As high school students, schools often encourage you to go to college but once students have the idea of going to college in their head, many questions arise. How am I going to get into these schools? What are they looking for? What can I do to prepare? These questions often feed into the nervousness students have about going to college but that shouldn’t be the case at all. To ease the nervousness most students have about college during your junior year of high school, here are five things you can do to prepare for college applications.
1. Make Sure You Are on Track to Graduate
Going into junior year, you probably have already begun taking the courses you need to graduate as a student. However, students have to complete all 4 years’ worth of courses to be eligible for college, so communication with counselors is essential. This communication can help make a rigorous schedule that takes your goals and your strengths into account, putting you in the best position to succeed. The counselors make it their priority to keep students on track to graduate, so make sure you take advantage of the help as much as you can.
2. Participate in Extracurriculars
It’s always in the best interest of the student to find an activity or a few activities they like to do outside of school when it comes to college applications. Outstanding opportunities include playing a sport, joining student government, joining a club, but most importantly, doing something that you like to do. Teenagers often have a lot of time out of school, so finding activities to fulfill that time gives their lives meaning and also allows them to enjoy life with others. In order to best communicate your hard work to colleges, it is important to be committed to whatever activities you participate in. It is essential that you do not fill your schedule with opportunities solely to be seen as a good student, but instead, to actively
participate in an activity you are passionate about.
3. Create a College List
When applying for colleges in senior year, it is important to know which schools you want to apply for. Making lists for 10-20 schools based on location, major, population, and school community, among other categories, can play a big role in deciding where you want to go to school. Strategically placing each school of interest will ensure that you find the best schools for you. This narrows down your search and actively prepares you for the upcoming college application season during senior year.
4. Start Preparing for Standardized Testing
Whether it’s the SAT, ACT, or AP exams, students in their junior year have to start thinking about standardized testing. AP exams show mastery in their respective subjects, so students need to make it their goal to study and prepare for them while learning the class content as much as possible. Even as standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT are becoming relied on less and less, it has to become a priority of students to attempt to go the extra mile and take the test. Putting yourself in a position to get a good score on the SAT or ACT by studying extensively could very well make the difference.
5. Keep a Record of Your Achievements
Juniors preparing for college applications need to make sure that they record all the accomplishments that they have made in high school. Whether it's an honor roll, an award for a contest, a volunteering award, or something as simple as an achievement you received through consistency. It’s often hard for students to show how great they are without developing a self-image that makes them seem self-absorbed. However, it is important to showcase your achievements because these awards help develop the image of who you are. There is nothing wrong with showing your accomplishments to the world and owning up to them.
In order to be successful in the daunting college admissions process, students must make sure they are on track to succeed in high school academically, participate in extracurricular activities, create a list of colleges, study for standardized tests, and make sure to track all the awards and accomplishments they have made throughout their high school career. College applications should never make you go out of your way to portray something about yourself that isn’t genuine; they want to see who you are as an individual through your human interactions in extracurriculars and academics. If you can do that and be happy with the results, then college applications should be no problem. Good Luck!
Work Cited
“A Complete College Prep Checklist: High School Junior Year.” The Scholarship System, 7 June 2018,
thescholarshipsystem.com/blog-for-students-families/junior-year-checklist/.
Pannoni, Alexandra, and Josh Moody. “3 Ways High School Counselors Can Help Students, Parents.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 2 Jan. 2020, 9:34 am,
www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2015/02/02/3-ways-high-sch ool-counselors-can-help-students-parents.
“How Extracurriculars Help Your College Application.” The Princeton Review, www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/extracurricular-activities.
“How to Build Your College List.” College Raptor Blog, 16 July 2020, www.collegeraptor.com/find-colleges/articles/college-search/how-to-build-your-college-list/.
Sundquist, Kate. “Juniors: Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Start Studying for the SAT or ACT.” CollegeVine, 24 Mar. 2020,
blog.collegevine.com/juniors-why-now-is-the-perfect-time-to-start-studying-for-the sat-or-act/.
Hansen, Randall. “Student Accomplishments Worksheet: Showcase Achievements.” LiveCareer, 2 Apr. 2020,
www.livecareer.com/resources/careers/planning/student-accomplishments-worksheet.
Sundquist, Kate. “Juniors: Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Start Studying for the SAT or ACT.” CollegeVine, 24 Mar. 2020,
blog.collegevine.com/juniors-why-now-is-the-perfect-time-to-start-studying-for-the sat-or-act/.
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