Grade 11 Counseling

Junior College Planning Tips

• Continue to develop a competitive transcript by enrolling in AP and college-level courses offered at the high school.
• In October, you will take the PSAT.  The PSAT is a "trial run" for the SAT, a college entrance exam. Use your PSAT results to prepare for your SAT in the spring.
• Attend Junior parent night in the winter.
• In January, you will plan your senior-year courses with your counselor.  Continue to challenge yourself with rigorous courses.
• During the second semester, you will be invited to a junior planning conference.  This meeting will help you refine your college search and prepare for application procedures during senior year. 
• Sign up to take the SAT or ACT in the spring of your junior year. Create accounts at CollegeBoard.org and ACT.org to register for exams. 
• Visit college campuses.  During spring break, students and their families are encouraged to visit colleges of interest.  You should also attend Open Houses from those colleges.
•  If you can't visit a college campus, take a virtual tour: https://www.youvisit.com or Appily. Check the guidance bulletin board regularly for updates and information. 
• Begin to think about which teachers will be writing your college recommendation letters.  You might want to ask them to write this letter before school ends in June. This will allow your teachers to plan accordingly. 
• Continue to research college and career options in Naviance, go to: https://student.naviance.com/nyack

Summer between Junior and Senior Year

• Fine-tune your college choices with your parents and share them with your school counselor.
• Begin to draft your college essay.
• Organize your college application deadlines, establish a professional email address, and register for any SAT / ACT exams you still need to take. Create a Common Application account and begin entering your information.