UA High School Counseling

Mrs. Hammonds and Mrs. Devine

Mrs. Hammonds

High School Counselor for Students Last Names A-L

hhammonds@unionacademy.org

Mrs. Devine

High School Counselor for Students Last Name M - Z

ddevine@unionacademy.org

Throughout the school year, admissions representatives from various colleges and universities will be on our campus to share information about college majors, cost of attendance, campus life and so much more! Most often, these representatives are the same individuals who are reviewing your college applications! Student who plan to attend an onsite college visit are encouraged to sign up in Naviance. All sessions will be scheduled during lunches. By following the steps below, students are able to view scheduled college visits in Naviance and reserve a seat for the visit. Students are encouraged to check Naviance regularly as college visits will continue to be scheduled throughout the school year.

UA Student Homepage > Naviance > Login (UA single sign on credentials) > Colleges > College Visits > View Details

Here are the universities already scheduled:

• High Point University - 10/13
• University of Alabama Birmingham 10/15
• University of South Carolina 10/20 (rescheduled)
• Virginia Tech 10/29
• University of Alabama - 11/12

With fall break at the beginning of October, this month is going to fly by! We are quickly approaching that first college application early action deadline of October 15th. There are a few popular schools with this deadline:

• UNC Chapel Hill
• Clemson University
• University of South Carolina
• University of Georgia
• Auburn University
• East Carolina University (to be considered for the Honors College)
• NC Central University (1st priority)

There are MANY NC and out of state schools with a Nov. 1st early action deadline, which will be here before we know it! NC Colleges with Early Action Deadlines:

• Appalachian State (to be considered for scholarships)
• Elon University
• North Carolina A&T
• NC State University
• UNC Asheville
• UNC Charlotte
• UNC Greensboro
• UNC Wilmington
• Western Carolina University

Please make sure your Naviance and Common App account are linked. To do this, log in to Naviance > Colleges > Colleges I'm Applying To . If you see a pink banner at the top, you have not matched your accounts. Please make sure you do this so that your recommenders and counselors can see your deadlines.

Also, please check your deadlines in Naviance. Go to Colleges > Colleges I'm Applying to > View

the Deadline. If your deadline is not listed correctly, p[lease click on Edit and update the deadline.

We encourage all seniors to apply Early Action whenever available!

Also, remember that October is the month that the FAFSA opens. Please try to complete the FAFSA sometime between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31. This is when there is the most money available for grants!!

College Application Week

We will participate in College Application Week the week of Oct. 21 through October 27th. This is a time NC has set aside to encourage all seniors to apply to college. There will be webinars and opportunities to submit some NC college applications for free. A list of free colleges will be posted here after fall break.

Oct. 19th Ms. Hammonds will meet with all UA seniors during their math classes. During this time

she will show you how to submit your applications through CFNC to take advantage of the free

application week! If you are interested in other resources available during NC Countdown to College, check out this site.

Please make sure you have completed your RDS (Residency Determination) so that you can

complete free applications! More info will be coming soon!

Submitting Your Application

Eek! It is time to press submit on that first college application! Do you have all of the components of the application ready to submit? Go through this checklist to help you double check:

• Completed Application (all demographic, academic, extra curricular info)
• Common App Essay complete
• All college specific questions answered in the Common App
• Application Fee (you will pay this when you submit)
• SAT or ACT Scores sent to the school, if required. (Sent through College Board or the ACT
• website)
• Transcript requested in Naviance
• SPCC Transcript sent to your school, if applicable (Sent through SPCC’s website)
• Recommendations requested via Naviance
• Does your major require an audition or portfolio? This is common for visual or performing
• arts and architecture majors. If you are thinking about a major in one of these areas, please
• make sure you have checked the website for program requirements.

If you have all parts complete, go ahead and submit your application! You can submit your

application before your recommender has completed his/her part. Just make sure you have the

correct deadline listed in Naviance and then follow up with your recommender and remind them

that you have an early deadline of Oct. 15th or Nov. 1st.

Click on the image above to see what colleges will have free applications during College Application Week.

College Application Week is Oct. 20-26 and what better time to begin thinking about the college application process! Mrs. Devine will meet with all juniors during their math classes on Monday, Oct. 20. We will discuss what you can begin doing now to prepare for college!

This year, we encourage you to begin forming your college list. Right now, you may not have a list of colleges you are interested in or on the other end of the spectrum, your list of colleges may be so long that it is overwhelming. Naviance is a great tool to help you keep track of these schools. We suggest logging in to Naviance > Colleges > SuperMatch College Search. This tool will allow you to add important criteria for your college (maybe you want a school that is close to home, or maybe you can add your major or a particular student organization that is important to you) Then the SuperMatch College Search will give you a list of schools that meet that criteria. As you find schools you are interested in, you can add a “heart” to favorite them. This will add the school to your “Colleges I Am Thinking About” list. Let’s set a goal! Try to have five colleges on your list by the end of the semester! Remember these are not schools you are committing to, just ones you want to explore further!

Are you gearing up to take the SAT or ACT this fall? All juniors will take the ACT through UA in March but many of you have signed up to take tests this fall. Did you know that there are free practice resources through Khan Academy and College Board Blue Book? Take a outlook at this years testing dates below:

All UA juniors can go to https://howtostudent.com/ and use their UA credentials to login and begin working on ACT and SAT prep! This is program UA has invested in to help you prepare for the ACT this spring. The program offers unlimited practice tests and focused concept mastery. Powered by AI, this tool allows you to ask questions, review your quizzes and tests and ask for further instruction where you need it!

Please note that there are fee waivers for these tests, if your family meets these criteria, please reach out to your school counselor for a fee waiver.

All juniors will take the ACT through UA on March ?? , 2027. You are automatically registered for this test. If you want to take the SAT or ACT on a nationally administered test date, please register at https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat or https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/registration.html

Can you believe that you are already done with your first quarter of high school? This would be a great time to stop and reflect on your experience. Think about this quarter from the following

perspectives:

Academically ... How are your classes going? Are you satisfied with your grades? Are you thriving in your classes or are there areas that you need support? Have you been utilizing flex time, opportunities for retakes or test corrections? If you are not satisfied with your academic performance in Q1, what can you do differently in Q2?

Extra-Curricular ... are you plugged in to some kind of group or team on campus? For you to truly

be connected at UA, you need to find a way to invest your time and talents outside of the classroom. If you are not connected yet, how about setting a goal to get connected to a group in Q2?

Socially ... We know that the social aspect of high school is an important one. It is also one that can become a distraction if you are not careful. Is your social group complimenting your academic success at school? Do you need to set boundaries within your social group? How can you positively impact your friends on campus?

Here’s to an awesome second quarter! Remember high school is what you make it. As you begin thinking about your future and college, remember that colleges want to see that you have impacted your school and community! Freshman year is a great time to begin doing that - in your classrooms, in your extracurricular activities and in your friend groups!

Students planning to play NCAA sports at a Division I or Division II school, you must register with the NCAA Eligibility Center to ensure that you have met amateurism standards and are academically prepared for college level coursework. As recommended by NCAA Eligibility Center, you should begin this process during your sophomore year of high school.

Here are some recommended boundaries to help your digital wellness:

• Create phone free zones in your home - the dining table or the bedroom for example - choose spaces that will encourage relaxation or interpersonal conversation.
• Use your phones features to set limits on social media apps - sometimes it's just about being aware of how long you have been scrolling.
• Set boundaries by creating "Do Not Disturb" times in your phone's settings.
• Don't sleep with your phone - sleeping without smartphones improves sleep, relationships, focus and wellbeing (source)
• Do a social media purge every few months - Evaluate How you feel when you scroll - Stressed? Tired? Bored? Energized? Do particular apps trigger certain emotions? - Unfollow accounts that bring you negative energy
• Reinvest time in your hobbies - it is good to take time off from social media ... start with a weekend screen free and then maybe try a week with no social media. See how your sleep, mood and interests change. Now with all of your free time you can do something you enjoy like baking, playing ball outside, reading a book or even learning a new hobby!
• Try a social media detox as a family
• Seek out weekly activities where you have face-to-face interactions!

Sources: NPR , Ballard Clinic , Digital Thriving

Let’s take a look at another career exploration tool in Naviance. When you log in to Naviance (from the student start up page using the single sign on option) you will see "Self-Discovery" at the top.

Go ahead and click on Self-Discovery and then go to the Career Cluster Finder. The Career Cluster Finder helps you identify your interests and discover career clusters that contain careers that might interest you. This assessment is fun because you get to tell Naviance what you like and what you do not like.

Once you take the quiz and discover your top two or three clusters, then dive into all of the info that Naviance has to offer about those clusters. What kinds of jobs are possible in the cluster? What kind of degree do you need for these jobs? What is the employment outlook for these careers? How much money will you make? What colleges offer a major related to this career?

PARENTS ... HERE'S A WAY YOU CAN BE INVOLVED...

Once your student has discovered their top three career clusters devote some time to discussing

these careers. Ask your student what his/her top career cluster is. Ask them what careers fall

under this cluster and what majors would they need in college to pursue this career. Want to take it

a step further? Begin researching colleges with this major and schedule a college visit tour!