College Applications: How To Get It Done

There are three types of college applications: (1) the Common Application, better known as the Common App, (2) the Coalition Application, and (3) a college’s proprietary application. There are over 1,100 colleges that accept the Common App, but some colleges only have their own application and do not accept the Common App; Minnesota State University Mankato, MIT, Grand Canyon, just to name a few. If you are not sure which application to use, ask your counselor!

Common App

• Application Guide
• Completing the Education Section
• Completing the Activities Section
• Essay Prompts

Maia Learning

• Add Colleges I Am Applying to in Maia Learning
• Request a Transcript
• Requesting Teacher Letters of Recommendation
• Completing the FERPA Authorization and linking your Common App to Maia Learning

STARS

• Self-Reported Transcript and Academic Record System (STARS)
• List of Colleges Supporting STARS plus details

Direct Admissions Program

• How to Get it Done: Minnesota Direct Admissions Program
• Direct Admissions Student Center

Events and Presentations

Virtual Events

• Tuesday, September 8: Senior Parent Night, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Monday, September 14: Advice for College Essays, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Tuesday, September 15: Ask the Experts: Business School Admissions Information Session and Panel, Three Colleges Share Tips and Advice: Indiana University, Miami Ohio, University of Minnesota, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Tuesday, September 22: Testing 101 at MHS, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Monday, September 28: Liberal Arts Advantage: Why Choose a Liberal Arts College? 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Tuesday, October 13: Ask the Experts: Engineering Admissions Information Session and Panel, Three Colleges Share Tips and Advice: University of Colorado, Boulder; University of Minnesota; Purdue University, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Monday, October 19: Understanding College Financial Aid, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Monday, March 15: Understanding your Financial Aid Award, 7:00 pm- Virtual

In-Person Events

• Monday, October 5: National College Fair: Minneapolis Convention Center, 5:30-7:30 PM, Buses will depart from MHS at 4:45 PM
• Wednesday, October 14: Application and Essay Workshops, 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, MCE Building
• Monday, October 26: FAFSA Completion Event, 7:00 PM, MHS Forum
• Monday, November 9: Skilled Trades and Aviation Career Exploration and Post Secondary/Employment Fair, 6:30 PM, VANMO Building
• Monday, February 22: College Fair, MHS, 6:00-7:30 PM
• Monday, March 22: Military Night, MHS, 7:00 PM

Events and Presentations

Virtual Events

• Monday, September 14: Advice for College Essays, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Tuesday, September 15: Ask the Experts: Business School Admissions Information Session and Panel, Three Colleges Share Tips and Advice: Indiana University, Miami Ohio, University of Minnesota, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Tuesday, September 22: Testing 101, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Monday, September 28: Liberal Arts Advantage: Why Choose a Liberal Arts College? 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Tuesday, October 13: Ask the Experts: Engineering Admissions Information Session and Panel, Three Colleges Share Tips and Advice: University of Colorado, Boulder; University of Minnesota; Purdue University, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Monday, October 19: Understanding College Financial Aid, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Monday, January 11: Junior Parent Night, 7:00 PM, Virtual

In-Person Events

• Monday, October 5: National College Fair: Minneapolis Convention Center, 5:30-7:30 PM, Buses will depart from MHS at 4:45 PM
• Monday, November 9: Skilled Trades and Aviation Career Exploration and Post Secondary/Employment Fair, 6:30 PM, VANMO Building
• Monday, February 22: College Fair, MHS, 6:00-7:30 PM
• Monday, March 22: Military Night, 7:00 PM, MHS

Events and Presentations

Virtual Events

• Monday, September 14th: Advice for College Essays, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Tuesday, September 15: Ask the Experts: Business School Admissions Information Session and Panel, Three Colleges Share Tips and Advice: Indiana University, Miami Ohio, University of Minnesota, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Tuesday, September 22: Testing 101 at MHS, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Monday, September 28: Liberal Arts Advantage: Why Choose a Liberal Arts College? 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Tuesday, October 13: Ask the Experts: Engineering Admissions Information Session and Panel, Three Colleges Share Tips and Advice: University of Colorado, Boulder; University of Minnesota; Purdue University, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Monday, October 19: Understanding College Financial Aid, 7:00 PM, Virtual
• Monday, May 10: Sophomore Parent Night, 7:00 PM, Virtual

In-Person Events

• Monday, October 5: National College Fair, Minneapolis Convention Center, 5:30-7:30 PM, Buses will depart from MHS at 4:45 PM
• Monday, November 9: Skilled Trades and Aviation Career Exploration and Post Secondary/Employment Fair, 6:30 PM, VANMO Building
• Monday, February 22: College Fair, MHS 6:00-7:30 PM
• Monday, March 22: Military Night, 7:00 PM, MHS

Events and Presentations

Virtual Events

• Tuesday, September 22: Testing 101, 7:00 PM, Virtual

In-Person Events

• Monday, October 5: National College Fair, Minneapolis Convention Center, 5:30-7:30 PM, Buses depart from MHS at 4:45 PM
• Monday, November 9: Skilled Trades and Aviation Career Exploration and Post Secondary/Employment Fair, 6:30 PM, VANMO Building
• Monday, February 22: College Fair, MHS 6:00-7:30 PM
• Monday, March 22: Military Night, 7:00 PM, MHS

Maia is a K-12 college and career-readiness platform that engages students in planning for their future. It lets students develop profiles, explore careers that fit those profiles, and build academic, college, and career plans. It helps you manage college applications and build portfolios.

How to get connected:

Student and Parent/Guardian: Log in through the MY SSO Click on MaiaLearning. If you are unable to connect, please email the family.helpdesk@minnetonkaschools.org and include the following information:

• Student Name
• Student Grade
• Parent Name
• Parent email address

What will you find on Maia?

• College Visit Schedule
• Learn about your interests and strengths
• Explore college and career options based on your interests
• Build digital portfolios and career plans
• Research colleges and universities
• Manage recommendation and transcript requests
• Scholarship Search
• Scattergrams - graphical view of application outcomes

The College & Career Center schedule is available in Naviance. Visits will mostly be in-person in the College and Career Center with a few colleges offering a virtual session. You must sign up for the visits in Naviance to receive a HUB pass.

• Need to make a counselor appointment, stop into the counseling office or use this link
• Need to make a appointment with the College and Career Counselor stop into the CCC or use this link 

College & Career Center Hours

Monday-Friday
7:45 a.m.-3 p.m.

Scholarship Information

A scholarship can cover the full cost of tuition or provide a smaller, one-time award. Some scholarships are merit-based, meaning students earn them by meeting specific standards set by the scholarship provider. Merit awards may be based on academic achievement or a combination of academics and a special skill, talent, or interest. Other scholarships are need-based, awarded according to a student’s financial situation.

Keep in mind, if applying to four-year colleges, the largest scholarships typically come directly from the colleges themselves. Be sure to explore scholarship and financial aid opportunities at each college you are considering.

Using Naviance to Find Scholarships

MHS students log into their Naviance account and go to the Scholarships tab.

FAFSA

Completing the FAFSA is the first step in the college financial aid process. This is a required form for any student seeking federal aid. Many colleges require students receiving scholarship funds to complete a FAFSA. Additionally, some families complete a FAFSA in order to get access to unsubsidized federal loan funds that are not income dependent.

CSS Profile

The CSS Profile is the College Board’s financial aid application that about 260 mostly private colleges and universities, use for their undergraduate admissions. In addition to filing the FAFSA, the CSS Profile application is required for participating schools. 

All PROFILE schools use the FAFSA to determine which of their applicants will qualify for federal and/or state financial aid. Most public and private colleges and universities also rely upon the FAFSA to determine who is eligible for the institutions’ own need-based financial aid. The PROFILE schools, however, want to dig deeper than the FAFSA allows when assessing who qualifies for money from their own institution.

MSEP

The Midwest Student Exchange Program enables residents of Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska to enroll in designated institutions and programs at reduced tuition levels outside of their home state. Some schools in the province of Manitoba also participate. The Midwest Student Exchange Program is an interstate initiative established by the Midwestern Higher Education Commission (MHEC) to increase educational opportunities for students in its member states. This program enables residents at reduced tuition (150% of resident tuition) levels. The basic core college prep courses apply for many of these schools' requirements.

North Star Promise

Reciprocity

Minnesota residents may attend public institutions in Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Manitoba and pay tuition at a rate lower than non-resident or, in some cases, comparable to resident rates. For more information, visit the Minnesota Office of Higher Education's reciprocity website.

Scholarships

You may view Scholarship Information in Naviance. If you have questions, please reach out to Michele Johnson at michele.johnson@minnetonkaschools.org.

MHS Local Scholarship 2025-2026

Seniors can apply for these scholarships using the MHS Local Scholarship Application. Recipients of these scholarships are selected by the scholarship committee at Minnetonka High School. 

Application Instructions

• You must log in using your mtka.org student email to apply for these scholarships.
• You can apply for up to six scholarships by completing the MHS Local Scholarship Application. Only one application per senior will be accepted. Please read the descriptions carefully to ensure your eligibility for that particular scholarship.
• The application goes live February 2, 2026 and close March 9, 2026
• Awards range from $500-$3300

Scholarships.com divides scholarships by a variety of unique categories, including GPA, military affiliation, ethnicity, artistic ability, ACT or SAT score and residing state. And when you select one of these categories, you’ll likely see a large list of subcategories, where you can then view all eligible scholarships. This system helps students find niche awards with smaller applicant pools that they’re more likely to win.

Fastweb
Fastweb aggregates awards from both large and small directories. You have to make a profile to search for scholarships, which is similar to other sites. But after the initial sign-up process, you can easily search for scholarships and filter your results based on several data points. Fastweb will also notify you when a new scholarship matching your description is posted and when you have upcoming deadlines.

College Board
You’re probably familiar with the College Board if you’ve taken the SAT, AP tests or other college entry exams. But the College Board can help you after you’ve been accepted into a school—its scholarship search helps you find awards to help you pay for college.

After you create an account, you can filter awards by your interests, field of study, club affiliations or specific situations, like if your parents are divorced. College Board will also automatically match you with eligible scholarships based on the information in your profile. There is also an autofill function, which allows you to reuse information from other scholarship applications, saving you time and helping you apply for more awards.

ScholarshipOwl
ScholarshipOwl is a popular scholarship website that compiles awards and organizes them by amount, types of requirements, number of winners and length of time until the application is due.

ScholarshipOwl will automatically resubmit your application to recurring scholarships that don’t require anything beyond your basic information. This leaves you more time to focus on awards that require essays and recommendation letters.

Bold.org
While many scholarship sites are difficult to navigate, Bold.org has one of the cleanest interfaces. It’s easy to search and find different scholarships you may be eligible for and you can filter by your education level, award category, award amount and deadline. You can even toggle on the “no-essay” button to find scholarships that don’t require a written essay.

Cappex
Cappex claims to be the biggest online scholarship database, so it could pay to check the site for possible leads. Like other sites, you have to create an account to see all the scholarships you might qualify for. Their filter system lets you sort awards by year in school, scholarship amount, gender, ethnicity and award deadline. You can also search for renewable scholarships, which offer college funding for multiple years.

Scholly
When you fill out a profile on Scholly, their algorithm will comb through available scholarships and create a list of eligible awards. Each scholarship will have a Scholly score, which ranks how good of a fit it is for your background and experience. The higher the Scholly score, the stronger match you are with the scholarship’s requirements.

CareerOneStop
The U.S. Department of Labor has its own scholarship website through the CareerOneStop portal. There are more than 8,000 scholarships listed, and you can filter awards by keyword or sort them by amount, deadline, residing state and state where you’ll be studying.

There are scholarships available for students enrolled in a vocational school or working toward an associate’s degree, as well as for undergraduate and graduate students.

NACAC National College Fair Minnesota is a two-day, three-session annual fair that hosts about 300 colleges at the Minneapolis Convention Center

• When: October 2026 dates TBA.
  • Day one: 9:00 a.m.-noon and 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
  • Day two: 9:00 a.m.-noon
• Where: Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 2nd Ave S, Minneapolis
• Visit the NACAC National College Fair Website

*MHS will be providing buses to the college fair for the evening session.

• Minnesota Transfer Curriculum
• Transferology

Please visit the Transcripts webpage for more information about how to view unofficial transcripts or order certified transcripts.

Students thinking about or planning to play college sports should visit the NCAA eligibility website to ensure that they understand the eligibility requirements. The Educational Resources are linked here. 

• ASVAB Career Information Program
• Hennepin West Consortium Career Guide
• MyMajors
• My Next Move
• O*NET Program 
• Occupational Outlook Handbook
• Road Trip Nation

The job postings below are independent from Minnetonka Schools. These opportunities are posted here as a service to local students and businesses. Students are responsible for submitting their applications to potential employers.

Employers interested in posting jobs should complete this form. 

Current Job Openings

Click the links below for more information on each position and how to apply.

• Amusement Park - Food and Beverage, Landscaping, Games, Lifeguards
• County Parks System - Pathways Internship Program Positions, Maintenance Positions, Lifeguards, Garden Worker
• County Parks System (Chanhassen/Chaska) - Highway Maintenance, Park Maintenance
• City of Minnetonka - Public Works Assistant, Park Program Assistant, Swim Instructor, Lifeguard
• City of Minnetonka - Youth Advisory Board
• City of Chanhassen - Rec Center Sports Coach - Part Time (14+)
• Day Program/Community Program - Camp Counselors
• Goldfish Swim School - Swim Instructors (14+) and Lifeguards (15+)
• Hardware Store in Minnetonka - Retail Support
• Health & Community - Sunshine Stop Youth Advisory Council Positions (unpaid)
• KE Camps (Bearpath Golf & Country Club) - Camp Director, Camp Counselor
• KE Camps (Woodhill Country Club) - Camp Director, Camp Counselor
• Minnetonka Community Education - Basketball Referees, Part-time
• Minnetonka Public School District - Explorers Assistants (Seasonal and year-round)
• Park Nicollet/Methodist Hospital - Summer Hospital Assistant (unpaid)
• Pagel Activity Center - Concession Stand Lead
• Piano Teacher - Part-Time, Piano Seedlings Class
• Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek - Job Shadowing (water sampling, surveying, construction inspection) (unpaid)
• Senior Assistance Resource for Home/Property Assistance - Lawn Mowing, Landscape Assistant
• St. John the Baptist Catholic School - After Care Assistant
• State Fair - Roon's Savories - Part-time and Full-time Opportunities
• State Fair - San Felipe Tacos, Red Barn Root Beer, Galaxy of Drinks
• Youth Mental Health Resource - Youth Advisory Board Positions (unpaid)

2025-26

Advice for College Essays
Presented by U Chicago
Watch the Presentation

Application Review - Selective Colleges
Presented by Boston College
Watch the Presentation 
Slides

Financial Aid for College
Presented by Macalester College
Watch the Presentation

Navigating College Support Systems for Students with Learning Differences
Watch the Presentation

Public Flagship University Panel
Watch the Presentation

Understanding the ACT & SAT: What You Need to Know
Watch the Presentation

Understanding Your Financial Aid Offers
Watch the Presentation

UCAS to Uni: Applying to the UK
Watch the Presentation

2024-25

Advice on Applying to Selective Colleges
Watch the Presentation

Applying to Colleges and Universities in the UK — October 1, 2024
Exeter and Durham US Presentation (PDF)
Watch the Presentation

Class of 2024 Alumni Panel
Watch the Presentation

College Application Essay Advice
Watch the Presentation

Junior Parent Night
Watch the Presentation

Navigating College Support Systems for Students with Disabilities
Watch the Presentation

Public Flagship College Panel
Watch the Presentation

Understanding College Financial Aid
Watch the Presentation

Understanding the College Scholarship and Financial Award Letter
Watch the Presentation