College Counseling Handbook

Dear Students and Families,

Applying to college can be an in mida ng and stressful me no ma er where you are in the process. Our goal is to help guide you through the process of college selec on by providing sugges ons for college planning throughout your high school years and to assist you with your transi on into this new world. It is our goal that you will not only enjoy your future college experience but also the process that leads you there.

This Introduc on to College Counseling Handbook was designed to give you a be er understanding of the College Counseling Program here at St. Joseph’s Catholic School (SJCS), as well as assist you in your college search and applica on process. This handbook includes an introduc on to the program; responsibili es of the student, parent, and college counselor; a college planning meline; college selec on and applica on process; nancial aid informa on; glossary of terms; policies; forms and other helpful items.

College prepara on begins as soon as you enroll in a high school level course. The formal, one-on-one college advising process begins during the second half of the junior year. This allows more than enough me for thorough research of colleges at a realis c point in the student’s career here at SJCS. The best college prepara on is to be a fully involved student at SJCS and to take advantage of all of the wonderful opportuni es and challenges that are available in this school and the community at large.

It is important to note that we have inten onally not included speci c items dealing with COVID-19 and how that impacts College Admissions in this handbook. Since this informa on is constantly changing and evolving, we will communicate these issues with you throughout the school year via emails and individual mee ngs.

Please view this handbook as a guide and know that there is always someone in the College Counseling O ce who can assist you in this venture. This handbook was developed with the help of many schools a liated with SACAC and NACAC.

Sincerely,

Heather Driscoll Jenn Albright Director of College Counseling College Counselor