Being in highschool is like being at the edge of the diving board in the pool of life and sometimes you need some guidance to get the courage to jump in.  Well, now is the time to jump and get involved to help boost your chances for receiving scholarships and for creating a boisterous college application that will impress any prestigious college.

“I tell kids keep on your notes page of your iPhone anything you ever do, a club or any type of community service or volunteer work…” says Mrs. Kachur a guidance counselor at SHS. “So when you’re a senior you’re like ‘oh my gosh I’ve done all these things’ and that will help with   scholarships.”

Scholarships are “just like free money” Kachur said. She recommends that students apply early for scholarships because the deadline to get the best ones is November 1st. Guidance is giving them out throughout the year until March and April. Around the corner of the guidance office, is a whole wall of all the scholarships that the school receives information about. SPTV is also a good source. Seniors especially, be sure to listen carefully because you never know when you might miss a good scholarship that applies to you.

Kachur also states a good way to look for scholarships is to use Google. Just put in your description, for example, female basketball player scholarships or male swimming scholarships and you might just find one that works for you.

At SHS, our guidance counselors are able to meet with every individual senior. There are 504 seniors in 2016, each of their guidance counselors will meet with each one for twenty to twenty-five minutes. This is to help them understand the packet they will receive, and put their transcript on Parchment.com.

As well as a packet that the guidance counselors will give them and go over with the students that contains all they need to know about college applications. They can take home the packet and review it with their parents to inform and explain which may ease some confusion . Kachur says it brings relief to both parents and students because it clears up any information that might be unclear to them.  

As for increasing your chances of getting into colleges, it is mainly about what classes you take, GPA, SAT and ACT scores. This all goes onto your transcript which colleges view with your application. Almost all colleges are different in what they are looking for but as long as you keep your grades up and show up to class then you might be set on a good course.

Emma Dickinson, a senior at SHS, has a GPA of 3.8 and has been on the A honor roll since freshman year. She plans to go to IUPUI or Ivy Tech to get a bachelor’s degree of science and criminal justice.

“Once my FAFSA comes through, I’m gonna apply for more,” Dickinson states about getting scholarships. “I think I’ve had a good start so far.”

Although she only has one scholarship, the Lilly Endowment scholarship, Dickinson feels that she is in a good place but she says the whole process is very stressful.  

All in all, if you have any questions or are stressed like Dickinson, the best place to go is guidance and your counselor. You can discuss the topic on how to get through these somewhat troubling and confusing times that we call the transition to college.