College & Career Planning

Naviance is a college and career platform that students will utilize to explore colleges and careers and complete many pieces of the college application process. 

All NHS students have a Naviance account. Students access their accounts by selected "Naviance" under "Additional Resources" on their eCLASS landing page. No password is needed. This link will take them directly to their Naviance profile.

Naviance does not communicate with students' GCPS G Suite emails. Once logged in, please add a non-GCPS email to your profile. 

Naviance Tasks Help Guides

Matching Your Naviance and Common App Accounts

Adding Colleges to Your List

Requesting Transcripts

Requesting Letters of Recommendation

When choosing a college, there are several important factors to consider:

• Location: How far away from home do I want to be?
• Size: How many students do I want to be in class with?
• Cost: Can I reasonably afford the tuition and fees?
• Academic: Does this college offer my prospective major? Does this college offer a variety of majors for me to explore?
• Admission requirements: What are my chances of being admitted to this college? Am I meeting their requirements?

There are several free online tools that will allow you to explore colleges that match your preferences. 

GA Futures

Big Future

Naviance: The College Supermatch tool allows students to input their preferences on their college experience and create a curated list of college options. College profiles are available to learn all about each university.

Students can apply to colleges in a variety of ways, including accessing the application directly on the college or university's website. Below are other websites that can direct students to college applications, house applications, or allow students to complete one application and send it to several colleges.

GA Futures - https://www.gafutures.org/

The Common Application - https://www.commonapp.org/

Common Black College Application - https://commonblackcollegeapp.com/

Coalition for College - https://www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/

The SAT and ACT are entrance exams used by most colleges and universities to make admissions decisions and is accepted by all colleges and universities. Please note: Many colleges have moved to a test optional policy. Please check with your individual college for their testing requirements.

SAT

ACT

Official SAT/ACT scores are not housed at the school. The student must send them directly from the official websites.

NHS School Code: 112280

If you receive free and/or reduced lunch, you are eligible for two ACT and two SAT waviers to take each test for free. Eligible students should email their counselor 10 school days prior to the test registration deadline to obtain a waiver.

 

 

Financial aid can come from federal, state, school, and private sources to help you pay for college or career school. There are three types of federal student aid:

• Grants—financial aid that doesn't have to be repaid (unless, for example, you withdraw from school and owe a refund)
• Work-study—a work program through which you earn money to help you pay for school
• Loans—borrowed money for college or career school; you must repay your loans, with interest

Federal Grants

Grants and scholarships are often called “gift aid” because they are free money—financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid. Grants are often need-based, while scholarships are usually merit-based.                                               

Grants and scholarships can come from the federal government, your state government, your college or career school, or a private or nonprofit organization. Do your research, apply for any grants or scholarships you might be eligible for, and be sure to meet application deadlines! 

FAFSA

Colleges and career schools use the FAFSA form to determine how much financial aid you're eligible to receive, which could include grants, scholarships, work-study funds, and loans.

You must apply for aid every year, but with the right information in hand, it's easy.

Complete the FAFSA

Federal Pell Grant

Federal Pell Grants usually are awarded only to undergraduate students who display exceptional financial need and have not earned a bachelor's, graduate, or professional degree.

More Information on Federal Pell Grant

HOPE Grant

Georgia's HOPE Grant (a separate program from the HOPE Scholarship) is available to Georgia residents who are working towards a certificate or diploma (continuing education programs are not eligible) at an eligible college or university in Georgia.

More Information on HOPE Grant

HOPE Career Grant

The HOPE Career Grant, formerly known as the Strategic Industries Workforce Development Grant, is available to HOPE Grant-qualified students who enroll in select majors specifically aligned with industries in which there are more jobs available in Georgia than there are skilled workers to fill them.

More Information on HOPE Career Grant

Zell Miller Grant

Georgia's Zell Miller Grant is available to Georgia residents who are working towards a certificate or diploma at a Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) or University System of Georgia (USG) institution.

More Information on Zell Miller Grant

FSA ID

An FSA ID consists of an account username and password that you create in order to gain access to the U.S. Department of Education’s online systems, including StudentAid.gov. An FSA ID can also serve as your legal signature when completing electronic documents. The student and parent(s) must have an FSA ID prior to completing the FAFSA form.

Create an FSA ID

Scholarship money is money that you don't have to pay back. Scholarships can be found through the federal government, individual colleges, and private organizations. The scholarship research process can be time consuming, so it's best to get started early!

HOPE Scholarship

To be eligible for the HOPE Scholarship, students must meet the following basic requirements:

• ​Meet HOPE's U.S. citizenship or eligible non-citizen requirements
• Be a legal resident of Georgia
• Meet enrollment requirements
• Be in compliance with Selective Service registration requirements
• Meet academic achievement standards
• Be in good standing on all student loans or other financial aid programs
• Be in compliance with the Georgia Drug-Free Postsecondary Education Act of 1990
• Not have exceeded the maximum award limits for any HOPE program
• Graduate from a HOPE eligible high school with a minimum 3.0 core grade point average (as calculated by GSFC). A core grade point average ONLY factors in grades from academic courses (Language Arts, Science, Math, Social Studies, Foreign Language)

HOPE Scholarship Application Process

HOPE Scholarship Award Amounts

Track My HOPE Eligibility

Zell Miller Scholarship

To be eligible for the Zell Miller Scholarship, students must meet the criteria to be awarded the HOPE scholarship, AND​

• Graduate from an eligible high school with a minimum 3.7 core grade point average (as calculated by GSFC) combined with a qualifying test score on a single national or state/district administration of the ACT or single national administration of the SAT prior to high school graduation.

Zell Miller Scholarship Application Process

Zell Miller Scholarship Award Amounts

Track My Zell Miller Eligibility 

Scholarship Search Website

Big Future by The College Board

FastWeb

GA Futures

Sallie Mae Scholarship Search

Naviance: Naviance offers students three search tools to research scholarships: National Scholarship Search, College Specific Search, and Scholarship Search (for local scholarships). Students can research, save, and apply to scholarships.

• Nothing comes free-spend the time and effort to research ALL opportunities. Block off time to dedicate to scholarship searches and information. One suggestion is to create a separate e-mail address for your scholarship search accounts so you are fully committed to reviewing information sent to you by these sites when you login to that particular e-mail account.
• Pay attention to deadlines and required materials. If you need additional materials (recommendation letters, transcripts, etc.) from someone, allow that person at least 10 days notice to get those materials back to you. Also, be sure you are allowing yourself enough time to frame and edit a stellar essay, review your application, and avoid the stress of sending materials at the deadline.
• Become a well-rounded student. Scholarships are competitive. Be sure you are taking all opportunities to challenge yourself academically while being involved in co-curricular organizations or athletics. Choose clubs in areas in which you are passionate to become dedicated and develop leadership roles throughout your high school career.
• Create a resume. Use your resume to concisely describe your achievements. Find ways to document your unique skills. Are you talented at making people feel welcome? Get involved with volunteer opportunities, jobs, or clubs that can allow you to use these skills and document it on your resume.
• Know yourself. Determine what makes you stand out and what makes you a good investment from an organization. Be able to advocate for yourself through personal statements/essays about what makes you stand apart from other applicants.
• Start Early! Begin reviewing scholarship opportunities early in your high school career so you will know what opportunities exist and how to best make yourself eligible your senior year.

Want help finding your career? A few things you can do on these websites are:

• Explore careers and career fields 
• Take assessments to find out what career is best suited for you
• Learn about skilled trades
• Find colleges with your chosen major
• Save to a personal profile

Create a free account on:

GA Futures

Big Future

Naviance: Naviance boasts several interest inventories that students can take at any time to learn about careers that may be a good fit. Additionally, career clusters and profiles are available for students to learn more about job qualifications, salary and more!

There are tons of community resources that will 

• Help you find a job

• Prepare you for the job search process

• Build up job ready skills

• Connect you to career certifications

Georgia Department of Labor

Gwinnett County Public Library

Goodwill Career Center

WorkSource Georgia

The Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard are the armed forces of the United States. The Army National Guard and the Air National Guard are reserve components of their services and operate in part under state authority.

Steps to Joining The Armed Forces

1. Find a local recruiter*
2. Take the ASVAB exam
3. Pass the Phyiscal exam
4. Meet with a military counselor and discuss potential careers

*Military recruiters visit NHS lunches on a regular basis. Be sure to be on the lookout for them.

Learn more about the U.S. Armed Forces.