Spring Break 2014:  Spring Break is the time to make final visits to schools that have made offers of acceptance.   This is also the month students will notify most schools of their decisions. Information about scheduling trips to UC & CSU campuses can be found at the OPHS Counseling "UC & CSU Admissions" web page. 

May 1, 2014: Commitment Deadline!   Students must formally confirm acceptance or declination of an offer of admission by this date.

May & June, 2014: are critical months for seniors because last semester grades do count!   Spring semester classes (that were listed on the student’s admission application) that are dropped or not passed with at least a "C" may result in a college rescinding its offer. Most competitive universities expect seniors to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA in the senior year.  

• This is when students truly find out what the term “college prep” has all been about! Seniors should not construe this a “cruise year.” Colleges and universities want students to continue to take the most challenging classes available to them and to perform to the top of their ability.
• Still focus on academics! Contrary to the urban myth - grades DO count in the senior year!
• Most competitive universities expect seniors to carry at least FIVE College Preparatory, AP or Honors courses each semester, and they also expect seniors to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA throughout the year.  
• Seniors should be taking their SAT Reasoning test, Subject tests, or ACT test for the last time during the fall of their senior year. The December SAT or ACT testing date is the absolute last date to take either of these tests for most fall college admission cycles.
• The deadlines for some college applications begin early in the fall semester of the senior year, but vary widely from school to school.  Seniors must be aware of DEADLINES! If they are applying Early Decision or Early Action, everything has to be done EARLY! Some colleges want the application in by a certain date and some accept applications on a "Rolling" basis. It is absolutely critical to pay attention to deadline criteria!

• Be 100% honest, colleges do verify everything and will "cancel" your admittance if they discover discrepancies, or if you don't complete classes you've listed on the application, or if your grades drop dramatically in the final semester.

• All classes taken should be listed on the "self-report" portion of the application, even those that were repeated later.

• Pay attention to the application deadlines for all applications (admissions, housing, financial aide, scholarships etc...)

• If you are submitting the application online take the time to go through whatever tutorial or help sessions are offered. Read the "Online Application Do's & Don'ts" section below. 

• If you are mailing a paper application get a receipt, known as a “Certificate of Mailing” from the Post Office.   Do not mail "certified, Fed Ex, UPS or registered," there is a difference.   Colleges have no one in their admissions departments to sign for these kinds of special handling packages!

• Contact all campuses you applied to immediately if:

*You receive a D or F in your senior year. 
*There are any changes to the reported classes for your senior year.
*You have a change of address, phone number or e-mail address.

SAT & ACT SCORE REPORTING

Students are responsible for sending their scores to all the schools they're applying to! These scores are not posted on the OPHS transcript. Students must ensure that their scores   have been forwarded to all of the colleges, scholarship programs they are applying to. This also includes the NCAA Clearinghouse.  

• For the UC's, students simply need to send one official score report from the ACT or SAT to one UC school and then all 9 campuses will be able to access your scores. 

• For the ACT students need to pay for one score report to any CSU campus, then you can save money on score reports by using the ACT Manager score reporting feature in CSU Mentor to forward scored to the other CSU campuses you're applying to. Note: When releasing scores to the CSU system you can save money by using the CSU Mentor school code 3594 with the College Board. This code will send score reports to all 23 CSU campuses for the price of one score report.

  Scores can be sent electronically from the College Board website below:

   www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/scores/sending.html

 

Scores can be sent electronically from the ACT website below: 

www.actstudent.org/scores/send/index.html

 

EARLY ACTION & EARLY DECISION

 

 Application deadlines vary from as early as October 15th (for Early Action/Decision programs) to as late as February for some schools. Most "Regular Admission" deadlines, will be somewhere between November 30th and January 15th. Go to our Early Action/Decision page for more information about this process.

Print Early Admissions Chart

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2. The (Private/Independent/Out-of-State) application process with deadlines typically between December 1st and January 15th.

• The University of California deadline and the Cal State University deadline is November 30th. For UCs, there are NO exceptions! Most Cal State’s use the same (11/30) date but some will stay open if they have not filled all of their freshman spaces.  If you apply by this date for all UCs and Cal States, you are safe. The online application for both systems will typically be open by October 1st.
• Both the UC & CSU systems now process applications exclusively via their respective electronic online services, UC Doorways & CSUMentor. 
• The UC's as a rule do not require transcripts at the time of application. However, as part of an augmented or supplemental review some students may receive special requests from a particular UC or CSU campus to supply either an initial or a mid-year transcript. If a student ultimately decides to attend a UC or CSU campus - it is only that individual school that they will need to send a final transcript to. A final transcript includes all four years of high school work, plus verification that the High School diploma has been earned.
• For AP scores - the same policy applies as for transcripts.
• Neither the UC or CSU systems require or accept Letters of Recommendation, Secondary School Reports, Counselor Reports, or Mid-Year Reports. If you try to send them recommendations or other supplementary information - they will be shredded!
• Both the UC & CSU systems require that students to send their SAT and/or ACT scores directly from the College Board or American College Testing Inc.  These scores are not posted on the OPHS transcript.
• The UC system does require a "Personal Statement"
• The CSU system does not require an essay.

The (UC) University of California system has established a comprehensive web site for all application and admission information for the UC system. It also  contains hotlinks to all UC campus websites, High School “a-g” lists as well as Junior College Transfer Agreements. You must disable your "pop-up" blocker to use the application feature. You can access it at the following link: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/

The (CSU) California State University system has established a system wide homepage that provides hotlinks to all CSU campus homepages. School comparisons by region, SAT/ACT scores, major, and GPA are available.  CSU applications are also be submitted through this site! You must disable your "pop-up" blocker to use the application feature. It can be accessed at: http://www.csumentor.edu/

     

• Students must download all application materials from either the home website of the school they are applying to, or from one of the online application services listed below.
• Most Private/Independent & Out-of-State colleges will require transcripts at the time of application. Most will also want "mid-year" transcript updates after the fall semester senior grades have posted!
• Most Private/Independent & Out-of-State colleges will require a form to be completed by the OPHS Counseling Office. These forms are called a variety of names (i.e. Secondary School Reports, School Reports, Counselor Reports, Counselor Evaluation, etc...) Student must download these forms and give them to their Counselor no less than 3 weeks prior to their deadlines! 
• As with the UC's & CSU's students must arrange to have their SAT and/or ACT scores sent to them directly from the College Board or American College Testing Inc. These scores are not posted on, the OPHS transcript.
•  Many Private Schools require additional financial aide information in the form of a CSS/Financial Aide Profile to evaluate you for their privately endowed scholarships.
  
  

For more information go to our Private, Independent & Highly Selective Schools web page.

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 The Common Application has been in existence for more than 20 years and is accepted by 488 independent colleges and universities. Many schools accept it as the sole application document, while others may still require a supplemental form of their own to complete the application process. The concept is simple: Students complete one Common Application form, photocopy it, and send the form to any of the participating colleges. The procedure simplifies the college application process and eliminates duplication of effort. In fact, it has become the preferred method of submitting applications to most Ivy League schools. You can access it directly from the internet at: http://www.commonapp.org  Many member institutions have their supplements linked to this website and will also accept the common application itself online! If a school has signed the Common Application agreement, then they have agreed to accept and process this application equally to their own form. If you have any doubts about whether a school you’re interested in accepts the Common Application you may check the aforementioned website. It should be noted that the CSU & UC systems do not subscribe to the Common Application. 

 

 Click here to download information about the 2013-14 Common Application Essay Prompts

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FINANCIAL AID & SCHOLARSHIPS  

Go to our Financial Aid & $cholarships  page to get more information on the Financial Aid process and to access other resources to help you fund your education. Many Private Schools require additional financial aide information in the form of a CSS/Financial Aide Profile to evaluate you for their privately endowed scholarships.

ESSAYS & PERSONAL STATEMENTS

For more information go to our  Essays/Personal Statements page.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Go to our  Letters of Recommendation page for more information about the protocol for requesting Letters of Recommendation.

The last Friday before Thanksgiving (November 22nd), is the latest deadline for students to request a letter of recommendation from a counselor or a teacher for any application with a deadline prior to January 15th. Please remember that Counselors and Teachers are off during the  Winter Holiday. Last minute requests cannot be honored! 

 

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 TRANSCRIPT ORDERING PROCEDURES:

• The OPHS Counselors must meet with students before they submit their first transcript order. This is to insure transcripts are being ordered correctly, and to make sure they aren't being ordered for schools that do not require them.  Once the student’s counselor has reviewed the process with them and signed off on the first order, it is not necessary to get  approval for subsequent orders. 
  Most private/independent colleges and universities will require an official high school transcript (though 6 semesters) as part of their application process. 
• Most UC & CSU's campuses do not require transcripts at the time you apply. However, CSU's have begun situationally asking for them so you should always double-check to make sure! 
• Most Junior Colleges will require an official high school transcript as part of their application process. 
• Many scholarship applications will also require an official transcript.
• February will be the month when most private/independent schools require students to send Mid-Year Grade reports (i.e. 7th semester transcripts).  Some state schools may also request transcripts at this time if they are seeking supplemental information. For those schools who will require them you should pre-order them and submit your requests at the same time you bring in all of your materials with the "Counselor's Application Checklist".
• Once you commit to attend a school you will be asked to send a final (8 semester) transcript to that school!

For more information about ordering transcripts go to the following link: http://www.oakparkusd.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=1130

Check the “colleges I’m applying to” page in Naviance to determine what kind of document transmission format your schools uses.

• Please check the following web link to view the list of destinations that accept electronic transmission of documents: http://naviance.docufide.com/general/edocs_destinations If your school/destination is on this list make sure you have added it to your list of “active applications” in the “colleges” section of Naviance. Note: you must still pay for electronically submitted transcripts.
• If this transcript is for the NCAA please make sure you have added the NCAA to your list of “active applications” in the “colleges” section of Naviance, and provide your clearinghouse registration number below.
• If your school or destination is not on the naviance.docufide list then you may either provide a stamped pre-addressed envelope to the Registrar, or we will put the transcript in a sealed envelope for you to pickup and mail yourself. Please review the options below, and indicate which your prefer on the Transcript Request form.

 

Download/Print the form below, complete it and take it with you to the Student Store to pay for your transcripts.

 

Seniors, for initial transcript orders this form is part of your required "Counselor's Meeting." Your counselor must review and sign-off on your transcript requests before you take the form to the Student Store to pay.

Click Here to Print Transcript Request Form in PDF
 

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TO COMPLETE A COLLEGE SEARCH IN NAVIANCE    college research- Under this bar you will find a range of state-of-the-art research tools to help students find the right schools for them. SuperMatch™ college search - lets you search for your best college match based on 23 criteria. Click on a search option, such as "Tuition and Fees," to enter your preferences. For a more accurate match, tell us how important the criteria are to your search-kinda, very, or must have-by clicking the radio buttons. Results update in real time as you enter your preferences, showing a percentage match for each school. You don't have to fill in every search option, but the more you tell us, the more accurate your results may be. To learn more about a school, click its name. The expanded view will explain the percentage score and also provide ways to connect with the school. College Search - is the link where students can perform an advanced search for colleges using criteria that matter most to them.  Select factors in any or all of the categories to help narrow down a list of colleges that match your interests.  At the end of each page, you can either click Show Matches to generate a list OR click Next to continue to pick more factors. You will notice that the number of schools that matches your criteria constantly appears near the top of the page as you move through the selections.  If you end up with too many schools on your list and you need to narrow your list, simply select more factors.  You should use the Previous button at the bottom of the page if you want to go back to earlier pages/factors.  On the other hand, if you end up with too few schools, go back and deselect some of your factors.  In order to save your list of colleges, you must save each one.  To do this, click the pick link next to that school on your list of generated schools.  That school will show up in the Hand-Picked List box.  Once you’ve selected all of the schools from your college search that you want to save, click the Add to My Colleges button directly under the box labeled Hand-Picked List box. College Match - This tool will allow you to use historical GPA and test score information about students from OPHS and their college applications to match you with colleges that you may want to consider adding to your list.  Please note that there are many factors which can affect admissions decisions and the results of this search do NOT guarantee in any way whether or not you will be accepted at a particular college. If a particular college never appears in the results, it may be because no one from Oak Park has ever applied to it.  College Compare – this tool allows you to compare average grade point averages and test scores for accepted students from OPHS at up to ten colleges. School averages are displayed in green when your number is higher and in red when your number is lower. Your PSAT score, if available, has been converted to the equivalent SAT score and compared to the average single SAT score of an accepted student.  The column labeled "Accept" shows the number of students accepted out of the number of students that applied. College Resources - this link has a comprehensive range of resources on the following topics: College and Careers, Financial Aid, Test Preparation, College Athletics, and the Military. Scattergrams – this amazing tool allows you to visually see how you compare to other OPHS students who have applied to these colleges based on your grade point average and ACT or SAT score. Acceptance history & college maps – Check out these links to see how many OPHS students have applied, been admitted, and are now attending specific colleges and universites around the United States.  Naviance has historical GPA and test score information going back to the OPHS class of 2009. We also have comprehensive statistics going back to 2008 at the following hyperlink on our website: Senior Post Graduation Surveys Enrichment programs - Students should look forward to the summer as an opportunity to pursue interesting, challenging summer courses, or internships, jobs, travel or other engaging activities. These are important components to a student’s resume and there is a huge array of options available to students. To help you find the right opportunity, check out the wide range of programs posted at this link. The most reputable and useful have been linked to this page. My colleges - As you find colleges that interest you, you will add them to your personal list and begin to research the schools in more detail in this section. Colleges I'm Thinking about is the section where you save colleges initially while you research them before deciding to apply, or not. Colleges I'm Applying to is the section you move the colleges to that you've actually decided to apply to. Once you have moved schools to this category section Naviance will help you track the status of all the application milestones for each college. OPHS COUNSELOR'S SENIOR COLLEGE TASK LIST: What I need to do to prepare for the College Application process BEFORE I see my Counselor. Complete the following tasks and mark them complete in Naviance as you finish them in Naviance. You can access the Counselor's Task List by clicking on the 'About Me" Tab, and then clicking on the "task" link. Search for enrichment programs, due date: 8/31/13 Add career clusters to my list, due date: 9/30/13 Add careers to my list, due date: 9/30/13 Add colleges to my list, due date: 9/30/13 Attend college visits, due date: 9/30/13 Build Resume, due date: 9/30/13 Complete Career Cluster Finder, due date: 9/30/13 Complete Career Interest Profiler, due date: 9/30/13 Complete Do What You Are, due date: 9/30/13 Complete Game Plan survey, due date: 9/30/13 Complete SuperMatch™ college search, due date: 9/30/13 Complete college search, due date: 9/30/13 Post PSAT score(s), due date: 9/30/13 Post SAT Scores, due date: 9/30/13 Post SAT Subject Test Scores, due date: 9/30/13 Post your AP scores, due date: 9/30/13A Post your ACT scores, due date: 9/30/13 Register with the Common Application & complete the FERPA waiver in Naviance., due date: 9/30/13 Respond to the Counselor's Recommendation Questionnaire, due date: 9/30/13 Respond to the Teacher's Recommendation Questionnaire, due date: 9/30/13 Order Transcripts, due date: 10/31/13 Send my SAT/ACT Score Reports to my Colleges, due date: 10/31/13 Apply to college, due date: 11/30/13 Scholarship search, due date: 12/31/13 Apply for scholarships, due date: 1/31/14 Submit the FAFSA, due date: 1/31/14 Submit the Cal Grant GPA Verification, due date: 2/28/14  SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR COUNSELOR  After completing this Task List - Make an appointment with your counselor, no later than: 10/31/2013!       Do's , and Don'ts for Online Applicants!  Do… take the online tour. Before you start your application, walk through each step of the application on the virtual tour most online application sites now provide. When available, it's also a good idea to download a PDF version of the application to use as a worksheet before inputting your application online. Do… create a user name and password that you’ll remember easily. Record it and keep it in a safe place. Do...disclose your  your (SSN) Social Security Number in college applications and to the College Board! Your SSN is one of the critical items colleges use to match your applications to your SAT and/or ACT scores. Your college applications, the College Board & the ACT are all secure websites. So, as long as your computer has a functioning anti-virus program, and you are using a secure computer connection (i.e. not using the Wi-Fi connection at Starbucks), you should be fine.SSN. There is a great deal of warranted paranoia about identity theft online these days. However, your college applications and the College Board are some of the few places where you should Do... disable pop-up blockers in order to view the online instructions that will be displayed in pop-up windows. Do… use the correct browser. Most online applications functions only with Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher when using a Windows operating system. Or for Macintosh users: Mozilla/Firefox, Chrome or Safari. These online applications are highly secure; so older browsers are not usually equipped to handle the necessary level of encryption. Do... enable Java Script. Most online applications also use JavaScript web page functionality. Make sure JavaScript is enabled on your browser. Do... check your e-mail service's spam or junk mail settings. Make sure that you have set your e-mail service so that it will not block e-mail from the colleges you are applying to! Don't... use an overly cute or suggestive e-mail name. You want them to think of you as being intelligent and mature! Do . . . . be very cautious about what you have posted online (i.e. Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, MySpace, blogs etc.... Colleges and employers now routinely review these as part of their background checks! Do… follow directions and complete all steps. On each page and in every pop-up, scroll to the bottom to avoid missing any information. Don’t… forget to save your work. You usually have no more than 40 minutes per Web page before you’ll be timed out. Whenever you save an entry or move to a new page, your work is automatically stored, but if you plan to leave your application for any length of time — to go grab a snack or answer the phone — use the save/logout feature to store your application, then log back in. Don’t… compose your personal statement online. Take time to compose it in a word-processing application, such as Microsoft Word, save it as a text file, and then copy and paste it into the appropriate boxes in the online application. Do... print out copies of your personal statement to cross-check your work with your parents, counselor or an instructor. Do... carefully review the summary page. Look for any instance where it says, “no information added,” and if you didn’t intend to leave that area blank, click “modify” to return to the step where you can fill it in. Don’t... be afraid to ask for help. If you have technical difficulties, don't be afraid to ask the, "Help Desk," "Technical Support," or "Contact" links. Do... click “Submit Application” when you’ve finished. Your application won’t be sent to the University until you do. Do... print out your receipt and keep it so you will have a record of your application id number and a complete summary of your application.

Online College Application Sites:  AICCUMentor™ offers total access to information and admissions applications for degree granting independent colleges and universities within California. The student is responsible for the standard fee charged by a college or university upon submitting an application for admission, but otherwise, Mentor™ systems are provided free of charge. It can be accessed at: http://aiccumentor.org/   Online through the College Board.  Just Point, click, your done! It's as Easy as 1, 2, 3: Online applications make applying to college easy. You can complete almost every part of an application (even the essay) on your computer -- no pencils, typewriters, or white-out! More than 300 well-known colleges and universities participate. If you see the Apply link, an application is available. There is no charge for this College Board service, but you will be responsible for any application fees from the respective institutions. It can be accessed at: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/apply/index.html   The CCC Online Application Center gives students one place to begin the application process to any California Community college. It can be accessed at:www.cccapply.org/AdmissionApp/   CollegeNET, Inc.  is the world's leading 'virtual plumber' for higher education internet transactions. For your convenience they provide over 1500 customized Internet admissions applications built for college and university programs. When applying to more than one program you save redundant typing since common data automatically travels from form to form. It can be accessed at: http://www.collegenet.com/    The Common Application is accepted by 488 independent colleges and universities. Many schools accept it as the sole application document, while others may still require a supplemental form of their own to complete the application process. The concept is simple: Students complete one Common Application and send it to any of the participating colleges. To access the Common Application go to: http://www.commonapp.org/   The California State University (CSU) system has established a system wide homepage that provides hotlinks to all CSU campus homepages. School comparisons by region, SAT/ACT scores, major, and GPA are available.  CSU applications can also be submitted this year through this site! It can be accessed at http://www.csumentor.edu/     EDU, Inc. has been developed to augment the marketing and recruitment efforts of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and to increase the number of educational opportunities for students nationwide. The use of the EDU, Inc. Common Black College Application creates the possibility for students to potentially receive acceptance letters, financial aid packages, and scholarship offers from several different colleges. Please note that all colleges represented by EDU, Inc. give this application the same consideration as their institutional form. It can be accessed  at: http://eduinconline.com/eduweb/ Embark.com has been a leading provider of online college admissions services since 1995. With their online application and Application Manager system, you manage all your applications in one powerful, easy-to-use system. Nurture your applicant relationships and realize true efficiencies throughout your admissions process. It can be accessed at: http://www.embark.com/Default.aspx   SENDedu is a secure, free, online document transfer service for students and high school counselors to send supporting documents to more than 100 partnering colleges and universities. This service provides a secure, organized space for counselors to manage and track the submission of documents for their students. For more information go to: https://sendedu.org/   The University of California (UC) has established the following site for all electronic application/admission information for the UC system on the Internet.  Contains hotlinks to all UC campus websites, High School “a-g” lists as well as Junior College Transfer Agreements. It can be accessed at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/   The Universal College Application is a new alternative to the Common Application. It has been adopted by many highly selective universities such as: Clark, Duke, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Washington University in St. Louis and many more. For more information go to:http://www.universalcollegeapp.com/