Post-Secondary Planning…Graduation and Beyond
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This will be an exciting year as seniors take their first steps into young adulthood and prepare to leave the nest. Senior year is both exciting and stressful, with many ups and downs. Please know that this is natural, and is symbolic of the major shift that is about to occur in the lives of both seniors and their families. It is beneficial to seniors in preparation for being on their own that they are independent and responsible for contacting colleges and completing applications themselves. Colleges are looking for mature, responsible young adults who have learned to work with deadlines and systems on their own. Once a student is in college, all communication is done directly with the student.
We have several events and points of contact to help seniors through this transition.
The future planning process, which for approximately 95% of Masconomet students means either a two or four-year college, begins immediately during the first full week of school. In small group meetings, we discuss the variety of post-secondary options available, especially college admissions.
During this meeting, seniors will be logged into Blackboard in order to access important resources including:- Masconomet School Counseling Departments's college application procedures, including how to ask teachers for formal letters of recommendation
- Naviance guidelines specific to senior year, including how to request transcripts for colleges
- Information regarding how to request test scores for colleges from either the College Board or ACT
- The financial aid application timeline and process
- Resume instructions and examples
- Scholarships
After the group meetings, each senior is expected to make a full-period appointment with their School Counselor to discuss individual plans and goals. This meeting should occur before October 31. We expect students to share this information with their parents, including important resources on Blackboard, which are available on Naviance. Please be aware that seniors can come to see their counselors at any time should they have follow-up questions. We are here to help!
The School Counseling Department also runs informational meetings for parents of seniors, including Senior Parents’ Night, which will occur in September, and Financial Aid night, which will be held in November.