Dear Families and the Class of 2022,

We hope that you and your family are enjoying the start of your summer! We know that many of you have planned college visits during summer break, and we hope that you are able to see colleges in person as they allow. If in-person college visits are not possible for you over this summer, we encourage students to demonstrate their interest in and learn about colleges by taking virtual tours and attending virtual information sessions. If a college is offering personal Zoom interviews this summer, we encourage students to sign up. Click here to review our college interview guide, and of course, please reach out to your college counselor at any time if you have questions.

Here are some additional tasks to work on over the summer:

1. Students should establish a final list of colleges with a balanced range of selectivity (i.e., likely, possible, reach). Each of the colleges on your list should feel like a great match—a place where you would be very happy to attend, and a place where your family will be able to afford the cost of attendance. Students should be in contact with their college counselors when they want to make updates to their list so that we can provide input and make adjustments in Naviance; please do not make any changes in Naviance without communicating with your child’s college counselor. Feel free to contact us with any questions you might have about your student’s list.
2. Over the summer, students should write a draft of their Common Application essay and a draft of at least one supplemental essay; we encourage you to prioritize application supplements to those schools where you may apply under early admission or rolling decision application plans. (Students have already filled out the basic form of the Common Application.) A brief list of tips and advice for essay writing is available here. Students should write their essays in Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or any other word processing program they like; students should not draft their essay directly in the Common Application website. We highly encourage students to send drafts of their essays to their college counselors over the summer.
3. Please make sure that students DO NOT request teacher recommendations through Common Application website. This has already been completed through Naviance. 
4. Have a frank discussion about paying for college. Use the net price calculators on the website of each college to which your child is applying, and get a good sense of the cost of each school. Two websites that may also be helpful as you discuss financial aid are myintuition.org (which offers quick cost estimators for 74 colleges) and finaid.org (which offers overview of tuition and financial aid terminology, as well as several calculators for college costs, family contributions, and loan repayments). 
5. Finalize your standardized testing plans. We are pleased that most colleges have decided to remain test-optional for the upcoming year. However, we recommend that students continue to prepare to take the SAT and ACT tests if they hope to continue to improve their scores. Depending on where you live, you may be able to test at home in July (ACT) or August (SAT). We will also offer both tests on campus at St. Andrew’s in the fall; students should plan to register themselves for those on-campus tests over the summer on the ACT or College Board websites. The St. Andrew’s school code is 080095. The ACT test will be administered at St. Andrew’s in September and the SAT in October.
6. Look for your transcripts in the mail. We will send your student an unofficial copy of their transcript this summer. Your child may send this transcript to college coaches if they are pursuing athletics. You will also need this transcript if you need to complete a Self-Reported Academic Record, which is required on some college applications (e.g., USC, U of Delaware, Penn State, Rutgers).

The Class of 2022 will return to campus in August with an exciting senior year before them. They will step into positions of leadership in all areas of the school and will be immersed in the academic, extracurricular, and community life of St. Andrew’s. With this in mind, we encourage you and your child to do the majority of your college visits and preparative work over the summer. 

As always, please call or email us any time, and enjoy the summer!

Sincerely,
The College Counseling Team