Junior Year is Important

Junior year is a time of blossoming. In your first two years of high school you learn the lay of the land, make new friends, try out new activities, hit your stride academically. By third year you have mastered the environment and are ready to participate more fully. Choose and concentrate on what you like and what is important to you - in school and out, in music or sports, intellectual pursuits or employment, in service activities or solo hobbies. As you develop who you are, you naturally develop as a college candidate.
Admissions officers pay a lot of attention to junior year.

Here are some key words to help spark some of your own ideas for this year
• Explore. Try something new. Take risks. Be adventuresome.
• Lead. Help shape, run, organize something you enjoy.
• Build. Develop depth. Demonstrate discipline and continuity over time.
• Achieve. If you can – excel. Win a prize, gain recognition.
• Initiate. Start a club or small business. Develop a computer program to solve a problem. Write and publish an article. Teach yourself a language.
• Create. Develop your originality and uniqueness.
• Contribute. Follow through. Participate. Help out. Not only leaders are valued.
• Read.
• Think. How you learn from and reflect on your experience, not only what you do, makes you who you are.

Apply these action verbs to any activity – martial arts or arts, academics, carpentry, scuba diving, church altar service, playing flute or baseball, writing, scouting, fixing cars.



Let me help you during junior year to:
• Recognize your strengths
o Learn simple ways to add to your resume while doing what you enjoy
o Apply the key words to yourself
• Start learning about college choices
o Perhaps widen the options you consider
o Know how to do research on your own
• Understand Standardized Testing and Design your Schedule
o SAT, ACT, SAT II, IB, AP
• Plan which campuses and when to visit
• Gain confidence

High School "To Do" List - Junior

Junior-year tasks

* Continue your involvement in school- or community-based extracurricular activities.
* Continue exploring assistive technology.
* Focus on matching your interests and abilities to the appropriate college choice.
* Research the resources in your state to find a college preview event for students with disabilities. If your community has this type of event, plan on attending.
* Look for college campuses that have majors in which you might be interested and the kind of campus community in which you would like to live.
* Identify the appropriate academic adjustments and auxiliary aids and services that you will need in the postsecondary setting.
* Keep a current list of the academic adjustments and auxiliary aids and services you use in high school in your “Going To College” portfolio.
* Consider taking a course to prepare for the SAT or the ACT test.
* Research how to get accommodations on the SAT or ACT.
* Take the SAT or ACT in the spring. Consider taking them more than once.
* Establish a possible career goal (you can always change your mind).
* Think about a possible college major consistent with your career goal and your strengths and interests.
* Learn time management, organizational skills, study skills, assertiveness communication, stress management and test-taking strategies which will help you get good grades.
* Learn how to set short-term and long-term goals.
* Learn how to advocate for yourself — not everyone will understand your disability or be sensitive to your needs.
* Gather information about college programs that offer the disability services you need (you may want to add these to your “Going To College” portfolio).
* Speak with college representatives who visit your high school and at college fairs.
* Visit campuses and especially service providers to verify the available services and how to access them. Or if you can’t visit the campus, take a virtual tour on the college’s Web site. Make sure to check the disability support services section of the college’s site to understand what you need to do to receive academic services and supports.
* Consider people to ask for recommendations — teachers, counselors, employers, coaches, etc.
* Investigate the availability of financial aid from federal, state, local and private sources.
* Investigate the availability of scholarships provided by organizations, such as corporations, labor unions, professional associations, religious organizations and credit unions.
* Continue saving for college.
* Contact the vocational rehabilitation counselor who serves your school to determine your eligibility for vocational rehabilitation's services.
* Invite the VR counselor to attend your planning meeting.
* Make sure that the documentation of your disability is current. Colleges usually want current testing based on adult norms, usually less than three years old when you begin college.