College Exploration
A student is encouraged to begin the college exploration process early in the high school career. College applications are filed at the beginning of the senior year. There are numerous ways to explore college options as outlined below:
NAVIANCE STUDENT
Naviance Student is a service designed especially for students and families. Naviance is a comprehensive website that students and parents can use to help in making plans about courses, colleges, and careers. Naviance Student is a service that we use in The Office of School Counseling to track and analyze data about college and career plans, so it provides up-to-date information that’s specific to our school.
Naviance Student will allow students and parents to:
- Get involved in the planning and advising process – Build a resume, complete online surveys, and manage timelines and deadlines for making decisions about colleges and careers
- Research colleges – Compare GPA, standardized test scores, and other statistics to actual historical data from our school for students who have applied and been admitted in the past
- Research careers – Research hundreds of careers and career clusters, and take career assessments like the Career Interest Profiler.
- Create plans for the future – Build course plans, create goals and to-dos, and complete tasks assigned to you by the school to better prepare yourself for your future college and career goals.
Students enroll in Naviance Student during their Freshman college readiness appointment. Click HERE to access your account.
COLLEGE REPRESENTATIVES
Throughout the school year, college representatives schedule visits to our campus and make 20-30 minute presentations to groups of students. Juniors and Seniors are invited to attend these presentations on a pre-arranged basis. A pass will be issued to the student by the first period teacher on the morning of the presentation if the student has followed the procedures listed:
- Student must sign up at least 2 days prior to the presentation via their Naviance account
- Student may attend only one presentation per day
- Student may attend no more than 2 presentations per week
- Student may not be admitted to the presentation without a pass from School Counseling
- The teacher reserves the right to retain the student in class if it is in the best academic interest of the student
- School Counseling reserves the right to deny a student permission to attend these presentations due to abuse of this system or improper behavior at a presentation
COLLEGE FAIRS
College fairs are an excellent means of gaining information on many colleges at one session. The public and private schools in Duval County host the NACAC Fair (National Association for College Admissions Counseling) in October. Bishop Kenny students and parents are encouraged to attend.
COLLEGE VISITS
A visit to a college campus can be most helpful to a student in making college choices. Students and parents are encouraged to schedule these visits on a Bishop Kenny student holiday (teacher planning days, diocesan planning days, Easter holidays) while the college is in session. Students should prearrange these visits with the admissions office of the college. If the visit cannot take place on a student holiday, the student MUST prearrange the absence with the Office of the Dean of Students. See specific guidelines in the Parent/Student Handbook.
WEB SITES
Most colleges maintain a web site on the Internet. Students may obtain site information in the Office of School Counseling. Using the Internet is an excellent means to gain specific college information, policies, photos, etc.