As juniors and seniors in high school, there is a lot of pressure during these years to be the best student you can be. With continuous college emails, SATs, and harder classes, it can be a lot to handle. There are a lot of things to keep track of academically, and that’s not even including personal obligations.
Many people insist that junior year is the most important for the future. While this may be a slight exaggeration, it is still extremely important to stay on top of your classwork and grades.
Having a solid plan for the future is important, but getting too ahead of yourself can be detrimental to how life is carried out. Rachele Raloff, an English teacher at Crown Point High School, talked a little about plans in AP Literature.
“Don’t assume that your expectations are going to work out as you predict, and be open to new opportunities,” said Raloff. “I feel like people try to plan life and assume that they have a perfect future worked out when that may not necessarily be reality.”
This applies to many aspects of life, including college and career plans. Having an idea of what you want to do is important because without a plan you lose motivation. However, you cannot let this plan equate to fate and reality.
The most important piece of advice is to take it as it comes while still attempting to do the best that you can. But if you came here for some college tips, I have those too:
Get Recommendation Letters Early
A lot of people will tell you to do this as a senior, but some teachers get a lot of requests and may not be able to write yours. (Also, some just take a while to get them done.) Asking teachers early (junior or early senior year) not only shows a sense of responsibility and urgency, it helps them to know what they need to do.
Common App Practice
If you take classes that offer optional common application advice, listen to it and try to get feedback on your essay. It might just seem like extra work, but it is extremely helpful to know the dos and don’ts of college essays.
Research Schools That Interest You
It is tough searching through those hundreds of college emails, but you could find some really useful things about those schools by at least googling them. If you know the basics of what you are looking for, it can be really helpful to get a list of schools that match your criteria.
Look into Scholarships
It is a good idea to get started on scholarship hunting early because let’s face it, college is expensive. If you are planning to apply for a lot of them, there are plenty of websites that can match you up with available scholarships.
AP and DC Credits
If you took any AP or DC classes throughout your high school years, it would be a good idea to see if the credits carry over to the colleges you want to apply to. You can check this through College Board, the school your DC credit was through, or your teacher.
Don’t Give Up in your Senior Year
It is so easy to think that just because you are a senior, nothing matters and you do not have to try. Senioritis is real and inevitable, but school is still going to be important even if it is the last year of high school. This is especially true if you plan on taking AP or DC classes.
