(Naviance) Family Connection Directions

NAVIANCE/FAMILY CONNECTIONS DIRECTIONS

·       Managing College Applications

·       Choosing a college

·       Scholarships

·       Career Search

·       Resumes

1. Log into Family Connection: www.connection.naviance.com/hisd-lamar

2. Enter your email address and activation code

Come to the College Corner or your family office if you do not have your activation code. Parents can also access the account by including their email when you register. Do this so they can get helpful emails that you might miss.

MANAGING COLLEGE APPLICATIONS

1. Complete your part of the college application on www.applytexas.com for Texas state colleges, and

www.commmonapp.comfor over 300 private colleges. For public colleges outside Texas, complete applications, usually on their website. Use Family Connection to send transcripts, and request recommendations from advisors and teachers. Do not use the Common Application site now to request teacher recommendations or the Secondary School or Midyear Reports.

2. Click on the Colleges tab

3. Under My Colleges, click on Colleges I’m applying to.

4. In the blue box Important Privacy Notice for Common Application, click on waive, or do not waive your right to access. (We recommend yes, waive. Colleges trust our recommendation more and you probably won't bother to read it anyway.)

5. Click the square to authorize us to release your records.

6. Type your common application user name and password in the boxes. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT or your information cannot be sent. This syncs your Common Application part to our Family Connection/Naviance entries. If you are applying through www.applytexas.com or a college website, leave those boxes blank.

7. Click on SUBMIT.

8. Click on + add to this list. Complete this section to tell your counselor which schools you are definitely planning to apply. List ALL the colleges to which you intend to apply.

9. For each school you list, under submissions, if there is a computer screen, these transcripts can be sent electronically and you will be able to track them on Family Connections.

10. If there is a stamp and not a computer screen, then your recommendations cannot be sent electronically and must be mailed. Bring stamped addressed envelopes to your advisor and teachers if you want a recommendation for those schools. The registrar’s office will mail or print 5 transcripts free. Additional transcripts cost $2 each. Pay at the registrar’s office when you pick up the transcripts. Lamar will no longer mail transcripts. Avoid delays through the HISD post office and delivery questions when you control the mailing of your transcript.

11. Under Colleges I’m Applying To, click on request transcripts.  An alternate location to select transcripts is on the left-hand section of the colleges tab to find a link to transcript requests. Under Resources, click on transcripts. The menu that follows will allow you to request transcripts for your college applications or track when they have been sent. You can also send transcripts to scholarship programs, or request personal copies for your own use.

12. If you completed your application on the Common Application, in order to send your transcript, your advisor must submit the Secondary School Report with the transcript. Complete the Letter of Recommendation survey on the Lamar website (www.lamarhs.com > Academics > College Corner > Letter of Recommendation) and email it to your advisor to request a recommendation. Please submit this at least 2 weeks prior to the application deadline.

11. Scroll down to Teacher Recommendations. Click on Add/cancel requests. Select the name of the teacher(s) you want complete your recommendation and an email request will come to them. BE SURE YOU ASK YOUR TEACHER(S) BEFORE SELECTING THEM TO COMPLETE YOUR RECOMMENDATION. Click on Update Request. Under Status, you can track the progress of your request.

CHOOSING A COLLEGE

1. Family connection has multiple college search tools. Click on the Colleges tab and choose College Lookup if you want information on a specific college. Click on College Search to look for schools that meet requirements important to you such as programs, costs, and campus surroundings. 

2. SUPERMATCH allows you to select from a list of decision factors and rank their importance to you. College lists selected for you will appear with information why the school is a good match for you.

3. COLLEGE MATCH uses colleges the on Lists that you are interested in and Lists that you are applying to and will give you new colleges to explore that other students have selected that may be similar to those on your list.

4. COLLEGE COMPARE allows you to pick colleges and compare admission scores to others who have applied.

5. COLLEGE VISITS: Admission reps visit Lamar all year.  Adding colleges to your list Colleges I’m thinking about will trigger an auto notice to you about their visit. Dates and times are on Family Connection in the COLLEGE tab in the My College section. Select View all upcoming visits. To get a pass to attend a visit, click on Sign up on the visit list. Click on Sign Me Up on the next screen. An email will be sent to you that you can use as a pass to show your teacher to ask to attend the visit.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Scholarship information is on the COLLEGES tab in 3 areas:

1. SCHOLARSHIP MATCH shows a list of scholarships that are suitable for you based on a match of your GPA, SAT, gender ethnicity, etc. Other scholarships are listed without restrictions.

2. SCHOLARSHIP LIST has all scholarships in our database. You can filter or sort the list.

3. NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH is a free search service through Sallie Mae.

4, SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION list can be maintained under Edit My Scholarships

CAREER SEARCH

You can find a career and get information on them in the CAREER tab

1. FIND YOUR CAREER: Three career inventories are available to help you find a good match, based on your interests, personal qualities, and subjects you enjoy.

a. For grades 9, 10, 11 & 12, select CLUSTER FINDER to find the top 3 clusters based on your preferences.

b. For grades 9, 10, 11 & 12, select CAREEER INTEREST PROFILER to find careers based on the things you like doing the most.

c. For grades 11 & 12, select the PERSONALITY TYPE link to give you information based on the Myers-Briggs inventory to suggest careers based on your answers.

2. CAREER SEARCH: Groups/clusters of careers can be investigated by clicking on "explore careers & clusters". Once you find a career, tabs will appear to further explore descriptions, related college majors, and wage/salary information. You can also type in a specific career in the SEARCH FOR CAREER box an go directly to the same information.

3. BUILDING YOUR CAREER LIST: Once you find a career you are interested in, add that to your list of favorites. Click on Add this career/cluster to your list.

RESUMES

Family Connection helps you build a resume that can be formatted and printed. You can begin it at any time and update it at any time.

1. Click on the tab ABOUT ME and navigate to resume.

2. Select Build Resume Sections and add new entry and select a section from the drop down menu.

3. Enter the appropriate information into the fields

4. To print, click on Customize Your Printable Resumes. Select Create a new print format. Name the resume and select the format style. To select sections you want in your resume, check the box next to the section. You may rearrange by dragging and dropping. Once you rate satisfied, click SAVE AND CLOSE. Your resume will be available on the Customize Your Printable Resumes tab to edit, print, or delete.