I don’t think it’s a big surprise that seniors get the lion’s share of “college planning” attention when August rolls around on the calendar. It’s the start of a new school year, but the Common Application also opens on August 1st and launches us into a new application cycle. My weekly schedule quickly fills up with senior meetings, all of them in a frenzy to meet fall deadlines so they can (fingers crossed!) have essays and applications behind them by Thanksgiving.
But just because it’s finally time for seniors to highlight three and a half years of hard work in their applications doesn’t mean freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are off the hook when it comes to college planning. As the new school year starts, here are 3 college planning tips for each grade level (yes, even you seniors!) to lead you down the path towards college planning success!
FRESHMEN
Welcome to high school! This is a year to learn, grow, and (you guessed it!) start thinking about college planning. But don’t worry—there’s no pressure on you to develop a college list and settle on your major all in 9th grade. This year is more about getting to know YOU!
1 - Set Goals & Review Them Regularly
As the school year starts, I encourage you to set some SMART goals (here’s another blog post where I walk you through setting different goals, identifying your potential obstacles, and making a plan for success). At least one should be an academic goal, and I recommend at least one personal goal that’s just for you, but maybe you also set an extracurricular goal for yourself. Share your goals with someone you trust like a parent or college counselor and then review them once a semester or once a quarter. Check in and see how you’re doing, what you might want to adjust, and what you get to celebrate.
2 - Explore New Activities & Interests
High school is a whole new world when it comes to classes, clubs, and activities. Students have the opportunity to chase their curiosity in ways they haven’t been able to before. Exploring new interests, joining a new club, or picking up a new hobby might be easy advice for some students. But let’s acknowledge that it can also require leaving your comfort zone, and that isn’t always easy. I encourage you not to let that discomfort stop you from pursuing something you might love! Look for ways to make it easier, like bringing a friend.
3 - Keep Reading
We often hear that students who enjoyed reading for enjoyment in middle school lose that love of reading when they get into high school. The reading assignments change, schedules fill up, and pleasure reading is often one of the first things to fall off the priority list. But reading helps students learn, increases focus and attention span, improves vocabulary and writing skills, and can even build interpersonal skills like empathy. Here’s the thing—it doesn’t really matter what you read. Maybe it’s classic novels, sure, but maybe it’s free verse poetry, manga, sports biographies, or newspaper articles. If you enjoy it, keep reading!
SOPHOMORES
You have a year of high school in the books! You probably have a favorite table in the lunchroom and are counting down the days until you can start driving to school. In the meantime, it’s time to take the next step on your college planning journey and start considering what you might want life after high school to look like.
1 - Think About Why You Like Your Favorite Classes
As you go through sophomore year, think about the classes you enjoyed most from your first half of high school. Make a list and then take your brainstorming session a step further. Think about why you liked those particular classes.
Did you find the subject material interesting? Do you usually enjoy classes in that field? That might tell you something about a field of study that may interest you.
Did you really enjoy the teacher? What about them did you like? Was it the way they taught the class? Did they use lots of discussions? Group work? Projects? How did they bring their class to life for you? Have you had other teachers that taught like that? Did you enjoy those classes too?
Did you have a lot of friends in that class? How did that enhance the learning experience for you? Did you get to work with them on classwork? Do you like working/learning with others?
Other questions to ask yourself: What type of work was assigned? How many students were in the class? How were your desks set up? How was your knowledge tested at the end of the course (ie: test, essay, project, presentation)?
2 - Only Stay Involved In What You Enjoy
I’m going to let you in on a college planning secret: It’s okay to quit. Sometimes, students will start an activity in 9th grade and, even though they’ve lost interest in it, keep dragging themselves to whatever it is “for their college application.” Instead of getting more involved over time because they’re excited and invested, they do the bare minimum because they’re bored and disengaged. Please don’t do that. Please quit what is no longer adding value to your life so you can make room for something that will! If you enjoy your extracurricular activities, you’re more likely to get more involved at a deeper level because you care about it! That is what can lead to added value on the college application.
3 - Start Visiting Local Colleges
It’s a good idea to start getting familiar with different types of college campuses, and you can use what’s accessible to you—even if you “know” you would “never” attend that college that’s 10 minutes from home! Visit these schools anyway so you can learn what a college campus feels like. If you’re near an urban area, you probably have access to larger publics as well as smaller private colleges. Go see both so you can start to understand the differences and get an idea of your preferences. Visit colleges near family or on vacation. You can also interact with colleges in less official ways like attending sporting events, exhibits, or concerts.
JUNIORS
I recently heard someone call junior year your “audition for college.” Not only do the academic demands generally increase pretty swiftly in junior year, but it’s also the last full year students will complete before applying to college, so it’s the most recent course and grade history a student has. Students are balancing school with an increase in freedom and responsibility that comes with driver’s licenses, part-time jobs, increased involvement, and maybe even leadership positions. Standardized testing is on the radar. And college planning cranks things up a notch.
1 - Build Relationships With Your Teachers
Getting to know your teachers (and letting them get to know you!) will set you up for success in junior year. You’ll have a support system should you need it if you find yourself struggling in class. Teachers can also help you connect to your academic interests outside of the classroom, whether it’s through clubs, helping connect you with resources, or giving college advice. Not only that, but teachers from your junior year are more than likely going to be writing your college letters of recommendation. Building that relationship all year long gives your teacher something to write about!
2 - Think About Different Kinds of Leadership
We’re often encouraging students to pursue the activities that mean the most to them at a deeper level and find ways to make an impact. A lot of people think this means a leadership position with a title they can put on a resume. That’s certainly an option, but at the end of the day, most clubs only have room for one president. There’s only so much “official” leadership to go around. And not everyone wants to be the president/treasurer/historian. Good thing that’s not the only way to lead. Students lead and make an impact in other ways all the time—by showing up early to help set up, by mentoring and including younger students, by taking on the tasks that no one else signs up for, by seeing a need and filling it. So what’s your way to lead? How can you make an impact in your groups?
3 - Start Building Your College List
Junior year is a great time to start building your college list. Start determining what is important to you academically, socially, and financially to narrow down your college search. Go on official campus visits or sign up for online information sessions to get to know colleges firsthand. Spend time on college websites or trusted college research sites. However you learn about colleges, make sure you take good notes. When you go to apply next year, so many colleges have an essay question that’s some version of, “Why Us?” If you take good notes now, you’ll have something to refer back to instead of starting your research from scratch in the thick of application season!
SENIORS
Alright, Seniors! It’s your time to shine! In less than a year, you won’t have to think about Common App essays, SAT scores, or application portals ever again! But for now, keep your head in the game. You can do it!
1 - Use Your Resources
Yes, it’s your college application. That means no one can want it more than you and no one will work as hard as you. But you are not in this alone! You have a support system at school in your teachers and school counselor. And while we love working one-on-one with students (you can schedule a consultation here if you want to work with us!), we also have a range of free online resources:
2 - Don’t Procrastinate
It doesn’t matter which college deadline you decide is right for you, don’t wait until the last minute to start on those applications. Not only do you want to give yourself plenty of time to thoughtfully fill out all of the questions and respond to all essay prompts (including some that might unexpectedly pop up depending on how you answer certain questions—surprise!), but application deadlines rarely come at convenient times. Fall deadlines are in the middle of the semester (hello, midterms!) and are staggered every two weeks for a little over a month, so if you procrastinate, you may not come up for air for a while! Regular decision deadlines begin the first week of January, many on New Year’s Day. Do you want to spend your New Year’s Eve working on a college application?
3 - Look to Past Seniors For Perspective
Emotions run high during the college application process. When you’re living it day to day, an acceptance can feel like the highest high while a denial can feel like the lowest low. Older friends, family members, and acquaintances can give you some much-needed perspective. Maybe you know a current college student who had their heart completely set on a college during their senior year… and it didn’t work out. It may have felt like the end of the world at the time—like that was the only college for them. But they went with their second choice, showed up for orientation, and by the time Fall Break rolled around, hadn’t given that other school another thought. Because they love their college that much. Trust that there’s no such thing as one perfect college, and things tend to work out the way they’re supposed to!
