Do You Have College Aspirations? 0
Junior year is your last reprieve before the hectic college admission schedule of senior year begins. Just ask the seniors what this means and they’ll tell you! But you can avoid some of the stress and frenzy by getting organized today.
As a junior, you can probably see the end of your high school career is near. It might be tempting then to ease up on your schoolwork. This would be a huge mistake. One of the most important factors that colleges take into account is your course selection and grades. Junior year is the time to hit the books hardest. Colleges also place more emphasis on your junior and senior grades than those from previous years.
Junior year is also the second-best time (sophomore is better) for you to begin participating in meaningful extracurricular activities. However, as we said to you before, only get involved in the activities that truly interest you. Try to make a significant contribution to something that you enjoy doing outside of the classroom. It does not have to be school-related either. When colleges look at your activities they want to see the quality of participation, not quantity. This year may also be a good time to drop some of the activities that you really don’t care for and focus on those that you enjoy.
If you’ve never had a meaningful conversation with any of your teachers, now is the time to do so. Focus on building your relationship with your teachers. Next year you will need to ask at least two teachers for recommendations. Ideally, your teachers will be able to not only write about your academic abilities but also about you as a person. So help your teachers get to know you.
Finally, you should also take this time to start collecting and organizing information from colleges. If you have started this process with us, you now have a good list of colleges based on the results of four insightful self-assessments (Personality ~ Natural 9 Intelligences ~ Learning Style ~ Skills) and your personal criteria. Plan to visit colleges during your winter and spring breaks later this year. For now, you can visit colleges on the web using the AAA method to become familiar with what they have to offer and if they have the qualifications to help you reach your goals.