Senior Year
Senior year is finally here, and it's full of things to do to get ready for college. Use this senior
year checklist to keep track of your progress and upcoming deadlines for testing, admissions
and financial aid.
Things to do in August
1. Review your high school courses and activities. Make certain you have all of the courses required
for graduation.
Things to do in September!
Because of professionals who will be coming to help us with some of these activities they may not all be
done in exactly this order.
A. College Planning or Technical/Trade School Planning: This section will cover important steps in the
process of finding which college or vocational school can be a good fit for you.
1. Visit any colleges or technical/trade schools you may be interested in attending
2. Complete Letter of Recommendation Information and Request Form (See the form below)
3. Prepare for when you will be asked to interview for a job/college/scholarship award.
4. Senior Year Checklist
5. Prepare Final Resume.
6. Prepare a sample essay to use on applications.
7. Prepare list of 5-10 colleges interested in attending. Rank them in order of interest
importance.
8. Register for ACT or SAT tests. Request fee waivers from the counselor – you are allowed
two for the ACT in your high school career.(Make certain you know what colleges you will
be applying to require as a score for admission.)See deadlines on Test Dates
9. Apply to colleges of choice. Meet with college admissions representatives visiting your
school. (Announcements of visitors will be made in advance. You must sign up to attend.)
10. Check the list of available scholarships Dexter Website. More will be added periodically –
so keep checking. Make a list of deadlines and requirements for scholarships.
11. Check other sources (online) for scholarships. See other websites to check.
12. Request recommendations needed for applications or scholarships. (at least two weeks in
advance of deadline)
13. Keep track of scholarships and schools you are applying for on the Scholarship Information
Form
14. Look into financial aid sources:
a. Financial Aid – FAFSA – should be completed in January or February
b.
c. Scholarships
1. Financial Need
2. Talent (ENMU)
3. Academic
4. Corporate
d. Grants
1. Pell Grants
2. SEOG – Supplemental Equal Opportunity Grants
3. Research Grants
4. Fellowships
e. Loans
1. Based on financial need
2. Federal Stafford Loans and Carl Perkins Loans
3. Various loans to parents of students
f. College Work-Study Programs
1. Based on financial need
2. Provides jobs on the college campus for qualified students
g. Advanced Placement (AP)
1. Exams taken at the end of the junior and/or senior year in high school that can
give college credit for classes.
h. CLEP tests
1. College tests that can be taken to test out of certain college classes.
Things to do in October and November
1. Attend college fair.
2. Meet with college representatives that visit your school.
3. Choose which schools you want to apply. Be aware of deadlines. Some colleges have a December 1st
deadline or earlier. Keep in touch with your counselor during this process to know what role your high
school plays in this process.
4. Prepare your college applications. Make certain to attach the application fee or fee waiver. Find out if
letters of recommendation are required and request those early!!
5. Prepare Essays that are required on application. (See exercise on writing the college application essay
below.)
Things to do in December:
1. Gather the data needed for the FAFSA. Must be completed to qualify for financial aid from almost all
colleges. Some colleges have additional forms for you to complete.
2. Send in all application forms on time.
Things to do in January:
1. File your FAFSA.
o Parents – get your taxes filed as soon as possible. FAFSA cannot be completed until this is done.
o Attend College Goal Sunday for assistance in filing. (This will be held in the High School
Library)
Things to do in February
1. Check to see if your mid-year transcripts have been sent to the schools to which you have applied.
Things to do in March
1. Look for your Student Aid Report (SAR) in the mail. Pay particular attention to the Expected Family
Contribution (EFC) and discuss it with your parents and family.
Things to do in April
1. Compare the costs of your preferred schools.
2. Make your decision by May 1.
3. Make certain your application to your chosen school is complete by contacting the financial aid office.
4. Complete the dorm/housing form you receive from the college you selected. (The sooner the better your
chance of getting the dorm you prefer.)
Things to do in May/June
1. Send any required deposits
2. Request information from the college you chose regarding summer orientation activities and registration
if you have not received it by now.
3. Graduation!!!
Letter of Recommendation Request Form
Students: Some of the people you are asking for recommendations may not know you very well. This form will
provide them with valuable information about you. Fill in the information, and then give a copy of this completed
form to the recommending person at least two weeks before the deadline. Print clearly or type this form.
Student’s Name: _____________________________________________________ Today’s Date:_______________
Phone: __________________________________ Grade: ________ Date letter is to be completed:_______________
Colleges to which I am applying:_____________________________________________________________________
Award(s)/Scholarship(s) for which I am applying:_______________________________________________________
_____ Please use the form from the institution/company/organization I have provided for you.
_____ Please write a generic letter (“To Whom It May Concern”) that may be used again.
_____ Please write the letter specifically to (include name, title of the person, and address): ________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
List extra- curricular activities and grade(s) of participation: Example: Choir – 10, 11, 12
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ ______________________________________
List your community/volunteer activities and grad/year. Example: Church Youth Group – 9, 10, 11, 12
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ ______________________________________
List any awards or honors you have received, or leadership positions you have served in, and which grade:
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ ______________________________________
List work experiences, travel experiences, or unique educational experiences you have had, and when:
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ ______________________________________
List your interests and hobbies:
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ ______________________________________
What do you consider to be some of your strengths as a person and student:
______________________________________ ______________________________________
______________________________________ ______________________________________
Other information that might be helpful in writing a letter – such as obstacles you have overcome, etc.
12th Grade Resume Builder
Schools Clubs/Activities
Name of Club or Activity Responsibility/Participation
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
Honors and Awards
Name of Award In Recognition of:
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
Community Activities/ Community Service
Name of Organization/Activity Responsibility
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
Work Experience
Name of Company/Person worked for Job/Duties
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
____________________________________ ___________________________________
If appropriate, after you have been involved in helping someone or working for someone and the activity
is over, ask the person in charge if you can use him or her as a reference in the future (for a
recommendation when you need one), or ask for a letter of recommendation now. For those who are
willing to give recommendations later, put their names below:
Name Business or Organization Phone Number___________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Sample Resume: Below is an example that will help you set up your own resume:
Jane Doe
125 Rocky Road
Ice Cream Mountain, NM 00000
(505) 123-4567
Education
Dexter High School Dexter, NM GPA: 4.0 Class rank: 1 out of 1
Performance and Character Traits/Qualifications
Dependable and punctual
Team player
Excellent work ethic
Honest
Computer literate – Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, Publisher
School Clubs/Organizations
National Honor Society – III, IV
Student Government – I, II, III, IV
Art Club – I, II, III, IV
Spanish Club – I, II, III, IV
Extra-Curricular Activities
School Play – “Music Man” – Stage Crew – I
Basketball Team – Junior Varsity – I, II
Varsity – III, IV
Yearbook Staff Member – II, III
Community Involvement
Homeless Shelter – Food Drive – I, II, III
Homeless Shelter – Served Thanksgiving Dinner – I, II, III
Church Youth Group – I, II, III, IV
March-of-Dimes Walkathon – Participant – I
Work Experience
Sales Rep. – The Sporting Goods Store – 2005-2006
School Counseling Department – Student Assistant – 2006
Mowed lawns and shoveled sidewalks of neighbors and relatives – 2003-2007
Honors
National Honor Society – Inductee – 2006
Silverbelle Student of the Month – October 2006
Varsity Basketball Offensive Player of the Year – 2006
Junior Varsity Most Improved Basketball Player – 2005
Language Arts Academic Achievement Award – 2004
References
Mr. Manuel Sport – The Sporting Goods Store – Manager – (505) 765-4321
Mrs. Wendy Pike – DHS Counseling Department – Counseling Department Chair – (505) 987-6543
Mr. Randy Spirit – Dexter Community Church – Youth Director – (505)876-5432
WRITING THE ADMISSIONS OR SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY:
I. Review the Scholarship Essay Tips (See Below)
II. Pre-writing
a. Brainstorm your ideas by completing attached worksheet –(Brainstorming Ideas)
b. Go over Introduction to Admission Essay
c. Choose a topic (See Attached Samples)
III. Points to Remember
a. Starting your essay- Go over introduction
b. Go over tips 1-11.
c. Look over the general scholarship form for DHS and/or the admission essay requirement for the
school of your choice.
d. Choose a topic.
IV. Rough Draft
Write an attention grabbing introduction.
Writing the body of the paper.
V. Rewrite!!!!
Proofread for errors with a partner.
Scholarship and Admission Essay Tips
Taken from: http://essayinfo.com/essaays/admission_essay.php
Introduction: In many ways, scholarship and admission judges are looking for the same things.
Therefore, the following tips can be used for both types of essays. Be careful, however, to always know
your purpose.
Tip #1: Keep your essay topics fairly specific.
This will allow adequate coverage of the topic. Overly broad topics are the number one problem
according to many scholarship judges.
Once you have found a suitable and fairly specific topic, do not veer from that topic.
Meandering, unfocussed essays never impress scholarship judges. Utilize a formal outline to help
ensure your essay maintains its focus.
Tip #2: Introspection is your friend.
Provide the reader with key insights into what makes you tick. Remember that the quotes and
encyclopedia facts that work so well for research papers are ineffective for these essays.
Tip #3: Do not use lots of big words.
Help make your essay enjoyable by employing more “everyday language.” Trust us when we say
awkward use of big words will not impress your audience.
Tip #4: Employ attention-grabbing introduction.
Do yourself a favor and avoid the drab thesis statement for your opening. Your application and
scholarship essays will be read by humans. Whether you would like to believe otherwise or not,
we are all easily influenced and biased. The positive bias created by a strong attention-grabbing
introduction may be all that separates the scholarship winner from the many runner ups.
Tip #5: Adhere to word limits.
No matter what you, the writer, may think, chances are there is some extraneous material a
competent third party editor can cut from your essay.
Tip #6: Proofread your essays carefully.
No matter what, have a competent third party proof the essays on your behalf. A writer can not,
and should not, attempt to edit his or her own essays. (Even professionals employ editors!!!)
Tip #7: Don’t let essay requirements keep you from seeking scholarships.
Many college applicants are overwhelmed by the amount of writing required during the
application process. Scholarship essays can seem like the last straw. Not only are you being asked
to write yet another essay, but it has to be an essay that meets a different set of criteria.
Too often, the perceived difficulty of completing scholarship essays causes potential recipients to
pass up on otherwise attractive scholarship opportunities. Do not let this happen to you! In
reality, scholarship essays are not much different from the regular admissions essays you had to
write. You wrote essays that got you into college, right? You should be able to write a persuasive
scholarship essay too.
See the difference though? You had to write the admissions essays - - so you did. Scholarship
essays, however, are optional. You probably did not approach them with the same determination
that you felt when you attacked the admissions essays. You can overcome this barrier by focusing
on the potential reward for writing that last essay - - a scholarship, and the recognition that comes
with the award.
Tip #8: Allow plenty of time for topic selection
Give yourself time to work on your college essay. You are not going to submit a competitive
application if yhou throw together an essay at the last minute. Plan to spend at least two weeks
just to choose your topic.
As essay topic ideas come to you, write them down. Jot down some notes about each idea, too. It
doesn’t matter if your ideas do not seem brilliant at first glance. Write them down anyway. This
is part of the brainstorming process. Even half-formed ideas can grow into good ones, or lead you
to topics that turn out to be even better than tose that seemed most promising at first.
Tip #9: Customize each essay.
Ignore what anyone else says – it is to your benefit to customize each essay you submit to the
award you are seeking. If you use the sme two or three essays for all of the applications you
submit, you will ony appear to be saving a lot of time. In the end, the time you spent both on the
essays and on the applications will prove to have been completely wasted. Scholarships are at
least as competitive as college admissions. It takes a strong and persuasive essay, and one that
speaks to the purpose of the scholarship fund, to win an award.
It is much better to write a handful of highly customized, focused scholarship essays for a small
number of awards than it is to copy and paste the same essy into many different scholarship
applications.
Writing the Essay – Brainstorming for Ideas
Introduction: Scholarship essays vary dramatically in subject. However, most of them require a
recounting of personal experience. These tips will be more helpful for writing personal essays, like for
the National Merit Scholarship, than for writing academic essays.
The most important aspect of your scholarship essay is the subject matter. You should expect to devote
about 1-2 weeks simply to brainstorming ideas. To begin brainstorming subject ideas consider the
following points. From brainstorming, you may find a subject you had not considered at first.
Complete the following questions to generate some ideas:
1. What are your major accomplishments, and why do you consider them accomplishments? (Do not
limit yourself to accomplishments you have been formally recognized for since the most
interesting essays often are based onh accomplishments that may have been trite at the time but
become crucial when placed in the context of your life. This is especially true if the scholarship
committee receives a list of your credentials anyway.)
2. Does any attribute, quality, or skill distinguish you from everyone else? How did you develop this
attribute?
3. Consider your favorite books, movies, works of art, etc. Have these influenced your life in a
meaningful way? Why are they your favorites?
4. What was the most difficult time in your life, and why? How did your perspective on life change
as a result of the difficulty?
5. Have you ever struggled mightily for something and succeeded? What made you successful?
6. Have you ever struggled mightily for something and failed? How did you respond?
7. Of everything in the world, what would you most like to be doing right now? Where would you
most like to be? Who, of everyone living and dead, would you most like to be with? These
questions should help you realize what you love most.
8. Have you experienced a moment of epiphany, as if your eyes were opened to something you were
previously blind to?
9. What is your strongest, most unwavering personality trait? Do you maintain strong beliefs or
adhere to a philosophy? How would your friends characterize you? What would they write about
if they were writing your scholarship essay for you?
10. What have you done outside of the classroom that demonstrates qualities sought after by
universities? Of these, which means the most to you?
11. What are your mjost important extracurricular or community activities? What made you join
these activities? What made you continue to contribute to them?
12. What are your dreams of the future? When you look back on your life in thirty years, what would
it take for you to consider your life successful? What people, things, and accomplishments do you
need? How does this particular scholarship fit into your plans for the future?
WRITING THE ADMISSIONS ESSAY
Introduction: Essays are used to learn more about your reasons for applying to the course, university,or
company and your ability to benefit from and contribute to it. Your answers will let you state your case
more fully than other sections of the application, and provide the evaluator with better insight about you
and how you differ from the other applicants. In marginal cases, the essays are used to decide whether
an applicant will be selected. The purpose of the admissions essay is to convey a sense of your unique
character to the admissions committee. The essay also demonstrates your writing skills as well as your
ability to organize your thoughts coherently.
Sample Essay topics: There are hundreds of possible topics that you can be asked to write an essay on.
Given below are some of the more common ones.
1. What events, activities or achievements have contributed to your own self- development?
2. Describe a situation in which you had a significant responsibility and what you learned from it.
3. Describe your strengths and weaknesses in two areas: setting and achieving goals, and working
with other people.
4. Your career aspirations and factors leading you to apply to this course at this time. Describe a
challenge to which you have successfully responded. What did you learn about yourself as you
responded to this challenge? Describe a challenge you anticipate facing in any aspect of college
life. On the basis of what you learned from your earlier rfesponse, how do you expect to deal with
this challenge?
5. Describe and evaluate one experience that significantly influenced your academic interests. The
experience might be a high school course, a job, a relationship, or an extracurricular activity. Be
sure to explain how this experience led to your setting the goals you now have for yourself, and
why you think the academic program for which you are applying will help you to reach those
goals.
6. Describe your educational, personal, or career goals.
7. Role Model – If you could meet/be/have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and why?
8. Past Experience – Describe an event that has had a great impact on you and why?
9. What was your most important activity/course in high school and why?
10. Forecast important issues in the next decade, century – nationally, globally.
11. Why do you want to study at this university?
12. Tell us something about yourself, your most important activities?
13. How would your room, computer, or car describe you?
Below are some methods to brainstorm optional topic choices:
1. List all your activities for the past four years. Include school activities; awards, honors and offices
held; community services; jobs; and travel. Record major travel experiences. Note your strongest
impressions and how they affected you. If you loved the Grand Canyon, for example, write down
three specific reasons why, aside from the grandeur and beauty that everyone loves. Describe an
accomplishment that you had to struggle to achieve. Include what it was, how you tacked it, and
how it changed you.
2. Think of one or two sayings that you’ve heard again and again around your house since
childhood. How have they shaped your life? What personality traits do you value most in
yourself? Choose a few and jot down examples of how each has helped you. Think of things that
other people often say about you. Write about whether or not you agree with their assessments
and how they make you feel.
3. Brainstorm “top ten” lists in a few selected categories: favorite books, plays, movies, sports, eras
in history, famous people, etc. Review your list to see which items stand out and describe what
they’ve added to your life. Describe “regular people” who have motivated you in different ways
throughout your life. It could be someone you only met once, a third grade teacher, or a family
member or friend.
STARTING YOUR ESSAY
The most common topic assigned - - particularly if only one essay is required – is the first, “tell us about
yourself.” Since this kind of essay has no specific focus, applicants sometimes have trouble deciding
which part of their lives to write about. Beware of the chronological list of events that produces dull
reading. Remember, also, to accent the positive rather than the negative side of an experience. If you
write about the effect of a death, divorce, or illness on your life, tell about but do not dwell on your bad
luck and disappointments.
Instead, emphasize what you have learned from the experience, and how coping with adversity has
strengthened you as an individual.
Points to remember as you write:
1. Tie yourself to the college: Why are you interested in attending, and what can the institution do
for you? Be specific. Go beyond “XYZ College” will best allow me to realize my academic
potential.
2. Read the directions carefully and follow them to the letter. In other words, if the essay is supposed
to be 500 words or less, do not submit 1000 words.
3. Consider the unique features of the institution, e.g., a liberal arts college will be impressed with
the variety of academic and personal interests you might have, while an art institute would be
most interested in your creative abilities.
4. Be positive, upbeat, and avoid the negatives, e.g. I am applying to your school because I won’t be
required to take P.E. or a foreign language.
5. Emphasize what you have learned, e.g. provide more than a narration when recounting an
experience.
6. Write about something you know, something only you could write.
7. Make certain you understand the question or the topic. Your essay should answer the question or
speak directly to the given topic.
8. List all ideas. Be creative. Brainstorm without censoring.
9. Sort through ideas and prioritize. You cannot tell them everything. Be selective.
10. Choose information and ideas which are not reflected in other parts of your application. This is
your chance to supplement your application with information you want them to know.
11. Be persuasive in showing the reader you are deserving of admission. Remember your audience.
Many colleges or universities require an essay on their application form. Using the information you
have learned apply for admission to a school of your choosing.