Arlington High School Junior Parent Night

1. Arlington High SchoolJunior Parent Night March 10, 2004 AHS Guidance Department

2. AHS School Profile • Class of 2003 – 260 Graduates • Four year colleges – 80% • Junior Colleges/Technical Schools – 13% • Employment – 2% • Armed Forces – 1.1% • Undecided – 4%

3. Class of 2005 AHS Graduation Requirements • Pass four years of English • Pass two years of Social and Behavioral Sciences (including one year of U.S. History) • Pass one year of Science • Pass two years of Mathematics • Pass two years of Physical Education/Health • Credits: 96 points

4. Massachusetts State College Graduation Requirements

5. Mass. State Colleges/Universities Admission Standards The new admissions standards for freshmen applicants have two main parts: • 16 required academic courses. • A minimum required grade point average (GPA) earned in college preparatory courses completed at the time of application. • Applicants must also submit an SAT or ACT score.

6. Academic Course Requirement 16 college prep courses distributed as follows are required. (A course is equivalent to one full school year of study. Courses count toward the distribution only if passed.) English - 4 courses Mathematics - 3 courses (Algebra I & II and Geometry or Trigonometry, or comparable coursework) Mass. State Colleges/Universities Admission Standards

7. Sciences - 3 courses (including 2 courses with laboratory work) Social Sciences - 2 courses (including 1 course in U.S. History) Foreign Languages - 2 courses (in a single language) Electives - 2 courses (from the above subjects or from the Arts & Humanities or Computer Sciences) Mass. State Colleges/Universities Admission Standards

8. Other Options for Students Military Technical Schools Work Force

9. Military • Navy – www.navy.com • Air Force – www.airforce.com • Army – www.goarmy.com • Marines – www.marines.com • Coast Guard – www.coastguard.com • All options except Coast Guard offer full tuition while serving. Coast Guard offers $4,500 tuition assistance while serving.

10. Career/Technical Schools • Career/Technical schools are postsecondary institutions that provide training for skill-based careers in law, business, information technology, health care, criminal justice, and more than 200 other fields • Are independent and privately owned • Account for 47% of all postsecondary institutions in the United States

11. Career/Technical Schools • Primarily offer occupational degrees, rather than the academic degrees offered by colleges and universities • Massachusetts Examples: Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, East Coast Aero Tech, Henri’s School of Hair Design, New England School of Photography, Windy Hill Kennel College

12. Tests of College Admission

13. SAT I • Designed to help measure a student’s ability to handle college level work • Seven sections comprised of verbal and math questions • Typically taken in junior or senior year, but many students take more than once since most colleges consider only highest scores • Duration: About three hours • Fee: $28.50 • Upcoming dates: March 27, May 1 and June 5 • Website: www.collegeboard.com

14. ACT • Most colleges require either ACT or SAT • ACT is more content-based than SAT I; more closely tests a student’s knowledge of the “core curriculum” taught in most classrooms • Format consists of four subject tests in English, mathematics, reading and science reasoning • Duration: About three hours • Fee: $24 • Upcoming dates: April 3, June 12 • Not given at Arlington High School • Website: www.act.org

15. SAT II: Subject Tests • There are 22 subject tests, each designed to measure what a student has learned in specific subjects such as literature, American history, biology or Spanish • SAT I measures how well student reads and thinks, while SAT II measures extent of student’s knowledge in certain discipline • Duration: One hour for each subject test (up to three may be taken on one test date) • Fee: $16 registration plus a fee of $8-$13 for each subject test • Upcoming dates: May 1, June 5 • Website: www.collegeboard.com

16. AP Exams • Part of College Board’s Advanced Placement Program which gives students opportunity to take college-level courses while still in high school • By doing well on the AP exam at the end of the course, students can earn credits toward their college graduation • AHS currently offers 13 AP courses • Duration: Two to three hours • Fee: $82 • Upcoming dates: AHS notifies students and parents of test dates • Website: www.collegeboard.com

17. TOEFL • Test of English as a Foreign Language • Tests the ability to understand North American English • Content includes listening comprehension, reading comprehension, grammar and written expression • Most American universities require minimum scores for admission: 550-610 points for TOEFL Paper-Based Test and 213-253 points for TOEFL Computer-Based Test • Website: www.toefl.org

18. AHS S.A.T. Class of 2003 – Mean Scores (Recentered Scale)

19. Beginning the College Search What questions should I ask?

20. 20 Questions to Begin a College Search • Do I want to commute or live on campus? • Do I want to attend college in a city or in a small, college town? • In what area of the country would I like to attend college? • What size college appeals to me? Small: up to 3,000 students Medium: 3,000-7,000 students Large: over 7,000 students

21. 20 Questions to Begin a College Search • What kind of weather do I prefer? • Would I prefer a single-sex or coed college? • Does fraternity or sorority life interest me? • Can I live with restrictions and regulations? • Do I want to participate in extracurricular activities? • Do I want an extensive athletic program?

22. 20 Questions to Begin a College Search • Do I want a strong creative arts program? • Do I want an academically demanding environment, or would I prefer a school where I can do well without knocking myself out? • Do I need a highly structured academic framework, or can I work with a curriculum that allows for independent projects and has no requirements? • Do I want a liberal arts or preprofessional curriculum?

23. 20 Questions to Begin a College Search • Do my personal or career interests require specialized facilities? • Would I want to participate in an off-campus internship? • Would a year-round cooperative work-study program in which classes alternate with periods of (guaranteed) employment interest me?

24. 20 Questions to Begin a College Search • Will my family be able to support my college costs? Is this true even at an expensive private college? • Would I be willing to work part time while I attend college? • Do I want to spend part of my college years studying in another country?

25. Types of Admission Programs Regular Decision / Early Decision / Early Action / Rolling Admission / Early Admission

26. Regular Decision • Apply fall of senior year - usually December or January deadline • Decisions released by mid-April – students generally have until May 1 to decide • Best for: Students who don’t have a clear first choice, want the boost of submitting senior-year grades or scores, or need to compare financial aid offers

27. Early Decision • Applications generally due in November • Students hear before Christmas • Students agree to attend if accepted • Biggest disadvantage – can’t compare financial aid offers from other schools • Best for: Students who have thoroughly researched their first choice, are convinced they want to attend and don’t have to worry about financial aid

28. Early Action • Students apply by mid-November and hear before Christmas • No requirement to attend, and students can continue applying to other schools • Best for: Any student who has a clear first choice but still wants to keep options open until May

29. Rolling Admission • Students hear approximately six to eight weeks after they apply but don’t have to reply until May • Variation of first come, first served; students who apply early in the cycle have the edge • Best for: Students who want the advantage of applying early but don’t want to decide until May

30. Early Admission • Students enter college before graduating from high school • Best for: Students of exceptional talent who have exhausted available academic options at Arlington High School

31. What Colleges Look For You know what you want from a college. What do they want from you?

32. What Colleges Look For • Scholastic record / Class rank • Standardized Test Scores (SAT I, SAT II, ACT, etc.) • Recommendations – Teacher and Counselor • Extracurricular Activities • The Essay • The Interview

33. Preparing for the College Interview Do’s and Don’ts

34. The College Interview • Do your homework: • Read college Web sites and literature – they’re packed with information • Example: If you want to play soccer, find out how hard it is to make the team; if you want to major in nursing, make sure the school offers it

35. The College Interview • Dress and act appropriately: • The coat and tie are unnecessary, but the interview is an adult experience so don’t go in jeans and a t-shirt • Treat it as a job interview • Be yourself, but don’t talk too casually

36. The College Interview • Ask smart questions: • Most interviewers save time for questions from the applicant - make sure to have a few in mind before you go in for the interview • Example: Identify some professors who seem interesting and ask about their classes • Search for answers that can’t be found on the Web site • If the interview is with a local alumnus, ask about his/her experience and memories of the school

37. The College Interview • Don’t let the conversation die: • Prepare rough answers to basic questions about Arlington High School, your academic interests and your activities • Even if the interviewer has read your application, he might want to hear you speak articulately about a familiar subject

38. The College Interview • Take it seriously: • Admissions officers watch your demeanor and body language, so make sure to go in with energy and enthusiasm • Get past the bored adolescent look

39. College Athletics

40. NCAA Clearinghouse • A NCAA Clearinghouse website at www.ncaaclearinghouse.net. You may access the Clearinghouse Home Page directly or through links from the NCAA's Website at www.ncaa.org. • From the NCAA Clearinghouse website, prospective student-athletes are able to access information needed to understand the Division I and Division II eligibility requirements, register with the Clearinghouse and access individual Clearinghouse records. • If you plan to enter college in 2005 or after, you must have 14 core courses to be eligible to practice, play and receive financial aid at a Division I or Division II school.