Counseling Newsletter

• Scholarships are starting to become available for juniors and seniors! Click here to access the list of scholarships, including some that are local!
• Representatives from over 100 Colleges, Technical Institutes, and Military Branches will visit the high school this year. Students should sign up in MAIALearning if they are interested in attending these meetings. This is a great way to network and gain valuable information about that institution.
• Approximately 730 students visited the High School Counseling Office in September.

• School counselors have been working with senior students on their post secondary planning.
• School counselors are writing letters of recommendation for seniors and are working to ensure all required documents are submitted to support their college applications.
• Freshman school counselors are facilitating 9th grade 1:1 check in meetings.
• School counselors are hosting information sessions for seniors once a week during ART. Seniors are encouraged to drop in as needed.

You are invited to the annual SOUTH HILLS COLLEGE & CAREER FAIR hosted by the South Hills Consortium. Bethel Park High School will be hosting the event on Tuesday, October 6th from

6:00 - 8:30PM.

With 150+ vendors in attendance, students will have the opportunity to learn about many different types of colleges & post-secondary programs, including 2- and 4-year schools, trade schools, and the military.

The event is free. Students should register at StriveFair.com to receive a barcode. This allows students to easily share their information with the colleges they are interested in.

Register and attend for a chance to win a $750 scholarship!

• There will be a FAFSA completion night at the High School on October 15th at 6:00pm. Tom Danski from the University of Pittsburgh will be here to help SENIOR parents complete the FAFSA application. Registration is required. Completion of the FAFSA is now a Pennsylvania Department of Education requirement for all high school seniors. Senior families will receive an email with the link to register.

School counselors will meet with the junior class during school on November 4th and 5th to discuss post secondary opportunities. The evening of October 28th, school counselors will meet with junior class parents at 6:30pm. Parents are welcome to attend the individual junior student meetings which will be scheduled by the school counselors at a later date.

Registration for AP Exams is open from September 8th to October 31st! To register, click here.

AP EXAM DATES:

May 3-7 2027

May 10-14 2027

By now, you’ve likely heard about changes coming to the ACT test:

• 44 fewer questions overall.
• Shorter test with more time to answer each question.
• A choice to take the science section.

To help prepare for the enhanced ACT, they are offering free practice materials that will familiarize students with the new format and boost their confidence for test day.

Click here to learn more and access the free practice tests.

To access college visit information, go to

MaiaLearning > "Events" (calendar icon on left hand side) > "Actions" > "View"

College visits are listed by date and college name. Click on a college to view details and/or to register. College visits will be held in the Counseling Conference Room unless otherwise noted. If students have a scheduled class during the college visit, they MUST get permission to attend the college visit from their teacher.

Many local, regional, and national scholarships are available online for all high school students in grades 9-12. To view a scholarship list composed by the counseling department, click here on the USCHS Counseling page.

Scholarships.com offers a wide range of scholarship opportunities for high school students at various grade levels, including seniors, juniors, and sophomores. Whether you're a senior preparing for college applications, a junior starting to plan your future, or a sophomore exploring early options, the platform provides tailored scholarship listings to match your academic achievements, interests, and background. With its easy-to-use search tools and regularly updated database, Scholarships.com makes it simple for students to find financial aid that fits their specific needs, helping them take an active step toward reducing college costs.

Scholarships for High School Seniors

Scholarships for High School Juniors

Scholarships for High School Sophomores

USC Lunch & Learns are designed to educate students on STEAM career opportunities and inspire them to develop skills to pursue their dreams.

Click here to check out the 2026-2027 list of speakers.

Lunch & Learns are held in the new SGI (Room 207) during each lunch

Every generation faces economic and social “shocks,” as David Blanchflower describes era-defining crises like the Great Recession, 9/11 and the Vietnam War.

But no generation in the U.S. since the Silent Generation, which includes people currently aged 81 to 98, has suffered quite as much shock as Gen Z, and the viability of their American Dream is at stake, says Blanchflower, a Dartmouth College labor economist and lecturer.

Read more. Source: cnbc.com

Borrowing for a college education often means making a financial decision today based partly on something you can’t yet know: how difficult loan repayment will be.

That’s why a growing number of colleges and universities offer a financial safety net designed to reduce some of that uncertainty.

It’s called a Loan Repayment Assistance Program, or LRAP. If you graduate and make below a certain threshold (often around $55,000 per year) the program can reimburse some or all of your eligible student loan payments.

Students don’t pay for the coverage. Colleges purchase LRAPs and offer them to some or all incoming students.

Read more. Source:Thecollegeinvestor.com

Few parents or teachers are likely to suggest that teenagers could benefit from playing more video games. But a new study suggests that a growing class of educational games may be a highly effective tool for treating and preventing depression in adolescents.

Read more. Source: Dartmouth.edu

Tuition-free colleges exist, you just have to know where to find them. The cost of college in the United States has steadily been rising, and these colleges are pushing back - especially at the most expensive colleges.

The promise of free college tuition is a strong draw for college-capable low-income students. But, many free tuition programs come with caveats that cause them to fall short of the promise.

Some foreign colleges that also have free tuition programs that may be of interest.

Read more. Source: Thecollegeinvestor.com

For decades, a college degree has been one of the clearest paths to lower unemployment, higher earnings and greater spending power. That relationship still holds in the broad labor market. But among younger workers, a notable reversal has emerged.

Since about 2023, younger workers without college degrees have posted better relative unemployment trends than young college graduates, according to an analysis by labor-market think tank Burning Glass Institute reported by The Wall Street Journal. The development could matter beyond the job market.

Read more. Source: Universitybusiness.com

The largest study ever of school cellphone bans finds that they offer decidedly mixed results, with teachers reporting fewer distractions when students lock their phones away during the school day, but little evidence the bans quickly bring improved academic achievement or better behavior, as many advocates have hoped.

The study, by scholars at Stanford University, Duke University, The University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania, compiled data from Yondr, a California startup that makes lockable pouches for schools, businesses and entertainment venues. Published Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, it looks at data from about 4,600 schools and is the first nationally representative look at cellphone bans.

Read more. Source: Center for Parent and Teen NBCnews.com

Post secondary planning

Niche

Career Planning

• How to talk with educators at your child's school about bullying
  Get advice on how to communicate with teachers and other leaders at your child's school if you're dealing with bullying.
  

• Tips for parents: What to do if your child is being bullied
  Get tips for supporting your child through this very painful experience.
  

• Tips for parents: What to do if your child bullies others
  If your child bullies others at school, it needs to stop. Find out what you can do at home.
  

• What can parents do to prevent and address cyber-bullying?
  Protect your child from indirect forms of bullying that use text messaging, Web sites, and cell phones.

Highmark Caring Place

Grieving Children

Grieving Adults and Families

Support for Children

https://www.sphs.org/

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/child-and-adolescent-mental-health/index.shtml

How parents can talk to their kids about suicide

Risk-of-Suicide

Risk and Protective Factors

Washington County Crisis Resources

Underage Drinking: Myths vs. Facts

Facts on Underage Drinking

Tips for Teens: The Truth About Alcohol

The shared content and information is from a third party and is provided for general informational purposes only. The Upper St. Clair School District and High School Counseling Department do not specifically endorse the material and make no representations, express or implied.

Email: hs-counselingoffice@uscsd.k12.pa.us
Website: https://www.uscsd.k12.pa.us/domain/200
Location: 1825 McLaughlin Run Road, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Phone: 412-833-1600