If you are interested in playing a varsity sport in college - there is Division 1, 2, 3, and the NAIA - check out the NCAA Clearinghouse site
College Information
COM Counselor at TL: Lidia Sanchez, COM Counselor, will be on campus this year to work with current TL students! See this link for more information, and to schedule an appointment.
CURRENT TL STUDENTS, GRADES 9-12: Follow the steps below to register for a COM class. Students must have at least a 2.0 (C) grade point average at TL to take a COM class.
- FIRST Follow the registration steps listed here under "JUMPSTART (CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT)" to create an account at College of Marin.
- THEN Identify a COM course that you'd like to take. Review the schedule of courses and speak with your counselor to ensure that the course you'd like to take is a good fit.
SRJC also offers concurrent enrollment opportunities for high school students. See this registration link and the schedule of classes for more information.
Contact your counselor for assistance identifying potential colleges, and review these notes on building your college list. In addition to working with our staff, all students are encouraged to use TL's new college search platform California Colleges (more information below), and College Scorecard (federal resource for searching and comparing colleges and universities) to research potential colleges/universities.
Looking for more information and tips about the college application process? Check out College Confidential.
COLLEGE SEARCH & EXPLORATION: California Colleges
TL utilizes California Colleges as a primary college and career search platform. Students: Register your account using these instructions if you haven't already (log in via your SRCS Google account if you have). Review this video showcase for more information about utilizing California Colleges.
BUILDING YOUR COLLEGE LIST
When building your college list, take into account both balance and strategy:
BALANCE is a mixture of:
- Reach (colleges whose admitted student profile, such as average admitted GPA, is higher than yours; minimize these so that you do not have too many)
- Target (colleges whose admitted student profile is close to yours, sort of a 50-50 chance, could go either way; make target colleges the majority of your list)
- Likely (colleges whose admitted student profile, such as average admitted GPA, is lower than yours; just 2 or 3 of these should be OK)
STRATEGY is basically the college's type of application plan:
- EA/Early Action (apply by about November 1-15; often receive a decision by mid-December; non-binding) ED/Early Decision (apply by about November 1-15; often receive a decision by mid-December; but binding, so you must attend that college if they admit you)
- Rolling (no deadline, but you can apply as early as September or October; often receive a decision by mid-December; non-binding)
- Regular Decision (apply by about January 1-15; receive a decision by April 1 at latest; non-binding).
Note that the UC's and CSU's/Cal States only offer Regular Decision.
There is generally no downside to Early Action or Rolling, and statistically your chances of admission might be better than if you applied to that college Regular Decision, so it is recommended that you consider applying to some colleges with Early Action or Rolling plans. Just be sure that your transcript represents you strongly for a November application; if you feel that a strong fall semester of senior year would help you even further, then it might be best to wait to apply Regular Decision, in January. Discuss with Brad or your counselor!
ADDITIONAL FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUILDING YOUR COLLEGE LIST:
Size: small, medium, or large; 1,100 - 30,000+ undergrads...the size of a college can affect its class size, ranging from small seminars of 8-10 students, up to large lecture halls with 400-500 students
Setting: urban, suburban, rural
Geography: Bay Area, southern California, Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Midwest, South, or Northeast
Weather: do you prefer palm trees & beaches, or winter snows...or in-between sweater weather?
Major/Minor: even the smallest colleges have 40-50 programs of study; it's OK to be undecided, too!
Politics: liberal, moderate, conservative
Religion: many colleges Catholic, Jesuit, or other religions, such as:
Diversity: ethnicity, geography, LGBTQIA+, nationality, political, race, religion, socio-economic, etc
FACTORS CONSIDERED BY COLLEGES WHEN EVALUATING YOUR APPLICATION (VARIES):
Transcript (always the most important factor): course rigor, cumulative GPA, trend in GPA
Soft skills such as intellectual vitality, how engaged you are with your classes, how you demonstrate your critical thinking skills, creativity/originality/innovation, risk-taking, perseverance through challenges, teamwork, seeking help when you need it, going above and beyond minimum requirements, and how you respond to setbacks.
ACT/SAT UC & CSU no longer require or accept standardized test scores when determining eligibility for undergraduate admission, though some colleges and universities still do. See FairTest for a complete list of test-optional colleges. Make sure to research your schools to determine requirements!
Extracurriculars & leadership: arts, athletics, home responsibilities, internships, jobs, volunteering, etc.
Letters of recommendation: 2 teachers (preferably junior year, and core subjects) and counselor
- Give your teachers & counselor at least 1 month notice before your first application deadline!
- Waive your right to see your letters of recommendation. This is in the "FERPA" portion of your applications. Waiving your right to see your letter signals to your colleges that the letters they receive will be candid, which strengthens your application/s.
Essays: See the UC section below for a link to PIQs, and the Common Application section for Common App prompts. Writing essays can be the most time-consuming part of your application process, so begin to brainstorm and write in the spring semester of junior year, and during the summer before senior year. Share your essays with teachers, your counselor, or others you trust to get feedback and recommendations. NOTE: some colleges, such as CSU campuses, do not require essays.
Demonstrated interest - some, but not all, colleges consider this: Have you visited their college campus (if possible), their website (everyone can do this), attended a presentation (everyone can do this), emailed the admissions rep to introduce yourself (everyone can do this), interviewed (if interviews are offered), etc.
COLLEGE TOURS
During college closures, many are offering virtual/online tours! Here is a great article about them from the New York Times. You can also just Google the name of the college you are interested in, and then "virtual admissions tour," which should get you there. For example, "UC Davis virtual admissions tour" gets you here!
RANKING
There are many sources of rankings out there; use them cautiously, compare multiple sources (Forbes, Kiplinger, Money, Niche, Princeton Review, QS World Rankings, Times Higher Ed/Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Ed/UN Sustainable Development Goals, US News), and also consider aspects that are not always ranked such as campus safety, diversity, student mental health, student competitiveness with each other versus collaboration, availability and quality of counselors and advising, quantity of student activities, freedom of speech, school spirit, town-gown relationship, % of students living on campus, and other factors that might be important to you.
COMMON APPLICATION
The Common App is for 900+ out-of-state public, California private, and out-of-state private 4-year colleges; the Common App is not used for the UC's or CSU/Cal States. Common App essay prompts
UC / UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (9 campuses)
UC Admissions Profiles | Applying to UC | A-G Course List | UC Admissions Requirements
TAG/Transfer Admission Guarantee: if you attend a community college first, and satisfy the recommended UC admissions requirements for certain coursework (60 credits, or about 2 years) and GPA's, you are guaranteed admission to either UC Davis, Irvine, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara, or Santa Cruz!
CSU / CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY (23 campuses):
Cal State Apply | Explore Campuses | CSU Admissions Requirements
EOP/Educational Opportunity Program: Provides admissions, financial, and academic support for low income and first generation to college students.
CSU application note: DACA, undocumented, or AB540 students should enter “None” as their citizenship status. Under “Residency,” they should select “California” as their state of residency, if they consider California their home.
CALIFORNIA PRIVATE COLLEGES
California Independent Private Colleges/Universities
Northern California: Stanford, Santa Clara, USF, Dominican, St. Mary's, Mills, UOP
Southern California: Westmont, CalArts, Cal Lutheran, Pepperdine, LMU/Loyola Marymount, Otis College of Arts & Design, USC, Occidental, CalTech, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona, Scripps, Redlands, Whittier, Chapman, USD
COMMUNITY COLLEGES: 116 IN CALIFORNIA!
COM / College of Marin: COM Enrollment Steps
SRJC / Santa Rosa JC: Steps for New Students
TAG/Transfer Admission Guarantee: if you attend a community college first, and satisfy the recommended UC admissions requirements for certain coursework (60 credits, or about 2 years) and GPA's, you are guaranteed admission to either UC Davis, Irvine, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara, or Santa Cruz!
ADDITIONAL COLLEGE SEARCH RESOURCES
