Some high school juniors are already far along in their college admission process. Through personal ambition, pressure from family, high school requirements, or a combination of those, they have a clear sense of where they will apply, why they’ve chosen those colleges and universities, and how to go about it. Many high school juniors will not start thinking about college admission until their senior year begins. But most college-bound juniors are starting their admission season right about now, toward the end of 11th grade.
Here are my recommendations for things you can do this summer to make your fall semester a little easier. It’s not a checklist to do in order, though. Each piece can affect all the other pieces, and you’ll find yourself updating and going through the cycle multiple times.
Go on college visits. You should visit some colleges. I mean this in the broadest sense, though. It doesn’t have to be a weeklong trip with family where you will personally visit three or more colleges that you think you’ll probably end up applying to. That’s great if you can do it, but most families can’t. After campuses shut down because of the pandemic, many colleges began offering high-quality online virtual tours (or improved the ones they already had). Even though campus is open again, those virtual offerings are still available. Take advantage of these to look at schools you’re interested in.
As far as college visits go, you don’t even have to visit schools you’ll be applying to. I’m a big fan of visiting colleges near you just to get a feel for college in general. Tour the large public university nearest you, the small liberal arts college nearest you, and anything in between. I live in Houston, so I encourage people to visit the University of Houston, Rice University, the University of St. Thomas, and Sam Houston State University. You may not be interested in actually attending any of those colleges, but it will quickly and easily give you a sense of the difference between a large public university, a mid-sized regional public university, a private research university, and a small private university. Three of them are centrally located in the heart of Houston, and the other is just over an hour away.
Write and revise a College Mission Statement. Start with the formula “I want to _____ at a _____ college with _____.” For example, “I want to study engineering and/or financial mathematics at a small- to medium-sized university in or near an urban area, preferably not in the Northeast, with an intramural sports program.” Fill in the blanks as thoroughly and honestly as you can. For more on writing a College Mission Statement, start here.
Put together a game plan. You don't need to start on your applications yet, but it helps to have a plan for how you will go about finishing your applications. Here are some questions to ask yourself to get an outline ready for your next semester:
What personal qualities do you want to project in your application? Examples of the kind of qualities I'm talking about include resilience, passion, intellectual curiosity, initiative, talent, creativity, empathy, and leadership. Think of one or two of your strongest qualities that will be the focal point of your applications. Your essay will center on these qualities, and you'll try your best to arrange for your recommendation letters to center on them.
What concrete evidence do you have--other than grades and test scores--of those qualities? What stories can you tell that exemplify those qualities? Who can vouch for you when it comes to these qualities?
What are the primary qualities of a college that will be a good place for you? How—other than by looking at rankings or reputation—will you know when a school is right for you? It helps to have an idea about this before you start looking too closely at individual schools. Knowing if a school has what you want can prove difficult if you don't know what you want.
Is there a school for which you think you should apply Early Decision or Early Action? Why?
What are the major application deadlines? Begin with the general. Early applications are generally due in early November, regular decision applications are generally due in early January. As you build and then narrow down your own college list, you can find more specific deadlines for your schools. How do those fit with the rest of your schedule, both at school and outside of school?
What are the gaps in your understanding that you need to fill in? It can be quite difficult to know what it is that you don't know, but make sure you've looked through the Common Application as best as you can and identify any major holes in your timeline or knowledge.
Talk to your family about money. By the end of the year, you're going to need to send away paperwork with very detailed and personal financial information, including your parents' tax forms. You're going to decide where the line is between affordable and unaffordable. You're going to to decide how much you and/or your family is willing to borrow for your education. The sooner you begin these difficult conversations, the better. They rarely go well the first time around, so you don't want to wait until the deadline is close. If your family’s financial circumstances have changed recently through unemployment, depletion of savings, loss of investment value, and/or major medical expenses, then you’ll need to revisit your financial discussions often.
The FAFSA won’t open up until December 1st this year. That doesn’t mean you need to wait until December to have conversations with your family and to make sure you’ve got your documentation ready.
Draft some essays. Even if you don’t have a college list ready, you’ve probably got a good idea of the essays you will need to write for your applications. The essay prompts for the Common Application are available. So are the essay prompts for the separate application for public universities in your state, if they have an application separate from the Common Application. Look those over. You can begin working on those now.
Most of the seniors I work with end up having two “big” essays—around 600 words—that they use. Sometimes one gets submitted for the Common Application, and another gets used for scholarship applications or shortened for supplemental questions. When I work with a senior, I end up seeing several versions of the same response, at lengths from 150 to 1,000 words, constantly updated and re-used. You can begin those now, even without prompts. In fact, it’s best to begin without thinking about a prompt. Think about your qualities that you want to highlight, the big ideas that excite you, and the stories about yourself that you end up repeating to adults often. If it helps, here are some questions to consider:
What are you most proud of?
What do teachers or other adults praise you for?
How would you explain yourself to a stranger?
What separates you from your friends at school?
What gets you intellectually excited? What do you do when you’re excited?
What’s happened to you in the past three years that has most changed who you are?
You’ve matured in the past three years—what evidence or stories have you got to show it?
What’s the most recent un-assigned book you loved?
Narrow down your list of colleges. There are around four thousand colleges and universities in the US to choose from. By then end of your junior year, you will ideally have that narrowed down to no more than 50. By the beginning of your senior year, you want to have that narrowed down again to no more than 25. By application time, it will be narrowed down to between four and twelve (for most people), and by May 2023 it will need to be narrowed down to one or two. For each, make sure you do these things:
Go to the school’s website and sign up to be on their mailing list.
Look at the school’s web pages for any majors you’re interested in.
Look over the school’s financial aid and scholarships web pages.
Try to find the admissions staff assigned to your geographic area. Most schools still divide their admissions staff geographically, and many post that information on their website. You’ll know exactly who is in charge of your application.
Look up their policy and availability for campus tours.
Find out if and how they conduct interviews.
Find out if and how they handle gap year requests.
If your high school counseling office uses Naviance or similar software, put the college into your college list there so your counselor can see.
Get the information you need to try out the school’s net price calculator.
Take care of yourself. The junior year is the most difficult for many high school students. You've just finished yours, and it may have been your first “normal” year of high school…which isn’t normal. You need to prepare for your senior year and college applications, but you don't need to neglect your immediate well-being. Get rest. Read something for pleasure. Have a long talk with an interesting person. Ask some good questions instead of always being the one called on to answer questions. Be a person, and be the healthiest one you can.