cupajoe Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 I'm just beginning to think about/plan for next school year. It would be so helpful if you would share your experiences in the following area(s): What did you do during your dc's junior year to prepare for senior year college application season? When did you begin college visits? Did you contact the school's admissions office directly during junior year? Did your dc finish the majority of testing (SATs, SAT IIs, ACTs) during junior year? What are some things I need to be thinking about/planning to accomplish during junior year in order to help my dd be ready to apply to the schools of her choice in the fall of her senior year? Please share anything that might be helpful for those of us who are doing this for the first time with our oldest dc. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 IMO, the junior year is probably the most important for college apps. Here are some things we did in dd's junior year. Summer before junior year: - Thought about potential majors, using a book from the library called The 90-Minute College Major Matcher. Yes, they can change their mind, but ya gotta start somewhere! - Start studying for the PSAT in earnest by August 1st. - Call local high schools and sign up to take the PSAT at the one that gives you the best "vibes." If possible, visit the school to preview the testing environment and ask about logistics. - Start researching colleges on the internet. - Pick at least one AP (3 for more competitive colleges) for which to study that provides useable credit toward most majors. Make a study plan, and start studying in August if you need the time (most students do, at least for the more involved exams). - Research and plan for at least one meaningful activity that will look good on a college app. Two is better, but two many can be bad (I don't know how many is too many, colleges prefer deep involvement in a couple rather than superficial participation in many). Summer through fall of junior year, and beyond: - Call favorite local high school(s) to find out when local college fairs are held, and attend them. - Keep on researching colleges on the internet. - Sign up for the SAT (ours took it in June of her Junior year, to make room for PSAT & AP study). - Take the PSAT. Make sure your student knows the homeschool code. - Begin studying for the SAT after the PSAT is over. Winter of junior year: - Continue researching colleges. - Visit at least 1 college during the winter, avoiding breaks and exam times. Call at least two weeks ahead to arrange appointments with staff and classes. You want to aim for visiting on a "normal" day. - At the beginning of March, call and arrange for your student to take her APs in May. Spring of junior year: - Visit more colleges if you have time, remembering that the junior year activities, AP scores and grades are the most important for college apps. - Finish studying for APs and take them. Summer between junior and senior year: - Get potential college apps and start working on them NOW before school starts. - Call colleges and ask for application fee waivers. - Apply early if possible. - Plan APs (and CLEPs if applicable) for senior year based on the favorite college's credit awarded. - Start asking for letters of recommendation far ahead of time. That's all I can think of right now. Dd didn't do SAT II's or the ACT, so I can't comment on them. Have fun! It's an exciting time. GardenMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cupajoe Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 Thank you SO much MomsintheGarden! This is such an incredibly helpful/informative post. On the high school board someone suggested taking a veteran homeschool mom out to lunch to pick her brain about college admissions. I'd take you out to lunch in a heartbeat! I'm actually starting to feel like I can do this! Please continue to share any advice/btdt experiences for those of us trailing behind. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Cupajoe, YOU can do this! I'll add just a couple items to MomsintheGarden list. Find out if the possible colleges your DC is applying to require SAT 2 tests. If so take them in June just after the May, AP testing season. DS did this and it permitted him enough down-time between the tests to go through the SAT2 prep book. For his AP Chem he was very pleased he did this since some of the questions were worded different then he expected. Between the Junior and Senior year Mom, get the transcript, course description, homeschool profile and counselor letter written, re-written, proof-read by others.... out of the way! I did this and was ever so thankful. The school year is stressful enough. While I was doing this DS wrote his common application essay. He had it to the final draft stage by late August. This meant he was able to send it to several English teachers for their input and corrections. He also spent September writing responses to essay questions for the various colleges he was applying too. We did this early thinking that his schedule would just be too hectic and busy senior year to bother with composing a well-written essay. As it turned out he was in a nasty accident at the end of October (prime application writing season) and having the essays already completed was a huge blessing. DS wishes he had done more SAT prep early Junior year. (You can only push a rope so far.. :) ) When the SAT math score wasn't as high as he wanted he kicked it into high-gear over the summer and brought his math score up to almost an 800. With the next DS I will do more college visits spring of soph year and fall of jr year. I'll look for the special programs for him to take part in rather than do general tours too. Carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cupajoe Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 Cupajoe, YOU can do this! Between the Junior and Senior year Mom, get the transcript, course description, homeschool profile and counselor letter written, re-written, proof-read by others.... out of the way! I did this and was ever so thankful. The school year is stressful enough. Carole Thank you, Carole, for your post and your encouragement! It seems there is so much more to navigate in the college admissions process than I realized. May I ask, how did you approach the counselor letter for your dc? Are there resources available which advise specifically on such a letter (what to include, length, guidelines, etc)? To tell you the truth, I didn't even realize college applications require a counselor letter. Any further help in this area would be truly appreciated. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in CA Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 This is great advice. Thanks so much for sharing. I will try to get a ton done this summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 I got away without doing a counsellor letter. All the schools ds applied to accepted other people (besides the math teacher, English teacher and counsellor) from homeschoolers so he sent letters from Boy Scouts, CAP and the swim team instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 I used two major resources to help me navigate: the experienced moms on this board and a yahoo group, hs2coll. For the counselor letter I was advised to acknowledge that the letter was coming from me / mom and to give concrete examples for each trait I said my DS possesed. Kareni suggested I look at a character list, id several that were typical of my DS and write little stories about each. That's what I did. The hardest one was the negative trait which I turned into a positive trait (DS has little tolerance for others who are not excited about learning). I kept my letter to under 1000 words. I also did google searches to read what PS put into counselor letters. Out on the web you will also find homeschool profile letters, transcripts and course descriptions. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 I would like to add a strong addition to want MomintheGarden said. IN the summer before or the fall of Jr. Year, have your child take the SAT and ACT full length practice test. See if there is a difference between the two. COncentrate on the better one. My quick story- my oldest had close scores on both the SAT and ACT so I didn't think much about this with number two. SHe scored okay, but not grweat on PSAT in sophomore year. In Junior year, she scored better on part but worse on part of the PSAT. I was about to panic. Then I decided to try the ACT. SHe didn't do very well at first. I went over the test with her. SHe had not understood the directions well and had psyched herself out thinking she didn't know much chemistry and guessed on those and many other questions. She then did the ACT practice test again and scored a lot better. Now she has practiced several times and is scoring in the very good range. She will not be doing the SAT at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.