We encourage all parents to participate in our annual College Day on April 17. For those parents seeking event details, please review the slides from our College Day Preview session for parents. You may also wish to consult our College Day FAQs. As for the College Day Agenda, we are pleased to be hosting over 100 colleges representing several States (and a few outside the U.S.). The college fair is scheduled for 1:35 – 3:00 p.m. in Gym A. All Upper School parents are invited. We also invite parents to arrive early enough to sit in on one of the topical sessions that precede the college fair program. These sessions are scheduled for 12:40 (12:50 session start) – 1:30 p.m. in various Upper School classroom locations. Parents are welcome to attend any session, but please note that we have also prepared a session designed specifically for parents.
Next, please review the following with your student(s) to help them to get the most out of College Day:
• All Grade 10 and 11 students should have completed a short survey in their Naviance accounts to indicate their top three choices for their topical session assignment in their Activity Periods last week. Note that ninth grade students will all be assigned to participate in grade level sessions and may opt in to topical sessions next year. Session assignments will be finalized no later than Monday, April 15, and students will receive an email with their personal College Day schedule no later than the day before the event.
• During the Activity Periods mentioned above, we encouraged students to create a personalized search of the institutions attending College Day according to their own preferences and criteria. You can help your student complete a search by following these instructions. Helping your student complete a search can be a great entry point into a broader conversation about college parameters and goals. This type of conversation in itself can be very helpful in giving your student confidence and direction heading into College Day. Help your student think about objective criteria and subjective criteria that could be important to their college search (and how to know the difference), and have a conversation about any family-related factors or expectations that may impact his or her college search. Please feel free to utilize our resource, Navigating PA’s College Fair (and What Questions to Ask!). We expect that Grade 11 students should be able to craft a College Day plan based on their initial college counseling meetings and their current “Colleges I am Thinking About” list in their Naviance accounts. Juniors who may be unsure of which college representatives to speak with should consult their assigned college counselor for assistance.
Please also encourage your student to use the college fair time purposefully, to have respectful interactions with our college admission guests, and to take full advantage of this unique opportunity to learn about a truly wide range of post-secondary options. College Day has become one the signature celebratory occasions of each academic year at Providence Academy and we sincerely hope that this event aids your family’s post-secondary planning.