College and Career Resources

Canisius High School is proud to offer a robust college counseling program that begins in the sophomore year. Counselors provide personalized guidance for college search and selection, discernment about majors and careers, and support throughout the entire admission and financial aid processes. In addition, we maintain communication with college admission offices and host numerous on-campus visitations by college admission representatives throughout the year.

We also host parent programs about admission and financial aid topics and processes in the fall and spring of junior year, and fall of senior year.

Students, parents and counselors use the SCOIR college network for all aspects of the college process. Please click here to access the SCOIR log-in page.

GUIDANCE CLASSES

Career Exploration

Offered in spring, sophomore year
Students take the Strong Interest Inventory to get a clearer picture of their career interests
Students explore detailed career information using O-Net Online
Students complete a career research project that is used as a springboard for further individual career conversations with their counselor
Introduction to SCOIR college information and admission system

College Planning

Offered in spring, junior year
Wide range of college admission topics covered, including the college search, standardized testing, letters of recommendation, and essays, among others
Students create a resume
Students are introduced to Common Application and create their accounts
SCOIR is used for college information and to collect important data from students and parents

College Seminar

Offered in fall, senior year
Review of admission policies and procedures
Completion of targeted sections of Common Application
Completion of key tasks in SCOIR

SAT/ACT

Students take the Pre-ACT as sophomores and the PSAT as juniors; both tests take place in mid-October and help prepare students for official SAT/ACT tests
Canisius utilizes SAT School Day, which allows us to offer one SAT in the spring and one SAT in the fall for Canisius students only; families are notified directly about dates/registration
Students are also encouraged to register for additional SAT or ACT tests offered on Saturdays throughout the year
While many colleges still offer test-optional admissions, we strongly recommend that students take the SAT and/or the ACT, as these can potentially help students with admission and scholarship consideration
Test Preparation – Canisius currently offers an SAT prep class in the spring semester for juniors; additional test preparation is available from a wide range of providers in-person and online, including Atlas Test Prep, Test Preps of Buffalo, Courier College Prep, and many others.

FREE Test Prep is always strongly encouraged as well and is available here: SAT, ACT

COLLEGE TIMELINE

SCHOLARSHIP/FINANCIAL AID

Scholarships

The High School Counselors’ Association of Western New York maintains a detailed listing of local and regional scholarships that students can apply for.

In addition to these local scholarships, students are encouraged to sign up with one of the larger scholarship search engines to receive notifications about other scholarships being offered by nationally based businesses and organizations. These search engines include Fastweb, the College Board’s Big Future search, and Scholarships.com, among others. The Federal Trade Commission also published an excellent article about how to avoid scholarship and financial aid scams that you can access here.

Please Note: The vast majority of scholarships students receive come from colleges and universities directly. Students are considered automatically for these awards at most colleges when they apply for admission. However, some colleges do require an additional step of searching an online database or offer competitive awards that require an application. It is very important that students and families review the online scholarship information thoroughly at the colleges they are considering.

Financial Aid

Each year, Canisius offers a financial aid workshop with a financial aid professional via Zoom to provide detailed information and updates about applying for financial aid. Please see the Presentations tab for the most recent recorded session.

Financial aid refers to any type of aid that a student may receive toward their college education, including scholarships (merit-based), and grants, loans and work-study (need-based). Families should review the required forms and timelines/deadlines at the colleges they are considering.

FAFSA – Required by all colleges to apply for need-based financial aid

CSS Profile – Required by some colleges to apply for need-based financial aid; full listing of colleges is available on website

NYS TAP – Required to apply for grant money from New York State; only available if students attend a public or private college in New York State

U.S. Department of Education College Affordability & Transparency Center

IMPORTANT WEBSITES

PRESENTATIONS

October 2024 Financial Aid Night - Passcode: 0Q*pgUFg

Junior College Panel Evening - Passcode: Tx3ut=np
From September 2023

Common App I Zoom Workshop - Passcode: s2@R42A$
This workshop goes over the primary sections of the Common App, including Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities and Writing.

Common App II Zoom Workshop - Passcode: 9k..eZc5
This Workshop goes over the My Colleges section of the Common App, including recommendations. Information about how SCOIR will work in the application process is also covered.

College Essay Zoom - Passcode: #@3L8%WC

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