Profile and Family Tips

Profile and Family Sections

Complete information about yourself and your parents/guardians.

Education

TIP: For reference, find an unofficial copy of your transcript in Infinite Campus.

1. Current or Most Recent Secondary/High School
   List your current high school as well as any previous high schools you attended.
2. Colleges & Universities 
   List any college level courses (i.e., UMSL dual credit, STLCC dual enrollment, etc. This is NOT for AP classes.)
   1. Enrollment - List the first date you started a college credit class and the end date of the last one you plan to take.
   2. Degree Earned - leave blank (no degree earned)
3. Grades
   1. Graduating Class Size - Find this on our website home page under School Profile (top of 2nd page)
   2. Class Rank - None
   3. GPA Scale - 4.0 scale
   4. Cumulative GPA - enter your highest GPA and indicate if it is unweighted or weighted
4. Current or Most Recent Year Courses
   1. List first semester, second semester, and full year courses.
   2. Identify courses as College Prep, Advanced, Accelerated, AP, Regular, Honors, etc.
   3. Most courses that are not Honors are either College Prep or Regular/Standard.
5. Honors
   Only list ACADEMIC honors (i.e., National Merit Semi-Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction/Honors, etc.). Not all students will have something to list here.
6. Community Based Organizations
   This is usually “0” (i.e., Kingdom House, College Bound, other non-profit organizations that assist with the college process)
7. Future Plans
   Select the option that best describes your future education plans.

Testing

It is not required that you self-report AP, ACT, or SAT scores to colleges. However, it is recommended to represent your college ability.

1. What if I am retaking the ACT but don’t have my scores yet? 
   You may want to wait to submit your application until after you are able to access your scores online.
2. Do I need to pay to send my scores from the testing agency? 
   Not necessarily. You can send your scores for FREE to schools when you register for the test. Always check the college website to see if they require an official score from the testing agency.

Activities

You may list up to 10 activities. Think about what you do at school and outside of school: work, family obligations, church, scouting, volunteer, music. 

TIP: Create a high school resume to help you decide which 10 activities to include.  

1. Describing the activity - List what you’ve done and accomplished during this activity.
2. For Hours spent per week - List an average for the weeks that you were involved.
3. What order should I list my activities? 
   List your most important activities first. Why? If a college only reviews the first five activities in your list, they will see the ones most important to you. To help you decide, consider your leadership, your passion for an activity, and your length of involvement.

Writing

Personal Essay

1. This should be personal and NOT what you think the college wants to hear.
2. This is an opportunity to show the college how you think, what you feel, and who you are as a person. There are many ways to approach this.
3. Resources to help you are on our The College Essay page and our Video Library page.

TIPS: Watch Ms. Hartman’s 8-minute College Essay Workshop video and brainstorm ideas with the help of The College Essay Guy. You do not need to pay for essay assistance! 

Additional Information

This section is where you may provide more information that you were not able to include in other parts of your application. For example, this could include providing more AP scores that you couldn’t include in the Testing section or including more activities that didn’t fit in the Activities section. Most students do not have anything to add in this section. Do NOT repeat information that is already found in another section!

Supplemental Essays - Some colleges may have you write an additional essay when you complete their application in the Common App.

TIP: Copy the essay prompt to a Google Doc. Write your essay in Google, not in Common App.

Courses & Grades

This section is required by some colleges to inform them about courses you have taken in high school. If you add a college that requires this section, you will need to have a copy of your unofficial transcript (found in Infinite Campus) available. Grading scale: A-F.