Incoming Seniors: Summer To-Do List


College Applications season goes very fast, and summer is a great time to get a head start on application activities! Please read below and contact Ms. Saurine with any questions you have.


Letters of Recommendation (LOR) Survey

Be sure you have your survey completed in Scoir for your recommenders. You will request letters through Scoir. If someone from outside Bishop Chatard is writing you a letter (like a coach or boss), they can send their letter directly to Mrs. Saurine to add to your Scoir profile. It is appropriate to ask (in person!) a teacher before the end of the school year if you know who you want to ask. You can wait until August if you are unsure who you want to ask. We suggest starting with one teacher and then wait to see if you have any schools that require more. Remember, you get one letter from Ms. Saurine too!


August 8 & 9: Mandatory Application Meetings – during seminar

At these meetings, we will create your Common Application accounts for applications – you do not need to do that this summer! Applications don’t open for you until August 1, 2024.


Athletes & College

If you plan on playing college athletics at the Division I or II level, you need to have a NCAA Eligibility Account to make sure you are eligible. Please do this before the end of junior year if you haven’t already. There are three types of accounts, you want “Option 3: Academic and Amateurism Certification Account.” It costs $100. Remember, you are not accepted to a school just because a coach is talking to you. You need to be accepted to a school AND be eligible with the NCAA.


Entrance Exam Status

Be sure you are happy with your SAT score or have a plan to sign up and retake it if you plan on submitting your scores as part of your applications or if your colleges require scores. The Saturday SAT is offered June 1st, August 24th and October 4th. I recommend the June 1st or August 24th tests. Students are in charge of signing up for Saturday SAT’s. If a school is test-optional, I recommend submitting scores if your scores fall in the Middle 50% for that school/program; you can wait until September to send these if you choose. Please note, students are in charge of sending their scores to colleges. Some schools allow students to self-report through their portals (last year, IU and Purdue were two of those schools) but some schools require official score reports sent through College Board (last year Ball State and Dayton were two of those schools). If you apply to a school indicating you want test scores considered as part of your application, your application is considered incomplete until the schools receive them. Be sure you know how they want scores reported. You are welcome to take the ACT as well but that is not required; colleges don’t have a preference.


Personal Email

Know what email you will use for applications. Consider making an email just for college and scholarships. Do NOT use your BCHS email for applications — it does not work for email outside of BCHS.


Scoir Profile

Be sure your Scoir profile is completed. Your legal name in your Scoir profile needs to match your legal name on college applications. Your personal email on Scoir needs to match your personal email on the Common Application (the main college application website we use). Scoir is what I use to send your transcripts, letters of recommendation, Secondary School Reports and the BCHS School Profile. I do NOT send any other parts of your application. YOU send your application through Common App or the College website. You send official SAT scores through College Board.

Resources


Parents

Create a SCOIR account and ask your student to add you as a parent in their profile. There you can assess and fill in the ‘Parent Brag Sheet’ which teachers filling out letters of recommendation will be able to see.


Lilly Endowment Scholarship BCHS Nomination Application

BCHS can nominate 2 students from Marion Country and 2 students from Hamilton County for the Lilly Endowment Scholarship. This nomination must occur in the first two weeks of school, so if you want to be considered for this award, you need to fill out the BCHS nomination form in late July/early August. Keep an eye out for this nomination form in July in the parent newsletter and in your student email!


Scholarships

Start looking! Some colleges have a separate scholarship application for their institutional aid. Check your college websites to see what that looks like for your schools. Some schools give you automatic merit scholarship consideration based on your admissions application but there are often additional scholarships to apply for by November 1st. Consider making an account on GoingMerry, RaiseMe and/or Fastweb to find general scholarships you might qualify for. The FAFSA (free application for federal student aid) opens in October of senior year which will help you qualify for federal student aid, state aid and institutional aid. We will have a FAFSA filing help night in November.


Save the Date: Sept. 24 – College Financial Aid Night at BCHS


  • Follow @BCHSCollegeCounselor on ‘X’ (Twitter) for updates or Instagram at @BCHSCollege
  • Check the College & Career Roadmap on the BCHS website for a timeline of college/career items
  • Update your ‘my colleges’ tab in SCOIR as you apply to schools
  • Email asaurine@bishopchatard.org with any questions!
Visit the College & Career Roadmap