October 19: PSAT & College Visit Day

We wanted to reach out to parents, students, and families about the forthcoming PSAT administration at Uxbridge High School, which will take place on October 19, 2016.

The PSAT for 2016 will be administered to all members of the sophomore and junior class. Given the changes that the College Board made to the SAT, we wanted to position our students in the best place possible, not only for their post-secondary planning, but also for planning ahead to the SAT. In years past, the PSAT was administered to the sophomores and only to a certain number of juniors based on a first-come, first-serve basis. We are changing that to allow all students in the junior and sophomore classes to have access to the examination and its opportunities.

Where our sophomores and juniors will be tied up with that administration for the better part of the start of the day,  our guidance counselors will be facilitating the first workshop of the year with the freshmen, as they will begin the introduction to the guidance curriculum before attending classes in the latter half of the day.

For our seniors, we are encouraging them to use the day for college and career visits. Most seniors will take a day to visit a college campus, and others have reported a need to spend some time working on college applications and exploring career options. Thus, while our sophomores and juniors are taking the PSAT and the freshmen working with counselors on learning styles, seniors may visit colleges, spend a day in a job shadow, or interview with a prospective college admissions representative. Seniors who do not come to UHS on October 19 and visit a college on that day will be eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics and extracurricular activities on that day. Using this opportunity as a “College/Career Visit Day” will help them plan with counselors into November and be less disruptive, since the rest of the building is going to be busy with other endeavors. We will outline more details for this day when counselors meet with seniors at the end of September and at our parent meeting with seniors on October 6.

Again, we look forward to the opportunity that the events of October 19 will provide our students. Feel free to reach out to your child’s counselor if you have any questions.