Counseling Newsletter

Jeffrey Harper
jpharper@isb.ac.th

Grade 8 – Counselors will be stationed in the lunchroom on the 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th during the Middle School lunch period to offer guidance and answer questions about their 2013-2014  grade 9 course registration. Consult the Program of Studies here: https://inside.isb.ac.th/parentportal/hs/program-of-studies/

Freshmen – The Counselors met with Freshmen for grade to date checks and grade 10 (2013-2014 school year) course panning with counselors last week.  Do you check with your son or daughter to see how classes are going?  Parents may want to visit the ISB on-line “Parent Portal” and access the 2013-2014 Program of Studies for information about grade 10 classes for your children ( https://inside.isb.ac.th/parentportal/hs/program-of-studies/ ).  It’s a good discussion point as long as you focus as much on the positive as on the “needs improvement” category! If your Freshmen missed their Counselor meeting, be sure to remind them to make an appointment.

Sophomores: Talk you’re your grade ten student about their course selections for grade eleven.  Choosing classes for grades 11 and 12 will be coming up soon (on-line registration opens on March 20^th). Consult the High School Program of Studies about next year’s courses:  https://inside.isb.ac.th/parentportal/hs/program-of-studies/

Juniors:  Junior conferences are in full swing.  Have you made an appointment to see your son’s/daughter’s counselor yet?  Don’t delay!  Juniors should consult the new 2013-2014 Program of Studies about their course selections for their Senior year.  On-line course registration opens March 20:  Program of Studies is here:  https://inside.isb.ac.th/parentportal/hs/program-of-studies/

The popular University Labs begin Monday, March 18^th with a session on applying to U.S. Universities.  As a part of your Junior year university research, you should be looking into the admission process to universities by country.  USA – 2:10 in room 3-203.  Future University Labs will include Australia on March 25^th, the UK on April 1, Japan/Korea on April 22, Thailand on April 29.  Please mark your calendars.

Seniors:  If you are a U.S. citizen applying to schools in the U.S. you may be eligible for loans, grants, work study, or any combination of the three.  You need to file a FAFSA with the colleges in the U.S. that you have applied to.  Go to https://www.fafsa.ed.gov/  – it’s a free application and might be well worth your time.  Most schools start assigning financial aid in March so time is of the essence.  If you haven’t done your 2012 taxes yet, estimates based on 2011 are accepted.

Seniors applying to universities in Japan, Korea, Australia, South Africa etc. with late deadlines, PLEASE be aware of those deadlines.  They can vary from university to university!! See your counselor if you have any questions.

Watch out for the dreaded SENIOR SLUMP.

As you receive your offers for universities, remember that when you make a deposit for a university, you are committing to that university for a year.  You may not deposit at more than one university.  You have to make up your mind!  Remember that, because universities that learn that their accepted students have “double-deposited” will sometimes remove their offer.

The Senior Transition Program dates have been announced: May 23 and June 6.  Mark your calendars.

Dr. Cathy Curtis will be in The Netherlands this week visiting and learning about Dutch university options for ISB students.

Upcoming University Visits (Consult Naviance for additions or changes)

University visits are a great opportunity to ask specific questions about the university admissions process of the very people who make admissions decisions for their respective universities.