How High School Juniors can Plan for College
As a high school junior, you’ve got a lot of things on your plate. You’ll need to keep a workable yet challenging course load, participate in an extracurricular activity and perhaps even hold a part-time job. You’re officially an upperclassmen now and you can enjoy the benefits that brings on campus, but not before you stop long enough to think about college.
Your senior year is just around the corner and that’s when the true college hustle and bustle begins, so doing all that you can now will help to take the pressure off. After all, you want to be able to actually enjoy your senior year as well, right? So doing some forward thinking right now and making a few decisions will help you be prepared and not have to freak out when it comes time to apply to colleges.
Picking Colleges
You should start looking into the colleges you want to attend if you have not begun to do so already. You will need to decide on the type of college that suits you best and then figure out roughly in what you’d like to major in order to narrow down your search. It’s important for you to have your final list of colleges to apply to before the end of your junior year, preferably before. This way you can double check the admissions requirements and ensure that you will be able to meet them by the time you graduate.
See Your Counselor
If you have not done so already, schedule an appointment with your high school counselor. They are there to help you, so be sure to utilize their services as much as possible. Once you have your colleges picked out meet with your counselor to come up with or go over your plan for applying to college. You need to decide a few things right now like when you will begin the application process, how much money you’re willing to spend on applications and if you have your finances in order.
Evaluate Your Test Scores
You should take the SAT or ACT this year. You can get official test dates and times from your high school counselor or on the official websites for these tests at www.collegeboard.com and www.actstudent.org. Once you have a score for one of these tests on file, you will need to decide whether or not you want to retake the exam to try for a higher score. Your last chance is in the fall of your senior year, so you will need to start thinking about it right now.
Go For Early Decision
Most colleges accept Early Decision applications, which means you will be required to submit your application at the beginning of the November of your senior year. You need to be prepared for this, so make sure you have requested applications and information from all of your potential schools this year. You could find out as early as Christmas time of your senior year whether or not you have been admitted to a college you’ve chosen, however most will find out by March or so. Even though these occurrences will happen during your senior year, the forces that set them into motion begin in your junior year and even during your sophomore year.
Planning for college is a long process that requires diligence and organization. Starting early helps you keep on top of all of the details, even if you are not the most organized of people. That way you won’t miss any important deadlines like when to have your SAT scores submitted, or when to have that letter of recommendation turned in. Even though your junior year is still right in the middle of your high school career, it never hurts to look ahead.