Senior College Information

1. Log in to your Naviance account

2. Click “Colleges” tab

3. Click “College Visits”

4. Click “Register” 

5. You will receive a pass in AVP the morning of the visit

1. GATHER MATERIALS

A copy of your high school transcript In the Education section, you will enter your high school grades and current courses. Some colleges also need you to self-report your high school transcript. You can check out your Courses & Grades section to learn more.

A list of your activities, work, and responsibilities

You can share your interests and who you are outside of the classroom in the activities section. You can share information about things like work, hobbies, clubs, and community engagement. And don't forget, other responsibilities and circumstances can also be important to share. This is the place to show colleges what makes you unique!

Test scores and dates from your college entrance exams (SATs, ACTs, etc.)

You may self-report scores for standardized tests you've taken in the Testing section. Every college has different testing requirements. Some colleges will always need your test scores. Other colleges may be flexible or have a test optional policy. Be sure to check the Testing policy of the colleges on your list.

Parent/Legal guardian information

Many colleges collect this information in the Family section for demographic purposes. We will ask for your parents' occupation, employment status, and education level. If applicable, we will also ask which college(s) they attended and how many degrees they have earned.

Academic honors and achievements

The Activities section isn't the only place to show your passion and where you
excel! You will also have the chance to share any academic honors or

achievements from high school.

2. CREATE AN ACCOUNT

Create your account and choose your student type
If you haven’t yet attended college, select “first-year student” If you have college credits from dual enrollment high school courses, you should still select “first-year student” If you have already attended 1 or more colleges after graduating high school, select “transfer student”. We also have a separate transfer student guide to help you out. 

Create new login credentials. Colleges may need to contact you during the application process, so be mindful of the email address you choose. Sometimes, your high school email address may filter out these emails, so consider using a personal email address instead. When choosing an email address, be sure to use one that:
You check regularly Does not use inappropriate language You will have access to it after you graduate from high school.

Complete your registration information

We will need some basic information about you, like your name, home address, phone number, and date of birth.Be sure to use your legal name as it appears on official school documents and standardized tests. This will make sure colleges can match documents to the correct person. At the end, you will adjust your communication preferences and accept the Common App privacy policy.

Click Create account, and you’re done!

3. ADD COLLEGES

The College search section is where you will search for and add the colleges you want to apply to. If you have a school in mind, you can search for it by name.

Adding a college is easy! You can add a college using the Add+ button in the search results list. You can also select a college and add it by using the Add to My Colleges button on its information screen.

Once you've added colleges, you can see them on your Dashboard and in My Colleges. Keep in mind that you can only add up to 20 colleges. You may adjust your list of colleges at any time. Once you've submitted, you will not be able to remove those schools from your My Colleges list.

* While some colleges may charge an application fee, others have no fee to apply. Many will also offer fee waivers under certain circumstances, including financial need, veteran status, and other qualifying factors.

Fee Waiver

A request to the college to remove the application fee. Using either the Common App fee waiver, which your counselor must confirm, or a college-specific fee waiver, you will not be required to pay the fee to submit your application.

4. ENGAGE SUPPORTERS

All colleges need things like official school forms. Many colleges will also ask for letters of recommendation.

Counselors, teachers, and recommenders will submit these kinds of forms on your behalf. Here are the types of recommenders you can invite in the Common App.

Counselors

Counselors share their perspective using the context of the entire graduating class. They also submit the School Report and transcripts.

Parents

Parents will only need to submit a form if you apply using a college's early decision deadline. They will fill out part of your early decision agreement.

Teachers

Teachers give a firsthand account of your intellectual curiosity and creative thought.

Other Recommenders

Other recommenders are usually non academic recommenders like coaches, employers, and peers. They give insight into your interests and activities outside of the classroom.

Advisors

Advisors do not submit any forms. They track and check in on your application progress.

5. UNDERSTANDING REQUIREMENTS

It's important to stay organized as you work on your applications.Each college needs you to complete My Common Application and add your counselor. Beyond that, their applications vary. Each college can determine its unique requirements.

Here are some places where you can find each college's specific requirements:

Explore Colleges

Each college's Explore Colleges profile provides lots of information about the college. You can find details on application information, campus culture, scheduling visits, and more.

My Colleges

In My Colleges or College search, you can learn more by viewing a school's college information page. Here, you can find the requirements for testing, writing, deadlines, and more. 

Requirements Grid

The requirements grid is a comprehensive PDF that lists all the colleges that use the Common App and their requirements. You can also find the grid within the application.

Writing Requirements by College

We maintain a list of all Common App colleges and their essay prompts. This resource will help as you begin planning your essays. For more help on planning essays, check out our essay planning worksheet.

6. PLAN ESSAYS

Sometimes writings essays can feel like the biggest part of your application. With a little bit of planning, organizing, and drafting, we can help you make this task more manageable.

As you work on your applications you can find essays or short answer questions in three sections:

Common App Personal Essay

Colleges can either make the personal essay optional or required. In the writing section of My Common Application, you will see a table that lists each college's requirements.

College-specific questions

Many colleges include short answer questions or essay prompts within this section. You can find specific information about each college's individual writing prompts here.

Writing supplements

Some colleges use a separate writing supplement. Not all colleges have a writing supplement. Some colleges only request this supplement based on your answers to other questions. You can find more information about writing supplements in My Colleg7.0 \\SUBMIT YOUR
APPLICATION

7. Submission is a three-step process:
   1) Reviewing your application.
   2) Paying the application fee (if applicable).
   3) Submitting your application.

How to Start the FAFSA

1. Go to: https://fafsa.ed.gov – OPENS to all student/parent October 1. 
2. Click on “START A NEW FAFSA” (it is a green box with white lettering)
3. Select: “Enter the student’s information” ** It will ask you for your child’s first name, last name, Soc Security #, and date of birth – then click next
4. From here, you will be asked some questions about your child, asked to set up some challenge questions, create an email, username, and password. REMEMBER THIS PORTION IS YOUR STUDENT’S INFORMATION – NOT THE PARENT (that comes later in the process)   

Hints: Do not use a school email address for your child. It will not be active after they graduate.

• You also have the option to set up a recovery phone number so in the event that you can’t remember your password they can text you with instructions.

           Within 2-3 business days, your child will receive a confirmation email which verifies their personal information from the gov’t. The email/username and password will become their FSA ID. You will need this information in order to get back into your account.

5. Once you have received confirmation that the information you provided has been verified, you will log into your child’s account using their FSA ID

           (If you have multiple students graduating, you will need to repeat the above steps for each child)

           From this point, you have the option to continue working through the process. It tells you step by step what to do. You will eventually get to the parent screen and set up a unique email/username and password (your own FSA ID). THESE MUST BE DIFFERENT THAN THE STUDENT!!

Please allow yourself plenty of time to complete the entire application.

Helpful hints:

• Things to have with you when you are ready to complete everything:
  • tax return
  • Something to write down your username, password, challenge questions, safe key (this is an extra thing you can set up that works like a password to help you get back into your account)
  • If you know specifically which college(s) you want your financial aid information sent to, you will need the college’s specific code. These can usually be found on the college’s website. There is a search function as well if you don’t know what it is that will assist you in finding it.

Click here to visit the FAFSA website!

How to request a Letter of Recommendation through Naviance

How to log into Naviance Student:

1. Go to https://www.gocreek.org/o/bhs or https://student.naviance.com/beavercreekhs

Username is: BHS student ID number

Password is: lastname.firstname (lowercase / no spaces – must be 10 characters so if too short add 1’s to end)

Click here to login to NAVIANCE

How to Request a Letter of Recommendation through NavianceStudent:

1. Log in to your Naviance account 
2. Click the "Colleges tab"
3. Click "Colleges" Home 
4. Click "Letters of Recommendation" in the "Apply to Colleges" section
5. Click "Add Request"
6. Select a Beavercreek City School teacher from the drop-down menu
7. Select the schools you want to receive the recommendation
8. Click "Submit"

Some tips for requesting a letter of recommendation include: 

• Ask The Teacher in person first
• Provide details, such as a resume or brag sheet
• Ask early to give the teacher enough time to meet your deadline
• Thank the teacher
• Follow up before the due date

Questions: Please feel free to contact Mrs Bellomy at michelle.bellomy@beavercreek.k12.oh.us or 937-458-2470

Types of scholarships:

• Need based - awarded based on financial need - usually based on FAFSA -they are in the process of updating their process and it will not fully be available prior to December.
• Merit based - based on performance - academic, athletic, etc
• Misc – there are a great deal of scholarships just based on random criteria (i.e left handed, etc)

Resources for scholarships:

• BHS Counseling website - updated as we are notified of scholarships
• Colleges / Universities - once you have been accepted you may qualify for some of the scholarships
• Local scholarships - application in Spring

Helpful websites:

appily      CollegeBoard     Dayton Foundation     Fast Web       Next Student      

 

Scholarships: Scholarship Search          Uknigo: Scholarship Experts         Kinetcharbo.com: Explore Scholarships

Other specific scholarships BHS might be involved in (nominations, filling out forms, etc)

• Daughter of the American Revolution
• Franklin B. Walter
• Military (ROTC, etc)

Other helpful information when applying for scholarships:

• Never pay for a scholarship search site - there are plenty of free resources available
• Be prepared to dedicate a significant portion of your time – scholarship applications can be a tedious process 

Information to have available when completing scholarship applications:

• Academic Info
  • Current school info - name of school, expected graduation date
  • Transcripts
  • Recommendation letter
  • College choices
  • Intended major or area of study
  • GPA, AP classes, honors
  • Six digit HS Code (BHS is 365660)

 

• Financial Info:
  • Parent Income
  • FAFSA
  • Completed student SAR (student aid report) from FAFSA

• Personal Info:
  • Demographics - name, address, phone, DOB, parents’ name, employment
  • Email address - one that you check regularly (DO NOT USE your school email address)
  • Personal statements - list of goals (education, career, personal, etc)
  • Resume

• Misc. Info:
  • School activities - extracurricular, organizations, clubs, sports
  • Community activities - volunteer, community or public service, # of hours
  • Employment - internships, etc
  • List of awards / honors