September 2021: Senior Updates

Thank you to all the parents who joined us both in person virtually for College Information Night for Parents of Seniors!  If you weren’t able to join us (or if you were and want to review what we said), the PowerPoint we presented and the Zoom recording is located in the college counseling seniors group on MySevern.

We anticipate more than 100 colleges will visit either virtually or in person this year.  It is important that your senior register for these visits in Naviance so they receive the Zoom link.  Colleges are still tracking demonstrated interest so students should attend the virtual visit of any college to which they plan to apply, in addition to colleges they are still researching. 

Planning to miss school to visit a college?  If so, please be sure to have your student pick up a “Permission to Visit a College Campus” form the College Counseling Office.

If you are planning to apply for financial aid (and even if you are thinking of applying or don’t know if you should apply for financial aid), please plan on attending the virtual AIMS Financial Aid Night on Tuesday, September 28. Chad Spencer from Davidson will walk us through how colleges assess a family’s financial need and construct financial aid packages to meet that need.  You will also learn about the various forms that are required, how to access those forms, and how to use a college’s Net Price Calculator to get an estimate of what a year at that school would cost. Space is limited so register in advance for this webinar!

On October 1, the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa and the CSS Profile https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/ will open.  If your child will need federal loans for college or you will need a Parent PLUS loan, you MUST complete the FAFSA.  Certain colleges and universities also require the College Board’s CSS Profile, so check with the respective schools to see if you need to fill that out as well.

College counselors are meeting individually with each senior during the months of September and October to help students finalize their college lists, work on their applications and make edits to their personal statements and supplemental essays.