The school counseling staff supports student success by offering:

• Individual and Group Counseling

• Educational and Psychoeducational Assessment

• Academic Advisement College/Financial Aid Process

• Career Assessment

Dignity for All Students Act

WEIGHTED GRADING - COLLEGE CREDIT

Downsville Central School utilizes a weighted grading policy to determine class rank. Under the policy, certain courses provide an additional 10% when calculating a student's overall grade point average (ie a final course average of 90 calculates into the overall grade point average as a 99). The weighted grade point average is used only to determine class rank. The simple (unweighted) grade point average appears on transcripts, report cards, etc. The following courses provide weighted grades: 

• PreCalculus

• Calculus

• Chemistry 

• Physics

• Honors English

• Spanish IV

• Spanish V 

• Other College Courses*

The following information and links can help guide students and parents through the process of applying for college admission and financial aid.

College

During the spring of Junior year, students should take one of the major college entrance exams: the SAT or the ACT.  Students can register online for the SAT exam at www.collegeboard.com and the ACT exam at www.act.org

At this same time, students should be searching for colleges that meet the student's interests (major, location, size, etc) using a college search tool.  A userfriendly search engine can be found at www.collegeboard.com

During the summer after Junior year and the fall of Senior year, students should visit their colleges of interest.  Contact the admissions office of those colleges to arrange for campus tours.

After visiting colleges, apply to those that best fit the student's interests and goals.  Strive to have college visits completed by Thanksgiving so applications can be completed by January.

Financial Aid

The first step in applying for Financial Aid is for both students and parents to apply for a PIN at www.pin.ed.gov The PIN serves as an electronic signature to the federal financial aid application throughout the college years.

Beginning January 1st of the year that the student begins college, he/she may apply for federal financial aid at www.fafsa.ed.gov (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).  If the student will be attending college in New York state, he/she may also apply for the New York Tuition Assistance Program at www.hesc.org

Throughout the senior year, seek and apply for scholarships online.  Many scholarship applications can be found at www.fastweb.com

Every fall, the guidance office hosts a Financial Aid information night to assist students and parents with the financial aid process. 

In addition, check the guidance office and daily bulletin for scholarship opportunities that occur throughout the year.

Holly Menke
School Counselor
(607) 363-2117
HMenke@DCSEagles.org

Corin Bonsick
School Psychologist & CSE Chair
(607) 363 -2104
CBonsick@DCSEagles.org