Three Crucial Tasks to Complete Before ‘Checking Out’ for the Summer
Summer is for college planning and in order for that to go smoothly, there are a few things High School Juniors (aka Rising Seniors) should take care of before they ‘check out’ of school.
Update or Create Your High School Resume
A resume in this case, is essentially a track record of all school activities you’ve been involved with, any awards you’ve received, and other extracurricular activities you’ve participated in during high school. This resume will obviously be invaluable to you as a way to jog your own memory, when beginning the college application process next year. Likewise, you will be able to provide a copy to your Guidance Counselor and to any teacher you’re asking for a letter of recommendation.
2. Meet With Your Guidance Counselor
This visit is necessary in order to:
Ensure that you have your log-in information, and understand how to use online college application management systems such as Naviance.
Review transcripts to confirm accuracy and/or request corrections.
Provide your Guidance Counselor with a copy of your High School Resume.
Request a letter of recommendation from your Guidance Counselor.
Sign any waiver forms with the counseling department so that your transcripts and letters of recommendation are ready to be released when they need to be.
3. Identify and meet with the teachers you want to write letters of recommendation
The reason you’ll want to do this before the 2015-16 school year ends, is so that your teacher(s) can work on the letter now, or possibly over the summer. Furthermore, when the 2016-17 school year begins in August, suffice to say teachers are going to be incredibly busy, and likely bombarded with these requests. So it’s best to get your request in now, to prevent delays later. Help the teachers to write these letters by providing them with your High School Resume as well.
We can’t emphasize just how crucial it is for high school juniors to complete this short checklist of tasks before school comes to a close for the year. But putting in this last extra effort now (even though we know you’re ready for a break, after a long year of hard work), will help to ensure that you can put an admissions strategy in place over the summer and you’re best prepared for all the college application deadlines, that come surprisingly fast, in the Fall.
If you have any questions regarding college admissions counseling services, feel free to get in touch with us.
