Counseling & Guidance
AMHS SAT/ACT School Code: 053-078
Welcome to the Counseling and College Guidance Department section of the AMHS website!
The Counseling and College Guidance Department provides extensive support for students to meet the challenges of the curricular and co-curricular programs in order to achieve the expected school wide learning results of being intellectually competent, faith-filled, just, respectful, and a leader.
The Counseling and College Guidance Department is comprised of six full-time counselors, eight part-time counselors, and an administrative assistant.
| Mr. Wilfredo Vargas Department Chair |
Mrs. Nina Duquette Administrative Assistant |
Freshmen Counselors |
|
Mrs. Diane Fellenz |
Mr. Dick Robinson |
Sophomore/Junior/Senior Counselors |
|
Mrs. Janie Falcone |
Ms. Katie Grace Kaltsas |
 |
All classes will have access to Naviance. |
2009-10 Counseling and College Guidance Parent Nights
| September 8 | Academic Resources Coordination Parent Night (for ARC parents only) 6:30 p.m. |
| September 15 | Senior Parent Night- 6:3 0 p.m. |
| September 29 | Freshman Parent Night – 6:30 p.m. |
| October 14 | Junior/Senior Parent and Student College Fair Night |
| November 18 | Junior Parent Night 6:30 p.m. |
| January 7 | Senior Financial Aid Parent Night 6:30 p.m. |
| January 26 | Sophomore Parent Night 6:30 p.m. |
| April 14 | Freshmen Parent Drug and Alcohol Education Night 6:30 p.m. |
| April 22 | College Case Studies (for Junior Families only- fee and RSVP) 7:00 p.m. |
| May 6 | Santa Clara County WACAC Mission College Fair Open to the Public |
Seniors, Class of 2010
The Counseling and College Guidance Department will continue meeting with you about the college application process that began in the fall of your junior year. Four lessons, which included a discussion on scheduling classes for your senior year, were conducted in the religion classrooms. The library and computer labs allowed all juniors to register on AMHS Family Connection and begin the college, major, and career search.
Seniors should register and complete all their college entrance tests (SAT, Subject Tests, ACT) no later than December. Some campuses require and/or highly recommend the October test date to be the last test students can take the exam. Check individual college websites for testing requirements.
The College Guidance Counselors will conduct three lessons regarding the college application process that will include entering AMHS courses and other data to the University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), or Common Application.
Students will also be shown how to find transfer agreements using ASSIST, an online student-transfer information system that shows how course credits earned at one public California college or university can be applied when transferred to another. ASSIST is the official storage area of articulation for California’s public colleges and universities and provides the most accurate and up-to-date information about student transfer in California.
College applications for the UC and CSU campuses are linked to AMHS Family Connection and are made available by the UC and CSU systems on October 1st.
The CSU system will begin accepting applications after October 1st. Priority application for most CSU campuses is November 30th. Cal. Poly, SLO has an Early Decision Deadline in October. Recommendations are not required. The individual campus makes transcript requests, after the student has submitted the application and the student has established a CSU campus account.
The UC application is due no later than November 30th. Recommendations and transcripts are not required.
The Common Application for 2009-10 is linked to AMHS Family Connection and is usually made available after July 1st. Over 300 private and public colleges and universities throughout the country accept the Common Application. To complete the Common Application, a student MUST still complete the individual college supplements found as links on the Common Application. Deadlines for each college vary. The recommendation process for the Common Application is connected to AMHS Family Connection and includes the sending of transcripts.
Colleges and universities not found on the CSU, UC, and Common Application have their own application and can be found by checking the college website. Applications are often submitted on line and some can be downloaded and mailed. The recommendation process and the sending of transcripts for these colleges vary and should be discussed with the counselor.
A counselor and teacher recommendation is required by many private and out of state colleges. A personal request from the student to the counselor and teacher regarding a letter of recommendation is required before requesting it via an email in Family Connection. Requests should be made during the first few weeks of school. In order to send recommendations on time required paperwork to the counselor and teacher must be directly submitted to the counselor and teacher no later than November13th. Questions should be directed to the counselor.
Once an application has been submitted, seniors should be checking their e-mail weekly, to keep up to date with college requests to:
- set up accounts with their individual campus.
- check on requests to correct and/or add missing information on their application.
- check on transcript requests.
- keep informed of campus information.
If you are not using your assigned mittymonarch e-mail, please remember to check this e-mail too, as the Counseling Department will only use this e-mail account to communicate with you and your parents. E-mails from colleges are usually not sent to parents and fewer colleges are using the postal service to remind students to check their accounts.
CSU Placement Tests (ELM/EPT)
Learn more about the CSU placement tests. CSU requires you to take the English Placement Test (EPT) and the Entry-Level Mathematics Test (ELM) before you enroll. Your scores will determine which math and English courses you should take to begin your career at CSU.
The EPT and the ELM are not admission tests. They will not affect your admission to any CSU campus - they simply help determine which courses best pair up with your level of performance in math and English.
Most of you will have to take the exam, but there are some circumstances under which you may be exempt. For example, if you have performed well on a standardized test, such as the SAT, SAT Subject Test, AP or ACT, you may not need to take one or both of the exams.
For more information regarding exemption of the placement tests, registrations, and test dates, go to California State University Placement Tests. Earlier scheduling of the test is linked to orientation and scheduling of classes at all CSU campuses.
Juniors, Class of 2009
Juniors have been assigned a Counseling and College Guidance Counselor for junior/senior year. Beginning this fall, College Guidance Counselors, will be in the religion classes, to conduct four college guidance lessons. Some juniors may have already registered on Family Connection. All juniors will be registered during the first class lesson.
Juniors are encouraged to visit colleges during all their scheduled breaks and not miss class. Juniors and their parents will be invited to attend the AMHS College Fair October 14th, the College Case Studies Program April 22nd, and the Santa Clara County Mission College Fair May 6th, more information will be provided at a later date.
The PSAT will be administered to all juniors October 14th. The PSAT Student Report will be distributed in the classroom in January and will also be available on line. Juniors are encouraged to use the free test preparation on AMHS Family Connection and the free review of the PSAT Student Report on College Board, QuickStart, prior to taking their first SAT.
College Board QuickStart includes:
- an online copy of the student report.
- a breakdown of each section including responses by question type and difficulty.
- strategies to improve the individual students test scores and a link to “SAT Skills Insight”, a free test preparation center, where students can choose the level of problems they want to work on.
The test preparation on AMHS Family Connection includes:
- an evaluation test for the SAT and ACT.
- lessons with audio for all sections of the exams.
- practice problems and quizzes for each section.
- two full length, timed, practice tests for the SAT and ACT.
Sophomores Class of 2012
Sophomores have been assigned a Counseling and College Guidance Counselor that will continue the emphasis of freshman year, adaption to academic and social growth. Sophomores will have a light introduction to college, beginning with the PSAT October 14th. The practice test is an introduction to the college entrance exam, the SAT. The PSAT will be taken again in October of junior year. Introduction to the test relieves the stress of seeing the test for the first time during the junior year and gives students some direction on what skills still need to be achieved.
Sophomore PSAT scores are distributed at the Sophomore Parent Night in January with a brief introduction to the free test preparation on Family Connection and the free review of test scores on College Board QuickStart. For more information on the test preparation in Family Connection and College Board QuickStart go to “College Preparation” on this website.
Freshmen Class of 2013
Welcome to AMHS! Notification of your Counselor, their phone number, location and how to make an appointment will be mailed home in August, before the first day of school. Should you need to locate your counselor, stop by the Counseling Center, Mrs. Duquette, the Administrative Assistant will assist you.
NEWS from the College Board
As of May 2009, unless you actively choose to continue receiving the paper score reports,
students will receive all their SAT scores online through “My SAT Online Score Report”.“My SAT Online Score Report” also helps students to:
- Understand how the test is structured and scored, including the writing section of the essay.
- See how they performed on each section of the test including responses by question type and difficulty.
- Compare their scores to the scores of students in their school, state, and throughout the nation.
- Work on improving their scores through targeted practice and links to “SAT Skills Insight”.
- View a printable copy of their essay and see sample essays that received various scores.
Students can register online by visiting the College Board . Online registration is quick and easy and allows students to select their test center and print their admission ticket for test day. In addition to allowing students to register for the test online, the College Board's website also includes many resources for students preparing for the SAT. Helpful test-taking tips, information about what to expect on test day, and SAT-readiness materials, including The Official SAT Question of the Day.
Register for the SAT and/or the ACT as soon as possible. Test dates and deadlines are as follows:
(extra fee)October 10, 2009
SAT & Subject Tests
September 9, 2009
September 10 - 23, 2009
November 7, 2009
SAT & Subject Tests
October 1, 2009
October 2 - 15, 2009
December 5, 2009
SAT & Subject Tests
October 30, 2009
October 31 -Nov12, 2009
January 23, 2010
SAT & Subject Tests
December 15, 2009
December 16 - 30, 2009
March 13, 2010
SAT only
February 4, 2010
February 5 -18, 2010
May 1, 2010
SAT & Subject Tests
March 25, 2010
March 26 - April 8, 2010
June 5, 2010
SAT & Subject Tests
April 29, 2010
April 30 -May 13, 2010
ACT (Not administered at AMHS) September 12, 2009
August 7, 2009
August 8 – 21, 2009
October 24, 2009
September 18, 2009
September 19 – October 2, 2009
December 12, 2009
November 6, 2009
November 7 – 20, 2009
February 6, 2010
January 5, 2010
January 6 – 15, 2010
April 10, 2010
March 5, 2010
March 6 – 19, 2010
June 12, 2010
May 7, 2010
May 8 – 21, 2010
