Happy Summer, Rising Juniors and Seniors (and Sophomores hold on to this)!

This is basically an abbreviated version of pretty much everything I say throughout the year; hopefully, it's organized in a way you can find useful.

Junior year is where your college admissions journey starts for real. You now have quite a few items to tick off your to-do list, but don't freak out if you're already a rising senior -- (or even a fall semester senior for that matter if you’re reading this much later). You have plenty of time to get all this done.

Please note that my views about what to do when and what I emphasize might be different from the advice you hear from other sources or even other students, counselors, or consultants. My philosophy is that it’s good to hear different thoughts and ideas, and then you can make decisions about what works best for you.

Here’s how I suggest you tackle this list. If you are new to admissions, no matter where you are in high school, start reading here from the beginning. Don’t panic. It’s totally ok if you haven’t done any of the stuff on the list. Most kids haven’t. I’m just providing a timeline for “an ideal world” situation.

☀️ Rising Junior Summer (Summer before Junior Year)

ENJOY YOUR SUMMER: This is super important. You need to take time to recharge your batteries. Be sure to take some time completely off from school and college admissions stuff.

You can read more about my thoughts on summer in this post, Let's Talk about Summer.

FOCUS ON YOUR MENTAL HEALTH: Here's my post about Mental Health Awareness and Mindfulness in Admissions, where you can read more about all the ways I suggest (and use) focusing on your mental health while being in the middle of your admissions experience.

ACTIVITIES: I love what MIT Admissions Says: "Some students feel so much pressure to get into the “right” college that they want to make sure they do everything right—down to their extracurricular activities. Fortunately, the only right answer is to do what’s right for you—not what you think is right for us. Choose your activities because they delight, intrigue, and challenge you, not because you think they’ll look impressive on your application. Go out of your way to find projects, activities, and experiences that stimulate your creativity and leadership, that connect you with peers and adults who bring out your best, and that please you so much that you don’t mind the work involved. Some students find room for many activities; others prefer to concentrate on just a few. Either way, the test for any extracurricular should be whether it makes you happy—whether it feels right for you. College is not a costume party; you’re not supposed to come dressed as someone else. College is an intense, irreplaceable four-year opportunity to become more yourself than you’ve ever been. What you need to show us is that you’re ready to try.”

GET INVOLVED WITH STUFF

• Yourself (Exercise healthy habits, engage in personal hobbies and projects, READ real books, get a job, learn something new that’s good for your brains like guitar or Italian, practice mindfulness and meditation).
• Your family (Help with sibs or grandparents, grocery shopping, clean up around the house, or take care of dinner one night a week).
• Your community (Community service can be totally individual projects and/or organized group projects. Volunteer to play your instrument or play games at a retirement home, coach a kids’ team, make sandwiches at a food bank, or make comfort bags and drop off healthy snacks and water to the homeless).

GET A SUMMER JOB: Just an old-fashioned summer job. This will give you all sorts of skills you won’t gain by volunteering and also demonstrate leadership, diligence, a willingness to step outside your comfort zone. Make some smoothies or scoop ice cream or fold sweaters. It really doesn’t matter what it is. Being responsible to a boss and customers for a paid job requires different skills than an unpaid internship.

TESTING

• PRACTICE AND PREP FOR THE PSAT: You take it in October, and it helps you qualify for National Merit if you score high enough.
• PRACTICE AND PREP FOR THE ACT and SAT: Take a couple of practice tests and see which one feels better to you and which one you score higher on. Then move forward with that one. Consider taking one in December of your junior year. Definitely take one in the early part of the spring semester. It’s nice to have testing completed before you start your senior year.
• Even though many colleges are continuing to be Test Optional for the next couple of years, I encourage you to continue to prep for and take the tests if you can. If you can’t, then take it off the list.