Juniors
Time to Prepare for College: What to Do Now
Many colleges consider your junior year to be the important year of your high school career. Schools will closely look at your grades, classes, and activities from this year. It is also the time to start thinking about colleges, standardized tests, and how you can reach your goals! Don't worry if it seems overwhelming - we are here to help you through it.
Preparing for College: What to Do Now
While you will complete your college applications and financial aid procedures next year, there is still a lot to do now to make sure you are on track.
Keep your grades up!
11th grade is the year colleges consider the most when evaluating your grades. Make sure you are staying on top of your work and consider taking some honors. AP, or CCP classes to boost your GPA.
Stay involved with extracurricular activities.
Take on leadership roles and stay involved in your non-academic activities.
Prepare for standardized tests.
Research, register, and study for the ACT and the SAT. Practice tests are a great resource.
Research and develop a college list.
Consider what is important to you in a school and start looking at colleges! There is a ton of information online and in Ms. Befort’s office. Now is also a great time to start visiting some campuses.
Talk to your family about financial aid.
Have an honest conversation about financial aid and gather information about the FAFSA, scholarships, and paying for college.
Standardized Testing 101
Standardized tests are an important part of your college application, and are used for awarding admissions and merit-based scholarships. The two tests used are the SAT and the ACT. Colleges don’t prefer one or the other, so explore which one suits you better! Junior year is the perfect time to start preparing for these tests, as every junior will take the ACT during school in late February or early March. Ms. Butner will be getting practice tests, and there are plenty of online study resources such as khanacademy.org.
​
See Ms. Butner for information about test dates and registration, or visit collegeboard.org for the SAT and act.org for the ACT.
Choosing the Right Fit College
There are so many colleges, deciding which ones may be right for you can be intimidating. Step one to creating your college list is picking out the criteria that matter most to you. Some things to consider when thinking about what you want in a college include:
-
Institution Type (4-year, 2-year, public, private, community college, technical college, etc)
-
Location and distance from home
-
School and class size
-
Cost and Financial Aid
-
Majors you are interested in
-
Makeup of the student body
-
Extracurricular activities and athletics
-
Campus Culture
-
Admissions Requirements
Once you’ve decided what you want in a college, start researching schools. Colleges have websites with a ton of information, Ms. Butner has 100s of brochures, and search engines such as CFNC and Big Future can help.
Develop a list of 5-7 schools you may be interested in, including schools whose admissions standards your academic profile fits, some you are slightly above, and a few “reach” schools.
Quick College Info
4-Year Schools:
2.5 weighted GPA
28 credits that meet all UNC system requirements
SAT: 880 (CR+M) or ACT: 17 (Composite)
2-Year Schools:​
High School graduation
Your transcript and test scores may affect how you start
UNC Minimum Admission Requirements
The Common Application - application for approximately 700 colleges
CFNC - application for NC colleges and universities
The Coalition for College Access - application for approximately 113 colleges
Specific Institution Websites
College Application Portals
Paying for College 101
Figuring out how to pay for college can be one of the toughest and scariest parts of college planning. Thankfully, there is financial aid to help.
There are four main types of financial aid for college – grants, scholarships, loans, and work-study funds.
Grants – monetary awards typically based on financial need. These do not need to be repaid.
Scholarships – monetary awards similar to grants that do not need to be repaid, but do not come from the government and eligibility can be based on almost anything.
Loans - sums of money that you borrow and then pay back (with interest)on a monthly basis after you graduate.
Work-Study Funds – money earned by a student through a job on or near campus while attending college.
​
3 Steps to Getting Financial Aid:
Submit the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) with your parents next fall.
Find out if your colleges require other financial aid forms (such as the CSS Profile or college-specific forms).
Search and apply for scholarships - the OHS Scholarship Database is a great place to start!
​