Senior Responsibility:
The student has to do much of the leg work because I, the counselor am merely the guide in research, the answerer of questions not found in books, and the option giver. It is ultimately the student's responsibility to do the research, fill out the paperwork and make the final decisions.

Senior Conference:
We begin Senior year with a conference where the student will :
Sign release form for records and test scores. This is so that the counselors office can freely release information to schools that might be interested in you.
Submit resume or activity sheet so that the counselors office can write recommendations that are required for many colleges.
Perform a "Senior audit" where you and the counselor look together at where you are in your college search.
Review where you are in regard to credits, grades, test scores, college visits, and interviews if needed; look at your specific prospective options for the future as well as the courses you are taking.
Make a time-line for deadlines of college and scholarship applications and other paperwork.

All of this helps the counselor's office to keep in touch with where you are. She is there to help you focus on which colleges you want to investigate. This conference leads people in different directions because no two people are in the same place of the application process at any one time.

References:
Your school has many places where students can find information in their college search process. Talk to your own counselor today, to find out what those are!

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A senior's perspective and scholarship advice:

Senior year:
a very busy time so stay organized!
as for looking for scholarships and applying etc.: start early.
Scholarships:
Research:
Something that you can do at any time is research scholarships. There are books that you can buy from any book store: The Scholarship Book and Athletic Scholarships. You can also find books at the downtown public library with very specific intents, such as minorities interested in engineering which are small paperback ones but they can be very helpful. Also there are websites that offer specific scholarship searches for you. One that was particularly helpful for me was fast-web (http://www.fastweb.com). This particular site helped me at first but did not update as I expected it to do. Another site I thought might be helpful and was free was called the financial aid homepage and looked very easy to use with options to look for scholarships and grants or just scholarships (http://www.finaid.com). Other sites SEE LINKS AND REVIEWSI found through a normal search engine requested a fee so I did not use them.

Request applications:
Once you find scholarships for which you might be qualified you need to send a letter requesting an application; also include a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope). Most of the scholarships listed will request a SASE but it is good procedure to include one with all of them. In requesting you may find that some scholarships are outdated and often those places that don't need the SASE will return it in a large manila envelope with your applications so that you get it back. The letter need not be anything more than "To whom it may concern, I feel that I might be qualified for your scholarship. I would greatly appreciate it if you would send me an application" with a business style letter

Plan:
Organize all of your application including school admitting applications, by their due dates so that the later ones can be filled out later. Whenever you get a free moment fill something out: an application, an activity sheet, etc.

Keep records:
Whenever you type an essay or activity sheet, save it onto a disk. Perhaps it would be best organized with one disk for essays and one for activity lists because oftentimes schools or scholarships ask for the same information in a different format. This way you don't have to do too much retyping.

Testing:
The place: go someplace that's close, because it's less stressful and you'll have an easier time convincing yourself that you don't have to impress anyone.
The Dress: wear comfortable clothes. This is not a dance. It's a test. If comfortable clothes for you means jeans great. If it means sweats then that is fine too. It depends on where you go as to what others wear. The important thing is: don't worry about clothes.

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Senior moderator:

The Essay is used by colleges to evaluate a students writing ability, creativity, and focus. Students have to be able to perform at the level at which the college performs. Therefore your essay needs to reflect the level of the college. Your essay needs to standout. It needs to be original. It can be funny, charming, erudite, or scientific but please be original. If they ask you to write about an issue then you either need to know about it or to research it.

The College essay needs to be thought out beforehand.

Teacher Recommendations:
Ask for a recommendation from a teacher in whose class you are doing well.
Give the teacher enough time to prepare the recommendation.
You might need to have a conference with them.
You also need to give the teacher an activity sheet or resume as others have suggested.
It is polite to submit an (typed) addressed stamped envelope with the teacher recommendation as well as the due date clearly marked on a sticky note attached to the envelope and forms.
Don't forget to mark the box that allows the recommendation to be sent without you seeing it.
Check with your teachers to make sure that things get sent on time!
Perhaps marking all of this on your spreadsheet would help to keep track.

Dr. Fred Zuker, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid

Dollars for Scholars:
Financial aid scholarships and planning for the cost of college.
There are upward trends in terms of tuition. Also this means upward trends in terms of Financial Aid.

Types of Aid:
FAFSA- government granted based on need
Profile- private application only accepted at certain colleges. A way for colleges to asses need.
Institutional- offered by specific college to which you are applying could either be need or merit based.

Financial planning is essential.
From the college standpoint financial aid is for two reasons:
to help families that have demonstrated need
to recruit top applicants

Apply early for financial aid because money runs out.
If applying means filling out the FAFSA and you haven't received your W-2, Estimate!

Be aware of new scholarships such as the Texas Pioneer Heritage Scholarship at U.D. which is for applicants who can prove to be descended from persons living in Texas in 1875. In cases like these proof need not be something as hard to find as a birth certificate but a letter would work.

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Conclusion:

If you have any questions don't hesitate to e-mail me Jessica. Sometimes it helps for someone who's just been through this to give some advice.