Junior Year Preparation For College
There are definite benefits to starting your journey toward college well before your senior year begins. For one thing, it’s not uncommon for teens to come down with a case of “senioritis” during their last year of high school. Why not do some leg work a bit early so you can go into your final year with a little less on your mind? These are the things you can tackle your junior year:
1. First stop: guidance counselor. Up until now, you’ve probably not had much of a need to stop by your counselor’s office for help. Those days are over! The first thing you’ll learn is what classes to take while still in high school to put you on the college path. You’ll also come to understand the differences between the ACTs and the SATs and get some advice about how to proceed with them. Your counselor can also start the dialogue about various colleges as options for you based on what you’re interested in.
2. Prepare for the ACT and SAT tests. Timing is everything when it comes to allowing enough time for you to retest if you’re not happy with your scores the first time around. Many students opt for the early part of their senior year. What does that leave for you to do during your junior year? Study! The more familiar you are with the formats of these two tests, the less anxiety you’ll have on test day. You can get exam prep books at a book store, online or maybe your guidance counselor has copies to lend.
3. Start your campus visits. The best way to get an idea of what life is like on individual campuses is to invest time and check it out for yourself. Each college has a different feel to it, a different layout, and special areas of study. Tour the campus and figure out where the freshman live and imagine what your all-important transitional year might feel like. If you are interested in out-of-state colleges, start by scouring their websites for some of this information.
4. How will you pay for it? That’s the million dollar question for most families, although hopefully your tab won’t run quite that high. As you’ve likely heard by now, it’s not cheap to earn that college degree and you’ll probably need help from as many sources as possible. Start looking into local scholarships early so you can make sure that you spend your junior year meeting the various criteria. Research loans and grants, too. Next year after you gain acceptance, you can also check out what your university has to offer in terms of financial aid and grants on their end.
So you see, there’s a lot to be done. If you don’t leave it all for your senior year, you’ll breathe a lot easier.
Russell Black is a counselor who advises working adults on choosing online colleges and online degree programs.
