With only a year until college, the career center suggests that it’s time for juniors to start planning and thinking about their futures in order to achieve success. There are multiple things juniors can do to prepare properly for after high school, everything from standardized tests to college visits.
- The number one thing the career center suggests that juniors can do at the very least is have an idea of what they want to pursue as a degree and what types of colleges they want to attend.
College research can be done online or on Naviance. “Naviance is kind of your like college Facebook,” Mrs. Campbell, the college career counselor, said. Naviance had a college compare section, SuperMatch section, and even access to college websites.
“Definitely figuring out where you want to apply. Get serious about plans for senior year. Whether you want a four year college or university, or if you’re going into the military,” Campbell said. “Or even taking a gap year; point is you need to decide soon.”
- The second thing juniors can do over the summer to stay on track is go on college campus visits.
It can be made into a family road trip or even just a one day outing, but it definitely helps. By going on college campus trips, they get a feel for the campus and the environment they’ll be living in.
“Finding the perfect college is like finding the perfect prom dress. You have to be in love with it,” FRHS counselor, Mrs. Flemister, said. College campuses can be a make or break deal when it comes to picking a college according to Flemister and Campbell.
- Juniors can also figure out relatively what the tuition of attending a certain college will cost.
This way they can figure out whether or not they’ll need to start researching scholarships or applying for financial aid.
According to CBSNEWS.com, “When researching schools, use a school’s net price calculator, which is located on the institution’s website, to get a personalized estimate of what that school will cost your family.”
- Looking over the admission requirements for the school juniors want to attend is the fourth step the career center says is most helpful in order to better prepare juniors for colleges.
That way, juniors can determine what they need do to apply for the college or if they even are applicable for that college.
- The fifth and final thing juniors can do before next year is to schedule their junior meetings if they haven’t already before the year is up.
Counselors can give guidance when it comes to what students need to do to stay on track and plan for college.
“The most important thing you can do is to realize that it’s here and there’s no hiding from it. It’s time to plan,” Campbell said.
