If you took the May or June SAT, you should register for the October or November SAT. If you did not register for the May or June SAT, and you are college-bound, you need to register for the October or November SAT. For students with free or reduced lunch, there are a limited number of fee waivers available from your guidance counselor.

If necessary, make an appointment with your guidance counselor to make sure that you are on track to meet all Lynn Public Schools’ graduation requirements (courses, credits, MCAS).

If your post-graduation plans include enlisting in the military or directly entering the workforce, please inform your guidance counselor immediately. You should still apply to at least one safety school (i.e., North Shore Community College) as a backup plan.

If your post-graduate plans include applying to colleges, you should narrow your list of colleges. Your list should have at least five to seven schools unless you are only applying to safety schools. You need to apply to at least one safety school!!!

  • Dream Schools – Schools you definitely want to attend and the competition is strong.
  • Realistic Schools – Schools you want to attend and the competition is relatively strong.
  • Safety Schools – Schools that will definitely admit you and you are willing to attend.

Keep each college application’s materials in a separate folder and determine the following information:

  • When are the application deadlines? Do not procrastinate!! Many schools have definite deadlines when all application materials must be submitted. Know the deadlines and make sure you submit the applications on time. An application that is early, or at least on time, demonstrates that you are a responsible person who is capable of meeting deadlines. REMEMBER…..If the application says the deadline is January 15th, that does not mean you should mail it by that date but that the college must receive it by that date.
  • Am I applying early admission, early decision or regular decision?
  • Are there application fees?
    • If you used a waiver for at least one SAT exam, you can request four college application fee waivers from your guidance counselor. These waivers should be used for the most expensive college application fees. All colleges do not accept these fee waivers.
    • Make sure your check, money order or fee waiver is attached to the application. Schools that require application fees will not process the application without the payment or waiver.
  • Does the college require me to submit the application online?
  • Do I need to take the SAT? SAT Subject Tests? ACT? TOEFL?
  • Do I have to write essays?
    • If you need a teacher or guidance counselor to review your essays, you need to give them at least two weeks’ notice.
    • Do I need recommendation letters? If so, from whom?
    • If you need a teacher or guidance counselor to write a recommendation, you need to give them at least two weeks’ notice. Please complete a Recommendation Request form in the Guidance Department and submit it to the person(s) writing the recommendation.
    • Are there specific forms for recommendations and essays to be written on?

Take heed of the following advice:

  • Read the application carefully and completely before you start work on it. Do not leave any section blank. If you have questions or concerns, see your guidance counselor.
  • Complete your application in blue or black ink and use the same color of ink throughout the entire application. Make sure that your penmanship is legible. Messy and crumpled applications will reflect poorly on you as a candidate.
  • When mailing college applications, mail all materials together. Do not mail different pieces of the application at different times. Also, make sure you have the proper amount of postage on the envelope so your application is not returned for insufficient postage. Bring your application envelopes to the local Post Office and have them weigh the envelopes to determine proper postage.
  • When completing any applications for college (by mail or online), make sure you use proper spelling, capitalization, grammar and punctuation. DO NOT use slang, casual or text / email language. Always proofread or have someone proofread for you. Following this advice could be the difference between you failing or succeeding in your efforts to be admitted.
  • If you are filing online applications, be sure to save the drafts.

Review all application materials as they arrive. Set up a schedule for completing them. Completing applications is not much fun, and you may be inclined to put off this task as long as you can. Procrastination is risky. There is a lot to do, especially if you have several essays to write. You may not do the application (and yourself) justice if you leave it until the last minute. Remember: leave enough time for correcting and revising.

Make two or more copies of the whole application to use as rough drafts and extras in case you make a serious error and ruin the original.

Be accurate, honest and neat.

It may be better to type the factual sections of your application form, though typing is not required. If you believe you can do a neat, legible and accurate job completing it by hand, go ahead. Be sure to print legibly in ink. Black ink is preferred because it photocopies clearly.

If possible, type your essay question responses.

Determine how a college wants scores (i.e., SAT) sent to the school: (a) directly from the source (i.e., College Board), (b) printed and copied from the source, (c) included on a transcript mailed from the Guidance Department, (d) included on a transcript faxed from the Guidance Department, etc.

Most colleges are getting the majority of their applications online. Colleges prefer online applications as they cut down on processing time, but colleges do not give preference to applicants who apply online. There are pros and cons to online applications:

  • PRO
    • Some colleges waive the fee for online applications. An online application is processed more quickly than a paper application – sometimes more than a month sooner than the paper application. (On the other hand, the college has to wait to accurately match to the application the test scores, school transcript and letters of recommendation – items that might accompany a paper application.
    • Many online applications have electronic checks that ensure that the student has provided all mandatory data. If a paper application is missing mandatory information, processing of the application can be delayed two weeks.
    • There is no problem reading the text in an online application, whereas handwriting can pose challenges for even the most experienced admissions committees.
  • CON
    • Students sometime apply electronically without having someone review their work and, even more problematically, fail to alert the guidance office about each college to which they have applied electronically so that transcripts and recommendations can be sent.
    • If you are applying electronically, print a copy of the completed application before you send it. Your counselor will be happy to look it over before you push the “send” button.
    • If you file an online application, be sure to tell your counselor when you have submitted the application and which materials the school needs to send to the college (such as recommendations or the transcript).
    • Spell your name the same way on the online application and on other components that are sent via mail; this will help the colleges match the components of your application in a timely way.
    • Do not send an online application and mail an application. This duplication causes confusion and may result in two separate files being created for you.

The Common Application, sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, is currently accepted by nearly 350 postsecondary institutions, some of which use this form exclusively. Member colleges of the Common Application group encourage the use of the form and make no distinction between its use and the use of the college’s own form when making admissions decisions. One advantage of the Common Application is that it needs to be completed only once. Some member colleges of the Common Application group do require supplemental forms. Students should research whether the colleges to which they are applying need such a form in addition to the Common Application. The Common Application can be obtained through the mail or by downloading it from www.commonapp.org. It may also be filled out online.

Do I need to file a CSS Profile?

  • The College Board’s CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE® is an online application that collects information used by almost 400 colleges and scholarship programs to award financial aid from sources outside of the federal government. After you fill out the application, the College Board sends it to the  colleges and scholarship programs you have chosen.
  • Not all colleges and scholarship programs require the PROFILE. Check with the ones you’re interested in to see if they require it.
  • You  should register at https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/ at least two weeks before the earliest college or scholarship priority filing date you need to meet. This date is the college or program’s deadline for submitting a completed PROFILE application.
  • Once you register, you can complete the PROFILE application right away or save your data and return to it later. Just be sure to complete and submit the application by the deadlines your colleges or scholarship programs specify.
  • Sending your PROFILE report to one college or scholarship program costs $25. Additional reports are $16 each. Students who are from low-income families with limited assets will automatically receive fee waivers.
  • Almost 400 colleges and scholarship programs require the PROFILE.

1. Register

2. Complete the application

  • Have tax records and financial documents handy.
  • Use the pre-application worksheet to save time.
  • Enter the required information.

Here’s what you can expect:

  • Customized application questions about income, assets and expenses
  • Additional questions required by your colleges or scholarship programs, if applicable
  • A Noncustodial PROFILE that must be completed by the parent you spend less time with, if you don’t live with both parents for equal amounts of time
  • Online help, an extensive FAQ section and live customer service
  • Alerts to missing or incorrect information
  • Secure data — your information is encrypted and stored with firewall protection

3. Submit the application

  • Enter your payment information and press Submit.
  • After you submit your application, print the acknowledgment. This includes the data you entered on your application and your college and scholarship list. You can use the acknowledgment to make changes to your PROFILE. It also provides information about the next steps in the process.
  • The data on your PROFILE are analyzed and reported to the colleges and scholarship programs you have specified. They then use the report to help determine your financial aid award.

Net Price Calculator (https://professionals.collegeboard.org/higher-ed/financial-aid/netprice) (NEACAC – Preparing for Senior Year)

  • The NPC is a web-based tool developed to give prospective students a personalized estimate of what it will cost to attend specific colleges. The colleges update the calculator with their financial aid awarding practices and policies. The students enter financial data about their family and academic data about themselves into the calculator.
  • The NPC then computes an estimated financial aid package for a student based on how the student’s characteristics match up with the financial aid awarding practices of the institution. The calculator’s results estimate out-of-pocket expenses for the family instead of an expected family contribution. These results are intended to help families make sound, informed choices.
  • Visit the College Board website to access the Net Price Calculator, or search for it on the website of a school you are interested in applying to in order to get a better idea about the potential cost of attendance. Remember though, that the NPC provides a general computation that may differ from your actual aid package.

If necessary, have your guidance counselor review your applications with you.

Attend college fairs at area high schools.

Visit the Guidance Department website, www.lehsguidance.org for valuable information and resources about scholarships and post graduate options (including college). Look for scholarships: use the scholarship search feature on the College Board and FastWeb websites and check the Lynn English Guidance Department website. DO NOT pay for any scholarship search services.

  • When completing any applications for scholarships (by mail or online), make sure you use proper spelling, capitalization, grammar and punctuation. DO NOT use slang, casual or text / email language. Always proofread or have someone proofread for you. Following this advice could be the difference between you failing or succeeding in your efforts to receive a scholarship.

Almost all male U.S. citizens, and male aliens living in the U.S., who are 18 through 25, are required to register with Selective Service. It’s important to know that even though he is registered, a man will not automatically be inducted into the military. In a crisis requiring a draft, men would be called in sequence determined by random lottery number and year of birth. Then, they would be examined for mental, physical and moral fitness by the military before being deferred or exempted from military service or inducted into the Armed Forces. Some non-citizens are required to register. Others are not. Noncitizens who are not required to register with Selective Service include men who are in the U.S. on student or visitor visas, and men who are part of a diplomatic or trade mission and their families. Almost all other male noncitizens are required to register, including illegal aliens, legal permanent residents, and refugees. The general rule is that if a male noncitizen takes up residency in the U.S. before his 26th birthday, he must register with Selective Service. Registration is the law. A man who fails to register may, if prosecuted and convicted, face a fine of up to $250,000 and/or a prison term of up to five years. Even if not tried, a man who fails to register with Selective Service before turning age 26 may find that some doors are permanently closed. If a male does not register, he will be denied financial aid for college, citizenship, federal job training, and federal jobs. The easiest way to register is to visit the website www.sss.gov.

Inform your guidance counselor if you intend to play college sports at the Division 1 or Division 2 levels. You also need to register with the NCAA at http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future

Listen to daily announcements on the morning television show and the daily announcements by the principal in the morning and afternoon.