College Counseling 11

College Counseling hosts programs for all grade levels throughout the year. Topics include Financial Aid and Scholarship Planning, Discovering HBCUs, Navigating Collegiate Athletics and Recruiting, Standardized Testing, and The Admission Landscape, among others. Program information will be advertised in the College Counseling newsletter in Upper School News every two weeks and on the College Counseling Parent Portal in myRPCS.

Fall Semester
Juniors regularly meet with their primary college counselor and are encouraged to meet with the college representatives visiting RPCS to learn more about the colleges that interest them. College Counseling administers the PSAT/NMSQT as well as an optional practice ACT. Following the PSAT score release, a program to explain the score reports and provide advice on future test planning is hosted by College Counseling and Capital Educators. All Juniors attend the official College Counseling Kick-off meeting with their primary college counselor. A parent program overviewing all aspects of the college planning, application, admission and decision process follows the student kick-off. Students and parents complete several surveys to prepare for their next college counselor meetings.

Spring Semester
Juniors meet individually with their college counselor to discuss interests and goals and to define a list of possible colleges to consider for visits and applications. Students attend the C-Block class once per cycle to discuss topics related to college and wellness. Topics include exercises in personal analysis, overview of types of colleges, researching selectivity in the college process, campus visit strategies, building a resume, college interview techniques, time management and balance, writing application essays and completing the Common Application. College Counselors advise students through the course selection process. Each student completes a customized next steps list to continue work over the summer.

Summer
Students are assigned several tasks to keep their application process on track such as refining drafts of college essays, working on their Common Application and building the list of colleges where they intend to apply.