College Planning – Bellevue Big Picture School

Naviance

Bellevue School District is pleased to offer our families access to Naviance. It is a web-based college and career research and planning tool for students, parents, and counselors. With the support of their school counselor, students set up a password-protected account, providing a personal e-mail address as part of the registration process. Once registered, students can access their account from any device. Naviance can help students to:

Create a four-year plan
Explore careers
Identify personality and learning styles
Research colleges
Prepare for SAT and ACT
Receive notifications and emails from counselors
Learn about acceptance rates with Scattergrams
Research scholarships
Work on their resume

HS Counseling

ACT & SAT:

The ACT and SAT are standardized tests used for college admissions decisions and awarding merit-based scholarships. Most students take the ACT and/or SAT in the spring of their junior year, then retake in the fall of their senior year with the intent of improving the score. Students are responsible for registering for the test and sending any test scores. Register early to help ensure a convenient testing date and location and include any college or university you want your scores sent to when you register. You can also send scores at a later time. If you receive testing accommodations at school, you may be eligible for accommodations on the ACT or SAT. Contact your school counselor for more information.

Please contact the specific school’s admissions office directly for standardized testing requirements

Helpful links:

College Prep and Testing Timeline

Grade	Fall	Winter	Spring
9th	Take PSAT 8/9 at BPS during the school day (October’s Super Wednesday).	Review score reports.	Learn, study and be present each school day to best prepare for upcoming college related tests.
10th	Take Pre-ACT at BPS during the school day (October’s Super Wednesday).	Review score reports.	Visit a variety of colleges/universities while on vacation.
11th	Take PSAT/NMSQT at BPS during the school day (October’s Super Wednesday). Attend college admission events at BPS. Attend college admission events in local area.	Review score reports. Attend BSD College Conference.	Take SAT and ACT. (Students self register, ideally by November.) Visit various college/university campuses of interest. Identify colleges of interest in Naviance.
12th	Take second sitting of SAT or ACT if desired. (Students self register.) Attend college admission events at BPS. Attend college admission events in local area. Apply to colleges/universities with transcript that shows last three years grades. Apply for FAFSA (starting October 1st).		Receive accept/deny/waitlist (by April 1st). Commit to College (last day May 1st). Celebrate your hard work!

College Application Deadline Types

For the best approach to understanding how a school on your college list handles early applications, go to their individual admissions websites and/or call admissions offices directly.

Regular Admissions – Usually between November and January. The admissions board reviews all applications and sends out acceptances and rejection letters on the same date.
Rolling Admissions – Applications are accepted, evaluated and decided upon as they are received. Applications are accepted until the college fills all spots.
Early Action I and II – Usually November 1 or 15. Non-binding, meaning you may apply to multiple schools early and are not committed to attending one until “decision day” on May 1.
Early Decision I and II – Usually November 1 or 15. Binding, meaning if accepted, you are obligated to attend and must withdraw all other applications.
Restricted Early Action – Usually November 1 or 15. Non-binding, and a student may not apply to any other private school’s early program, except non-binding rolling admission programs, a public college or university whose admission is not binding, private colleges regular decision programs, and Early Decision II program, if notification of admission occurs after January 1. Students have until May 1 to decide.

Student Athletes

NCAA Eligibility

Letter of Recommendation

Students applying to a private college or private university often need a Letter of Recommendation from their school counselor. For those applications, certain areas will also need to be completed by the school counselor in Naviance. In addition, school counselors are commonly asked to write a letter for students applying for a scholarship in which one or more Letters of Recommendation is required.

Please give the School Counselor a minimum of three weeks before the due date to complete all associated tasks (e.g. review student academic record, review teacher evaluation information, etc.) and write a thoughtful letter of recommendation.

Letter of Recommendation Task List

Your counselor needs time to review your academic record, collect teacher evaluation forms, and write a thoughtful letter of recommendation (LOR). Please read the following information and instructions carefully. Return this packet by the following due date to be assured of a LOR.

College Deadline	Packet Due Date	College Deadline	Packet Due Date
October 15^th	September 19^th	Nov 30^th /Dec 1^st	November 4^th
November 1^st	October 3^rd	December 15^th	November 11^th
November 15^th	October 14^th	January 1^st or later	November 23^rd

Letter of Recommendation Check List:

Update your Naviance Colleges I’m Applying To List
- This list must be accurate so your college applications can be completed by your counselor and teachers.
Link your Common Application and Naviance Accounts.
- Most likely, some of your applications are Common Apps. For your counselor to submit your documents and school report, you will need to go into Naviance and follow the directions to link your Common App and Naviance accounts. (Directions to link your accounts are included in this packet.)
Request Transcripts
- Click the Request Transcript link in Naviance above the College Name to have your transcripts sent.
Waive your rights (required)
- Colleges prefer that students waive their rights to access letters of recommendation. In order to provide the most authentic and valuable letter of recommendation to admissions offices, the Bellevue School District counselors require that students waive their right to see letters of recommendation from counselors and teachers. If you have questions or concerns about waiving your rights, please consult your counselor. Please sign and return the BSD FERPA waiver form included in this packet.
School Counselor Questionnaire
- In order to write an engaging and honest letter, please answer all questions as completely as you can. Include details, examples, and descriptions as much as possible. Please submit your answers to your counselor only, not teachers. Do not give your teachers the same info, or you will have similar letters from everyone.
Parent Input Letter (Family “Brag” Sheet)
- Your parents/guardians know you well. I’d love their perspective. Additional input is always welcome!

College Application Information

Information for the class of 2025 coming in Fall 2024.

How to Link your Naviance Account with your Common App Account

On the Naviance homepage, watch the link “matching capp.nav” to learn how to sync your Common App and Naviance accounts. The link is located on the left menu bar.
Go to commonapp.org and set up your account and complete through the “Education” section. Make sure you fill in your counselor’s name and that you spell the name correctly.
Click the box to waive your rights to view the letter on the Waiver and FERPA form and sign electronically. Print the waiver form in the Counselor Letter of Rec packet and return to your counselor with your packet.
Write down your Common App username and password.
Return to Naviance and enter your Common App username and password.
Add your Common App colleges to your Naviance “Colleges I am applying to” list.
Go back to Common App and apply online to your colleges. You will submit your application through Common App, but your counselor and teachers will submit letters in Naviance.

Reminders

It is recommended that you speak with the teacher from whom you are requesting a letter prior to inviting them on Naviance.
Make sure your counselor’s email address is correct! The contact information is:

Amy Stephens

[email protected]

425.456.7841

Teacher letters of recommendation, students’ transcripts, counselor’s letter of recommendation and the Big Picture school profile will be uploaded by the Counseling Center and sent to colleges as long as teacher letters of recommendation have been requested through Naviance and the colleges you are applying to are on your “Colleges I’m Applying To” list in Naviance.
Test Scores: It is the student’s responsibility to send official SAT, SAT Subject Tests, and ACT score reports to each university or college. Big Picture does not send them. Pay attention to what each school requires. Most will require either the SAT or ACT. Subject tests may or may not be required. To send test scores, go to collegeboard.org and www.act.org.