Guest article submitted by college counseling consultants, A Starting Line.
Do you have a high school junior? Winter and Spring are very busy times for Juniors wanting to go to college. Let’s focus on the NOW. Here’s a list of some things you should be doing in your prep for college admissions.
Winter is the perfect time to look at free, personalized, SAT test prep at Khan Academy. Students can take eight full-length, real practice tests and content is created in partnership with College Board (the creators of AP). We recommend getting started here before paying for a test prep tutor.
There is also the ACT test. On their site, you will find some free prep materials.
Make sure to identify challenging classes for the senior year. For some students, this means honors while for others it means AP or dual enrollment. And some students will end up taking a class or two that are mid-level courses. This is fine as long as the student also takes a good number of more challenging classes.
If your 11th-grader takes AP or other advanced classes, have him or her talk with teachers now about taking these tests in May.
Also, from the comfort of home, your student can sign up for virtual information sessions (e.g. UVA) to learn more about schools.
Spring is also the best time to preview the Common App prompts and begin thinking about which ones most resonate. Once school is out for summer, use the time to begin this extremely important piece of the application, allowing three to four weeks for drafting, revising and completion. And also allow time for some fun over the summer before senior year!