College, Career, & Military Readiness

At Southwest Schools, our mission is to prepare college and career-ready students for postsecondary success. Our College and Career Readiness Department helps students realize the opportunities after high school and gives them the tools to help them move in the right direction, including:

Program Tenants 

  • College and career exposure

  • Scholarship and tuition direction

  • College application support

  • Dual-credit course options, and more

We Believe

  • All students can learn if we meet their needs.

  • Innate learning depends on a safe, nurturing, inclusive, and flexible environment.

  • All decisions should be based on what is best for the student.

  • A learning organization focused on excellence will continually transform through meaningful and relevant work that engages students in profound learning.

  • Education is the shared responsibility of the community.

  • Genuine transformation requires disruptive innovation.

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CONTACT
Dr. Samuel West
Director of College, Career, & Military Readiness
swest@swschools.org

We look forward to hearing from you!

Career Readiness

This section contains information related to exploring personal interests, professions (by 16 career clusters), salaries ($$) typical of those careers, as well education/skill requirements for the potential career choice.
This section will have links to lots of websites and/or programs that are dedicated to career exploration.  As a district, Southwest Schools is currently looking at various options to serve as its primary online tool for middle school and high school career & college exploration.

College and Career Readiness chart

College Readiness

Southwest Schools has a college specialist whose goal is to support and guide students in their college, post-graduate, and career plans. It is important that you have a plan, and the specialist is here to help.

As students plan for college, there are many important deadlines to keep in mind. Our specialist helps prepare students by keeping them aware of pending/important dates, and by providing special guidance based on their grade level.

This section contains information related to researching colleges, applying to college (admissions), paying for college and transitioning (either from middle school to high school or high school to college).

  • There are many links because there are a lot of resources, such as:

  • Websites for registering for college acceptance exams, i.e., SAT (created by the College Board) and the ACT (created by ACT)

  • Financial aid options

  • Necessary steps such as completing the FAFSA (federal) & TAFSA (Texas)

  • Various scholarship opportunities and website dedicated to scholarship searches

As a district, Southwest Schools is currently looking at various options to serve as its primary online tool for middle school and high school career & college exploration.

Salary based on degree chart

RESOURCES
COLLEGE ADMISSIONS TESTS

  • SAT – Most common college entrance exam in the USA if you are considering going to college in most of the East or West Coast states or Texas.  College Board website (SAT)

  • ACT – Most common college entrance exam in the USA if you are considering going to college in the Midwest part of the country.  ACT website (for students and parents) 

FINANCIAL AID (MUST-DO)

  • FAFSA – Application for Federal Student Aid.  All colleges and universities require students to complete the FAFSA in order to see if they qualify for free federal financial aid, such as grants, so that the university can put together an “offer” to the student after he or she has been accepted.  Online application opens October 1, 2018.

  • TAFSA – Similar to the FAFSA, the state of Texas has an application for financial aid.  The instructions are on the website.