Monday, May 11, 2009

For High School Juniors – Snapshot Time

Your junior year will be ending in a few short weeks. Now is the time to do a “college admission self-assessment.”

A few key questions suffice:

1. What is your three-year grade point average?
2. What are your junior-year SAT I or ACT scores?
3. What are your senior-year courses?
4. What is your tentative list of colleges as I enter the summer?
5. Are my grades and scores consistent with the academic and admission requirements of the colleges on my tentative list?

You have very specific answers for the first three questions. The next two pose a greater challenge.

If your tentative list is short – perhaps very short – then now is the time to check with your guidance counselor for additional suggestions. Or perhaps it is time to think about consulting with a private college advisor. Or both!

June is the time to check out college web sites for visitation schedules and summer day programs for rising seniors and their families. June also is the time to plan day or longer trips with your family to visit as many of your tentative choices as possible. Most colleges now encourage students to register for their visits online.

While on the web site you also should be looking for an answer to the last question: is my academic record consistent with the profile of students my colleges usually accept? Look on the admission section of the colleges’ web sites and heed the requirements and the entering class profile (most colleges list both).

If you judge your qualifications to be “in the ballpark” with recently enrolled students, then plan your visits! If your qualifications do not appear to be reflective of your colleges’ expectations, your self-assessment should result in developing a different and more appropriate list.

Will Dunfey
University Advisors

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