College Information
CEEB/High School code: 430320
College Fairs
What to do & what to ask at college fairs:
Upcoming fairs for 2022-2023:
What to do & what to ask at college fairs:
- Go with parents/mentor/adult, if at all possible, but if your schedules do not work out, meet a friend there.
- Dress nice and neat: You do not have to go in dressy attire, though it always makes a great impression, but you do want to present yourself clean and neat...not like you just rolled out of bed.
- Take a bag to collect pamphlets, papers, folders, etc. that are given out at the tables.
- Take a pen to jot down important information.
- Read these 2 articles for tips before you go to help you feel comfortable and prepared:
- www.princetonreview.com
- https://careervision.org
- 1 of these articles says to take prefilled labels (name, address, GPA, etc.) to adhere to the college's information cards. This is a great tip; however, some fairs allow you to "register" ahead of time. This means you enter your information online beforehand, alleviating the need to hand write or use labels for their information cards.
Upcoming fairs for 2022-2023:
- 1) Sept. 7, 2022 6:00-8:00 College Fair @ Notre Dame – 2701 Vermont Ave. Chattanooga
- College fair with 40-50 colleges in attendance
- 2) Th/Oct. 20, 2022 6:30-8:30 "Christian College Fairs" - register at www.ChristianCollegeFairs.com
- It is highly recommend for students to register with college fairs to avoid having to fill out each contact card for schools of interest but it is not necessary.
- 3) April 11, 2023: "Coast-To-Coast College Fair" @ Chatt. Convention Center
- This annual college fair is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for 11th grade students but 10th grade is welcome.
- College fair and a financial aid workshop
- Students and their parents should attend together if possible due to the large number of colleges represented this night. Students, please register prior to attending. For more information, list of colleges that will be in attendance, and to register: https://www.coasttocoastcollegefair.com/
"Prep for College" Timeline
9th Grade
10th Grade
10th & 11th Grades
12th Grade
If you come to your first day of Senior year with most of these started (or even completed!) you will be way ahead of the game! So plan a few “Senior Prep Groups” with buddies over the summer to work on these together, it will make it more fun!
9th Grade
- Create a new email account to use only for future colleges, scholarship, financial aid, and ACT/PSAT or other tests. Otherwise, your personal email will be overloaded with college emails/advertisements so this helps keep your personal emails separate.
- We recommend that students and parents share the user name/password so everyone can monitor for important emails (especially ones that have a deadline). Make it professional and simple. (IE: shawntebacher.college@…….)
- Use this college email for college applications, scholarship applications/FAFSA, ACT test, college search sites, etc.
- Do NOT USE a school email. School email accounts will be deleted soon after graduation from NDHS so you will stop receiving college/financial aid emails.
- Start volunteering and log what you do
- Record any volunteer work during 9th-12th grades.
- Get involved in extra-curricular activities each school year or summer time; whichever works best with your schedule (….but do not over-schedule yourself!)
- In Jan/Feb, search and apply to summer camps/programs.
- Most applications are available and/or due about this time. (For 9th-11th Grades)
- If students do not pass an academic class(-es) in May, they will need to sign up for summer school in May through Village Virtual. (Cost is approx. $500/class)
10th Grade
- Buy a binder to organize paperwork for college, scholarship, FAFSA, etc. information. You can Google information on the best way to organize it all. You will get a LOT of paperwork and you will need a central place to keep it.
- Start a rough draft of a resume’ (volunteer work, awards, clubs, other extra-curricular activities)
- In late Sept/Oct, start the application process for Governor's School summer programs. (for 10th & 11th Grades)
- Research different careers and see if anything sparks your interests. (See the bottom of this page for website resources.)
- Look up the Admission requirements for 3 colleges you are interested in attending to see what their GPA and ACT score requirements. (Do you meet the GPA requirement so far?) This helps give students an academic goal to work towards.
- Parents: Have a candid discussion about any financial support you will be able to provide.
- Students who fail any academic class(-es)es, students will need to sign up for summer school in May through Village Virtual. (Cost is approx. $500/class)
10th & 11th Grades
- August: find out when to register for the PSAT, if you are interested.
- Go on college tours between now and August of Senior year.
- Include a college visit while traveling on family trips or go with a friend and their parents.
- Local schools are a great start.
- It is best to go when the college is in session.
- Senior year tours should be reserved for schools you had not considered or need to narrow down a little more.
- Go to college fairs
- Job shadow (IE: Friends of the family or parents' place of employment; may also a workplace to see if they allow this). This can be done during the 3 main school breaks or summer time.
12th Grade
If you come to your first day of Senior year with most of these started (or even completed!) you will be way ahead of the game! So plan a few “Senior Prep Groups” with buddies over the summer to work on these together, it will make it more fun!
- If you did not pass any academic classes, sign up in May for summer school (approx. $250-300).
- Remember, your GPA in May of your Junior year is what will go on your college and scholarship applications. Senior year, you will begin filling out applications for colleges and for scholarships as early as September-October (depending on the school deadline).
- If you do not have a Scoir account by May of you Junior year, email Mrs. Parris your parent and student names and email addresses so she can create an account for you by August of your Senior year. For any student considering going to college, this is a requirement.
- Keep Mrs. Bacher and your College Counselor up-to-date on any home address or email addresses changes throughout the year.
- Have a list of 3 colleges in which you plan to apply prior to coming into Senior year.
- 1 should be “reach” school (you are not sure you could get in or be able to afford)
- 1-3 should be a realistic choice
- 1 should be a backup/local school just in case something unplanned happens. **We have at least 2-3 students each year that need to use this back up school due to unforeseen circumstances. (Sudden family illness, job loss for parent, student becomes injured/ill, etc.)
- Have a list of 3-5 scholarships chosen in which you want to apply when you begin Senior year. Searching for scholarships is VERY time-consuming so having a good start on this when you enter Senior year will make time for other responsibilities and will help prevent your stress level from getting too high!
- Create a resume’ (a rough draft is fine)
- Write a rough draft of your College Essay. (You can Google this topic for help…there are lots of helpful hints).
- Summer before 12th Grade: Go to www.fafsa.gov and create a FSA ID (previously known as the FAFSA PIN #) to use later in the year.
- “The FSA ID – a username and password – recently replaced the Federal Student Aid PI/FAFSA PIN. Students must create a FSA ID prior to starting the FAFSA Jan. 1. Parents must also create a FSA ID to electronically sign the student’s FAFSA.” **ALL students need to do this who are applying to 2- and 4-year schools.
- Parents: Write a “brag letter/list” about your son/daughter and give it to them to assist them when they write their College Essay. Copies may also be given to those writing Letters of Recommendations for them to assist in their writing as well. (A bullet listing or paragraph form is fine.)
- Use specific examples to paint a picture of you son/daughter. This goes a lot further than just using generic descriptive words. The admissions office staff read thousands of letters with descriptive words each fall. Teachers/staff write MANY letters so you can help provide more personal information that most likely will be useful to the writer.
Scholarship and College Match searches
GOAL: Try not to take out loans totaling more than $8,000 per year (unless you are going into a field that pays VERY WELL, then you could increase that amount.)
GOAL: Try not to take out loans totaling more than $8,000 per year (unless you are going into a field that pays VERY WELL, then you could increase that amount.)
- https://jlvcollegecounseling.com/category/scholarships/
- Collegeboard: www.collegeboard.org/
- Princeton Review: www.princetonreview.com/
- Prep Scholars: www.prepscholar.com/
- College for TN: www.collegefortn.org/open/welcome
- Cappex: www.cappex.com
- Zinch: www.zinch.com
- www.scholarships.com
- Common App: www.commonapp.org & click on “Application Resources”
- www.knowhow2go.org
- Fastweb: www.fastweb.com
- Visit other local high schools’ website to review their scholarship information
General Admission information & Scholarship Criteria
for 4-Year Tennessee Universities
TN_public_colleges_admission_and_scholarship_criteria.docx
for 4-Year Tennessee Universities
TN_public_colleges_admission_and_scholarship_criteria.docx
Career Information
Learn about the numerous jobs/careers available in the US
1- Occupational Outlook Handbook site
2- O*Net
1- Occupational Outlook Handbook site
- Do you know some possibilities for your future career? Or, do you not have any ideas yet? Either is fine as a teen or young adult to not know how you want to spend your future. It can be helpful to spend time reviewing this site to help give some direction and very practical information about potential jobs/careers.
- The websites describes it this way: The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is a career resource offering information on the hundreds of occupations that provide the majority of jobs in the United States. Each occupational profile describes the typical duties performed by the occupation, the work environment of that occupation, the typical education and training needed to enter the occupation, the median pay for workers in the occupation, and the job outlook for the next 10 years for that occupation. Each profile is in a standard format that makes it easy to compare occupations.
- http://www.bls.gov/ooh/
2- O*Net
- This is another great resource to learn about different jobs/careers in the American labor force.
- https://www.onetonline.org/
Help finding a job/career
Do you need help matching your interests and tasks you like to do. This site allows you to take an assessment (for free) and will match you to jobs/careers that may be of interests. “My Next Move” program is a part of the O*Net website.
https://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip
Do you need help matching your interests and tasks you like to do. This site allows you to take an assessment (for free) and will match you to jobs/careers that may be of interests. “My Next Move” program is a part of the O*Net website.
https://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip
Learning a Trade/Technical Program Options after High School
Is college not the right fit for you? There is a very high demand of trained workers in technical fields. Chattanooga State has multiple technical programs available after high school. They have about 25 different technical programs available.
Is college not the right fit for you? There is a very high demand of trained workers in technical fields. Chattanooga State has multiple technical programs available after high school. They have about 25 different technical programs available.
- Article about the need for technical training in the workforce:
- Videos about each technical programs available at Chatt. State:
- https://www.chattanoogastate.edu/tcat then click on the large drop box at the top of this site
- Description/costs: https://www.chattanoogastate.edu/our-campus/consumer-information
- Apply here: https://www.chattanoogastate.edu/tcat
Job Corp
Local Unions
- http://www.liuna.org/
- http://www.iw704.com/ Iron Workers
- http://ibew175.org/www IBEW
Military Options after High School
Considering the military? Here are links to information:
Considering the military? Here are links to information:
- Career, salary and education: https://collegegrad.com/careers/military-careers
- Careers in the Army: https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs.html
- Careers in the Navy: https://www.navy.com/careers.html
- Naval Academy for Bethesda, MD
- Naval support contact information for the Mid-South: 5722 Integrity Drive, Millington, TN 38054 (901) 874-7421
- Careers in the Marines: https://www.marines.com/being-a-marine/roles-in-the-corps.html
- Careers in the Air Force: https://www.airforce.com/careers/browse-careers/