Visit Colleges 

If your family is planning spring break or summer travel, use those times to check out local colleges!  Great opportunities exist from Dillon to LA!  Any time you can visit a campus, do so!  Admission counselors would love to meet you and offer tours. If you are interested in certain fields or studies, call ahead to see if those departments can meet with you.  Sometimes, college gear, a meal, or even game tickets can be a perk to a campus visit.  

College, Military and Career Visits AT Hellgate 

Admission representatives also travel around to local schools to visit with students at their high schools.  We encourage Juniors and Seniors to attend any College, Military and Career Visits at Hellgate High School.  All visits are located on our Counseling calendar on this website.  Typically, these occur in early fall and late spring.
 

College applications can be found in a variety of locations or platforms.  Each individual college or university will outline the available options.  They could include a direct application right on their website.  They may also use a platform where you can fill out one application to submit to many colleges at once.  Some examples of these include Common App or their own state platforms.  Please check out college websites for what they may offer for platforms.

CommonApp: Includes over 1,000 college and universities campuses across the United States.

ApplyMT:  This allows Montana residents to apply for FREE to several campuses across Montana.

Colleges, Universities, and Scholarship applications may require a Letter of Recommendation (LOR) from your counselor and/or teacher(s).  To request a LOR please provide a resume with your request two weeks prior to each deadline.  Please be clear with your counselor who you would like your LOR addressed to and how the LOR will be submitted.

How do I ask a teacher for a LOR?

Teachers also appreciate early notice of a request for a Letter of Recommendation and also require a resume.  Always follow-up with a thank-you to any teacher who has been gracious enough to sing your praises!  Each school is different in what they require for LOR.  Some schools require none, while some require 3 different teachers. Please be conscious of this when inviting teachers on application platforms.

Common App LOR

The Common App platform can be used for counselors and teachers to submit LOR.  Students will invite counselors and teachers by adding their email to their CommonApp account.  For Counselors, these are called the Counselor Recommendation Report.  Please make sure email addresses are added correctly.  After submission, it is your responsibility to make sure your counselor has received the request. Not all schools require a counselor recommendation or teacher recommendations, so please be sure to check those details in Common App.  As always, at least a 2 weeks notice for deadlines for letters of recommendation are greatly appreciated.

Transcripts for CommonApp:
Students will enter their counselor's email on their CommonApp account.  Counselors will complete the School Report Form.  This includes uploading an official transcript and answering a few other academic questions.  It is student's responsibility to reach out to your counselor to verify they have received the invite and can complete the School Report Forms.

Transcript requests for current students:
Official Transcripts can be ordered through the HHS Registrar,  Lori Willumsen. Students and parents can either complete a Transcript Request Form or submit a request to Lori via email lwillumsen@mcpsmt.org. Transcript Request Forms can be picked up at Lori’s desk in the lower main office. If making a request through email, please be sure to provide your student’s name as well as the name and address of the institution it will be sent to. Please provide your request at least 48 hours before you need your transcript. Unofficial transcripts may be viewed on the student/parent Infinite Campus portal.

Transcript requests after high school:
MCPS is utilizing Parchment to send official transcripts electronically.  Some students may need to use this for college apps if they are not utilizing a platform such as CommonApp.  This option is used for any former students after high school graduation.  Click here to request on the MCPS/Hellgate Parchment Portal

Ranking process for MCPS
 MCPS will no longer rank students. The decision for this is based in different course offerings, non-weighted GPA practice, and general transcript evaluation practices amongst colleges.  Colleges and scholarship committees typically consider the rigor of a student's coursework independently.