College & Career Counseling
College & Career Counseling
SJCP is committed to providing our families with the most comprehensive college planning available. One of the main goals of our department is to encourage students to prepare early for their college plans after high school. We work closely with students considering their academic, personal, vocational, social and financial needs. We also provide resources, programming, and serve as the liaison to college admission officers.
Our staff meets with students both individually and in a classroom setting throughout their four years at SJCP. Formal introduction to the college search, selection, and application process begins in the fall of the junior year. During this time, students and parents meet individually with the college counselor to develop a personal plan for the student's college and career journey .
If you have any questions regarding the College Planning Process, please contact our College & Career Counseling staff.
- College and Career Planning
- What Seniors Need to Know
- SJCP Campus College Visits
- Guaranteed College Acceptance and Scholarship Program Partners
- The Mount/SJCP Senior Year Experience
- College and Career Consultant
College and Career Planning
Searching fo the right college and career path is a process that should be enjoyed! It is a time to explore, grow, and learn. As with many things in life, it is the journey- not the destination- where we discover who we are and what is most important to us. This process takes time, but with planning, guidance, and an open mind, students and families will navigate the journey successfully. The choice of a college is all about finding the BEST FIT for YOU. To that end, the SJCP Student Support Center builds trusting and supportive relationships with our students to best guide them while encouraging them to take the reins on their future.
- Career Exploration
- College Exploration
- SAT/ACT
- Financial Aid & Scholarships Tools
- Scholarships
- Summer Programs
Career Exploration
College Exploration
SAT/ACT
Financial Aid & Scholarships Tools
Scholarships
- Abbott and Fenner Scholarship Program
- Community Foundation of Frederick County Scholarship
- Coolidge Scholarship
- Dr Arun Arora Scholarship for Future Doctors
- Dr Yorell Manon-Matos Scholarship for Healthcare Students
- Dr Zamip Patel Scholarship for Future Doctors
- Frederick Health Auxiliary Scholarship
- Hispanic Scholarship Fund
- Hagan Scholarships
- Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship
- Knott Scholarship
- Long Nguyen and Kimmy Duong Scholarship Programs
- The Optimist Club of Frederick
- Polish Heritage Association of Maryland Scholarship
- Stuart Piltch Scholarship for Entrepreneurs
- Woodsboro Bank Community Champion Scholarship
Abbott and Fenner Scholarship Program
- Awarding up to $1,000
- Scholarship Deadline: June 10, 2024.
- Application Process: Students will submit an essay on the topic that appears on the scholarship page: Abbott and Fenner Scholarship Program
Community Foundation of Frederick County Scholarship
Details can be found at: Community Foundation of Frederick County Scholarship
Coolidge Scholarship
The Coolidge Scholarship is a full-ride, four-year, merit scholarship that recipients may use for undergraduate study at any accredited college or university in the United States. Any high school junior who plans to enroll in college in the fall of 2025 and is an American citizen or legal permanent resident is eligible to apply (current high school seniors are not eligible to apply). Winners may use the scholarship to pursue any academic major. To apply: 2023-24 Coolidge Scholarship Application.
Dr Arun Arora Scholarship for Future Doctors
Dr Arun Arora Scholarship for Future Doctors is available for students in the United States who are currently enrolled in a university to study to become a medical doctor. The scholarship is meant to help a deserving student with scholarship funding who wishes to become a medical doctor.
- Award of $1,000 to a Single Student
- Deadline for this scholarship is June 15, 2024
- A winner will be announced by July 15, 2024
All of the details and criteria can be found at: Dr Arun Arora Scholarship for Future Doctors
Dr Yorell Manon-Matos Scholarship for Healthcare Students
This scholarship is available for students in the United States who are currently enrolled in a university to study to become a healthcare professional. The scholarship is meant to help a deserving student with scholarship funding who wishes to become a healthcare professional.
- Award of $1,000 to a Single Student
- Deadline for this scholarship is August 15, 2024
- A winner will be announced by September 15, 2024
Details and criteria can be found at: Dr Yorell Manon-Matos Scholarship
Dr Zamip Patel Scholarship for Future Doctors
Dr Zamip Patel Scholarship for Future Doctors is available for students in the United States who are currently enrolled in a university to study to become a medical doctor. The scholarship is meant to help a deserving student with scholarship funding who wishes to become a medical doctor.
- Award of $1,000 to a Single Student
- Deadline for this scholarship is July 15, 2024
- A winner will be announced by August 15, 2024
All of the details and criteria can be found at: Dr Zamip Patel Scholarship for Future Doctors
Frederick Health Auxiliary Scholarship
An applicant must be:
- a high school graduate in the Class of 2024
- planning a career in a health related field
- enrolling full-time in a college or university in the Fall, 2024
The following criteria will be used to evaluate the applications:
- Personal essay
- Volunteer service
- Academic achievement
- Extracurricular activities
The application requires:
- the completed application form
- personal résumé (include extra-curricular/community activities, volunteer service, and employment experiences)
- high school transcript, including grades from the 2023 Fall semester
- SAT and/or ACT scores (optional)
- an essay, including your goals in a health-related field, insights and experiences gained through your volunteer service, and how being awarded this scholarship would be of benefit to you (500-word maximum)
- signed documentation of volunteer hours using the attached Volunteer Hours and Community Service Record (if earned through an organization other than the Frederick Health Jr. Volunteer Program), one for each separate organization.
Application packets should be limited to the documents required above. Completed applications must be emailed to bwalters@frederick.health by March 15, 2024.
Hispanic Scholarship Fund
Deadline: February 15, 2024, 5:00 PM PT
Eligibility:
- Must be of Hispanic heritage
- U.S. citizen, permanent legal resident, or DACA
- Minimum of 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent) for high school students; minimum of 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent) for college and graduate students
- Plan to enroll full-time in an accredited, public or not-for-profit, four-year university, or graduate school, in the U.S., for the 2024-2025 academic year
- Submit the FAFSA or state-based financial aid forms (if applicable)
Details at: Hispanic Scholarship Fund
Hagan Scholarships
Due Date: March 1st
Apply by going to Hagan Scholarship Foundation
Basic Eligibility Requirements:
- Must graduate from high school
- Have a 3.5 or higher GPA
- Must enroll in a 4-year accredited college/university
- Must work 240 hours prior to college graduation
- Applicants adjusted gross household income must not exceed $100,000
Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship
Requirements: graduating minority senior, US citizen, financial need, academic excellence, leadership, plan to attend 4-year college. Deadline: January 10, 2024.
All details and criteria can be found at: Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship
Knott Scholarship
Knott University scholarships, both for full and partial tuition, are available from Notre Dame of Maryland University, Mount Saint Mary’s University, and Loyola University Maryland.
Long Nguyen and Kimmy Duong Scholarship Programs
The Long Nguyen and Kimmy Duong Scholarship Program is for undergraduate students enrolled in Washington, DC area institutions: the University of Maryland, George Mason University, Northern Virginia Community College, Montgomery College, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, University of Virginia and Virginia Common Wealth University.
All of the details and criteria can be found at: The Long Nguyen and Kimmy Duong Scholarship Program
The Optimist Club of Frederick
Due Date: March 15th
Application is on file in the Student Support Center
Contest Rules:
- Completed application
- School transcript
- List of school activities including awards
- Community & church activities including awards
- Home responsibilities and work experience
- A paper in paragraph form (not to exceed 300 words) summarizing your life goals
Polish Heritage Association of Maryland Scholarship
Polish Heritage Association of Maryland is offering a $2000 scholarship for applicants who have at least 2 Polish ancestors, are a legal resident of Maryland, and be enrolled in a full-time accredited college or university in the USA for the Fall of 2024 or Spring of 2025. Selection will be made primarily based on financial need, with additional evaluation focusing on academic standing, leadership potential and pride in Polish Heritage.
Applications must be completed, and post marked by March 1st, 2024. Essays are due April 1, 2024. To obtain an application with complete instructions, please email phaofmd@gmail.com
Stuart Piltch Scholarship for Entrepreneurs
- Award of $1,000 to a Single Student
- Deadline for this scholarship is August 15, 2024
- A winner will be announced by September 15, 2024
Details and criteria can be found at: Stuart Piltch Scholarship.
Woodsboro Bank Community Champion Scholarship
Details and criteria can be found at: Woodsboro Bank.
Summer Programs
Summer Programs – Applications open NOW!
Information available in the SSC
American Legion 2024 Boys State Program - This one-week program takes place in the summer on McDaniel College campus. This program is intended for junior boys who want to learn more about the US government. This is a great opportunity for anyone especially if you want to attend a military academy.
Online Information and Applications
Brown Pre-College Summer Programs
Carnegie Mellon's Pre-College Programs
Catholic University of America Experiences in Architecture: Pre-College Program
Catholic University of America School of Engineering Summer Programs
Columbia University Pre-College Programs
Cornell Pre-College Studies Program
Elon University Emerging Journalists Program
Georgetown University Pre-College Summer Online Program
Mount St. Mary’s University Pre College Summer Program - First Ascent
Rhode Island School of Design Residential Pre-College Program
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes
University of Delaware Summer Programs
University of Maryland Terp Young Scholars
Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business
Virginia Tech Science Summer Camps
William & Mary Pre-College Summer Online Program
Worchester Polytechnic Institute Pre-College Summer Programs
What Seniors Need to Know
Seniors – What You Need to Know
How to Sign up for College Visits
- Go to the Student Dashboard in Scoir.
- Scroll down to the Register for Office Hours & Visits title.
- Click the Register button underneath the college visit or office hour you would like to attend. This will then show as Registered if you did this successfully.
- You will receive an email, as well as a notification in Scoir, the day before the visit reminding you of the visit date and time. You can download the Scoir mobile application (on iOS or Android) to receive a push notification reminding you of the upcoming visit.
Adding Colleges to the Applying column in Scoir
- Once you mark a college as Applying or drag it to the Applying column, you will be instantly prompted to provide additional information including application type and method (Apply with Scoir, Common App, Coalition, directly on college website).
- To provide an application type, select the type from those available in the Applying window. (Apply with Common App if you are applying to more than one CA school)
- To provide an application method, select the method from those available in the Applying window, then provide additional detail such as Type and Application IDs, if available.
- Once a college is moved to the Applied state, your assigned counselor will be notified in Scoir, and will know to send documents on your behalf.
- Please note: Once you have chosen to apply with Scoir, you will NOT be able to change your Application Method selection in our system. If you wish to apply using a different method, you will need to coordinate that application process outside of Scoir.
Requesting Transcripts
- Moving a college to the Applying or Applied column of your My Colleges list is what will alert your counselor that a transcript is required. Your counselor will be notified of what documents are required for this college and will be able to send forward your transcript if it is required.
Requesting Teacher Recommendations
- Politely ask your teacher (in-person) if he or she would be willing to write a college recommendation for you.
- Fill out a Request for Teacher Recommendation.
- Save completed request letter as a pdf.
- Email your teacher the completed request letter and your resume.
- Go to the My Colleges page in Scoir.
- Click the Application Documents button to open the Application Documents window and then click the Request a Recommendation button.
- Search for the teacher at your high school you are requesting to provide a recommendation by typing their last name in the 'Teacher' box.
- If the person you are requesting to write a recommendation for you is not in your high school as staff, they will not show up as an option and you will need to contact your counselor. The recommender will need to send your recommendation to your counselor and/or Mrs. Seymour for them to upload to Scoir.
- Specify whether you’d like the recommendation to be for a specific college. If you do want the recommendation request to be college specific, select the college to which you would like the recommendation to be sent.
- Compose the request by editing the Subject and the Message. Once you’re finished, click Send.
Send ACT or SAT test scores (if needed) to your colleges
- Send ASAP from your student ACT/College Board account.
Scholarships
- Scholarship information can be found on the Student Support’s College & Career Counseling page under the Financial Aid & Scholarship section of College and Career Planning.
- Search the web for additional scholarships.
SJCP Campus College Visits
Guaranteed College Acceptance and Scholarship Program Partners
The Mount/SJCP Senior Year Experience
College and Career Consultant
Our counseling staff consults with Mrs. Paulette Anders, a private college consultant, to enhance our college counseling program and better serve our college-bound students with the college search and admissions process.
Paulette Anders has a Master of Science degree in school counseling from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Business Administration in marketing from Mount St. Mary’s University. She is a dedicated and solution-driven school and college counselor with over 30 years of college admissions experience at the high school, undergraduate and graduate levels. Paulette has proven success in establishing rapport and building trusting relationships with students, parents, and admissions offices. She demonstrates a commitment to students’ success by implementing effective coaching techniques, providing solutions, and promoting realistic student expectations and resiliency. Along with serving as a college and career consultant to Saint John’s Catholic Preparatory, Paulette is an independent college admissions consultant for My Admissions Sherpa, an awarding winning college admissions firm located in Philadelphia, PA. Paulette holds professional memberships with the National Association of College Admissions Counseling and the Potomac and Chesapeake Association of College Admissions Counseling. Easily connecting with high school students and families, Paulette brings confidence to the high-stress college admissions process.