We are pleased to welcome

 the following schools to our campus…

Furman University – Sept 10^th, 11:45AM

Harvey Mudd – Sept 14^th, 12:30PM

Case Western – Sept 15^th, 11:45AM

Carnegie Mellon – Sept 22^nd, 11:00AM

UPenn – Sept 29^th, 11:30AM

Vanderbilt – October 5^th, 11:30AM

WPI – October 14^th, 11:30AM

For sessions occurring outside of the lunch hour, you must get permission from your teacher.

Sign up sheets are located in the Counseling Reception, or email Mrs. Scheid at meg_scheid@gwinnett.k12.ga.us

Space is limited to 30 students per session, so sign up now!

 2010-11 Common Application Now Available

The 2010-11 Common Applicationhas been posted on the website at www.commonapp.org

Changes to the application include:

Welcome to College Counseling at GSMST! I am excited to help you in your quest for the perfect college. 

To make college applications a less daunting task, try the following:

• Keeping three lists - one for leadership skills/style, one for Community Service, and one that lists everything unique/significant about you. We discussed these lists in our family meetings. It is important that you understand your own passions, challenges, strengths, and history so that you create powerful applications.
• Practice essays for the typical questions. Go to www.commonapp.com and download the app. The questions they use are standard and provide great examples to work with.
• Prepare your resume and list of hobbies/interests to give to teachers who will write your recommendations
• Tour colleges in person if possible. If you cannot travel, contact admissions offices and see if there are local alumni groups you can connect with to ask questions.
• Finalize the list of schools to apply to - including a fall back (your GPA and Test scores are WELL within their ranges).  ALL STUDENTS need a fallback school. This does not need to be a local public school. It can be a private school that may offer you scholarships, or distant public schools that fit your profile; however, it needs to be a school you could financially and emotionally attend if needed. 

In order to help our students balance their academic workload and the impending college applications, we are recommending the following basic timeline. There are several other tasks that students will have to complete, but this is the general outline:

SPRING of Junior Year:

• Take the SAT and ACT at least once. If this is too much pressure, make sure you have taken ONE of these tests before May. Every student should plan on taking a test TWO times to attempt improvement. The first attempt gives a good benchmark, to show you your strengths and weaknesses. Practice and study for the second attempt to hopefully improve your scores.
• Explore college options using online searches (college board, career cruising) and compare student "profile" to the average freshman profile at these colleges
• Visit colleges in person, or virtually, to get a feel for the environment

SUMMER before Senior Year:

• Gather applications for colleges you may want to attend.
• Study the essays and other requirements for each college.
• Build your lists of "leadership qualities", "Community Service/Compassion", and "What Makes Me Special." These lists can be quick notes as you remember qualities about yourself, collected over time. This will help you in essay writing.
• Visit schools you feel you really want to attend. If you cannot make visits, contact their admissions offices to see if there are Atlanta Alumni who you can speak with.

FALL of Senior Year:

• Draft essays for your definite college applications.
• Request recommendations from teachers
• Complete early action applications by October 1.
• Keep a spreadsheet of all college deadlines, rec requests, etc. It is up to the student to keep this information.

SPRING of Senior Year:

• Parents fill out FAFSA application (January)
• Final deadlines for most college applications are January.
• Wait for acceptances
• Decide on a college, and send in deposits.
• RELAX and wait for GRADUATION!!!!