College and Career Planning
Through the Counseling Office we provide assistance with:
- Building a well-balanced college or trade school list
- Career and Technical education opportunities
- Exploring careers
- College applications & fee waivers
- SAT registration & fee waivers
- Applying for financial aid and scholarships
- Comparing college costs
- Editing application essays, resumes, and cover letters
- Interview practice and skills
- Exploring military careers and options
- & so much more!
TAHS College and Career Events
The guidance office runs a number of events throughout the year to help students and families with the college and job application process.
Representatives from various colleges and career opportunities visit TAHS during the school day. Sign-ups will be available for students in the guidance office and a monthly calendar will be posted/sent to students.
Financial Aid Information Night - November 7th, 2024
6pm-7:30 pm in the High School Library
Information for parents of all grade-levels about college costs, financial aid, and scholarships.
FAFSA Completion Day - January 21, 2025 (Seniors Only)
4 pm- 8 pm
Experts will be on hand to help families complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the Pennsylvania State Grant Application. These are the two most important forms for applying for financial aid for college.
- Career Planning
- Military Planning
- College Timeline
- Scholarships & Financial Aid
- Local Scholarships
- National Scholarships
Career Planning
- Explore your skills and interests. Know your strengths and best characteristics. This gives you direction in your education and job search and shows employers that you have done your research and are a good fit for their organization.
- Complete the Career Interest Surveys on pacareerzone.org and learn about job availability in Pennsylvania.
- As to chat with or career shadow some professionals in fields that seem interesting to you. Ask them questions about their day-to-day responsibilities and work environment.
- Determine the education requirements for careers of interest. Many jobs require specific skills or education including a certificate, associate degree, bachelor degree, masters, etc. Additional years of education often lead to more opportunities to advance within a career and some training programs can be completed at relatively low cost. Some jobs including teaching, nursing, and social work also require special licentry through the state.
- Create a resume. A resume should be a summary of your education, work experience, volunteer and community involvement, skills, special honors or awards, and accomplishments. Your resume is what gets you in the door for an interview and is a good thing to always have on hand for when you want to apply for a job!
- Use tools like resume.com to format your resume. Employers are expecting resumes to look a particular way.
- Ask a teacher or the career counselor to help you edit your resume to be the strongest it can be.
- Practice interview skills.
- Google yourself and monitor your social media. What does your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. say about you?
- Gather professional attire to wear to interviews. It is better to be overdressed than underdressed!
- Create a list of possible questions and scenarios the employer may use and think about how you might answer them if they were asked in an interview.
- Gather materials such as transcripts, resume, cover letter, certifications, etc. that an employer might ask to see in an interview.
- Identify jobs and internships.
- Explore job search websites including linkedin and indeed where employers often post jobs.
- Make a list of some companies/organizations that you might be interested in working for. Check their websites for job openings and reach out to their hiring office to let them know you are interested if positions become available.
- Talk with friends, family, coworkers, teachers, etc. about your job search and ask if they have any suggestions or if they know of job openings which might fit your interests.
Military Planning
Military Recruiters visit the Tyrone Area High School frequently throughout the school year. Recruiters set up a table display in the cafeteria during student lunch times to share information and speak with students who may be interested in a career in the military.
Before you begin talking with a recruiter, please read these Helpful Hints
Additional information for students who are interested in a military career can be found at:
College Timeline
Your College Prep Timeline
|
Grade |
Fall |
Winter |
Spring |
Summer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
9th |
1. Meet your school counselor. 2. Get involved in extracurricular activities 3. Pick a good mix of classes and limit study halls. |
1. Keep your grades up: Every year counts! 2. Learn about your academic and activity preferences. 3. Start learning about paying for college. (bigfuture.collegeboard.org) |
1. Build credentials: Apply to summer internships, jobs, and/or community service activities. 2. Learn about college and college life. (bigfuture.collegeboard.org) |
Make it count: Jobs, internships, and community service will help give you experience and build your resume. |
|
10th |
1. Take PSAT: Learn what areas need improvement. 2. Learn about all the tests that colleges may require: SATs, ACTs, SAT subject tests, etc. 3. Work with you school counselor to make sure your courses reflect your academic and career goals. |
1. READ: Recreational reading can help increase vocabulary and comprehension that is essential for the SATs. 2. Seek out your counselor to clarify your career path and possibly take career inventories. (pacareerzone.org) |
1. Keep your grades up: Every year counts! 2. Start college learning about colleges by researching their websites 4. Apply for summer jobs or internships. |
Make it count: Jobs, internships, and community service will help give you experience and build your resume. |
|
11th |
1. Attend college field trips and rep visits to learn more. 2. Attend a financial aid night to learn more about paying for college. 3.Decide which tests you need to take and what times you are going to take them. |
1. Take on new roles: Consider taking leadership positions in your clubs and organizations. 2. Organize college info and narrow down options: categorize them into likely schools (you are above the requirements), target schools (you fit the requirements), and reach schools (you meet most requirements, but not all). 3. Register for SATs or other tests and prepare. 4. Learn more about costs of colleges. (collegescorecard.ed.gov) |
1. Schedule challenging classes for senior year: Rigorous math and science courses are correlated with success in college. 2. Contact recommendation writers. 5. Apply for summer job or internship. 6. Set up personal college interviews. 7. Take standardized tests. |
1. Participate in summer jobs, internships, or volunteer experiences. 2. Visit colleges and research schools online. 3. Make a list of 5 to 10 colleges you might be interested in applying to. 4.. Start preparing admissions essays.
|
|
12th |
1. Continue to visit colleges and attend rep visits. 2. Stay on top of grades and extracurricular activities. 3. Choose 3 to 10 colleges to apply to, including a mix of public & private, selective and less selective colleges. 3. Keep track of college application and scholarship deadlines. 4. Complete the Free Application for Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA) and the Pennsylvania State Grant Application |
1. Follow-up on your applications and financial aid packages: Many schools that use online applications allow you to login and check on your application’s status. 2. Apply to local scholarships and explore additional scholarships through your colleges. 3. KEEP YOUR GRADES UP! (Some colleges check mid-year reports when making admissions decisions) |
1. Compare financial aid packages from different colleges and discuss how you would pay for different schools. Contact financial aid offices to see if more aid is available.
2. Attend Accepted students events to learn more about the colleges you were accepted to.
3. Decide on a college and make a deposit. (Most deposit deadlines are May 1st. Deposits can sometimes be waived for low-income families.
4. Check your email for information about housing, meal plans, health care, new student orientation, etc. |
1. Check your email for information about housing, meal plans, health care, new student orientation, scheduling classes, etc.
2. Sign Master Promissory Notes for student loans and look for information about making your first tuition payment.
3. Gather school supplies and dorm gear if living on campus.
4. DO NOT HESITATE TO REACH OUT TO THE COLLEGE COUNSELOR IF YOU RUN INTO TROUBLE WITH COLLEGE PAPERWORK OVER THE SUMMER! |
GO TO COLLEGE PLANNING WEBSITES:
Bigfuture.collegeboard.org
Collegescorecard.ed.gov
Pacareerzone.org
Scholarships & Financial Aid
Figuring out what college is going to cost and how to pay for it is not straightforward for most families. However, there are some things that can be done to attempt to stay informed and reduce the cost:
- Research how much different schools would likely cost your family (“sticker price” of the college minus financial aid & scholarships) by comparing them on collegescorecare.ed.gov and completing the Net Price Calculator found on every college’s website.
- Plan to apply to at least 3 to 5 colleges including at least one PA State System School (ex. Lock Haven, IUP, Clarion, etc.). Applying to different types of schools can increase your range of financial options.
- Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the Pennsylvania State Grant Application, even if you think you might not qualify for aid.
- Once you are accepted to a college, read through your financial aid packages carefully to understand how much you never have to pay (grants and scholarships), have to pay in the future (loans), and have to pay now out-of pocket. Feel free to set up a meeting with the College and Career Counselor to compare your packages.
- Negotiate your financial aid packages! For some schools what they offer is final but others may be able to find you additional sources of aid if your family has especially large financial need or if you are a particularly desirable student. It never hurts to ask!
- Make (at least) a 4-year plan for paying for college. You don’t want to be stuck in a bind your second year because you didn’t plan how you were going to find the money for payments.
- Tools like mysmartborrowing.org can also give you a glimpse of what your loan payments will be once your graduate. The rule-of-thumb is that you don’t want to borrow more to pay for college then you are going to make the first year after you graduate
- APPLY TO LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS. While some students have success with national scholarship applications, most students are more successful in the local scholarship process where there is less competition. However, it is never good to assume that you will be able to cover most or even some of your college costs from local scholarship
Local Scholarships
Local scholarships can be a good way to gain a little extra money for college as many of the applications are restricted to seniors at Tyrone Area High School or in Blair County. Last year over $100,000 was given to students through our local scholarship program.
All seniors have been given access to the “TASD Local Scholarships 2023” Google Classroom. Please follow all of the instructions posted in order to complete scholarship applications. If you have any trouble accessing this information or have additional questions, please contact Ms. Broadfield at ktbroadfield@tasd.us or Mrs. Koeck at jhkoeck@tasd.us
FOR OUR LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS, DUE DATES WILL EITHER BE MARCH 7TH OR MARCH 21ST DEPENDING ON THE SCHOLARSHIP (Check the scholarship description guide for more information) - THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THESE DEADLINES.
STEP 1: CHOOSE YOUR SCHOLARSHIPS -
Read through this Scholarship Description Packet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wNr_Iiv9eFt1_SpiOkgsb9FQjaUR6KiHJBvA7ugeaxY/edit As you go, make a list of the scholarships you would like to apply for on a piece of paper or your Chromebook.
STEP 2: COMPLETE THE TAHS SCHOLARSHIP ‘MAIN APPLICATION’ -
Go online to the 2023 TAHS Local Scholarships Google Classroom, under the “Classwork” tab you will see Application Directions. Clicking on Step #2 will bring you to the Main Application through google forms. This form is required to be considered for any local scholarships.
STEP 3: COMPLETE SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS -
You will notice that many scholarships listed require “Supplementary Materials” beyond the Main Application. These materials can be found on the Google Classroom under the individual scholarship’s name and must either be submitted online or turned in to Ms. Broadfield’s office, depending on the scholarship. The specifics for each scholarship’s supplementary material will be laid out on the Google Classroom. Some of the regional scholarships may require students to apply on an outside website or mail in the application. Students are responsible for those applications and their respective deadlines.
STEP 4: SUBMIT LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION -
Read the supplementary material directions closely and note any scholarships that require letters of recommendation. Decide which teachers and/or community members you would like to ask for letters of recommendation. Make sure to request your letters early so teachers have plenty of time to write them!
National Scholarships
These are scholarships that you can find online and are open to applicants across the country.
Scholarships can be found on search websites including:
- Bigfuture.collegeboard.org
- Fastweb.com
- ScholarshipAmerica.org
- Finaid.org
- Peerlift.org
- Collegegreenlight.com
Scholarships Open Now
Horatio Alger Association
The Horatio Alger Association provides multiple scholarships to students’ whose families make under $55,000 a year and are planning to pursue college or technical school. https://scholars.horatioalger.org/
The Nordenberg Leadership Scholars Program
The Nordenberg Leadership Scholars Program is a University of Pittsburgh scholarship and leadership development opportunity available to current Pennsylvania high school seniors who excel academically and plan on enrolling as Pitt freshmen in the Fall of 2020. The Nordenberg Leadership Scholars Program will provide 5 incoming Pennsylvania freshmen with a full-tuition scholarship, paid internships, and leadership training. Applications and nominations can be submitted by going to the web link www.nordenbergscholars@pitt.edu.
QuestBridge
QuestBridge runs a very competitive scholarship program for top students whose families make under $65,000 a year. There are full scholarships to academic summer programs as well as full-ride scholarships to America’s top colleges and universities.
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
Large scholarships to high-achieving high school seniors with financial need.
Pennsylvania American Legion Scholarships
FirstEnergy Corporation Scholarship
FirstEnergy Power Systems Institute - receive a two year Associate of Applied Science degree in Electric Utility Technology. Tuition, books and lab fees paid by FirstEnergy for qualified students. Program available at Pennsylvania Highland Community College and Porreco College of Edinboro University.
Penn State Millennium Scholars - Due Dec 6th [PSU Priority App Due Nov 1st]
This is a full-ride (tuition, room & board) scholarship for top students planning to study science, engineering, or agriculture at Penn State University Park. The application process is quite extensive so if this interests your student it would be good to get an early start!
WTS Central PA Chapter - Women's Transportation Scholarship Scholarships for female students considering a transportation related career including: engineers, economists, scientists, computer/IT GIS Mappers, Construction, Public Relations, Wildlife Specialists, Architects, etc. Due Nov 12th. See attachment for details.
American Legion Scholarships, Youth Programs, and Essay Contests
There are a number of different scholarship and program opportunities run by the PA American Legion. See the attached documents for more information or visit pa-legion.com/programs/student-programs/.
GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program
Scholarships for high school seniors who demonstrate Leadership, Drive, Integrity, and Citizenship. Apply at reaganfoundation.org/scholarships by January 4th.
Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA Scholarships
The EAWCP with award ten scholarships to students who have epilepsy/seizure disorder. See attached documents for application instructions. Applications are due April 1st.
Apprenticeships
See attachment for information about apprenticeship programs for future road builders and heat and frost insulators with various unions here in central PA.
Taco Bell Live Más Scholarship
This scholarship through the Taco Bell Foundation is entirely based on a student-created video describing something that they are passionate about.
The Coolidge - A Scholarship for America
A Full-Ride college scholarship covering tuition, room, board, and expenses for four years of undergraduate study. Students must apply as JUNIORS and the application is due January 16th, 2020. Learn more: www.coolidgescholars.org.
Jack & Julie Narcolepsy Scholarship
$1,000 for students with narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia. Due April 1st.
Mike Rowe Scholarship
Work Ethic Scholarship Program: Scholarship for students pursuing post-secondary education in the skilled trades.
Automotive Aftermarket Scholarship Central
Scholarships for students planning to pursue post-secondary education at a certified automotive, heavy duty, or collision repair school.
From Classroom to Classroom Scholarship -
This is a $5,000 scholarship for seniors who are aspiring K-12 teachers. Apply online by June 30th
Cameron Impact Scholarship
This is a merit-based full-tuition undergraduate scholarship for incomparable individuals who have the ability to make real, tangible contributions to their families, friends, and greater society. Students must apply by May 22nd, 2020 of their Junior year for early application status or by September 11th, 2020 of their senior year for regular application status. However, only 3,000 applications will be received so it is important to apply early as the application may close before these deadlines.
Young Entrepreneur Scholarship from Verizon (Due May 31st):
Verizon is offering a $1,000 scholarship for seniors who are planning to attend college and have at least a 3.0 GPA. An essay or video is required.