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About 60% of Waupaca High School students go on to a 4 year college & 25% go on to a 2 year college.
The following web sites provide additional information to help students prepare for college.
Selecting a College - What should students consider when trying to find a "good fit" college?
Admissions Criteria - What do admissions committees look at when they review college applications?
Application Checklist - What do I need for a completed application?
Admissions Options & Decisions - What are all these deadlines and what types of decisions does the admissions committee make?
College Resources - Which websites can help me select colleges and research them?
College Selection
How do I know which college is right for me?
There is no one perfect college for anybody. Instead, for each student there are several colleges where he/she would feel very comfortable. It is important for students to realize that a great college for their best friend may not be the best college for themselves.
The following are some factors which students should consider in selecting a college:
• Location - In which states would you like to attend college? Do you want the campus to be located in a large city (urban) or in the open country (rural)?
• Distance - Will you live at home? Do you want to be close enough so you can drive home on the weekends? Are you comfortable being very far away and only coming home once or twice during the school year?
• Size/Enrollment - Are you going to be most comfortable at a college about the size of your high school or smaller? How would you like to be at a college with more than 30,000 students? Or are you looking for something in between the two?
• Type of Institution - Is a two year or four year college best suited for your future goals? Should you attend a technical college or perhaps a liberal arts one?
• Curriculum - Which colleges offer the major you are most interested in? What are the best colleges for your major?
• Admission Statistics - Which colleges best match your academic qualifications in terms of grade point average and standardized test scores?
• Social & Political Climate - Do you have enough self-discipline to be academically successful at a college where students are very active socially? Would you feel most comfortable at a college where the majority of students are liberal or conservative?
• Religious Affiliation - Are you interested in attending a college with a specific religious affiliation? Would you prefer to attend a secular college?
• Diversity - Are you interested in attending a Historically Black college? Would you like to attend a college with a significant minority percentage?
• Cost - Is it best to stay in-state because of the lower tuition cost? Which colleges offer the best financial aid? Where is my best chance of receiving scholarships to attend that college?
Make an appointment to meet with your guidance counselor
to discuss all of these options and which ones might be best for you.
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College Admissions Criteria
Each college has a unique way of evaluating an applicant, but all will consider a student's academic record, test scores, and personal profile.
• Grade Point Average (GPA) - the average of a student's semester grades. Grades earned during first semester freshman year through second semester junior year all count equally in determining the GPA.
• Class Rank - a method used to compare a student's academic performance to other members of the graduating class. The student with the highest GPA in the class is ranked number 1 and so on. To get a percentile rank, divide the student's rank by the number of students in the class.
• Transcript - a document noting courses, grades, and credits for each semester in high school. The cumulative GPA and class rank are also included. Colleges use this document to look at the trend in grades and rigor of courses selected.
Most colleges will accept ACT or SAT test scores. These tests are usually taken in the spring of junior year and students have the option of taking the test more than once. Registration packets are available in the guidance office or online ( Click on "ACT" or "SAT" below ). The best way to prepare for these college entrance exams is by doing practice problems because this allows students to become familiar with the instructions, test format, and types of questions they can expect on the actual tests.
• ACT (www.act.org)- This test contains four sections: English, Mathematics, Reading , and Science Reasoning. The scores from these sections are averaged to form a Composite score. Scores range from 1 (lowest) to 36 (highest), with a national average Composite score of 21. Students should answer each question because the ACT does not assess penalties for guessing.
• SAT - This test only has two sections: Verbal and Math. These two scores are added to arrive at the combined score. Scores range from 200 (lowest) to 800 (highest) for each section, with a national average combined score of 1016. The SAT discourages random guessing by assessing penalty points for incorrect answers. If students are unable to make an educated guess, they may want to leave the answer blank.
• SAT II (http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/about/SATII.html)- These are one hour exams which test a student's knowledge in a specific area. One or more of these subject tests may be required or recommended by selective colleges.
Standardized Tests (ACT and SAT) - Online test prep. resources and registration-
Online ACT Registration - http://www.actstudent.org/regist/elecreg.html
Online SAT Registration - http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/reg.html
Repeatedly doing practice problems is an excellent way to prepare for these tests. There are numerous websites that will allow you to do free practice problems. Books and computer software are another excellent source for sample test questions. You can also ask your guidance counselor for a list of test prep courses in the community.
Free Practice Questions Online -
http://www.4tests.com
http://www.powerprep.com
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/test.html
http://www.number2.com
http://www.march2success.com/index.html
http://www.actstudent.org/testprep
http://www.freesat1prep.com
http://www.takesat.com
http://www.knowhow2go.org
back to admissions criteria
• Essay - This is the students' chance to let the admission committee know about their strengths, interests, and experiences. Proper spelling and grammar is very important so students should have several people proofread their essay.
• Letters of Recommendation - Some colleges require feedback from teachers and guidance counselors, while other colleges make the recommendations optional. These letters give valuable insight that goes beyond grades and test scores. Consider getting a letter from somebody outside the school setting as well.
• Extracurricular Activities - This includes athletics, clubs, organizations, volunteer work, and paid jobs. Colleges are not interested in quantity, but in the quality of students' involvement in these activities.
back to admissions criteria
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• Essay - This is the students' chance to let the admission committee know about their strengths, interests, and experiences. Proper spelling and grammar is very important so students should have several people proofread their essay.
• Letters of Recommendation - Some colleges require feedback from teachers and guidance counselors, while other colleges make the recommendations optional. These letters give valuable insight that goes beyond grades and test scores. Consider getting a letter from somebody outside the school setting as well.
• Extracurricular Activities - This includes athletics, clubs, organizations, volunteer work, and paid jobs. Colleges are not interested in quantity, but in the quality of students' involvement in these activities
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Admissions Options and Decisions
There are several different kinds of admission options students should consider when applying to college. The most common ones are:
• Early Decision - Students who are accepted to a college under this option must attend that college. Although applications may be submitted to other schools, only one may be under the early decision option. Furthermore, students must withdraw all other applications if accepted through the early decision option.
• Early Action - Students apply by an earlier deadline in order to receive an earlier decision from the college. This is not a binding decision so students can still decide if they want to attend that college or not.
• Regular Decision - Applications need to be submitted by a specified deadline. They will all be reviewed after this deadline and decisions will be sent out by a set date.
• Rolling Admission - Applications are reviewed as they are received. Students usually receive an admission decision within four to six weeks. Students generally benefit from applying early.
• Open Admission - Most two year colleges use this type of admission. Students are admitted to the school upon application. After carefully reviewing students' applications, the college admission committees will send students a letter to inform them of their decision. Most responses are:
• Admit/Accept - Congratulations! The student has been granted the option of attending the college upon graduating from high school. Most colleges allow students until May 1st to decide if they will be attending.
• Deny/Decline - Unfortunately, the admission committee did not feel the student met the requirements to be academically successful at their college.
• Defer/Postpone/Wait List - The student is close to meeting the admission requirements, but the colleges would like more information before making a final decision. This usually includes grades from first semester of senior year and/or new ACT/SAT test scores. Admission committees review applications again in the spring and students can expect a final decision around April.
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College Resources
Find Colleges that Meet Your Needs:
UWHelp, http://uwhelp.wisconsin.edu/ - a site accessing the University of Wisconsin system.
College Portraits, http://www.collegeportraits.org/ - source of basic, comparable information about public colleges and universities presented in a user-friendly format.
WAICU, http://www.waicuweb.org/home/ - Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
Wisconsin Technical Colleges, http://www.witechcolleges.com/ - a guide to Wisconsin technical colleges.
Schools in the USA, http://www.schoolsintheusa.com/ - sort colleges by major, state, and tuition.
Collegeanswer, http://www.collegeanswer.com/index.jsp - preparing, selecting, applying, paying, deciding, and financing college.
Collegeboard, http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/index.html - college planning, taking the tests, finding the right college, getting into college, and more.
Peterson's Best College Picks, http://www.petersons.com/bestcollegepicks/login.asp?ut=&sponsor=1 - a very different way of searching for colleges because this site describes a school according to the type of graduate it produces.
Application Checklist
Personal Profile
Test Scores
back to admissions criteria
Academic Record
• Rigor of coursework - the admission counselor will make a judgement on whether you have challenged yourself throughout high school. They would rather you prioritize the challenge of a class before "protecting" your GPA.
College admission committees look at various factors when deciding if a student should be accepted, denied, or waitlisted.
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