First Semester: College Topics
Throughout the junior year, students will meet weekly in College Seminar which educates students about the phases of the college search process: exploration, application, selection, and transition to college.
College Counseling objectives for this program are that each student will develop the following:
- A self-understanding as related to the college search.
- An understanding of how colleges review files.
- An understanding of the college exploration, selection and application process: types of applications, college visits, interviews, essays, resumes, and recommendations.
- Knowledge about and ability to use college search resources including Family Connection, written materials, and the Internet.
- Familiarity with standardized testing: PSAT, SAT Reasoning Test, ACT, Subject Tests, TOEFL.
- An understanding of the student, college counselor, and parent roles in the college search process.
Second Semester: Standardized Test Prep Course
Beginning in January, the focus of the College Seminar is SAT Reasoning Test preparation. Students will review the math necessary for the test, build vocabulary skills, increase reading speed, and identify the various question types most likely to appear on the test. The materials for the course come from actual SATs used in recent years. We hope to help students maximize test-taking speed without sacrificing accuracy. One of the principle advantages to this course is lessening test-anxiety; practice before the "real thing" reduces stress and gives students confidence.
We recommend that juniors begin and end the course by taking the SAT on a national test date. The purpose of the initial test (to be taken in December or January) is to have students gain practice testing under real conditions. The test score will provide a base line against which to measure improvement; and a score report analysis can be requested from College Board to help stucents assess specific areas needing work. We encourage students to test a second time at the conclusion of class in May.