Student Advisor's Office

Prepare for College

All students in grades 7-12 have a Career Cruising account at www.sdmylife.com. Students can search for colleges, careers including military careers, create resumes, prepare for the ACT (TCA Prep), and assess their career skills.  Please ask your child or email me at Becky.Harding@k12.sd.us to get your child’s username and password so you can access their account.

All students entering a four year college/university will need to take the ACT college entrance exam.  Most schools require an ACT score of at least 18 for college entrance.  Many scholarships are also based on the ACT score, so the higher the better!  The best way to prepare for the ACT is by taking challenging high school classes.  The test is offered during the months of September, October, December, February, April, and June. Our testing site in Hot Springs offers the ACT during the October, December, February, and April test dates.  If your child wants to take the September or June test, they will need to register for the Rapid City test center.  Please consider having students take the test in April of their Junior year.  Usually students want to take the test twice to maximize their score.  I strongly encourage your child to take the test in the October or December test window during their senior year so college/scholarship applications are not held up while they are waiting for test results.  You can register by mail or online at www.actstudent.org.  Scores are always higher when students take the practice tests.  These tests are located in my office or online.  If your child would like to take the SAT, log on to www.collegeboard.com to register.

Dream Big

District Formal Assessment Information

23-24 State Assessment Available HERE

FAFSA

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)

In order to receive any federal grants, student, or Parent PLUS loans, and most college scholarships, you must apply for the FAFSA. The FAFSA application window opens January 1st of each year. Monies are awarded starting March 1st and are awarded on a first come first serve basis.

College Dual Credit

Earn high school and college credit at the same time. Meet with your counselor to learn how or visit SDMyLife.

  • Black Hills state University - Spearfish

  • Dakota State University - Madison

  • South Dakota State University - Brookings

  • Distance Learning (for high school credits)

  • Virtual High School http://sdvs.k12.sd.us

Scholarships

Scholarship Searches

Local scholarships are announced to Seniors as they arrive in the guidance office.  If you would like to receive notification of local scholarships, please share your email with me and I will forward you the information as it becomes available.

www.flexfactor.info

If you decide to go to a public university after you’ve earned you’re A.A.S. degree, flexfactor makes it easy to figure out how many of your tech school credits will transfer.

Resources