Junior Year College Planning Guide

(Modified from the ACT College Planning Checklist)

August - September

Meet with your counselor at least once a year to discuss post-secondary interests.

Volunteer for activities and clubs related to career interests and join/continue extracurricular activities

September - October

Register for and take the PSAT if you want to compete for National Merit Program Scholarships. Click here for information about the PSAT and National Merit Program.

Keep your grades up

January

Select senior classes and complete your Course Request Card keeping in mind that colleges care about which courses you're taking in high school. The courses you take in high school show colleges what kind of goals you set for yourself.

  • Are you signing up for advanced classes, honors sections, or accelerated sequences? Are you choosing electives that really stretch your mind and help you develop new abilities?Or are you doing just enough to get by?
  • Choose elective courses based on college major and career interests. Electives are courses beyond the required core curriculum (4 English, 3 Social Studies, 3 Science, 3 Math, 1 PE, 1 Fine Art, .5 Practical Art, .5 Personal Finance, .5 Health, etc.) that students may select to meet total graduation requirements.

Competitive colleges will be more impressed by respectable grades in challenging courses than by outstanding grades in easy ones.

Do your high school course selections match what most colleges expect you to know? For example, many colleges require two to four years of foreign language study. Of course, each college and university may have different high school course requirements. Be sure to check with the colleges you're interested in to see what they recommend or require.

January - February

Register for and take the ACT. You should be academically ready to take it by spring – remember all juniors will be registered to take the state sponsored (free for you!) ACT in April; however, if you would like to take additional ACT or SAT exams, you will need to register through the testing company. Click here for key information about the ACT test.

Develop a plan for ACT/SAT test prep.

  • Rock Bridge offers a Before/After School test prep in January and a Super Saturday in April. See the Guidance ACT & SAT webpage for more information.

February - March

Talk with your parents and school counselor about colleges that interest you

Consider your reasons for going to college and how they relate to your career interests and develop a list of 5-10 colleges of interest

Visit colleges of interestand/or meet with college reps who visit Rock Bridge

  • Visit the Guidance  College/Career Planning webpage ( for a list of Questions to Ask College Admissions Counselors and a Campus Visit Checklist

Start a college comparison worksheetto help you organize information about schools of interest.

  • College Comparison Worksheets can be found on the Guidance  College/Career Planning webpage

Start or update an academic resume

Consider putting together a portfolio that highlights your special skills and talents

Investigate scholarship opportunities. Sign up for scholarship search programs such as FastWeb or Cappex.

March – May

If you plan on competing in college athletics sign up for the NCAA Clearinghouse or the Play NAIA Center

Get a part-time job or internship; or job shadow in a profession that interests you

Continue/start saving for college