SEPTEMBER:

• Narrow down your field of choices concerning "your" college. Check in the Guidance Office to see if there’s an application there. If not, you may send for an admissions application by e-mailing a specific school. However, if you’re going to do that, why not just apply on-line? Remember, however: If you apply on-line,  you still need to ask the Guidance Office to have your official transcript sent to that school. Also, some schools permit you to pay for the application fee by credit card. However, if "your" school doesn’t offer application fee payment by credit card, then be sure to bring in your application fee check into the Guidance Office, where it will be sent along with your transcript.
• Complete admissions applications and submit them as soon as possible. Don’t forget your check and the necessary postage.
• Attend meetings with the various college representatives who come to LAHS each year. Watch for announcements on LPTV and check the LAHS web daily announcements for  which schools will be visiting and on what day & time the visit will take place. Sign up in the Guidance Office to attend.
• Register for the October or November SAT’s. Watch the deadline! Registration bulletins are available in the Guidance Office. It is recommended that you take the October SAT’s rather than the November SAT’s because of the overall timing of the college application process. See the "SAT Information Section" for details on high school code and test centers numbers, as well as a listing of test dates and deadlines.  Check to see whether the college you’re applying to requires the SAT-II. In most cases, they don’t. If a school does require the SAT-II, it usually makes it very clear in its correspondence with you.
• Identify two teachers who you think would be willing to write a positive letter of recommendation for you if required by your college(s).
• Explore financial aid resources. See the weblinks listed under "Financial Aid Sites" elsewhere in these LAHS guidance webpages.

• Attend meetings with college representatives. Watch for announcements on LPTV and check the LAHS web daily announcements, and sign up in the Guidance Office several days ahead of time.
• Visit colleges. Make your visit to a school on a day when classes are in session. Since you may very well be absent from school the day you do your visit, you will need an absentee excuse. You should hand your excuse in to your counselor (who needs to OK it) before the visit. That way, it’s a legal day absent from school. You should get some proof of your visit while you’re at the school. Most admissions offices have some kind of form they fill out for just such a purpose.
• Register for the December SAT-I or SAT-II, if appropriate. Generally this testing date is fairly late for purposes of admission to college. The few students who take the SAT’s in December usually take them now because they are trying to raise their overall SAT scores to become eligible for more scholarship money at private colleges.

• Meet ROTC scholarship application deadline (first working day in December).
• Take the SAT-I or SAT-II, if appropriate.
• Check college applications for January 1 deadlines. Make sure the applications are completed and submitted in early December. Don’t forget your application fee (check) and postage.
• Make sure your college recommendations have been sent.   This is your responsibility. Thank those people who have taken the time to write the recommendations for you.
• You will automatically receive a copy of the FAFSA – [FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID], if you took the SAT anytime during your junior year.  This is the single most important financial aid filing form you’ll need. If you haven’t received a FAFSA in the mail by the end of Christmas vacation, stop by the Guidance Office to pick one up.  Absolutely and positively: DO NOT submit your FAFSA before January 1. If you do, it will not be processed.  In order to complete a FAFSA, you will need  both your own and your parents’ completed income tax forms. There are quite a few references on the FAFSA to certain line numbers from your and/or your parents’ W2 income tax forms. In other words, income tax forms must be completed before you can start on the FAFSA.  For more information go to www.fafsa.com
• Complete the CSS Profile Registration Form, ( another financial aid form) as required by some private colleges. If you need a CSS form, they are available in the Guidance Office. There is a filing fee associated with the CSS, which you pay directly to the processor.

• Complete all college applications. Be careful with mid-January and Feb. 1 deadlines.
• Begin to fill out financial aid forms.
• Meet with a representative from PHEAA (that’s the state agency in charge of disbursing financial aid – Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency)  in late January or early February. Either LAHS or IVHS will hold an evening meeting where especially parents can learn a good deal of information about filling out the FAFSA and other financial aid forms. 
• Keep the Guidance Office informed of the status of your applications (i.e., "accepted", "rejected", "pending", or "incomplete").

• Check college applications for February 1 and February 15 deadlines dates.
• Mid-senior year transcript.  One of the reasons you are asked to keep the Guidance Office informed of the status of your application is the fact that all colleges require that a mid-senior year transcript of your grades be sent to them in late January. Therefore, make it your business to specifically request the guidance secretary, Mrs. Bubb, that a mid-senior year transcript be forwarded to the college(s) to which you have applied.
• Fill out financial aid forms. Be particularly mindful of the February 15 deadline for financial aid from Penn State University. They have one of the earliest of all deadlines for applicants to submit their financial aid forms and information.
• Start to check the Guidance Office on a regular basis (every two weeks or so) to see which, if any, local scholarships are available. There is a special table designated for scholarships in the Guidance Office. It is on the right hand side as you enter the Guidance Office. Various scholarships are filed in manila folders which contain highlights (such as name of scholarship, general eligibility information, deadlines, etc.) As the school year goes on, you will note various scholarships announced via LPTV and the LAHS website.  It is very important that you become aware of the deadlines for these scholarships.  Financial aid deadline dates are provided in the application packet and/or in the college catalog.