Information for Seniors
- College Admission Process | Requirements
- Testing
- Scholarships
- College Credit Transfer Processes & College Credit Opportunities
- Final Transcripts
- General Senior Timeline
- Resources
College Admission Process | Requirements
College Admission Process | Requirements
- Regent Admission Index (RAI) Score Students interested in entering any of the three Regent Universities (Iowa State, Iowa or UNI), must meet a Regent Admission Index requirement. Students must earn an RAI score of at least 245 to automatically qualify for admission to any of the Iowa Regent universities. If students meet the minimum high school course requirements and earn an RAI score below 245, they may still be considered for admission on an individual basis. *The most effective way to increase your RAI score is to take additional core courses. Go to the MPHS Guidance website for a link to the RAI Score Calculator. Official scores are however provided by the colleges admissions offices.
- College/University Check Lists & Resources Students and parents are strongly encouraged to maintain communication with the admissions and financial aid offices of the college your student is applying. There are likely important deadlines, admissions steps, program conferences, placement tests or other prerequisite items needed that may need to be done that are specific to the college and/or program/major your student has selected.
- Informative information is located on the websites each college, however, there are often additional details to know that aren’t as clear online. I would recommend to follow up with direct communication with the college.
- For example, students attending Kirkwood, need to be sure to have applied to the program they plan to pursue. After this, most programs require a program conference with the student/parent. Students can sign up for these on the programs page on the Kirkwood website. *These steps are critical to do as soon as possible in the event there are possible waiting lists to get into the program and/or other details important to be admitted into a particular program.
Testing
Testing
- Updates to the MPHS Testing Requirements & Process will be sent out soon.
- ACT | Students needing to take the ACT test for college admission purposes will typically take this test for the first time prior to the end of their junior year. Students needing to take or re-take the ACT test can go to www.actstudent.org to register online. Test dates, practice questions, costs, writing test details, etc. are also located on this page. A hard copy of practice test questions and fee waivers for those who qualify are available, contact Mrs. Kos.
- COMPASS | Students pursuing a two year college can take either the ACT or the COMPASS test. The COMPASS test is a free, computer placement test that assesses a student's reading, writing, and math skills. These scores (either ACT or COMPASS scores) are used by the community college to place students in appropriate level coursework. Students needing to take this test can do so by calling either Kirkwood’s Main Campus Testing Center at 319-398-5456 or the Kirkwood Washington Regional Center at 319-653-4655, to set up a testing time. *Students are strongly encouraged to review the Practice test questions. Please contact Mrs. Kos for any questions.
- ACT WorkKeys | Is a job skills assessment system that helps employers select, hire, train, develop, and retain a high performance workforce. Successful completion of this assessment can lead to earning ACT’s National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), a portable credential earned by people across the U.S.
Scholarships
Scholarships
- A list of 2017- 2018 scholarships are beginning to be posted on the MPHS - Guidance webpage as they are received.
- As scholarships are received for the 2017- 2018 school year, they will be updated with the 2015 due date and below the due date in red indicated as ‘updated.’ Students should not submit an old application or assume that a scholarship listed from last year will be available again this year.
- The Mid-Prairie Foundation & MPHS, are working to finalize the local scholarship process for the current year. We are working to include as many, and hopefully all, local scholarship applications into one common application. This means seniors applying for scholarships in our district can complete one application, the MPHS Dollars for Scholars Application. Until this process is finalized, seniors should pause on completing any local applications until more details are published. Details on this process will be released in the next few weeks.
College Credit Transfer Processes & College Credit Opportunities
College Credit Transfer Processes & College Credit Opportunities
o AP Test Scores| AP Score Reports are sent in July to the college or university you designate on your answer sheet, to you, and to your high school. Each report is cumulative and includes scores for all of the AP Exams you have ever taken, unless you have requested that one or more scores be withheld from a college or cancelled. If you did not designate your scores be sent to a specific college when you tested and now need to do so, you can request your score reports be sent to colleges by calling 888-308-0013 or 609-771-7366. Please note: This is the only way to have your AP scores sent to a college. Please visit https://apscore.collegeboard.org/scores to locate this and other related AP information.
o Concurrent Credits | If students have met all of the requirements of a concurrent course, high school credit only is indicated on the students HS transcript. The college credit is given by Kirkwood Community College (or NIACC) and put on a Kirkwood transcript. If a student wishes to have this credit transferred to another college or university, students must contact Kirkwood and complete an Official Transcript Request Form at the end of the year. Please visit https://www.kirkwood.edu/transcript to complete an official Transcript Request Form. This should be done before the students senior year concludes.
o College Level Examination Program (CLEP) offers students an opportunity to receive college credit for what they already know that they may generally take in your first two years of college. By passing a CLEP exam, a student can earn 3 to 12 college credits toward a college degree, depending on the exam subject and the policy of the college. The 33 different types of CLEP examinations are administered around the state/nation at several locations. Exams cost $80. Please visit https://clep.collegeboard.org/ or the MPHS Guidance website for a link to specific CLEP test locations and additional information.
Final Transcripts
Final Transcripts
- Seniors will indicate to us where they plan to attend college, final transcripts will automatically be sent to the students indicated college at the conclusion of the school year. No additional final transcript requests forms should be needed unless the student switched their college selection at the time they took the survey.
General Senior Timeline
General Senior Timeline
- Oct. | Nov. |Dec. (ASAP)– Apply to the college, schedule program conferences, double check other admissions requirements needed! Wrap up any college visits.
- ASAP—Take or re-take any admissions tests needed (ACT/COMPASS…)
- December –Request your PIN # for the FASFA at pin.edu.gov
- Jan. 1 or after—watch for your colleges priority date—Submit the FASFA!
- Beginning in Jan.—Apply for scholarships—especially local scholarship app.
- Feb. —Submit FASFA if haven’t done so already. Continue Scholarship process. Confirm College application status.
- March—watch for Student Aid Report (SAR). Contact ICAN w/ any questions. Work w/ Financial Aid Offices of college as needed.
- April—Compare financial aid packages from the colleges of which you applied. Decide if and where you plan to attend college or what post secondary career plans you are pursuing.
- May—Following Senior Awards Night, log on to your Dollars for Scholars Account and click ‘ACCEPT’ the local scholarships you were awarded. **IMPT. step to receiving any local scholarships.
**Have your Kirkwood and/or NIACC transcripts, AP Scores, if applicable, sent to the college you plan to attend.
**Please also strongly consider writing THANK YOU’s to any scholarship committees you received a scholarship from. This is highly recommended.
- May/June—Sign up for any CLEP tests if you plan to take. Final transcripts will be sent to the senior students indicated college.
- June—Attend orientation/registration events at your college.
Resources
Resources
- Several resources and links are listed on the MPHS Guidance page to assist students, parents, and guardians. Resources include Financial Aid, Testing Information, Upcoming Events, College Credit Opportunities, Regent Admission Index & calculator, IHaveAPlan
- Iowa, Iowa College Access Network, Iowa College Student Aid Commission, etc.
- Sarah Kos, School Counselor. Please don’t hesitate to contact me for any questions or to set up an individual meeting regarding academics, high school &/or college planning, career planning, social/emotional aspects just to name a few. I am happy to assist in any way I can! 319-‐646-‐6091 ext. 110