College and Career Searching

We are currently in a period between winter break and the February course advising period when the school counselors are both available and proactive in assisting our middle grades prepare for their lives after high school.

From Wednesday into next week, we will meet with English 10 and 11 classes in the computer lab to conduct career assessments. We will discuss the importance of knowing one's personality profile and recognizing that we are more likely to be satisfied in a career if its demands play to our strengths and preferences. Last year, when we oriented the freshmen and sophomores to ConnectEDU, the follow-up activity involved students exploring their Holland type, or whether their interests were more closely aligned with 1-3 of the following interest areas:

• Realistic
• Investigative
• Artistic
• Social
• Enterprising
• Conventional

Since the students have had that exposure, we will use this opportunity to follow-up on last month's PSAT score distribution and take the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, through which students will explore their levels of:

• Extraverson vs. Introversion (whether they get energy internally or from others)
• Intuitiveness vs. Sensing (whether they absorb information literally or interpret it)
• Thinking vs. Feeling (whether they make decisions using logic or emotions)
• Judging vs. Perceiving (whether they prefer matters being settled or having options)

Knowing one's MBTI type can help people make informed decisions about relations with others, roles in activities, and of course, career choices. Combining that MBTI awareness with knowing your Holland type makes you even more equipped to make responsible career choices. Remember, these career activities in high school are not meant to steer students to any one particular career. We simply seek to empower students to know the factors that are involved in making informed decisions when they are ready.

Additionally, this is also the prime time for juniors to meet with their school counselors to make a sensible college search and testing plan. Aside from the SAT School Day on April 17, juniors should discuss what would be a reasonable time to take the ACT. We can also use this time to discuss juniors' college priorities, give them an unofficial transcript, and start to develop a list of possible good-fit colleges. Before scheduling the appointment, please check to see if one has already been scheduled for you. And of course, parents are welcome and encouraged to participate in this process, as they are likely the ones to do the driving to the college visits!

Don't forget about the #PHSfit College Fair at PHS on February 7 (5-7pm) as part of School Counseling Week, as well as the CCBC College Fair on March 5 (6-8pm). Consider pre-printing labels with students' name, address, phone number, and email address for speed and ease in completing the admissions reps' info cards.

First Post

Welcome to the blog for Pikesville High School's School Counseling department!

In the pursuit to find the best way to convey the latest information, we are trying this venue. By signing up for email notifications, you can find out anytime the blog has been updated, which we plan to do on a regular basis as scholarships and summer programs are publicized.

This blog is also a way to provide a more in-depth discussion about current or upcoming issues that are pertinent to our students and their families.

So... what's current?

• We held a financial aid information night presented by Benee Edwards from MHEC, and posted (thanks to Jake F.'s mom) the video on our Library/Media Center's youtube page. 
• PSAT and ReadiStep score reports are in the building, and are in the process of being distributed to English classes in the computer lab, when we will assist all of the students in creating accounts at www.collegeboard.org. Such an account is necessary to register for the SAT Reasoning and SAT Subject tests, so it is important to start that now. Not only will students use the site to register for the tests, but their ReadiStep and PSAT score reports grant them access to MyRoad, to explore colleges, careers, and majors. 
• Half of our sophomores and half of our juniors took a Field Trial version of the SAT in September. The College Board tells us that they will ship the score reports to us by December 20, so they will likely be distributed to students in early January.
• Also in January, we will start the process of course advising for the 2013-14 school year. Look for links to our first Virtual AP fair!
• February 4-8 is National School Counseling week. One of our events that week will be the #PHSfit College Fair, attended by between 25 and 75 regional colleges. The fair will be held from 5pm to 6:30pm, with a college information session presented by Craig Meister from 6pm to 7pm. Dinner will be available as a fundraiser by our AVID students.
• March 4 and 5 will bring the CCBC/BCPS college fair, attended by more colleges (more opportunity) and more people (less intimacy) than our school's college fair. We recommend that you attend both to get the most exposure to possible appropriate college matches.