College and Career Planning (CCP)

Summer 2022

SUMMER TIPS FOR COLLEGE-BOUND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS:

  1. Use summers to arrange campus tours. Visit a campus with your child during family vacations. For 9th, 10th and 11th grade students, it does not necessarily need to be the campus where your student may attend. Your goal is just exposure to the campus environment. By visiting colleges in the 9th through 11th grades, you students can begin to narrow their choices for potential schools.
  2. Plan an academically enriching summer for your child. For 9th and 10th grade students the goal is career exploration. You can find summer programs on college campuses that are challenging and will expose your child to the campus environment.
  3. For rising juniors, sign up for fall SAT and ACT tests during the summer. Once they know their test dates, have them create a summer study plan to study for the test. To register for the SAT, https://www.collegeboard.org/. To register for the ACT, http://www.act.org/.
  4. For rising seniors, completely write your college admissions essays. Have the admissions essay proof-read, edited and the final draft ready to be sent by the early admissions deadlines. This will free up your time in the fall to apply for scholarships. Enroll in the Scholarship Shark Academy’s Essay Lab to help your student with the essay. Class starts June 10. For Common App Essay Prompts, http://www.commonapp.org/whats-appening/application-updates/common-application-announces-2017-2018-essay-prompts
  5. Build in breaks for you and your child. As the year begins, the stress gets going pretty quickly. So make sure to build in some breaks as your child needs. It is especially important to do this right after taking the SAT or the ACT and during intense moments of applying to college and for scholarships.

Dual Enrollment at AB Tech

Dual enrollment gives students a chance to take classes at other schools at no cost to the student, and many times they are able to earn both high school and college credit for those courses. Some courses are offered online, while others require a student to be able to drive to campus for their class.

Students are able to follow two different pathways depending on their postsecondary goals:

– College Transfer Pathways can lead to the completion of at least thirty semester hours of transfer courses, including English and mathematics, for qualified junior and senior high school students. These courses transfer to all 16 campuses of the University of North Carolina system, as well as many private colleges in the state.

– Career Technical Education Pathways lead to a certificate or diploma and prepare students to enter the workforce post-graduation.

To qualify for dual enrollment at AB Tech, you must have a 2.8 unweighted GPA and be a rising junior or senior to apply. If you do not meet the GPA requirement, but are interested in a CTE pathway, please email Ms. Lafferty to talk about your options.

If you are interested in dual-enrollment, here are your next steps (students who have taken AB Tech dual-enrollment classes this year do not need to re-apply for next):

Step 1: Please check out this video from our AB Tech advisor, Vicki Thompson about the AB Tech dual enrollment process. You can also get more information and a list of CCP eligible classes by checking out the CCP website.

Step 2: Fill out an application and turn it in to Ms. Lafferty. Please leave the course selection section blank until you have had an advising session.

Step 3: AB Tech course registration opens at the beginning of April. At this time, Ms. Lafferty will pull you from class to meet with Vicki (she is here once a week on Tuesdays) and choose your classes.

If you have any questions about the program or are unsure if dual-enrollment is a good fit for you, please email me to set up an information session with me and Vicki.

Family Resources/Important Links

For more information about the college and career program or to schedule an advising session, please reach out to Ms. Chelsea Lafferty, Upper School College and Career Counselor, at chelsealafferty@icimagine.org or by call/text at 828.708.0660.