Counseling

College Application Information

College Applications:

Every college and university will have its own application process, deadlines, and requirements but this page will review the most common options for students applying to college.

College applications are almost exclusively completed electronically.  The two most frequently used digital applications are the Common Application and a school specific application (meaning its only used for that particular school).  To find out what application a specific college uses, visit their website or search for the institution in Naviance.  The Common Application is an electronic application that can be submitted to thousands of different schools without having to redo the generic application process each time.  Some colleges will have additional procedures to complete within the Common Application, but the framework of the basic application is the same.  

If you have free/reduced status at school, you may be eligible to waive the application fee.  These can be requested through the Common Application or the Counseling Center.

When applying via the Common Application or directly to an institution through a school specific application, there are several key steps to ensure your application is documented in Naviance.  For a video tutorial on adding colleges to your application list in Naviance, watch this video.

  • When applying directly to an institution, students can submit their completed application whenver completed.  Once submitted, students should add that college to their “Colleges I’m Applying to” list in Naviance.  While adding the college to Naviance, students should also make an initial transcript request (described below).
  • When applying to a college through the Common Application, students should NOT submit their applications until after having matched their Common App and Naviance accounts.  See this video for a tutorial.  Matching the accounts will allow all colleges added in Common App to migrate to each student’s Naviance account.  Once the colleges are listed in Naviance, students should make a transcript request for that school (described below).  Students should NOT manually add a Common App school to their “Colleges I’m Applying to” list in Naviance, that will happen when the accounts are matched (it could take 2-3 days for colleges to migrate).  Once the accounts are matched and correctly listed, students may then start to submit their Common Applications.
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Naviance (transcript requests):

  • Naviance is your one stop shop for all your college document needs!  Once you’ve gotten through your application work, it’s now time to start requesting your initial transcript.  For a video tutorial on that process, see this video.  
  • Do not request school reports through Common Application, those forms and processes will be completed by your counselor in Naviance.
  • Current students should NOT use Parchment to request high school transcripts.  However, PHS alumni may still make requests using Parchment. 

 

SAT/ACT Test Scores:

  • Contact SAT (www.collegboard.org) or ACT (act.org) and request that your scores be sent to the colleges to which you have applied. Scores must be sent directly from the testing center.
     

PLEASE NOTE: Penn does NOT send paper copies of transcripts to colleges.  All transcripts are sent electronically through Naviance.  If there are circumstances in which a college must receive a paper copy, please contact your counselor or the College and Career aid.