Halls High School
COLLEGE AND FINANCIAL AID
College Admissions
College admission is usually based upon the following factors: academic grade point average (G.P.A.), including English, math, foreign language, science, and social studies; the difficulty of classes taken in high school; class standing; ACT/SAT test scores, and sometimes a personal interview and essay.
Things to Consider When Choosing a College
The following guidelines might help in the college decision-making process: location, type of school (2 or 4 year, technical), size, academic calendar, campus environment, majors offered, on-campus housing, special academic programs, cost, financial aid, student activities, athletics, academic caliber of students, and social life.
Know your strengths and weaknesses and build your future on your strengths. Familiarize yourself with career information in your area of interest. Study the college catalogs. Visit the campus.
Winter, spring and summer vacations as well as weekends are ideal times to schedule visitations to college campuses. Colleges are geared for tours and answering specific questions about their programs, curriculum, and admissions procedures.
Valuable information can be acquired by attending College Fairs that are hosted by various schools throughout the year. Halls High School offers a college fair in October. Juniors and seniors should take advantage of the opportunity to visit with local colleges, universities, and technical training centers in their own school. The Smoky Mountain Regional College and Career Fair is also held every October. This fair hosts universities, community colleges, businesses, and technical colleges in the southeast region.
Student athletes need to consider the National Collegiate Athletic Association requirements - especially Division I and Division II college sports. There are certain core courses and minimum ACT / SAT test scores to consider. A Clearinghouse Form must be completed online after the completion of the junior year to determine eligibility. Visit www.ncaaclearinghouse.net for more information. Students may print a request for transcripts and bring it to the Counseling Office.
Listen for announcements about college representative visitation dates and times. This is especially valuable for juniors and seniors.
All college acceptances are considered provisional and are based upon continued senior year performance at the same quality level. All colleges review senior grades in July after graduation and can cancel admission in the event of a significant decline in performance.
College Application Process
Each college and university has its own unique way of computing grade point average (GPA). Many only consider the academic grade point resulting from the grades in the areas of English, math, science, social studies, and foreign language. The student's HHS grade point average should be used only as a guide in considering acceptance for a particular school since it includes all classes. Colleges seriously look at the strength of a student’s curriculum as it relates to their GPA.
Many college applications are available through the Counseling Office. Students may also access applications by contacting the university directly or may apply online through the college’s web site. Most schools prefer online applications.
Before submitting any college applications, check them over carefully for completion, accuracy, and neatness. You must request your transcript to be sent to the college of your choice. Transcript request forms are available in the Guidance Office. Ms. Toppins will then send transcripts to the school for you. Ms. Toppins keeps a log indicating the date the transcript was mailed. Each student may request up to three transcripts free of charge. After the third transcript is mailed, any additional transcript request will cost $2 per transcript.
If a student’s application requires a counselor’s letter of recommendation, there is a special information form that must be filled out by the student for his or her counselor. Please allow at least two weeks for processing transcript requests that require counselor’s letters of recommendations.
Financial Aid
All seniors and their parents/guardians should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid Form available in the Counseling Center each December. Many colleges do not disburse scholarship moneys until this form is on record. The FAFSA form cannot be mailed or filed online until January 1st. Visit www.fafsa.ed.gov to complete your FAFSA form. Parent/Guardians and students should visit www.pin.ed.gov before the new year to get a personal identification number. Every student and their parent/guardian must get a P.I.N. number in order to complete the FAFSA in January.
Halls High School offers a financial aid workshop in January of each year to assist parents/guardians and students in the financial aid process.
Scholarships
Local and national scholarship information is available through the Guidance Office. Each scholarship has a separate application which is available online or from Ms. Harris in Guidance. See the Senior Memo to get up-to-date information on scholarships.