College Counseling

SEPTEMBER

Students meet with their advisor and Fifth Form Dean to ensure the most challenging and appropriate course of study.

OCTOBER

PSAT is administered at Berkshire for all Fifth Formers.

JANUARY

College counselors are assigned to Fifth Formers.

Initial meetings with college counselor to discuss interests and goals, to review PSAT results, and to confirm each student’s standardized testing schedule through spring and fall.

College counselors assist all Fifth Formers in registering for the May SAT and April ACT.

FEBRUARY

Fifth Form Parents College Program for students and parents, with visiting college and university admissions representatives. All Fifth Formers are required to attend.

College meetings with counselor to draft an initial list of colleges to consider and research.

Practice SAT at Berkshire for students enrolled in SAT Tutorial Program.

MARCH

College and university visits and interviews strongly recommended during March vacation.

Interested Fifth Formers have the option of taking the March SAT at a test site near home; review and confirm this decision with your college counselor.

APRIL

ACT is administered at Berkshire for all Fifth Formers.

MAY

SAT is administered at Berkshire for all Fifth Formers.

SAT Subject Tests available to select students in AP courses just prior to/after the AP Exam; review and confirm this decision with your subject teacher and college counselor.

Register with NCAA Eligibility Center if an aspiring Division I or II athlete.

Students make formal requests for two teacher recommendations.

Finalize your preliminary college list.

Complete College Essay

Complete a draft of the Common Application form

JUNE

SAT Subject Test(s) for Fifth Formers as appropriate. These tests are taken at a test site near home since Berkshire is not in session. Recommended for students planning to apply to colleges or universities which require SAT Subject Tests in addition to the SAT or ACT. Review and confirm this decision with your subject teacher and college counselor.

ACT is available for interested students at a test site near home.

SUMMER

Additional college visits and interviews are strongly recommended before students return to school in September. Students continue to refine college list.

Students are encouraged to prepare for the fall SAT and/or ACT

SEPTEMBER

Individual meetings with your college counselor to recap summer visits and to review applications, essay, and any required supplements.

Sixth Form students meet regularly with their college counselor throughout the fall.

Meetings with college admissions reps who visit campus.

ACT is available at a test site near home or Berkshire.

OCTOBER

SAT (or SAT Subject Tests) is administered at Berkshire for all Sixth Formers.

ACT is administered at Berkshire for all Sixth Formers.

CSS Financial Aid PROFILE is completed by students/families likely to request financial aid.

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) opens online and is available to parents requesting financial aid for college.

FALL LONG WEEKEND

Additional college visits are recommended, especially to confirm an upcoming ED/EA application.

Final revisions and updates to college applications and supplements.

NOVEMBER

Deadline for most Early Decision (ED), Early Action (EA) applications, and all University of California applications.

SAT (or SAT Subject Tests) is administered at Berkshire for all interested Sixth Formers. Note: Only test date for Language with Listening Subject Tests.

Final college visits are encouraged during Thanksgiving Recess.

DECEMBER

SAT (or SAT Subject Tests) is administered at Berkshire for all interested Sixth Formers.

ACT is administered at Berkshire for all interested Sixth Formers.

Early Decision and Early Action decisions returned from colleges and universities.

Many Regular Decision (RD) applications submitted.

First semester grades mailed out to colleges.

JANUARY

Remaining Regular Decision (RD) applications are submitted.

Deadine for most Early Decision 2 (ED2) applications.

APRIL

Decision notifications from all remaining colleges and universities.

College and university revisit programs for accepted students.

MAY

May 1^st reply date for Sixth Formers to confirm matriculation. Enrollment deposit due.

JUNE

Final grades and transcripts mailed to colleges.

All Fifth Formers and their parents are auto-registered for Naviance Student the summer before the student’s Fifth Form year.  Parents receive an email which includes your username and initial password.

To access Naviance Student, click Naviance Student and follow these steps:

·       On the home page, enter your email (username) and password and click “Log In” 

·       Select the child (if more than one at Berkshire), and click “Go”

·       Select one of the two tabs, “about me” or “colleges”

ABOUT ME

These are sections you will find most useful on the About Me Home page:

portfolio                         Biographical and contact information for each parent.

account                         If you would like to change your password, you can do so here.

my assessments           Do What You Are

my journal                    An archive of all “Journal Entries” emailed from college counselor to student and parents as updates throughout each stage of the college process.

COLLEGES

search for colleges  

Enter the name of any college or university.  This will direct you to a list of schools under “college lookup” with each school linked to admissions information and an application history from previous Berkshire candidates.  We encourage students and parents to visit a college’s individual website via the link next to the school’s name.  The top ten overlaps for previous Berkshire applicants are available via “College Overlaps” which can help to expand a college list by considering similar schools.  Most importantly, we always direct students and parents to each school’s comprehensive admissions data (not simply the data for previous Berkshire applicants) available via the grey ADMISSIONS link, to the right of the STUDENT LIFE link.

colleges I’m thinking about

To add a college to your list: Click the heart icon next to the school’s name.  Students, parents, and counselors can build a list of colleges and universities to explore and research.  Each school is linked to the same information as outlined above, and the application type and deadlines are easily organized and accessed here.  We recommend that students initiate building the college list during their initial meetings with their college counselor in order to encourage their initiative and ownership of the college search.

compare me: In “colleges I’m thinking about,” click on individual schools to find your way to the “Overview” for each respective school on a student’s list.  This is found half way down the page and allows you to compare average GPA and test scores for accepted students from Berkshire.  The “Admission” tab found in the header, 3 spaces to the right of “Overview”, provides Berkshire student outcomes and, again, allows students to compare themselves with the admission standards at each respective school.   Each student’s final Fifth Form GPA, SAT, and ACT scores will be entered as these become available.   As many factors beyond GPA and test scores impact each student’s candidacy at an individual college or university, it is essential that students and parents regard this admissions information as one factor among many that will help guide the college search for each student.

Please follow up with your child’s college counselor if you have any questions about Naviance Student.

 

2019-2020 COMMON APPLICATION PERSONAL ESSAY

Please write an essay on a topic of your choice or on one of the options listed on the Common App website, click here. This personal essay helps us to become acquainted with you as a person and student, apart from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will also demonstrate your ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself.

Note: Your Common Application essay should be the same for all colleges. Do not customize it in any way for individual colleges. Colleges that want customized essay responses will ask for them on a supplement form.

KEYS TO AN EFFECTIVE COLLEGE ESSAY

Less is more. Write with a clear, concise, and easy-to-follow style. Use specific and vivid examples. Always remember that the best writers spend most of their time editing the words they can do without.

Be true to yourself. A personal essay is a window into your unique qualities. Be authentic. Write with your true self in mind, not an idealized version of whom you'd like to be.

Don't make a big deal out of nothing. Choose a significant experience and talk persuasively but appropriately about its impact on you.

Tell a story. The most successful college essays are simply stories well told. It's not an academic piece of writing. It's a creative piece of writing. Write with a voice that's conversational and welcoming.

Set the hook. Your first sentence and first paragraph need to sing. Remember that your essay is sitting in a stack of a hundred others. Make the admission officer "sit up" at the start of reading yours.

The brutally honest question: Could anyone else have written this essay? If the answer is yes, start over.