Be sure you are on track to meet all graduation requirements. Review your transcript for accuracy, particularly regarding attendance waivers. If you are in doubt, check with your guidance counselor.
Keep the focus on school attendance and academics. Continue studies in all major disciplines and take the most challenging program you can handle. Plan a strong senior year and get the best grades you can.
Consider extending your learning beyond the classroom. Through our junior/senior experiential Education program including internships or community service, work study program, or college classes, students can have valuable experiences and networking opportunities. Meet with your guidance counselor to discuss these options.
Participate in extra-curricular activities in school or the community. Depth or leadership in a few activities is better than superficial involvement in many.
Think about what you will be looking for in a college. Consider your abilities, academic, social/cultural/ political/religious preferences, and personal qualities. List things you may want to study and do in college.
Make a file system to manage your college search, testing, and application data. INCLUDE A PLACE FOR RECORDING YOUR DEADLINES, USER NAMES, PASSWORDS AND PINS.
Carefully read all materials you receive from the high school about college admission. Share them with parents/guardians. This includes handbooks, the College Collage in Hurricane Highlights and the many “tidbits” that the college advisor e-mails to students and parents.
Start to learn about financial aid. Discuss college financing with your family. Comprehensive information from the Massachusetts Education Financing Authority is provided at www.MEFAcounselor.org. Finaid.org is another excellent source of financial aid information. Use the College Board Guide to Getting Financial Aid at collegeboard.com. Financial aid calculators that estimate your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) are available at all three sites as well as at www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov. Calculators provide an assessment of your Estimated Family Contribution. Information from the 4caster will transfer directly onto the FAFSA when you apply for financial aid next January.
If you are considering military academies, tell your counselor in the early winter of the junior year. A congressional recommendation is required; the deadline is April 1. This does not apply to the Coast Guard Academy. If you want a four-year ROTC scholarship, you should begin the application process the summer before your senior year.
If you are interested in theatre, music, dance, art, athletics, etc., start to prepare material for a portfolio, DVD, audition program or résumé.
If you are an athlete planning to continue playing a Division I or II sport in college, register with the NCAA Eligibility Center (www.eligibilitycenter.org) during your junior year. Fee waivers are available to students on free/reduced lunch.
Watch for the ARHS teacher recommendation packet after April vacation. Ask for two teacher recommendations this spring. Give each teacher, and your counselor, an outline of your academic record and your extracurricular activities.
Find a full-time or part-time summer job or internship, or participate in a camp or summer college program.
Create a résumé—a record of your high school accomplishments, activities, and work experiences.
Look at the Common Application (www.commonapp.org) after July 1 and begin filling it out. Read the prompts for the personal statement and think about how to best represent yourself through your essay. Determine what you want colleges to know about you that they would not learn from your transcript, test scores and recommendations. Draft an essay over the summer. You’ll regret it if you don’t!
If you have an Individualized Educational Plan or 504 plan, and you use testing accommodations at school and wish to have these accommodations on standardized tests, you must apply directly to the testing companies. You should see your guidance counselor or special education liaison well in advance of test registration deadlines for information about the online applications and registration forms. The testing companies make the final determination regarding accommodations.
Sign up to take the SAT, and/or ACT once in the spring and again next fall. See the chart of dates at the end of this packet. Register online or on paper. Fee waivers for two reasoning and two subject test dates are available for students on free/reduced lunch. To prepare, download practice booklets from www.collegeboard.com (for the SAT) or from www.actstudent.org (for ACT). Copies are also available in the Guidance Office. Use the Method Test Prep SAT program available free in Naviance. Take and score its free SAT.
Take two SAT Subject Tests™ in the spring if you are likely to apply to highly selective colleges -- best to take them while course material is fresh in your mind. You can also take them in the fall of your senior year.
If you’re in AP classes, register in March for AP Exams, given in May. You can also earn college credit for courses not given in the AP Program by taking CLEP tests at a college test center. See www.collegeboard.com to learn more.
Make good use of your Naviance account (see information sheet), and use the College Board’s “My College QuickStart,” which is available to anyone who took the PSAT. Do the Naviance interest and personality inventories, and explore careers and colleges that match your goals and personal qualities. Many students enjoy using these inventories which are required before your first college meeting. Research is invaluable in finding post-secondary programs that are a good fit for you.
Beginning after February 7, make an appointment with the ARHS College Advisor to plan your college-preparation and selection processes.
Attend a college fair; there are several in the Pioneer Valley: March at the Big E, September at WNEC and one in October that rotates through Hampshire County high schools.
Talk to friends, family, teachers, and recent ARHS grads now in college. It is important for juniors to expand the range of possibilities. Do not narrow your focus or “specialize” too soon. Be open to places you are just hearing about for the first time. It’s best to look for best fit. Don’t concentrate exclusively on reach schools; find colleges you like that are likely admissions for you. Don’t be deterred by sticker price. It’s often greatly reduced by financial aid.
Look at college Websites. Read student blogs. Check “Prospective Students” or “Admissions” sections of websites for visitor information.
Use February vacation to visit some local colleges—large, small, public, private, coed, single sex and community. Eat in the dining hall. Get a feel for the similarities and differences.
After looking online or in guide books, develop a list of 15 or 20 colleges that attract you. Visit their websites and request view books and information about financial aid and academic programs that interest you.
Visit these colleges over your spring break and in the summer. Pick up the campus newspaper. Go to classes where possible. Are they right for you? Even if there are few students around, you can get a sense of whether you should continue to consider a college.
Identify and keep notes about features that you like and do not like. Continue to search for colleges that have features you like.
Arrange summer or fall interviews at colleges that interest you. They can be on campus or local with an alumna/us. They usually help you.
Either in the summer or the fall make appointments with people in departments that interest you including professors and coaches. If you make a good impression, they might just talk to the Admissions Office about you!
Meet with financial aid officials, if indicated, at colleges you like. This is easiest in the summer or fall.
Always have a “fall back” plan. Find academic and economic safety schools. Look at community colleges, state schools, or less competitive private schools. Look for colleges that may offer good need-based aid or merit aid. (Consult meritaid.com for information.)
Keep a chart of application and financial aid deadlines for colleges that interest you — large universities may have early deadlines or rolling admissions, which means you should apply in October or November.
Source: Adapted from College Times® (published by the College Board)