Junior Year and the Dreaded College Search

Now is the time to start planning for your college career!

Junior year is known for beginning the college search and preparing for the search and application process.  It can all seem daunting, so here are some tips to help make your junior year more manageable:

Narrow down potential majors

Talk with your guidance counselor and schedule a time to take career tests and assessments.  These can be very useful in identifying your strengths, narrowing down your interests, and pointing you toward possible career paths.

Attend college fairs

College fairs are a valuable resource to gain additional information about a wide variety of colleges.  There will be admissions representatives present for each college, so it is a great way to ask questions and learn more.  For more information about college fairs, read my blog post College Fairs- Helpful Hints to Help Your Child Stand Out.

Create a list of colleges

Create a list of colleges that you are interested in; try to keep the list between 10-15 colleges.  When creating your list, don’t forget to consider important criteria such as: majors offered, location, public vs. private, financial aid options available, demographics of the campus, size, tuition costs, housing options, extracurricular activities, student-faculty ratio, etc.  

Visit colleges before applying

Schedule college visits before applying.  Even if you plan to go on a scheduled campus tour, plan your visit so you can also explore the surrounding community.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions; make a pro/con list of each school so that later you can accurately -recall details of each campus.  The college will be your home for four years, so you want to make sure you will feel comfortable there. 

Colleges monitor students’ interest in their school.  Not only will visiting the schools help you narrow down what you want in a college, but it will show the college that you are interested in them as more than a backup or safety school.

Get to know your teachers

Colleges require students to submit letters of recommendation along with their admissions application.  Get to know some of your favorite teachers.  They will be a valuable resource when it comes to asking for letters of recommendation.

Grades

If you have a low GPA it’s not too late to turn it around.  Colleges look at trends in your GPA, so if you have slacked off, you still have time to show colleges that you’re taking your education seriously.  If you do very well your junior and senior years, colleges will notice your efforts.  

Don’t forget about standardized tests

Deadlines for standardized tests are fast approaching! Make a timetable for SAT/ACT.

March 9^th is the deadline for the ACT http://www.actstudent.org/

April 6^th is the deadline for the SAT so begin thinking and studying for the SAT http://sat.collegeboard.org/home

Begin to prepare for AP exams.  Remember you can get college credit, so the time you spend studying for the exam could save you from taking a course in college.  Put forth the effort now and it will pay off in the future.

There are many study guides available to help you prepare for all standardized tests.

Begin thinking about senior year course selection

Consider taking upper level courses such as Honors, AP, and community college courses.  AP courses and classes at your local community college are great ways to earn college credits.  It shows colleges your intellectual curiosity and dedication to hard work.

Plan for summer

Start planning now so you can make effective use of your summer.  Begin to think of possible jobs or internships and schedule additional college visits.

Here are some additional resources for high school juniors.

The College Board’s action plan for juniors: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/action/juniors.html

College Fairs- Helpful Hints to Help Your Child Stand Out

This spring, your college-bound students may be attending a number of College Fairs.  This can be a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with different colleges, many of whom may not be familiar to your high school child.  Unfortunately, students are often not given the tools to properly navigate these events, and may miss out on a valuable opportunity to make an impression on an admissions representative.

I was recently involved in a College Fair, and was surprised at what I saw and heard.  Help your child prepare, so he or she maximizes the college fair experience.  Below are some valuable tips:

1. Plan Ahead: Your child should go to a college fair with some idea of what kind of college would be a good fit for him/her.  Look carefully at the list of colleges who will be present at the fair.  Narrow down the list and prioritize the college booths that your child will visit and make his/her interest in that college known.

Use this opportunity to have at least a preliminary discussion about size, location, campus environment and other factors which are important in the decision.  Have your child do some Internet research on the colleges present at the fair and use this information to round out the list.  The effort you make researching prior to the college fair will show off when speaking with the admissions representative.  Make the best impression possible!

2. Dress Appropriately: This is your child’s chance to make an impression on the admissions representative taking part in the fair. Think about how you would recommend that your child dress for a college visit to his/her first choice school. That is exactly how he/she should dress for the college fair.  Dress to impress!

3. Speak Intelligently: If your child has done the research on the schools to be visited at the fair, use that information to impress the representative.  Ask intelligent questions about the school, its environment and students.

4. Take Notes: Your child will be speaking to many different college representatives, which can be overwhelming.  All the colleges will blend together by the end of the night.  Encourage your child to take notes after each booth.  Having notes to review later will prove to be very helpful.

5. Don’t Travel in a Pack: Assure your student that this is his/her chance to shine and to gather information. This is done much more effectively if your child is alone with the representative, rather than approaching with an entourage. It is particularly not a good idea for your child to approach a college booth with his/her significant other draped all over him/her.

6. Gum: Get rid of the gum! A person looks more adult and is more easily understood without a mouthful of gum.

7. Go as a family: Most college fairs offer evening hours, which gives you the opportunity to attend the fair with your child. This will impress on your student that, although the choice and process belongs to him/her, you will be there to act as a coach and cheerleader. Encourage your child to ask questions and be sure that you don’t undermine his/her confidence in front of the admissions reps.

College Fairs can be very informative venues. Don’t only focus on the colleges whose names you know. There may be some hidden gems in attendance that would provide your child with just the right fit.

Try to put aside notions such as ‘party school’ and to ignore the person you know who attended a particular college and was not happy. Remember that any school is a party school if that is what your child is looking for.  Your child is unique and what did not suit someone else may be perfect for him/her.