My name is Shawna Stilian, the College and Career Counselor
at Raymond High School, and I have the pleasure of writing a guest blog this
week to let you know a little bit about what I do here in Raymond and what the
students have been working on.
This is a new position here at the high school, it has
definitely been a learning experience for me, but it has been a wonderful
experience so far meeting all of the students and helping them to discover what
could be next for them after high school.
Some of the things we have done in preparation for college
are:
●
Classroom lessons on using Naviance to apply for
schools and navigating the Common Application.
●
College Information Sessions by local College Admission
Counselors.
●
“I Am College Bound Event.” This event was held in
November in the media center, where students submit
applications with the help of local college admissions counselors. Students
were able to ask all of the questions they needed as well as have their
applications and essays reviewed by the people who will actually read their
college application when the time comes. A majority of the New Hampshire colleges
and universities waived their application fee that day.
○
We had 72 students participate in the event
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With 161 total applications submit
○
And 147 fee waivers used with a savings of around
$7,000 dollars for our students.
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Students have attended college fairs put on by UNH
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Students attended a College Access Convention with workshops on:
○
Money for College from Financial Aid experts from
NHHEAF
○
Inside the Admissions Offices: What Colleges Look For
○
Student Panel Presentation with current students from
local 2-year and 4-year schools sharing their experiences and answering
questions.
○
A tour of Southern New Hampshire University
●
FAFSA Filing and Financial Aid presentations
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Students have been working on their applications along
with applying for scholarships, requesting teacher recommendations, filling out
transcript release forms, going on college tours, listening to college
information sessions from college representatives here at the school, taking
the SAT and SAT Prep classes and so on.
●
Some students are now receiving their acceptance
letters and it is great to see all of their hard work paying off.
In the future we will have:
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SAT Prep Classes put on by Reach High Scholars
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State SAT testing for Juniors
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College Tours
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Junior Family College Overview
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Spring College and Career Fair
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And many more events for students to stay on track with
college applications.
Some extra things I would like to mention are:
●
Dual Admission: This is a great
program put on by the local Community Colleges and University System of New
Hampshire. If your student is not sure what they want to do yet, or whether or
not they are ready for a 4-year institution, or just really want to save some
money the first two years of college, they should really consider the Dual
Admission Program. Students can spend two years at any of the participating
Community Colleges in NH at a very large discount from the state tuition. After
two years the student will have an associate’s degree and will automatically be
transferred (with no need to reapply) into their choice of a participating
4-year institution to complete their bachelor's degree. The student must have
the required credits and maintain a GPA of 2.5 for most programs, but it gives
your student a chance to get used to college courses and figure out what they
want to do without spending the tuition of a 4-year state school right away.
Any questions you can check out the website http://www.dualnh.com/
●
SAT Prep Boot Camp for Juniors: The
Reach High Scholars Program and Academic Approach will offer a winter SAT boot
camp for Juniors. The NH Dept. of Education will use the April 5th mandatory
SAT test as a statewide assessment for all juniors. Although they will be used
for statewide assessment, students can use these scores to send to colleges
when they start applying senior year. By taking the SAT boot camp for the
mandatory (and free) SAT, you will help to improve your student’s scores while
minimizing the amount of times they will have to take and pay for the SAT over
senior year. This boot camp can help raise your score and make your reach
school that much more accessible.
○
The course starts on January 7th and has ten class
sessions and three diagnostic tests before the SAT on April 5th.
○
The fee for the SAT Boot Camp is $450 (compared to
courses other places run $650-$1000) and has possible reduced prices based on
household income.
○
Please come see me in the School Counseling office for
an application or email me at s.stilian@sau33.com and I can email the
informational letter and application to you.
