Arbor View High School Counseling

Some tasks to be accomplished during your junior year.

 

FALL 
 

• Meet with your counselor.  Check your class rank and set goals for the year. You should take the most challenging academic program available and work really hard to get good grades.  Colleges like to see improvement so if your grades have slipped it’s not too late to improve.  Remember the one element of your application that colleges will weigh most heavily is your performance in your courses! 

• Register for the PSAT exam offered in October. The 11th grade PSAT score counts toward the National Achievement Program (and it is good practice for the SAT). By taking the PSAT/NMSQT, you may qualify to enter the competitions for prestigious scholarships and participate in recognition programs.

• Decide when to take the SAT Reasoning Tests. (SAT's are offered in October, November, December, January, April, May, and June.) All juniors should take them in March, but you can also take them earlier for practice if you wish.

• Begin discussions with your parents about your college ideas if you haven't done so already. Do their ideas about your abilities and interests agree with yours? Are there any limits to the colleges you can consider? Determine your most important college criteria (size, location, distance from home, majors, academic rigor, athletic programs, housing and cost) and weigh each of the factors according to their importance to you.

• Go to some meetings with college representatives who visit the school. Also attend any convenient college fairs or college nights. 

• Examine college and career materials available on our website.

• Get actively involved in at least one campus activity and work to achieve some sort of leadership position in that area. Colleges are finding that one very accurate predictor of success in college is the degree to which a student sticks with and achieves excellence in activities. The number of activities isn't important; the quality of your involvement is! Participate in extracurricular activities that you truly enjoy. This is important not only because discovering your passions is a significant part of life, but also because college admission representatives seek candidates that have direction or an identified passion, and use their time in a valuable manner.  Extracurricular activities can be a deciding factor in acceptance at a college that is on the fence about you.

• Attend College Fairs to begin to get an idea of the variety of colleges and programs available and to get information about schools you would like to consider.

• Review your online persona-Examine your information on Facebook and/or other social networks. Consider updating or deleting content that might not be viewed favorably by college admissions officers.

WINTER 
 

• Talk with college reps that come to our school and attend any evening information sessions that may occur.

• Make college visits (either in person or online) to test out ideas of what is important to you.   Visit colleges in your vicinity (UNLV, NSC, CSN) to get a sense of what colleges are like. UNR has a Nevada Bound Trip which allows you to fly down for a day at a very reduced price (check their website for prices and days).   You don't have to be interested in attending, just get on the campus and take a tour to get a sense of what a college feels like.

• Find out what tests are required by the colleges on your list.  Register and prepare for any tests you’ve decided to take (SAT/ ACT)

• Make the most out of your part-time job and begin constructing a resume.

• Set up a filing system with individual folders for each potential college’s correspondence and printed materials.

 

SPRING 

• Meet with your counselor to review senior-year course selection and graduation requirements. Select courses for your senior year with an eye to meeting college entrance requirements as well as to showing colleges that you are capable of doing well in a challenging academic program. Don't give in to the temptation of a "senior bail-out." and develop a preliminary college list. There should be at least four colleges on your list that your counselor feels are "safe." 

• Take the SAT and/or ACT when offered.

• Plan a road trip to visit colleges outside of your area during spring break, especially if you’re considering a location that’s far away from home.  It's a good idea to keep some notes of your impressions of each college. What impressed you? What didn't? What might be the advantages and disadvantages of attending? What questions still need to be answered. It is also a good idea to make a note of the name of the people you meet so you can contact them if necessary.

• Begin to think about whom to ask for recommendations. Consider asking teachers who know you well and who will write positive letters about you. Letters from a coach, activity leader or an adult who knows you outside of school (e.g.,a volunteer or work contact) are also valuable.

• Read and talk about colleges with friends, current seniors, counselors, parents. 

• If you want to participate in a Division I or Division II sport in college, start the certification process. Check with your counselor to make sure you are taking a core curriculum that meets NCAA requirements and get the NCAA Guide. If Division III is more realistic, talk to your counselor about which colleges offer your sport and meet your other requirements. In either case, visit the campus and talk to the coaches to learn more about the programs.

• Look for summer job opportunities and finalize plans for summer school, volunteering, internships…

• Have a discussion with your parents about the colleges in which you are interested. Examine financial resources and gather information about financial aid. Check out and research scholarships.  Our website has over 40 search engines.

• Research scholarship opportunities and keep track of deadlines.

 

SUMMER 
 

• Take the June SAT Subject Tests.  You should only take SAT Subject Tests if colleges you are considering require them. 

• Share with your parents information you receive from colleges. 

• Establish some sort of filing system to keep track of all the college material you will have to manage. Manila file folders or an accordion file are both excellent possibilities. The important thing is to have a place to put material so you can put your hand on it when you need it. 

• Continue visiting colleges you are considering. If the college is far from your home, ask for an interview during your summer visit, otherwise plan to interview in the fall or winter when there are students on campus.

• Volunteer in your community.

• Compose rough drafts of your college essays. Have a teacher read and discuss them with you.

• Update your resume to reflect your summer job experience.