GUIDANCE & COUNSELING
Each year the Guidance & Counseling Office presents a variety of programs intended to provide information to both Strake Jesuit students and their parents as they prepare to graduate and make decision about colleges and universities. Check the school calendar for the dates, times and locations for each of this sessions.
Strategies for Financing College
Target Audience: All Strake Jesuit and St. Agnes juniors, seniors, and their parents especially those seeking need-based assistance
Format: Financial Aid for college is a complicated and constantly changing situation. The rules for eligibility seem to change each year. Consequently, it is necessary to keep on top of this situation with the assistance of experts from outside of Strake Jesuit or St. Agnes. Strake Jesuit and St. Agnes invite an independent financial aid expert who discusses topics such as (1) Fact vs. myth in financial aid, (2) How students and parents assets effect aid eligibility, (3) How assets are valued, (4) The divorced/remarried parents dilemma, (5) Shopping for financial aid packages, and many other important factors relating to financial aid. Anyone concerned with financial aid should try to attend this presentation.
Strake Jesuit Senior Parent Information Night
CLICK HERE to view the presentation / CLICK HERE to view and print a copy of the handout
Target Audience: All Strake Jesuit seniors and their parents
Format: This program is presented by Strake Jesuit's three college counselors. It reflects the fact that we have long felt that an inordinate amount of emphasis in the college selection process is placed on a small number of very highly selective schools (top 1%). This is done at the expense of many other fine schools that offer first rate programs in the areas of the liberal arts, engineering, pre-med, business, computer science, etc. Many of these schools also provide general need-based and academic merit assistance. They fall into "The Other 99%" category. The purpose of this program is to provide a brief introduction to more than two dozen schools that fall into this category. Our college counseling staff has visited more than eighty colleges and universities across America and are able to return with first hand observations and impressions gathered from recent trips. The format is informal and there will be sufficient opportunity for questions from the audience about the schools presented. Questions will also be entertained about other schools not mentioned.
Houston Catholic High Schools College Night
Target Audience: All junior and senior Catholic High School students located in the Diocese of Galveston/Houston and their parents
Format: A true "College Fair". Representatives from more than 200 colleges and universities located across America attend. They will be bringing ample literature about their schools and they will be ready, willing and able to answer your questions about admissions, scholarships, campus life, etc. This is an excellent opportunity to browse and ask questions.
Selective College Admissions: A Four Year Process
Target Audience: Open to all Strake Jesuit students and their parents but most relevant and beneficial to students in the top quarter of their class with an above average standardized test score (SAT 1300 or higher or ACT 28 or higher)
Format: This program is presented by Strake Jesuit's college counselors. Strake Jesuit recognizes and accepts the fact that its very finest academic students aspire to have the opportunity to matriculate to any college or university in America regardless of its degree of selectivity. The role of college counselors at Strake Jesuit is to assist in this process in every possible way. This program provides specific information beneficial to enhancing the chances of top tier students to enter a top 1% school (selectivity index.) Detailed information is given on statistics, how to effectively package oneself, what to avoid, what to emphasize, etc. The crucial role played by essays and letters of recommendation is examined.
Strake Jesuit/St. Agnes Joint College Information Night
Target Audience: Designed for junior students and their parents, this evening provides families with the opportunity to hear about a variety of topics, including Financial Aid, Engineering, Applying to Texas Public Schools, How a Selective University Crafts a Class and also Applying to Visual and Performing Arts programs. Presentations are in workshop style, giving parents and students a choice of presentations to attend during 3 different sessions. The program will begin at in the St. Agnes Auditorium.
The Next Three Years
Target Audience: Strake Jesuit freshmen and their parents
Format: This program is presented by Strake Jesuit's six counselors. The objective of this program is to get parents and their sons to focus on their remaining three years at Strake Jesuit to secure the best possible academic, religious, athletic, extracurricular and summer experiences. This presentation is not a college guidance program per se, although a few important points will be made about the college planning process. Instead, it is a broad-based program that focuses on the challenges, opportunities and choices that freshmen will face during their sophomore, junior and senior years at Strake Jesuit. Part of the program has an ACADEMIC focus. Issues concerning course selection, rigor of curriculum, and the impact of standardized test results is examined. Also, some time is spent looking at the RELIGIOUS aspect of our school and the various programs, opportunities and expectations in this area. ATHLETICS is a third area that is explored and suggestions are offered as to how to maximize the role of athletics in the student's experience at our school. Finally, the counselors discuss the wide range of EXTRACURRICULAR activities available at Strake Jesuit and also look at SUMMER EXPERIENCES - employment, internships, summer school, social service projects, etc.