College Advising Year in Review

The Class of 2024 has had a busy, productive year. Our 25 seniors had 136 offers of admission to 77 different colleges in the United States. Students will attend college from California to New York and everywhere in between. In the May 7 Charger, Mr. Jones and I will provide an overview of this special and accomplished graduating class. 

Juniors are preparing for their college application process. Over the course of this spring, they have had workshops about various facets of the work ahead, including standardized testing, resume development, teacher recommendation selection, and essay writing. Earlier this week, they were joined by Lyn Fairchild Hawks from College Essay Guy for a session about writing their personal statement. 

Test scores continue to be a hot topic. Last month, The University of Texas at Austin announced that it was reinstating its ACT or SAT score requirement, joining other schools like Brown, Caltech, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT and Yale. A number of public universities outside Texas already require a score, including Florida and Georgia. We recommend that all juniors take an ACT or an SAT between now and October so that any score requirements can be met. If you have questions, please contact me.  

Students should mark their calendars for Midnight Madness, which will begin at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31 and conclude at 12:30 a.m. August 1. A longstanding Trinity tradition, Midnight Madness commemorates the opening of the Common Application and the college admissions season. Provided students are ready, many of our seniors will be able to apply to one or more colleges that night.    

Expeditionary Learning for the 10th grade class gave our students an excellent introduction to college choice. Designed to show them public, private, large and small universities, the trip included tours of Abilene Christian University, Southern Methodist University, Tarleton State University, Texas Christian University, The University of Texas at Arlington and The University of Texas at Dallas. Sophomores also attended a TCU baseball game, interacted with college representatives at Top Golf, and toured the George W. Bush Presidential Center at SMU.   

Five students in the sophomore and junior classes have been tapped for National Recognition Programs based on their October 2023 PSAT scores. Per the College Board website, “The College Board National Recognition Programs award academic honors to high-performing, underrepresented students. The five national recognition programs include the National African American Recognition Program, National First-Generation Recognition Program (beginning in 2024), National Hispanic Recognition Program, National Indigenous Recognition Program, and National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program.” This brings Trinity’s three-year total to 14 students. We will know in early fall about any students who will be recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. 

In late March, the DFW Admissions Regional Network (DARN) visited Trinity for a Midland Swing, six high school college fairs in our area. Our students in grades 9-11 were fortunate to visit with college counselors from Abilene Christian University, University of Arkansas, Hampden-Sydney College (VA), University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, Samford University (AL), Texas A&M University, and University of Tulsa. Students were also invited to the Lubbock College Fair hosted by the Texas Association of College Admission Counseling (TACAC) on April 9.

Some juniors are already visiting colleges of interest to them and will continue to do so this summer. For families of younger students, college tours can provide helpful context for the junior and senior years. If you are traveling this summer, and you will be near a college campus, you can set up an official information session and tour. Most colleges have a “Visit” tab on their websites and require students and their families to register in advance. Please note any age minimums or restrictions.