Tips for Junior Year Success
Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished recommends five ways to have a successful Junior Year of high school.
Analyze your portfolio and fill-in the holes.
Come up with your first college list, and keep working on it.
Take the SAT/ACT or both twice during the spring.
Do well in your classes, and take challenging ones.
Visit colleges during spring break and the summer after Junior Year.
They say that junior year is your most important year, and I agree with that. This is a time when you can position yourself as a great candidate for college. Do these five things
Step 1
Look at your portfolio and see where your holes are up to this point. Do you need extracurricular activities? Volunteer experiences? Do you need to get a job?
Step 2
Start thinking about the types of colleges you might be interested in, big schools or small schools. Do you want to live close to home? Are you on a budget? This is the time that you want to make your initial list, and it’s okay if you come up with 20 or 30 schools to start. Eventually, they’ll trickle down.
Step 3
Take the SAT, ACT, or both twice in the spring of junior year to free up your time, potentially in the fall of senior year.
Step 4
Do well in your junior courses. Get some good grades so that you can get invited into rigorous and challenging AP and honors courses in your senior year.
Step 5
Visit colleges in the spring break, junior year if you can, and definitely summer after junior year if you can as well. Overall, just remember that junior year is the backbone of having a great senior year.
So, work hard, participate in diverse activities, and make the most of it.
I’ll talk to you soon.
Which of these five tips do you find most important for Junior Year success? Do you have other tips to share?
Post your tips/comments below.
I think you forgot the most important:
STUDY HARD and get GOOD GRADES. Studying always takes priority over test prep!
Hi Valerie. I hope you are enjoying summer in Minneapolis! I have family in Edina, MN.
Yes, getting good grades is important (see tip number 4). And yes Valerie, it’s important to emphasize to kids, first and foremost, to study hard junior year.