Junior year is a very important time in the high school career. It is a continuation of your discovery of just who you are, your values and beliefs, strengths and weaknesses, and the development of long range plans for your future. The Counseling Department looks forward to working with students and their families as they begin this post-secondary planning process.

College Counseling and Post-Secondary Planning for Juniors

All juniors and their parents participate in the College Admission Program. This comprehensive and interactive college planning course includes both self-assessment activities and information about the college selection process. Every student receives a college-planning handbook designed for use in junior and senior year. Students had these comments on the program:
 
“I really enjoyed hearing from seniors about the choices they made.”
“It was helpful to have all the criteria for finding a college described.”
“I know what I need to do as a next step after the program.”

All juniors see counselors for individual appointments for academic planning and college counseling in the spring after the College Admission Program.

What Should Juniors be Doing to Prepare?

In the Fall:

• Focus on Academic Preparation by careful course selection of challenging courses at appropriate levels. 

• Form good study habits by learning note taking and research skills, how to use technology and the library, and how to manage time effectively.  

• Invest time in meaningful activities by planning on leadership roles in community service, peer leadership, cross age teaching, and tutoring. Try the Career Mentoring Program to explore career paths.  

• Achieve strong grades by working for B’s or better. One third of your cumulative GPA comes from this year. 

• Take the PSAT by registering in the Counseling Office by the end of September for the national test date in October. 

In the Spring:

• Learn about college acceptance factors and post-secondary planning by attending the College Admission Program and working with counselors in groups. 

• Take stock of yourself by assessing your interests, activities, values, and achievements. 

• Determine college selection criteria by matching your goals, values, achievements, interest and abilities with colleges.  

• Research colleges by reading books, visiting websites, and writing to colleges for information.

• Visit colleges by contacting admissions offices and planning with your family.

• Take Standardized Testing by registering for the SAT Reasoning Test, SAT Subject Tests, and ACT. Further information is available on these websites: 

CollegeBoard

ACT

Counseling Department Program for Parents of Juniors

College Admissions Program  With Corollary Parent Program
 
College counseling begins with group and individual, academic advising for all incoming ninth graders and continues through 12th grade addressing both college readiness and the college admission process. Counselors are assigned students over a four year period to insure a strong counseling relationship, academic rigor and relevance of future planning. Every family is offered access to our technology tool, Naviance, for college and career planning. 
 
the College Admission Program for juniors is a comprehensive teaching program for students and corollary evening program for parents and students together. The purpose of the program is to promote equity and access for all students by requiring every student to participate in two group sessions with their counselors at school and inviting all students and parents to participate in evening programs that address every phase of the college admission process. We launch our program at the close of the first semester of junior year. the College Admission Program is outlined below in chronological order:

October

Understanding Standardized Testing – PSAT, SAT, ACT exams – an evening program for parents and students presented by a representative from Kaplan Test Prep and two counselors.

January 

An Admissions Representative from a very selective college speaks for an hour to the parents and students regarding every aspect of the admission process including college admission trends, self-assessment, researching and visiting colleges, and creating a list of possibilities that fits your abilities, interests and criteria. The Admissions Representative also addresses the factors that influence colleges when they make admission decisions and how they select students for their freshman classes. The last 20 minutes of the program are interactive with students and parents.
 
February

Two lead Counselors present the Nuts and Bolts of College Admissions process and a tutorial on using Naviance during the evening prior to February vacation.  

All junior students meet in an assembly for an hour session introduced by the school principal and counselors on the importance of planning for college. A panel of four college admissions deans from a range of colleges including public, private, community and very selective address aspects of finding a fit in a college, writing college essays, visiting campuses and being prepared. 
 
March

Session 4. All juniors meet with their counselors in groups to review aspects of the College Admissions Process Handbook, to engage in interactive activity concerning grade point average, to write self-evaluations and to engage in open dialogue with members of the senior class discussing their experience with the college process.
 
All juniors meet individually with their counselors to review their course selection for senior year with regard to college readiness.
 
April 

Session 5. Academic Planning—Counselors meet with students individually to discuss academic selections for senior year.
 
May

Session 6. Essay Writing Workshop for Students only offered after school by Counselors and a College Admissions Representative. 

Spring

All juniors will meet individually with their counselors to discuss progress with college admissions, to review college testing plans and gain additional coaching one to one. Counselors also encourage summer college exploration and summer preparation. 

All Students are encouraged to attend a college fair in the Spring of junior year.