College and Career

Welcome to Your College & Career Center

The LBV College and Career Center, located in Student Services Building 800, is committed to assisting students in setting a successful course for themselves beyond high school. The center assists students with the college selection and application process as well as identifying school-to-career paths.

Your College & Career Advisor:  

Email:   [email protected]

Follow us on social media:  @LBVguidanceOCPS

Center Hours

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
8:00 am to 2:30 pm

Wednesday
8:00 am to 1:30 pm

Student walk-ins are welcome during lunches. 

Wednesdays are group college/financial aid/scholarship application help days, walk-ins are welcome during electives with a teacher pass, during lunches, and after school. 

For one-on-one appointments, please contact directly through email.

Scroll down for college admissions tools, scholarships, and more!

Exploring & Planning

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What Career is Right for You?

Use the following tools to help you determine which career field(s) you are most interested in and what would be a good fit for you. You can take different assessments to choose what you like to do, what you would be good at, what kind of work environment you desire, what type of lifestyle you desire, and much more!

Other ways of exploring careers would be job shadowing, attending a career fair, taking the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, taking the Future’s Prep Finale course (available to juniors and seniors), and interviewing someone in a specific career field, talking to parents, counselors, or career advisors. Once you have an idea of the career(s) you are interested in, then it’s time to plan your course to get there!

Click on these five tabs to explore post-high school options (accessible only through Canvas):

College U.S. Military Apprenticeships Employment

 

The following is a list of links to various to the Web sites of schools in the state of Florida which may interest you or your child.

Helpful Links:

College Search Websites

Military Websites

Technical Schools

Occupation Website

Grade-Level Planning Checklists: 

For help making your post-secondary plans, use these checklists: 

  • Grades 9-10 Checklist  - Ninth and Tenth grades are important years in a student’s college and career preparation journey. Learn how a student can have a well-rounded experience in high school.
  • Grade 11 Checklist  - It's crucial to stay on top of college and career preparation during the Junior year and the following summer. Learn what the most important tasks are this year. 
  • Grade 12 Checklist - Senior year is the time to apply for college admission and federal student aid. Learn what a student should be doing throughout the year to stay on track at this busy time. Use this template to request a letter of recommendation and this "brag" sheet to provide a snapshot of what you've done in high school. 

Scroll down for college admissions tools, scholarships, and more!

Community Service

Engage as a volunteer in your community! Although not a requirement to graduate, community service hours are a positive addition to college applications and are required for many scholarship opportunities including Florida's Bright Futures. Here are the guidelines for students to complete community service hours:

  • STEP 1:  Find an organization that will allow you to complete community service hours AND confirm that it is an OCPS-approved activity.
    Suggested Opportunities  /  Activities That Do Not Count
  • STEP 2:  Begin your community service, logging your hours and collecting signature(s) from your organization's contact person. Complete this Community Service Log and Reflection.
  • STEP 3: After completing your hours, write a reflection of your experience and submit your signed log/reflection to your counselor.

IMPORTANT:   

  • Bright Futures (BF) rules from the Florida Department of Education: 
  • Students may earn BF-required hours through community service or paid work.
  • Students cannot combine community service hours and paid work hours to meet BF requirements.
  • BF Eligibility requirements are subject to change with each legislative session.
  • Visit the Bright Futures Handbook for details. 
  • Office of Student Financial Assistance website: www.FloridaStudentFinancialAidsg.org, Customer Service: 888-827-2004,  Email: [email protected]  
  • Students should keep copies of their forms.
  • PAID WORK will use the same log, with the addition of submitting pay-stubs.
  • Teachers/Club Sponsors/Coaches are NOT eligible to approve community service forms or to accept/submit community service forms on behalf of students. 
  • Seniors and Juniors applying to become National Honor Society candidates must have a minimum of 20 hours of community service hours completed in high school. Paid work does not qualify. 

College Admissions

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Once you have selected your preferred schools, use this guide to complete your college applications. If you have questions, your counselor and College and Career Center staff are available to help you with each of the tasks.

  • Visit the US News Best Colleges to see this year's top-ranked universities in the U.S.

College Rep Visits

This is a great way to gather information about colleges without going onto campus. Each college has a representative that is your go-to person at that college. They will help walk you through the process of gathering information and applying if you choose to. We strongly encourage you to take advantage of these visits!

Financial Aid and Scholarships

There are many scholarship opportunities available for students, both locally and nationally. We encourage students to use scholarship search engines to find the best fit and apply.  Remember scholarships are open to everyone, so it is important to spend your time only applying to the ones for which you feel you are uniquely qualified. It is also good to create a separate email account when you sign up for these national scholarship sites because you will receive many emails daily from these sites.

  • OCPS Scholarship Bulletin - https://bit.ly/ocps_scholarships - Continually updated, check often and keep track of deadlines. 
  • FL Student Scholarship & Grant Programs (Bright Futures)  -  Merit-based scholarships for students attending postsecondary educational programs in Florida.  All LBV Seniors must apply, starting October 1st. 
  • Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)  -  This form helps determine students' eligibility to receive federal or state financial aid. Required by most colleges. We recommend all LBV Seniors fill out the FAFSA no matter what the income of the family is. To complete a FAFSA, the student must be a US Citizen, permanent resident, or eligible non-citizen, asylum granted. 
  • College Scholarship Service Profile (CCS)  -  Some colleges and universities require a CSS profile that can be completed on the College Board website. An online application that collects information used by hundreds of colleges, universities, professional schools, and scholarship programs to award financial aid from sources outside of the federal government. There is a fee from the College Board, so be sure your school requires it before you complete it.
  • BigFuture - From the College Board, students may earn entries in monthly drawings for $500 and $40,000 scholarships by completing steps to plan for college. The sooner you start and the more steps you complete, the more chances you’ll have to win. Every month, BigFuture selects two $40,000 winners and hundreds of $500 winners who complete one or more steps.
  • Going Merry - Great website for scholarship search.
  • Raise.Me  -  Scholarship dollars for achievements in and out of the classroom, such as having good grades, playing sports, and more!
  • LendEDU Scholarships  -  Provides students and families a step-by-step guide in the different types of scholarship opportunities and provides a list of current ones. 
  • CareerOneStop - Search more than 8,000 scholarships, fellowships, grants, and other financial aid awards. 

YouTube Channel

You can find great College & Career resources on the OCPS YouTube Channel

Visit the link:  Bit.ly/OCPSCollegeandCareer
 
Their library includes video guides on what to do each semester of high school, how to find the right college, how to prepare for college interviews, how to find and apply for scholarships, and more!

OCPS CCS Youtube

  

 

 

 

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