APPLYING TO A TEXAS PUBLIC UNIVERSITY OR COMMUNITY COLLEGE
APPLYING TO A TEXAS PUBLIC UNIVERSITY OR COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Follow these steps to apply to a public college in Texas. They can be completed in any order.
#1 COMPLETE AN APPLICATION
— For all Texas public 4 year colleges, go to www.applytexas.org and follow the directions. You can fill out one application and send it to any state college.
— For all Houston Community College campuses, go to www.hccs.edu, and click on FUTURE STUDENTS,
How Do I Get In? Applying, New Students, then click on https://saweb.hccs.edu/PS8WEBAPP/. For other community colleges, go to the school’s website for directions.
— If you are on the free or reduced lunch list, come by the College Corner for waivers that pay for your admission/application fees to colleges. Take an SAT or ACT on a fee waiver first whenever possible.
#2 TAKE AN ACT/SAT/COMPASS TEST AND SEND YOUR SCORE TO THE COLLEGE:
— To take the ACT, register online at www.actstudent.org. For the SAT, go to www.collegeboard.com to register. Go online or come by the College Corner for study guides and applications to send by mail. For instructions on online registration, go to www.lamarhs.com > College Corner> Testing Information > Instructions for Completing SAT/ACT Registration.
— When registering for the ACT or SAT, send your score to 4 colleges for no extra charge. If you wait until to see your score to send it, it will cost you $10 to send it to one school. Colleges will not penalize you if one score is lower than others. Some schools will take the highest score from all administrations and if you do not send them all, you will miss out on this opportunity.
— If you are on the free or reduced lunch list, come by the College Corner for fee waivers to take these tests for free.
— Take the free COMPASS test if applying to Houston Community College. See Mrs. Ling in the College Corner for more information.
#3 SEND YOUR TRANSCRIPT:
— Go to www.lamarhs.org and click on Prep HQ in the lower right corner. Log in. In the blue area on the left, click on “Transcript Rqsts”, click on “Add transcript request”. Enter the information click on “Submit Request” and it’s done!
— If you want to pick up copies rather than have them mailed, go to “Other destination”, under “Enter Name” type: pickup. Click on “continue”. Under “Notes to staff”, indicate that you would like to pick up official copies. Identify the number you will need. When you pick them up, they will be sealed in an envelope. DO NOT open the seal before mailing. If you open one to review, you can no longer send it as an official copy. Transcripts requested on Prep HQ will be mailed or available for pickup in 3 days.
— Note that the first 5 transcripts ordered are free. The 6th and following copies cost $2.00. Make your request on Prep HQ and pay the fees in the Business Office in the 2nd floor main office. Take your receipt to the registrar’s office in room N110. If you are on the free or reduced lunch program, the College Corner can give you a fee waiver for an additional 5 free transcripts.
— If you have Dual Credit from HCC, colleges will want a transcript showing your grades as part of your application. To order a transcript, go to http://www.hccs.edu/hccs/business-community/transfer-options/order-a-tra...
#4 APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS AND FINANCIAL AID:
— Colleges have different application processes for scholarships. Some schools send your admission application automatically for scholarship review. For some, you have a tab that appears on www.applytexas.org after you submit your admission application. A few will have a separate application only on their website. Check out the way that each of your colleges accept scholarship applications and be sure to make the deadline. This is often before the application deadline.
— The University of Houston scholarship application requires that you send your GPA on an non-weighted scale for university funded scholarships. This is not the scale that Lamar uses. If you are applying for UH scholarships, go to www.lamarhs.com > College Corner > Scholarships and click on “How to Compute an non-weighted GPA”.
— Over 96% of the money given to students for college comes from the financial aid process. Applications for the FAFSA financial aid forms will be available January 1. Complete this information as quickly as you can. Remember that you must be admitted by a university before they will offer you financial aid, so complete your admission applications by Thanksgiving and the FAFSA asap to be at the front of the money line.
# 5 FOR A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION:
— Public colleges in Texas generally do not require recommendations. If you do not meet the admission requirements, are applying for an appeal or want to submit a recommendation with your application from your advisor, go to www.lamarhs.com > College Corner > College Applications > Recommendation Letter Request Survey. Completing this survey will give your advisor helpful information to make a personal letter for you. Make an appointment with your advisor and bring forms; stamped, addressed envelopes; due dates; and your Recommendation Letter Request Survey responses to your advisor at least 2 - 3 weeks before the recommendations are due.
— For recommendations from teachers, ask them if they write a letter for you and give them stamped, addressed envelopes with any forms that may come with the application. Give teachers information at least 2 - 3 weeks before your application deadline.
— Do not give the teacher your responses from the Recommendation Letter Request Survey.
# 6 OTHER HELPFUL INFORMATION:
— Keep an eye on PrepHQ at www.lamarhs.com for helpful and important online information. Scholarships and admission information will be listed there in addition to emails sent to you periodically. Put your parent’s email address on your Prep HQ account so they can receive information by emails as well.
— When the new rank comes out in October, transcripts will no longer be available with the July rank. If you are in the top 10% in the July rank, send in your transcript before October. If you drop out of the top 10% in future ranks, they will not rescind your offer of admission.
— Before sending transcripts to colleges, you may want to order one for you to review for accuracy. Note that once an official transcript is opened, it can no longer be sent as an official copy.
— NEVER leave your forms and envelopes with a secretary. Don’t leave forms on your teacher’s desk. Ask them first to do your recommendation. If you don’t put forms in the hands of those who are doing the writing, you take a risk that your materials will not be sent. Always make an appointment with your advisor, and give forms and envelopes personally to your teacher.
— Score reporting for SAT and ACT takes about 5 weeks. Try to take two administrations before the application deadline, but take at least one 6 weeks before the deadline. Many schools take the highest scores from multiple administrations. Often, your score will be better the second time you take it. Colleges will accept either test, so which one should you take? Those stronger in math have an advantage in scoring with the SAT. If your reading skills are better than math, the ACT is probably the better test for you. The best part about ACT is that they do not take points off your score for wrong answers. The SAT deducts a quarter of a point for each incorrect guess.
— Note that the University of Texas Austin will begin using the writing score on the ACT/SAT for admission decisions beginning in the fall, 2009. Other schools may be doing the same.
— Advisors will not accept college recommendation requests for the first three weeks of school. If you have September or October deadlines, you can turn them in through September 11 to Ms. Cox in the College Corner. Appointments may be made with your advisor beginning September 14.