College can be stressful as you’re coming to an end of your high school years. Thinking about tons of scholarships you can apply to and turning them in on time, getting letters of recommendations, and even applying to colleges can be very overwhelming. Mrs. Wilson is a great source to any questions that you may have. The career center is right across the main office in the front building of Leonardtown High School. Here’s some advice from our very own Mrs. Wilson.

One thing that you should complete is FASFA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Most scholarships need to see your FASFA in order to give you the money for the scholarship you received. For example, the BECA, Senator, and Delegate all require you to complete the FAFSA. Some scholarships required recommendations. If you want to get a recommendation from a teacher or counselor, make sure you give them weeks in advance notice. To view scholarships, you can look on Naviance. Naviance has Local regional scholarships and national scholarships. The College Board also has many scholarships to choose from.  Mrs. Wilson recommended that during your junior year it’s a great opportunity to visit colleges and find out what college makes you feel like you’re at home. It’s good to know if you want an in-state college, out of state, big, or small college. When applying to colleges you should have multiple interests on what you want to do or have multiple majors in mind. If you’re worried about money, the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) is a good choice to save money. If you would like to learn more about certain colleges Naviance is a great source to research a variety of schools. Most colleges look at your junior year grades so make sure you’re keeping your grades up the first few years of high school. The SAT that you take during your years of high school sometimes are not needed when applying to colleges. Some colleges are test optional and others require your SAT scores. Some SAT scores are required when applying for scholarships. Some schools give Merits based on your SAT score. So, it’s always good to submit your SAT score to the college of your choice.

If you have any questions or concerns about college, be sure to contact or visit Mrs. Wilson in the career center, Mrs. Wilson offers a wide variety of support.