Perhaps one of the best things to do during that junior year of high school is to create an action plan. While many students think their senior year is the year when all the decisions are made, the junior year is the start of the whole college process. It's never wrong to start early. Tips and lists like the seven below will help students organize and create some focus.
Julie Hartline, the 2009 School Counselor of the Year and lead high school counselor from Campbell High School, says counselors enjoy sharing tips and action plans. Many work with students and parents to create such plans to keep students on track and on target as they move through their education. The trick is to use the resources that come from counselors, teachers, parents, community leaders and other educational platforms like MyMajors.com, Achieve, College Outlook and Counselor's Guide.
Here's a list of action steps that your juniors will want to use ... share these tips with your students.
1. Focus on your grade point average. Make sure the courses are challenging and part of a rigorous curriculum. Most of your classes should be part of a college prep curriculum. While a lower grade can be tough to deal with, a more advanced class coupled with a lower grade shows that you are brave and willing to try something tougher. And that struggle often makes for a good topic for an admissions essay.
2. Start looking at colleges. Attend college fairs and find four to six schools that meet your chosen criteria: student population size, location, clubs and organizations, academic disciplines and more. Try to have a couple of those schools be ones you can get into without much problem.
3. Help your school counselor by helping yourself. Take some of the responsibility for college planning onto your shoulders. Start thinking about the questions you really want to ask the counselor - admissions questions, financial aid, help in future career choices. Remember, they have a tight schedule to keep - be prepared. For those students who seek an interactive site that could help with planning and preparing some of those questions, try the college planning page at MyMajors.com.
4. If your school offers to shadow a professional or find a mentor in a field you are interested in, take it. This is an opportunity to learn if you really like veterinary medicine or if blood and injured pets makes you upset. Talk to adults and see what they enjoy and dislike about their jobs. Use your parents as a networking tool, too.
5. Keep involved in extracurricular activities. Volunteer, but not with too many organizations. College and university admissions staffs know when students are trying to pad their resumes and applications. Be sincere in helping one or two groups rather than 15. Remember, being well rounded is a pretty good thing.
6. Take the SAT/ACT in your junior year. It's just easier to start the process and see what scores you will get. If they are lower, take the tests again. Just don't take the tests without some review. The test sites themselves have practice tests, as do the public libraries. Be smart and prepare.
7. It is never too early to talk money. How much money has been saved for college? Are you expected to apply for financial aid? Will parents help? It is sometimes an awkward conversation, but it has to be ongoing. Remember, the true cost of a college isn't determined until the colleges and universities have prepared your financial aid package, and many private colleges have their own give scholarships and grants. And don't overlook community colleges. Many community colleges have articulation agreements with four-year schools so the community college credits usually transfer without any problem.
Feel free to share this with your students or copy into your newsletter.
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