College Application Process

THE COLLEGE APPLICATION PROCESS
At Ledyard High School

Dear Parent/Guardian and Student:

            With the college application season fast approaching, it is important to review the college application process at Ledyard High School. We process and send transcripts and related documents electronically to over 1200 colleges, including all Common Application schools, using the Naviance Family Connection program.

All requests for transcripts needed for college admissions are handled through Naviance. The application process has two distinct portions: (1) what the student is responsible for sending or submitting and (2) the supporting materials the School Counseling department sends or submits following a student request and follow up meeting.

Each senior applicant is responsible for the following:

  • Attend scheduled meetings with their school counselor to review college choices and application procedures. Seniors will maintain communication with their counselor throughout the process including notification of online submissions. 
  • Complete the “Third Party Release Form”, “Senior Brag Sheet”, and “Club and Activity Sheet”, and submit to your school counselor as soon as possible. These forms are available in the counseling office and on the Ledyard HS Guidance webpage.
  • Arrange for SAT, SAT Subject Tests and ACT scores to be sent to colleges directly from the testing agency, College Board or ACT. If registering for either SAT or ACT please be sure to include our high school code 070342 .  You can register and send scores to colleges that you are applying to at www.collegeboard.org  or www.actstudent.org.
  • Request letters of recommendation in person and through your Naviance account from teachers/counselor. A completed Brag Sheet, Club & Activity Sheet and/or Resume should be given to each person who is writing the letter of recommendation.  Recommendation requests through your Naviance account allows for electronic submission by the teacher or counselor.
  • Write required essays and have them reviewed by your English teacher or other appropriate person.
  • If applying to a college that does not accept electronic applications please complete, organize and package your own application with the necessary address/postage and schedule an appointment with your counselor no later than 10 days prior to the application deadline. This packet may include a signed application form, one or more essays, fees and teacher recommendations. Also include two separate addressed stamped envelopes for mid-year and final grades to be sent. Despite a paper application your transcript must still be requested thru the Naviance Family Connections program.
  • If you are applying for financial aid remember these important steps:
    • Families must complete the FAFSA as soon after January 1st as possible. More information will be available at our annual Financial Aid Night in the fall.
    • Many colleges require the “College Scholarship Service (CSS) profile”. For more information access www.collegeboard.org  .
    • Check with each individual college to which you are applying to see if they have their own financial aid form.

The School Counseling Department will send or submit the following after the senior schedules a meeting and provides a signed “Third Party Release Form” and appropriate requests:

  • Transcript will be forwarded following a student request through Naviance Family Connection program.
  • Any completed quarter grades or courses in progress and student schedule.
  • A Secondary School Report (SSR) for all common application schools and any other schools that require a SSR.
  • Counselor letter of recommendation as needed.
  • School Profile
  • Mid-year report in February.
  • Teacher recommendations will be sent directly by the teacher.

You will find a great deal of additional information and resources on the School Counseling and Guidance webpage’s senior link http://www.ledyard.net/lhs/guidance/seniors/index.html . Here you will find links to helpful sites as well as several important forms.  

Online Submission of Documents and Requests through
Naviance Family Connections

The School Counseling and Guidance Department is able to electronically submit documents including: school profile, transcript, counselor/teacher recommendations and Secondary School Report. This will require seniors to complete the following steps:

  • Complete a “Third Party Release Form”  and submit to the counseling office prior to a request for a high school transcript (the request notifies the Counseling Department to send your official records to a college or colleges) 
  • Go to Naviance Family Connection ( www.ledyard.net > Ledyard High School  >  click on the “Naviance” link )
  • Sign into Naviance Family Connection using your email and password. If you are new to LHS and have not already registered you will need a first time registration code available through the guidance office.
  • Go to the Colleges Tab at the top of the page.
  • Some of your “Colleges I’m Thinking About” need to be selected as “Colleges I’m Applying To” so that we know to send your materials.  From “Colleges I’m Thinking About, “ you can check the box to the left of the colleges to which you want to apply and then click “Move to Application List,” (see pull-down below list), or build the list directly from the “Colleges I’m Applying to” section by clicking “Add Colleges to This List” in that section.
  • This will bring you to the “Add Colleges to Colleges I’m Applying to” confirmation window.  In this window, indicate which type of application you are requesting (regular decision, early decision, early action, etc.) in the drop-down menu, and click the box to request transcripts for each college.  Click “Add Colleges.”  The Counseling Department will process the request electronically upon receipt of the request. However, be sure to alert your counselor of this request, either in person or via email.
  • You can check the status of your transcript request by logging onto Family Connection and clicking the “Transcripts” link on the left.  In the Transcripts window, choose the option “View Status of All My Transcript Requests.”
  • Schedule an appointment with your counselor to update and officially send materials.

Whether your colleges will be receiving materials electronically or via standard mail, we require students to submit all applications and transcript requests through the Naviance system.

If you are applying to a Common Application (CA) School you must set up a Common Application account and complete the registration:

    • Go to www.commonapp.org
    • Set up a User Name and Password .
    • Fill out information as a “First-Year” student.
    • Complete the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) WAIVER. LHS School Counseling Department recommends that you waive your right to access seeing your recommendation letters.  Colleges will view these recommendations as a more unbiased appraisal.
    • List the colleges you plan to apply to within your CA account. Please note that student documents cannot be sent to CA schools on behalf of a student until the student lists colleges in his/her CA account.
    • Return to the “Colleges I’m Applying to” page in Naviance. Follow the instructions to match your CA account to your Naviance account. This is a critical step as it will allow us to send your supporting documents electronically.
    • Seniors are expected to submit applications online. However, if a student must use a paper application, it must be indicated that the application will be submitted by paper if using CA or documents may be delayed.

We understand that the post-secondary application process, while very important, can be overwhelming. We take the application process seriously and continue to make every effort to increase efficiency, accuracy, and access to information for our students and families. Please feel free to give us your feedback during this stressful but exciting time. Best of luck with the application process!

 

Sincerely,

 

David H. Doyle
Director of School Counseling and Guidance