CRC Connection

If your plans change over the summer, please email our registrar, Mrs. Roleck, at jacqueline.roleck@d128.org. She can help you send your final transcript to your new college.

For important information, including how to contact our CLC rep over the summer, please see the link below.

TIPS FROM YOUR CRC:

• This article on How to Read Your Financial Aid Letter may be helpful, along with this sample financial aid award.

• Make sure you understand the different kinds of federal loans: subsidized vs. unsubsidized, and Parent PLUS loans. Colleges often offer substantial PLUS loans to "fill the gap" between what your family can afford and their total cost of attendance--be cautious when considering a PLUS loan.

• If you are offered work-study (a campus job), consider taking it!

• Utilize ISAC's Financial Aid Award Comparison worksheet and SchooLinks College Financing tool to determine your out-of-pocket cost at each college.

• If appropriate, consider appealing for more financial assistance.

• Questions? Contact our ISAC financial aid expert, Carlos Morales, at (847)-309-8820 or carlos.morales@illinois.gov .

• FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) Application

• Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid - this allows undocumented students and transgender students to qualify for Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants to attend eligible in-state colleges and universities, and career education programs.

DATE: Monday, August 3, 2026

TIME: Tentatively scheduled for 8:00-1:00pm

LOCATION: VHHS ARC

The Class of 2027 is invited to our College App & Essay Workshop led by college admission counselors at VHHS. This all day workshop for VHHS Juniors will include:

• The application process overview and breakdown of parts of the application

• Reviewing and discussing college application examples--what happens after you hit "submit"

• Sample essay prompts and the do's & don'ts

• Brainstorming exercises

• Time to draft your essay

• Individual conferences with a college admission counselor

Vernon Hills High School students can join any or all of the live online courses listed below:

Workshop #1 - How to Write a Personal Statement

• June 1, 3, 5, 8 & 10 from 12:00-1:30pm and 6:00-7:30pm
• Note that June 8 & 10 are personal statement review days. You will have a chance to receive a live free review from Ethan Sawyer during these sessions.

Workshop #2 - How to Write a Personal Statement

• June 15, 17, 19, 22 & 24 from 12:00-1:30pm and 6:00-7:30pm
• Note that June 22 & 24 are personal statement review days. You will have a chance to receive a live free review from Ethan Sawyer during these sessions.

Workshop #3 - University of California Insight Questions Crash Course

• July 13, 15 & 16 from 5:00-7:00pm
• Note that July 16th is an application material review day. You will have a chance to receive a live free review from Ethan Sawyer during the session.

Workshop #4 - College Application & Supplemental Essays Crash Course

• August 5 from 2:00-3:00pm
• August 26 from 5:30-7:00pm

Note that both personal statement workshops and their respective morning and evening sessions will cover the same material. Attend the one that works best for you. Syllabi, Zoom links, CYOA Tool, UC PIQ Tool & and additional dashboard module content for each workshop will be released mid-May. Updates & reminders regarding programming will be emailed to your school email by the College Essay Guy team.

Here’s how to register:

1. Check your school email. All juniors received welcome email messages from College Essay Guy (CEG) on Friday, March 20th.
2. Search your inbox for ‘College Essay Guy’ and open the message titled ‘Your New College Essay Guy Account’. This email contains your welcome message and your username and password for the summer workshop access.

Quick info on College Essay Guy:

• Ethan wrote the current bestselling book on the personal statement, College Essay Essentials

• He’s well-regarded in the college admissions field and is considered one of the go-to resources on college essays

• His website has hundreds of free resources for applying to college

• He has a cool podcast!

• Utilize SchooLinks (Log in with your VHHS Google account)

• Virtual tours can be found on individual college websites

• Virtual admission events: Check college websites and get on their email lists

• Feel free to use and manipulate THIS TEMPLATE to keep your college research organized

• Get organized! There are many different pieces to every college application, and every college has their own specific requirements. Getting this information organized is essential to your application process. You can use this template to organize application requirements for each of your colleges.

• Feel free to work on college applications when they open for the Class of 2026. We will not send official transcripts to colleges until September, but many colleges accept self-reported grades and do not require official transcripts.

• Over 1000 colleges accept the Common App, making it the most used application by VHHS Seniors. You can create a Common App account now and begin completing the “Common App” tab now. Do NOT complete any of the questions under the “My Colleges” tab until after Aug 1, 2026, when the Common App officially opens for the 2026-2027 admissions cycle. More info about this can be found here. I have also put together tutorial videos going over the different parts of the Common App, which you can find at this link.

• The Common App put together an Application Guide for students

• The folks at Collegewise put together this Common App Guide for 2025-2026.

• Summer is a great time to start working on your college essay and/or personal statement! The Common App personal statement prompts for the Class of 2027 can be found at this link.
• The College Essay Guy (aka Ethan Sawyer) is an amazing resource for seniors across the country. See the Summer College Essay Guy FREE program information above that the District is providing to the Class of 2027.

Mrs. Bellito is offering summer appointments on May 26, June 9, June 23, and July 21. Students can schedule appointments to ask any questions, get help developing their college application list, and get essay support. Appointments are for students--parents are welcome to attend, but the student MUST be present. Mrs. Bellito's summer appointments can be scheduled using this link.

Mrs. Carson will be in the CRC this summer for drop-in visits if you have any questions on the college search and application process:

• June 11, 9:00-11:00 AM
• June 24, 10:00 AM-1:00 PM
• July 30, 12:00-3:00 PM

To view testing registration dates, test score release date estimates and more, for the ACT visit act.org and for the SAT visit collegeboard.org. Please note, since the Spring of 2025, the State of Illinois offers the ACT during our School Day Testing in April.