Freshman Year is the start of your college preparation journey. This year should be filled with taking the most rigorous courses that you can reach success in and getting involved in extracurricular activities and community service. You should focus on your academics and work towards getting the best grades that you can achieve. Check out my Activites page to see what clubs, sports, and community service activites are available to you. Showing that you are engaged and active in your school community helps the competitiveness of your application. Colleges want students who will improve their school community and climate!

It's never too early to think about college. Something additional to think about Freshman year is a career path. What areas are you interested in studying? What is important to you in a college? Do you want to go some where big or small? Rural, suburban or a city? What goals do you have for your college experience? Do you want to play sports in college? If so, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the NCAA academic requirements for Division I and Division II schools. These requirements can be found HERE. If you intend on playing DI or DII sports vocational school will not allow the needed academic credits to reach NCAA eligibility.

Check out the below College Preparation Guide and Interest Inventory to help direct you toward a college/career path. Once you take the Interest Inventory below you can check out popular jobs in your top 3 Career Clusters on O*Net HERE.

ReachHigherGuide.pdf
Career Interest Survey_0001.pdf

Sophomore year should be a continuation of similar goals from Freshman year. Continue engaging in extracurricular activities and community service. An academic schedule in Sophomore Year should include a second year of the same World Language that you took Freshman year. This is the minimum requirement for World Language for 4 year college bound students. Keep in mind some schools may require 3 or even 4 years. Students should also maintain at least College Prep level courses or higher. General level courses do not meet the academic requirements for 4 year college or NCAA eligibility. Please refer back to some of the resources from freshman year if you still need Guidance on a career path or major. Another area where you can try to remain competitive is beginning to think about leadership positions. Do you want to run for student council? Are you in a club or organization where you can work toward holding an officer position? Are you working toward being a good role model on your sports team where you could potentially be selected to become a team captain? Are you interesting in joining Peer Leadership, Ambassadors, or TEAM?

This year you will have the opportunity to apply to vocational school. Please keep in mind that choosing to do a vocational schedule can severely impact the competitiveness of your admissions profile because it limits the amount of academic classes you can take. It is recommended that if you are trying to remain competitive and keep your admissions opportunities open that it benefits you to focus on taking the best academic courses available to you rather than attend vocational school.

You will also have the opportunity to take the PSAT. We recommend all Sophomores be present to take the PSAT in order to get an idea of what to expect when potentially taking the SAT/ACT Junior year.

Toward the end of your Sophomore year it may be helpful to start looking a colleges you may be interested in applying to. This can help when you are scheduling your Junior and Senior schedules to ensure you have the correct requirements for the colleges you are interested in. In addition to utilizing the college search tools listed below, I encourage you to check out one of our college fairs (offered in the Fall and Spring). 

College Search Tools:

Niche

Big Future

Take the College Quiz on Niche

Junior year is long thought to be the most important academic year for 4 year college bound students. This will be the most recent grades you will be applying with to colleges. You also have more flexibility with scheduling and it's important your course selections align with what is expected of the type of college you hope to attend. While two years of a World Language is the minimum requirement there are schools that require or recommend 3 or even 4 years of a World Language. This is where it becomes important to have a general idea of the colleges you may be interested in applying to. It is your responsibility to know the requirements of the colleges you are interested in. All of this information can be found on each individual college's admissions page. Additionally colleges are expecting to see Chemistry and it is highly recommended that students at minimum complete Chemistry to remain competitive in the admissions process.

Junior year should be spent continuing to research colleges and begin to form a rough list of the schools you think you would like to apply to. Review their requirements so you know what you will need in your Junior and Senior year schedules.  This is also a good time to make appointments to tour and visit the colleges you are interested in. This gives you a better idea if you can see yourself at the colleges you are considering and if they have all of the requirements you are looking for in a school.

While many colleges are becoming test optional it may still benefit you to have at least taken the SAT or ACT at least once in case you decide in the final hour that you are interested in a college that requires scores. Additionally if you perform well, great scores can significantly increase your admission chances. If you are currently in Algebra II as a Junior it is recommended that you wait until at least the Spring to take the SAT/ACT so you have the majority of Algebra II curriculum under your belt. If you are advanced in Math (taking PreCalc or higher) as a Junior you are able to take the SAT in the Fall if you wish. You are welcome to take the test as many times as you like but keep in mind after 3 attempts it is unlikely that you will make significant gains in your scores. Check out my SAT/ACT prep page for extra help resources and more information on registering for the test.

Students will receive their GPA's and ranks for the first time in October. This will allow you further exploration of colleges that are a good fit for you. Colleges will often have their average profile for admitted freshman with average GPA and SAT scores. This can help you make sure you are applying to a range of colleges that fit your academic performance. While I encourage students to give a more competitive school a chance, it is also important to apply to some schools in which you fit in the profile of their average accepted student.

Senior year's focus will be on applying to colleges as well as receiving acceptances, comparing financial aid offers, and choosing where you will attend. Your Senior year schedule is very important. As previously stated in the Sophomore and Junior year it is your responsibility to review the requirements of the colleges you are interested in, and make sure that is reflected in your senior year schedule. It is highly recommended that all 4 year college bound students take a 4th year Math and Science in order to remain competitive in the admissions process. 

At the end of September, Seniors will be scheduled for their Senior Conference where we will go over the college admissions process and students will receive an unofficial copy of their transcript with an updated GPA/rank. The current slideshow is posted on my College and Career page. At this time students should have a list of colleges they intend to apply to. It is important that students begin researching each colleges application deadlines and required documents. Official transcripts can only come directly from the Guidance office to the college admissions office. We cannot release any information without the necessary documents which are described in detail at the senior conference and on the slideshow. Once applications are completed students will need to complete their FAFSA as well as have opportunities to complete scholarships. Information on financial aid and scholarships can be found also on my College and Career page. Once a student has received all their acceptances they will receive a financial aid package from each school. This will allow students to compare the cost of attending each school to assist in their final decision. Once a student commits to a college they need to report their final college choice to the Guidance office. Final transcripts will be automatically sent to your final choice college.


Additional Resources 

collegechecklist.pdf
25 Questions to Ask a Rep.pdf