ACT Newsletter

November 2011 Welcome to ACT Parent, a monthly newsletter designed to help you help your children succeed in middle school and high school as they prepare for college and careers. It's Application Season — Full Steam Ahead Whether just beginning the process or in the thick of college applications, your teenager needs to be well informed. Keeping track of application deadlines is perhaps one of the most important considerations. Learn more about the process at ACT's College Planning Information website. As you may already know, there are several types of college application choices today. Applying to one college at a time is always an option. However, this approach can be time consuming and costly. Students who wish to apply to a variety of colleges may want to consider using the common application. The common application is a standardized, one-size-fits-all form accepted by nearly 400 colleges. To learn more about the program, click here. For advice from a student who's been there, done that, read what ACT blogger Allie has to sayabout the Common App. If your student has his or her heart 100% set on one college and meets the college's selection criteria, he or she may wish to see if that school offers an early decision program. By applying for early decision, your teen is telling that college it is his or her top choice. Usually, this type of application is due in November (as opposed to January 1 for regular admissions), and admission decisions are usually made by December (as opposed to April for regular admissions). If admitted for early decision enrollment, your teenager must withdraw all other applications and agree to enroll at that university or forgo the enrollment deposit. If your student has a dream school but still wishes to keep his or her options open, another idea is to apply early action. However, this option is offered by fewer schools than early decision. If admitted under early action, your teenager is not bound to enroll at that college. He or she may choose to accept the offer or wait until spring to see what other college acceptances arrive. If your teenager is not accepted through early action, he or she is usually still considered along with the regular application pool. Nine Ways to Avoid College Application Mistakes Encourage your teenager to take his or her time when applying for college. Just like applying for a job, attention to detail will set your student apart from the pack and help avoid delays and added stress. Caution your student against: Misspelling words and making grammatical errors Filling out an online application, but then not submitting it Forgetting to sign the application Avoiding incorrect answers due to misreading the instructions Listing extracurricular activities that don’t meet the definition Giving his or her high school counselor too little time to meet college deadlines Writing illegibly Forgetting to check email accounts for college responses and messages Asking someone else to fill out the application or write the essay As with all good planning, encourage your teenager to build some extra time into the overall process. Life happens, counselors have many students to help, college choices may change, and checking documents takes time. Allowing a little extra time will make the journey a little smoother and calmer during a very busy period in your teenager’s life. College and Career Readiness: Right Now The mission of ACT is to help people achieve education and workplace success. Whether you are in a career transition or your teenager is searching for his or her first job, take a look at ACT's newest partnership: Right Skills Now. An action plan designed to help both job seekers and employers, the goal of Right Skills Now is to help the right people with the right skills find the right jobs—right now. Watch the brief Right Skills Now video to learn more. Links You’ll Love Do you or your student have questions or concerns? We have answers. Here are a few examples from our ACT website: Why should students take the ACT? What are college readiness standards? What is WorkKeys? Where can we find free practice test questions? How do students sign up for the ACT? Why should students consider college? Where can we read student blogs? How do high schools and colleges use ACT scores? Scholarship Alert: Student Poster Contest Please pass the word to your college-bound high school student: ACT is hosting our annual student poster contest. The grand prize winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship. The entrant with the second highest score will receive $2,500, and the finalist with the third highest score will receive $1,000. Your son or daughter can submit original artwork between December 5, 2011 and January 28, 2012. In fact, you might suggest this project as a good one to complete during the winter holiday break. Who couldn’t use a college scholarship? Click here for more information about this exciting contest. 2010–2011 ACT Test Dates Test Date Registration Deadline Late Registration Deadline December 10, 2011 November 4, 2011 November 5-18, 2011 February 11, 2012* January 13, 2012 January 14-20, 2012 April 14, 2012 March 9, 2012 March 10-23, 2012 June 9, 2012 May 4, 2012 May 5-18, 2012 *No test centers are scheduled in New York for the February test date. Thanks for reading. Please encourage other parents to subscribe to ACT Parent!