College Planning
Junior Year To-dos
Check out all the to-dos below along with resources to help you in your college and career planning!
Make sure to finish out your junior year strong. These grades are the last a college will see when they make their admissions decision. It is also important to take rigorous classes in the senior year. Finally, continue your involvement in all your extracurriculars and take on leadership roles and deepen your involvement when possible.
Junior Year Timeline
December (junior year)-August (senior year)--
- Research colleges
- Take SAT/ACT
- Keep up grades
- Continue/deepen school, community involvement
- Explore careers/college majors
March-School ACT
May-Ask teachers for letters of recommendation
Summer-Participate in summer programs, classes, volunteer, get a job. Also, work on the first draft of the your Common App Personal Statement and begin your activities list in the Common App.
Step 1-Research and visit colleges!
- College List presentation
- Use this college chart for in-state colleges as a start.
- Use Supermatch on Naviance to create a list of colleges.
- Research colleges using Naviance, CollegeData, the Dataverse, College Scorecard, and the college's website. Check out this article on how to use College Scorecard.
- Use Niche.com to learn more about student and academic life and more quirky elements of campus life.
- Attend virtual information sessions and college tours on the college's website.
- Attend in person and virtual info sessions held at TMSA for all colleges of interest
- Visit in person when possible. Spring break, open houses, and summer are all great times to visit! Here is a document that lists all colleges within a few hours drive of the triangle with admissions links.
- You can also use this site to book admissions tours all in one place!
- Tips on maximizing in person and virtual visits.
- If you are considering a school that offers Early Decision, consider applying this way. In many cases it will double your chance of admission. Check out this chart for differences in Early Decision and Regular Decision admission rates.
- Researching and visiting colleges also shows demonstrated interest which can help you get admitted to the college of your choice! Read more here.
- Your final list by fall of your senior year should be 4-10 colleges with an equal distribution of likely, target, and reach schools. Use this document to identify schools in each category for you.
- Great article on likely admit schools.
- Read this article , this one, and this one for more info.
- Read this article for tips on finding your best college fit.
- Also, check out this library of resources and videos on the college admissions process along with career resources.
- If finances play a big part in your college admissions decision, check out this spreadsheet for colleges that will provide the most financial aid and bang for your buck.
Step 2-Begin and continue taking the SAT & ACT
- Register for the SAT at http://www.collegeboard.org and the ACT at http://www.act.org.
- Finally, don't forget to utilize the free test prep resources on both the College Board and ACT websites. Also, what to do in the final week before your exam.
2024 SAT Test Dates Price: $55
March 9--Register by February 23
May 4--Register by April 19
June 1--Register by May 17
2024 ACT Test Dates Price: $6o
February 10-Register by January 5
April 13--Register by March 8
June 8--Register by May 3
July 13--Register by June 7
Step 3-Ask for Letters of Recommendation from teachers (late Spring)
- Research your colleges of interest and determine the number of needed letters of recommendation.
- Most colleges require 1-2 letters from teachers.
- One must be an academic teacher, preferably in a subject of interest to you. In most cases, you will want to ask a teacher from your junior year.
- Ask teachers in late spring if they would consider writing a letter of recommendation for you. This gives them plenty of time to prepare and even gives them the option to begin writing over the summer.
- Read this article for tips on how to ask a teacher. Complete this form to give them before they write.
- If you need a resume, check out this link for more info and resources on crafting a great resume.
Step 4-Research possible college majors and careers
- Career Planning presentation
- Do some self-reflection. What classes and activities have you most enjoyed? What are you good at? What do you value? Would you like a career with purpose? One where you will be behind a desk, outdoors, active? Do you want a large income, or do you value flexible hours?
- If you haven't already complete several career inventories in your Naviance account and at nccareers.org. Also, set up an account at cfnc.org and use that log-in on nccareers.org to save your research.
- Identify careers that jump out at you and that you see come up multiple times following different career inventories. Research those careers.
- On nccareers.org, you can search by career inventory and by star jobs. The higher the stars, the better the career in terms of salary and job growth. Following each career, it gives you a list of possible college majors that you can use in your college search.
- Here are some more tips on how to choose a college major and go to CollegeMajors101.com to learn more about majors and search for colleges with your major.
- Finally, see what you can do with different majors using this site.
Step 5-Optimize your summer
- Participate in a summer program. You can develop your leadership skills, explore careers and academic interests, or give back to your community. See the full list in Naviance. Click colleges and then Enrichment programs.
- Volunteer! Check out options at volunteer match and activate good. Make sure to log all hours in x2Vol.
- Work! Colleges love to see employment on applications and you can begin saving to pay for college.
- Research! In addition to formal summer programs, check out how to design your own summer research, find a research project, volunteer for a research project, find mentorship for your research, and research template for outreach at UNC Chapel Hill.
- Internships! How to secure your own summer internship.
- Check out this additional resource for planning your summer.
- Work on first drafts of your personal statement for your college applications. Here is a list of the prompts and also check out all the resources on College Essay guy. All juniors will have an opportunity to participate in summer essay workshops with the College Essay Guy.
Triangle Math and Science Academy
College Advisor, 11th & 12th grade
Email: kschaeffer@tmsacademy.org
Website: https://tmsatrianglecounseling.weebly.com/
Location: 3501 Dropseed Drive, Apex, NC, USA
Phone: 919-650-2270