking 14 math and science credits

Student Government
n

Homeroom representative

Planned and built homecoming float

Participated in Student Council meetings covering fundraising for the school and
planning events for students

Dance Team
n

Auditioned in the fall and selected for the team

Participated in winter home basketball games during halftime, performed jazz and
hip hop dances

Lyrical performance in the spring dance concert

Club AWARE
n

Awareness club for different things each month as a breast cancer,

vegetarianism, diabetes, and other things we believe need to be brought to the
attention of our peers and community

Designed t-shirts

Latin Club
n

History club for students taking Latin who are interested in the history of Italy and
Rome

Service Clubs
Club Red (Red Cross Club)
n

Treasurer

Fire canvasing

Hosted blood drives

Key Club
n

Various community service events locally and across the country

Helped out with a pancake dinner to raise money for the community

Fundraised for UNICEF

Junior Civitans
n

Various community service events locally and across the country

Helped out with an event called Pennies for Pasta to raise money for Leukemia

Helped serve dinner at the local homeless shelter

Extracurricular Activities
To The Pointe Dance Company

August 2007-July 2015

Participated in year long classes of a wide variety of dance styles such as lyrical,
contemporary, hip hop, jazz, modern, tap, and ballet. I have received invitational
invite to be on competition teams for production, jazz, lyrical, and tap. I will also
be completing a solo.

Holiday Caravan Parade

Downtown Salisbury Night out on the Town/Brick Street Live Performance

Millbridge Elementary and Granite Quarry Elementary performances for

competition

Young Life
n

Christian ministry that is involved with middle school, high school, and college
students

Completed an Internship during Spring 2014

Work Experience
Dunkin Donuts and Baskin-Robbins
n

Crew member, cashier, and drive-through

Chef Santos by Goodfellas

n

October 2013- April 2014

July 2014- present

Hostess and trained waitress

Honors
Outstanding Calculus Student
n

Selected by the Math Department for superior math achievement and being the
top student in Calculus

Certificate of Scholastic Achievement/ PTSA Scholar Award

n

Recognized for holding a 3.5 GPA or higher

Junior Marshal
n

Special recognition for being in the top 15% of the Junior class

Assisted with Senior Graduation

Junior Rotary
n

Top 10% of the senior class

Presented to the Rowan County Rotary Club

3. Write an essay
Some college applications will require an essay. These
prompts will be different depending on where you apply.
Most scholarships also require an essay. Usually the
prompt is somewhere along the lines of what are your
career goals? What has influenced you to decide to go
into that particular field?
The essays for the Common App are already out. If you
plan on applying to UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Wilmington,
UNC Asheville, Davidson, Wake Forest or others on this
list: https://www.commonapp.org/Login#!
PublicPages/AllMembers

Then you will need to use the Common App. Here are
the common app essay prompts:

2015-16 Common Application Essay

Prompts
We are pleased to share the 2015-2016 Essay Prompts with you. New
language appears in italics:
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that
is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete
without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later
success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure.
How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What
prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It
can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemmaanything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain
its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to
identify a solution.
5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that
marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your
culture, community, or family.

4. Make a list of colleges you plan on applying to.

It is a good idea to apply to 4 or more colleges.
Please use this summer to visit colleges!!!
Keep in mind that colleges in NC will be cheaper
than out of state schools because you will get
instate tuition
Public schools are usually much cheaper than
private schools unless you can get a hefty
scholarship from a private school. There are 16
public schools in NC. Here is a list of the public
schools in NC:

1. Appalachian State University

2. East Carolina University
3. Elizabeth City State University
4. Fayetteville State University
5. North Carolina A&T State University
6. North Carolina Central University
7. North Carolina State University
8. UNC Asheville
9. UNC-Chapel Hill
10. UNC Charlotte
11. UNC Greensboro
12. UNC Pembroke
13. UNC Wilmington
14. UNC School of the Arts
15. Western Carolina University
16. Winston-Salem State University
List 4 colleges you plan on applying to along with
their early application deadline
o 1.
o 2.
o 3.
o 4.
Ask yourself these questions:
o Do you want to attend a big or small school?
o Do you want to be close to home?
o How much is the tuition?
o Do you know what you want to major in and
does that school have your major?
o Do they offer merit based scholarships?
o What is the average GPA and ACT/SAT scores
of admitted students?/Do you need to retake
the SAT/ACT?
o What is the deadline?

5. Ask your favorite teacher and guidance counselor

for a letter of recommendation
a. Most scholarships and some college applications
will require a letter of recommendation from a
teacher and a community member/guidance
counselor
b. Ask early! I would actually go ahead and ask now
so they can do it during the summer.
Application Tips
For your major put undecided. Some schools
admissions requirements are more stringent depending
on what major you put down. You can easily change
your major once admitted. This is especially important
for UNC Charlotte and NC State. You get to put two
majors. For your first one, put whatever you want. For
the second put undecided!! That way they will still
consider you for the general college even if you havent
been admitted into your first choice major
Apply early!!!! UNC Charlottes deadline is Nov 1 but
get everything in by Oct 15. I have seen people get
rejected because they did not get everything in on
time.
There are some schools that have portals where you
can apply:
o UNC Charlotte- Future 49er portal:
https://futurefortyniners.uncc.edu/default.asp
o NC State- WolfPaw:
https://wolfpaw.ncsu.edu/Default.asp
o ECU:
https://recruiter.ecu.edu/Datatel.ERecruiting.Web.E
xternal/Pages/Welcome.aspx
o UNC Greensborohttps://spartanlink.uncg.edu/default.asp
o UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Wilmington, UNC Asheville,
Davidson, Wake Forest: commonapp.org
o For all other schools use CFNC.org. Make sure your
email address on your CFNC profile is correct!

Schools will email you using this email address!

Click Apply To College College Applications
What do you need to apply?
o Application
o Application fee or fee waiver (you can get as many
fee waivers as you want if you are on free/reduced
lunch)
o Ask your guidance counselor to send your
transcript, and your SAT/ACT scores! (and fee
waiver if applicable)
o Check your portal or email admissions to make
sure they have everything!! Check your email
frequently! I have seen people get denied because
they were missing application materials
What happens if you get deferred?
o Email or call your admissions representative.
(Every school as an admissions rep assigned to
Rowan County)
o Tell your college adviser. They have connections!
o Send in updated grades and retake SAT/ACT
o Have a teacher and guidance counselor send in
letters of recommendation
o Show them that you are still interested!
Do you plan on playing a sport in college?
You need to register with Clearinghouse here:
http://web3.ncaa.org/ECWR2/NCAA_EMS/NCAA.jsp
Make sure when you take the ACT/SAT you put 9999 for
the Clearinghouse to ensure that your scores get sent
there
Make sure you are eligible by looking at the sliding
scale
Go to combines and camps so that coaches can see you
Wondering if your AP scores will transfer?
Look up your university to see what score you need to
get credit for that class:

https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditandplacement/
search-credit-policies
Complete your FAFSA at www.FAFSA.gov by March
1st!!!!
Email me if you have any questions! alysoncourt@gmail.com