Woodberry Forest School Office of College Counseling 148 Woodberry Station Woodberry Forest, VA 22989
READING ROOM REFLECTIONS A College Counseling Newsletter
Volume 2, Issue 1
Fall 2014
2014 - 2015 FALL CALENDAR ACT: (off-campus, sixth formers) September 13 Fifth- and Sixth-Form Parents’ Weekend October 3-4
Fall 2014
SAT: (at WFS, sixth formers) October 11 Third- and Fourth-Form Parents’ Weekend October 17-18
Please Join Us For Parents’ Weekend Fifth- and Sixth-Form Parents’ Weekend Oct. 3-4 We invite all fifth-form parents to join us Saturday morning in Bowman Gray Auditorium for our College Counseling Parents’ Program. We will be joined by college representatives who will offer advice on a range of admissions topics. More details about Parents’ Weekend and our program will be provided soon.
Third- and Fourth-Form Parents’ Weekend Oct. 17-18 The program for third- and fourth-form parents is offered on Saturday morning of Parents’ Weekend in Bowman Gray Auditorium in the Walker Fine Arts Center. This will give you a chance to meet the staff, hear about how the college counseling process works at Woodberry, and ask questions.
T 5 4 0- 672-6050 • F 540-661-4150 WWW.WO O D B E R RY.ORG • LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
PSAT: (at WFS, fourth- and fifth-formers) October 18
Welcome to Woodberry! We are excited to see all of the new faces on campus this fall. While the college counseling process formally begins in your son’s fourth-form year, we are available to help any student or parent who has questions about colleges. We also hope this newsletter has something for all of you, regardless of where you are in this process. We offer the following general advice to new students and families:
SAT and The Game (test will not be given at Woodberry) November 8
OUR OFFICE Director Hunt Heffner Associate Director Indira Cope Testing Coordinator Renee Sullivan
T 540-672-6050 F 540-661-4150 www.woodberry.org
• Encourage your son to do his best and worry only about things he can control. College is a long way off for most new students, but what your son does now will affect the choices he may have later. Working on being successful at Woodberry will lead to success in all areas of life, including college. • Encourage your son to try new things. Coming to Woodberry is an opportunity for him to be his best self. There are many ways to be involved. This is a chance for your son to learn about various clubs and groups. A list of clubs and faculty sponsors can be found on Woodberry’s website under Campus Life. • Your son should recognize the importance of being organized. The most successful students stay organized and seek help when they need it. Our academic skills staff, advisers, teachers, and prefects are all great resources to help students meet their potential. The College Counseling staff meets with all grades in larger, form-wide meetings at various points in the year. Fourth formers are assigned a counselor during the winter; we will meet in small groups in early spring. New fifth formers have already been assigned a counselor; we will begin meeting individually in the winter.
Colleges Come to Woodberry Every fall, Woodberry receives visits by representatives from about fifty colleges and universities. Depending on their travel schedule, representatives will generally meet students at lunch or after dinner. These representatives are often the same people who read applications in the late fall and winter. We strongly encourage students to take advantage of the opportunity to talk to these admissions officers and use them as resources during the process. In the spring, we also host a College Fair geared to fourth- and fifth-form students. Students can talk to a number of representatives on our campus. College visits are announced on the weekly schedule and via email, and reminders are read at seated meals. A current and complete list of college visits can be found both on the Events calendar on the home page of Woodberry’s website and on Naviance.
Volume 2, Issue 1
Fall 2014
Stages of a College Application Applications fundamentally go through two stages — preparation and review. Our focus in the fall is helping seniors prepare the best applications possible. We encourage students to begin the process by setting up accounts with the Common Application and individual colleges over the summer. Starting early gives students a chance to put together thoughtful applications and essays, and allows us time to review their work and make recommendations on any improvements or changes they should make to highlight all of their strengths as a candidate.
Application
Do’s and Don’ts Do: • Keep track of usernames and passwords • Send SAT / ACT scores directly from the testing agency; this is the required method for most colleges • Read emails from admissions offices • Remember that a payment/fee waiver is required before an application is complete
Don’t: • Assume — when in doubt, ask! • Be afraid of rejection; if you don’t apply, the answer will always be “no.”
We also support students by submitting transcripts and recommendation letters on their behalf. There is an internal process for requesting these documents,
and we try to remind students of as many application deadlines as possible. Once an application is submitted, admissions officers start the review process. Most colleges look closely at grades, courses, standardized test scores, extracurricular activities, essays, and recommendations, but they may assign greater weight to certain areas. Applications are often read multiple times and may also go before an admissions committee for a final decision. Students can be admitted, denied, deferred from an early application to the regular review, or waitlisted. We will talk more about what these decisions mean in our winter newsletter.
Online Resources To find college counseling resources online, go to the College Counseling page on Woodberry’s website, which is located under the Academics tab. You can also go to the Woodberry Forest College Counseling page on Facebook for helpful hints, useful articles, and photos from our trips to colleges.
The most powerful resource we have for families is a program called Naviance
The most powerful resource we have for families is a program called Naviance.
In addition to general information about colleges, scholarships and aid, and links to other resources, this program provides a detailed history of Woodberry applications and admissions decisions at hundreds of colleges. Naviance is also the system we use to manage applications and allow parents and students to track the progress of those applications. A link to Naviance can be found on the College Counseling page of Woodberry’s website. Feel free to contact our office if you need help logging onto this resource.
For International Families Colleges consider any student who is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident an international student. Colleges list any special requirements they have for international student applicants on their websites, but here are a few standard ones: • The most common requirement is the TOEFL for students for whom English is not their first language. Some colleges will waive that requirement for students who attend school in the U.S., but not all do. • All colleges require a Certification of Finances with international applications. • Some colleges offer limited grant aid to international students. Check individual websites for information and any international-specific aid applications. • Merit scholarships are often available to international students.
Test Prep Resources Students have a range of test prep options available to them. While we do not recommend one method over another, we do support students in their effort to improve.
Basic Tips for a Successful College Search Every year, parents ask us how they can help their son with his college search. While we are able to guide your son, you also play a key role in the process. Help your son set achievable goals throughout his Woodberry career. Facilitate meaningful summer activities — community service, a job, pursuit of a passion, travel, academic enrichment. Be open-minded to a range of colleges and try to visit different campuses during your travels. If your son is interested in playing a varsity sport at college or pursuing art, music, or drama, encourage
him talk to coaches, teachers, or the College Counseling staff. Educate yourself about financing a college education. For sixth-form parents, helping your son to organize the application process can be a huge help. Over the summer we sent a spreadsheet to help your son set due dates and, hopefully, a plan of action. We will help students with applications, but help us remind your son that colleges will communicate with him, not with you or the College Counseling office. At the end of the day, this is truly your son’s process to own.
Standardized Testing Fourth formers sit for the PSAT in October. This is a great opportunity for students to practice taking a timed standardized test. The results, which are reported only to the students and Woodberry, can serve as a good indicator of how a student may do on the regular SAT later on. Fifth formers also take the PSAT at this time, and those results will be used to identify National Merit Scholars. We order the PSAT tests for the boys, so there is nothing you need to do. Students take the SAT and/or ACT for the first time during their fifth-form year. Each student must set up a personal account on the ACT and/or College Board websites to register for these tests. We administer the SAT at Woodberry. The ACT is offered at Orange County High School in December and April and at Fork Union and Louisa County High School (Mineral, VA) on other test dates. We will arrange transportation for any student taking the ACT at these locations. We recommend that each junior take the SAT or ACT once in the winter (December or January for the SAT or December or February for the ACT) and once again in the spring. By the end of his junior year, each student will typically have at least two sets of test scores.
Plan ahead to make college visits over Woodberry breaks such as long winter weekend, spring break, and summertime. Even Thanksgiving and winter breaks can be good times to visit a campus or two.
Woodberry offers an SAT prep class through an outside company in the fall and spring. The seven-session class meets during the academic week and on Sundays. You or your son can contact Mr. Heffner for more information. Students can also access an online prep program, Method Test Prep, through Naviance anytime they wish. Method Test Prep offers practice tests and lessons for the SAT and ACT. Many students take advantage of spring and summer breaks to prepare for standardized tests. These are particularly good times to look into more formal courses or tutoring, if desired. College Board’s My College Quickstart™ is available to all students once they have taken the PSAT. Students can also sign-up for the “question of the day” and other free practice questions through the College Board and ACT websites. For a fee, students can order a copy of their test booklet with correct answers from select test dates.