The summer is a great time to start thinking about college for high school juniors and seniors. The summer before your junior or senior year of high school is a great time to research and visit schools in order to plan out what you would like in a college or university, plan your standardized test strategy and build up your extracurricular activities.
Researching Schools
Most students in high school have an idea of the schools they want to apply to before the summer of their senior year. If possible, arrangements should be made to visit some of the schools of interest. However, it is understandable that this is not always feasible for various logistical and financial reasons and universities will not require you to go and visit before you apply, but it is important to realize that actually visiting a campus helps a student to make college application and acceptance decisions. Furthermore, every step should be taken to utilize information sessions, campus tours, and if required or recommended by the institution, private interviews with one of the admissions officers.
Standardized Testing
It is usually recommended that you take at least one SAT and/or one ACT before the summer of your senior year. Doing so allows students to determine their areas of strength and weakness and can focus on the areas in which they would like to improve before taking the test again once or twice in the fall of their senior year. In addition, this allows students to get an idea of their potential test results and compare those results with standardized test score ranges at their schools of interest. Although college admissions are holistic and test scores are not the only indicator of a student’s success, test scores can be useful in determining which schools represent realistic expectations and which are “reach” schools. However, it is important to note that a growing number of colleges are going test optional, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning that they no longer require standardized test scores, feeling that the scores are not representative of a student’s potential for college/university success.
Transcript and Letter of Recommendations
A student’s junior year is arguably one of the most important years for high school grades, so students should have made every effort to work toward success in their high school classes. Furthermore, doing well in these classes is important as you continue building relations with your teachers throughout your junior and senior year. This is because you will, in all likelihood, be asking them for letters of recommendation. Therefore, you will want to ensure that they have a well-rounded, accurate and positive perception of you as a student.
Extracurriculars
Extracurricular activities should be one of the easiest activities to build up over the summer because you should be pursuing something that you are truly passionate about. Continuing with any competitive or recreational activities are a good way of showing deep commitment and dedication into the activities that you carry out. Furthermore, summer camps or academic summer schools are a good way of indicating your interest in furthering your education, even outside of the classroom and academic year. From experience, summer schools strengthen your skills inside and outside of the classroom and will serve you well into your senior year of high school and freshman year of college. Volunteer work and summer jobs are more examples of how you can utilize your summer.
By Donte Day
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