Counseling Office

Mission Statement

The mission of the Roncalli Catholic High School Counseling program is to provide a proactive, comprehensive, and developmentally appropriate program to address students’ academic and career goals in addition to supporting their personal/social and spiritual growth. This is accomplished through a partnership with parents/guardians, staff, and community members to enable all students to become successful, productive, contributing citizens and lifelong learners in a diverse and changing world.

Vision Statement

The RCHS School Counseling program uses research-based curricula that include a guidance curriculum, individual planning and responsive services to promote student success in a faith-based setting.

Click Here for Appointment Requests

University & College

Links for helpful places to support your post-secondary education at a university or college.

Financial Aid

Beginning Oct. 1, you can apply for federal, state and college-based financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA). Completing and submitting the FAFSA is free and easy, and it gives you access to the largest source of financial aid to pay for college.

Here’s how you can prepare:

Create a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID for you and one for a parent at fsaid.ed.gov. You and a parent will each need a FSA ID to access and sign the FAFSA.
Be aware of your college’s FASFA priority date. Complete your FAFSA before that date as some financial aid is awarded first come, first served. Contact your college’s financial aid office to learn their priority date.
See FAFSA Tools at EducationQuest.org for free tools that will help you prepare. You will find helpful demos, videos and tutorials to assist in the process. For free personal help, call the EducationQuest location nearest you to make an appointment: Omaha – 888.357.6300

Financial Aid for College/University

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) on the Web: This site explains how to complete the Free Application for Student Aid.

CSS/PROFILE: Required by some colleges for financial aid.

EducationQuest Foundation: A great web site for help with the financial aid process. The site also includes many college planning tools and a scholarship search.

ACT’s College and Career Planning Information: ACT gives the student information on preparing/selecting colleges, financial aid and information on how careers and college are intertwined.

Scholarships

There is a lot of money available for students to support their post-secondary schooling/training. You can apply for local scholarships (from local organizations), national level scholarships and even ones from the college/university. Verify with each university/college of interest what types of scholarships are available.

Scholarship applications (like college applications) are usually very different and due at many different times. Some require various items like letters of recommendation, resumes, counselor evaluations, essays, or even photos. Some colleges use the entrance application as their scholarship applications; some require a separate application. It is important to know what the schools require for scholarship applications and the deadlines. There is no flexibility with college scholarship applications and deadlines. Everything must be done well and on-time. If a student needs a counselor or teacher recommendation, a transcript, or anything else from Roncalli Catholic, requests must be made at least two weeks in advance. It can take several hours to write a good recommendation, so the more notice the better.

This page will be updated with new scholarships available when the counseling office is notified.

General Scholarship Information/Links:

Scholarship Scams: The Federal Trade Commission established this site to help protect you. Here is another site to help you steer clear of scams.

FastWeb: Find scholarship money for a college, over 1.3 million scholarship possibilities.

Collegeboard Scholarship Search: Thousands of sources, matches students with scholarships.

Scholarships.com: Match students individual talents, abilities and interest to relevant scholarships. More than 3,000 sources plus a FAFSA guide.

Click Here to View 2020-2021 Scholarship Opportunities

In late fall and in the spring, students will hopefully begin receiving award letters. This comes from the college or scholarship committee stating the scholarship award, the amount, and any additional information. Students will need to bring a copy of the letter into the Guidance Office to be recognized for their accomplishments. These will be listed in the Omaha World-Herald in May and at the Awards Assembly at RCHS. Without an award letter, students will not be recognized for the scholarship so it is important to bring the award letters in as they arrive.

ACT

Visit ACT’s website at www.act.org

2020-2021 ACT Test Dates

Test Date Registration Deadline Late Registration*

September 12 August 28

February 6 January 8 January 9-15

April 17 March 12 March 13-26

June 12 May 7 May 8-21

*Late Fee required

ACT – The American College Test is the test widely used in the Midwest to gain admission to college. Most high school students take their first ACT test in April of their junior year. Interested juniors and seniors may register online at www.act.org. The cost is $55.00 or $70 with the writing section.

ACT Superscore

Not all universities/colleges accept a superscore, but want to know more about it see the FAQ.

Test Prep

ACT: The official site of the test. On-line registration, tips, reviews, and college planning tools.

Peterson’s: A comprehensive site with all the tools.

College Board: Your inside source for connecting students to college opportunity and success.

Free Test Prep: Prep for the ACT and use the vocabulary builder on this site.

Test Prep Review: Your source for free practice tests.

Study Guides and Strategies: A site with many resources that will help you do better in school and in preparing for tests.

College AP Credit Policy Info: Find out how your college treats credit from AP tests.

OnToCollege: Based in Omaha/Lincoln, test prep support for ACT and SAT.

Application Process

What college/university is the “best fit” for you? Links to support the start to finish college application process.

Scoir

Everything you need to know about making the right decision for the best fit for your college search. Online platform available to all Roncalli students from 9-12. Students can even take the career exploration quiz to discovery his/her pathway. Click for more information.

EducationQuest

Education Quest Road to College Timeline Checklist: EducationQuest has a checklist to support students with what to do each grade level and timeline to best support your college/university pathway.

Online Application Portal

Check with university/college websites for how to apply. Some will only accept through their website. Some will take Common Application or Coalition Applications.

Common Application: One stop place to apply for almost 900 universities/colleges

Coalition for College: Over 150 schools enrolled to support students applying to colleges/universities with free online tools.

University of Nebraska Shared App: For students interested in applying to more than one University of Nebraska school, use this application.

Application Terminology

ED = Early Decision (binding)
EA = Early Action (non-binding)
RD = Regular Decision (hear in April)
Priority = Puts you in consideration for scholarships
Rolling = 4-6 weeks and you receive a decision

What is the difference between “Early Action” and “Early Decision?” Read full article to learn more about the difference between Early Action and Early Decision by Chinh Ngo.

Academic

Purpose Driven Advocacy Center, Inc

Purpose Driven Advocacy Center, Inc

Outside resource that offers support for struggling students.

6401 N. 56th St.

Omaha, NE 68104

Career Resources

How you get to your career is not a linear path for all. Learn more about your interest before you explore post-secondary training.

Career Resources

Career Clusters

O-Net Online: Using the 16 Career Clusters, select an area of interest to research more on training necessary for the career

Omaha Exploring:

Career education program for ages 14-20. Various courses/workshops throughout Omaha offering hands-on experiences.

Interest Inventories

My Next Move (sponsored by the Department of Labor)

Military: ASVAB

Career Finder: Roadtrip Nation (resource from College Board)

Internships / Volunteering

Joslyn Art Museum: Kent Bellows Mentoring Program

Current grade 11 students interested in career in the arts. Admission is limited. Tuition is donation-based. After school hours in spring, summer and fall.