College Planning for Seniors

Seniors and Parents,

As September 1 quickly approaches, college application season is about to be in full swing!  Many of you have already begun to submit college applications (many private schools are already accepting applications), and many of you are beginning to fill out the Common Application.

As we enter this season, I have some (hopefully) timely and helpful advice for you:

1. Colleges and Universities have 100% of their seats and scholarship dollars available right now.  Applying as early as possible (early September in most cases) gives you the best opportunity for getting in and getting scholarships.  After the early admissions deadline (usually sometime between October 1 - November 1 depending on the school), admissions will become more selective, meaning you will have to have a higher GPA and SAT or ACT scores in order to get in.  
2. Early Decision vs. Early Application or Early Action.  "Early Decision" is a binding agreement between you and the school that, if you are accepted, you are obligated to enroll in that school.  Several rules apply here, including the limitation that you can only apply "Early Decision" to one school.  "Early Application" or "Early Action" is non-binding and typically no further rules apply.  This form of application simply means you are applying at the earliest possible time and can expect to receive an admissions answer sooner.
3. The Common Application.  The Common Application, or "Common App," is a college application used by many colleges around the US.  Several NC schools use it, including UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Wilmington, NC State, and Appalachian State.  For a full list of schools that use the Common App, searchable by state, click here.  It is important when filling out the Common App to properly identify Hickory Grove as your high school.  The best way to do this is to use our school code (sometimes referred to as a CEEB code).  The code for Hickory Grove is 340661.  Some organizations have us listed as "Hickory Grove Baptist Christian School" while others have updated their database and have us as "Hickory Grove Christian School".  Either of these is fine.  Also, make sure to enter my email address correctly so that I can upload your transcript and complete your counselor recommendation in a timely manner.  My email is greglineberger@hgchristian.org.
4. How to request your Hickory Grove transcript.  Your high school transcript contains your personal information and grades, which are protected by law.  In order to grant us permission to send your transcript, and to instruct me on where to send it, please fill out our official high school transcript request online.  You can find the form on our website www.hgchristian.org, or you can use this direct link.  Transcripts will be sent within 5 business days, by electronic means (when available) or by US Mail.  Once a college receives your transcript from us, it sometimes takes them up to 2 weeks to process it and add it to your account.  
5. Class Rank.  At Hickory Grove, as at many smaller private and public schools across the US, we do not rank our students.  With a graduating class size of only 80, providing a student's class rank to a university unfairly represents the majority of our students.  Therefore, if an application asks you to indicate your class rank, there will usually be a box to check that says "N/A" or something similar.  If no such box exists, or if you are asked to type in a numeric value for class rank, type in "0" or "0 of 0" for your class rank.  The only exception to this policy is for Military Academies, which do not waiver in their requirement that schools provide class rank.
6. Requesting Teacher or Administrator Recommendations.  All recommendation requests need to be made in person before you submit the recommender’s information to the school or Common App.  It is very helpful for you to also present a resume to the recommender, along with specific recommendation instructions, so that the recommender can write the best possible recommendation.  
7. Community Service Hours.  We do not have a community service requirement for graduation, but we do generally recommend students complete and document approximately 50 hours of service per year.  Missions Week at HGCS can contribute about 12 hours to this number each year, while the senior trip to the DR generally includes about 24 hours of service.  A community service log sheet is available for students to pick up in the High School Office.
8. When to submit the FAFSA.  The FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is recommended for each high school senior.  Parents can submit the FAFSA as early as October 1 of senior year.  Go to www.fafsa.gov for more information and to begin the process.
9. NC Free Application Month.  Each year in November, many colleges and universities in NC participate in Free Application Month sponsored by the College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC).  For 2017, the College Application Month runs from October 28 to November 24.  This can be a great opportunity to apply to schools you would not otherwise apply to, such as schools that are not in your top 5-8 choices.  Because College Application Month occurs after the early application deadline at many schools, it is not recommended for your top choice schools.