Junior year can be a stressful and overwhelming time for many high school students with academics, extracurriculars, and discussion surrounding future plans being extremely prominent. Thankfully, WHS is full of numerous staff members who are available to provide support during these busy times. Reaching out for help can be difficult at first, especially when you’re uncertain on where to start. For that reason, I decided to reach out to my guidance counselor, Kayla Tonucci, for advice geared towards the college application process, including steps that can be taken as a junior to ease anxieties over the upcoming years.
First of all, it is completely normal for high school students, no matter what grade level, to be uncertain about their plans after highschool. With that said, junior year is a great time to begin looking into potential career paths, and weighing out all potential options. Ms. Tonucci noted that Naviance is a perfect resource for students who are brainstorming where they see themselves in the future. Naviance is an online program targeted towards helping high school students discover what majors, colleges, etc. strike their interest. Their website has personality/career tests which are an excellent tool for students to begin debating their Post secondary options. The Naviance website can be accessed through the WHS website by selecting the “For Families” drop down menu. Once reaching the log-in page a password is necessary. This password can be provided by the student’s guidance counselor through a quick email.
Junior year is also a perfect time to begin college visits. As intimidating as this may sound, touring schools is an excellent way to explore the type of campuses that may interest you! Ms. Tonucci noted, “We recommend students start touring schools their junior year and by the end of junior year start narrowing down their top schools! Getting yourself to campus is so important because you really need to be able to see yourself at a college before committing to it.”
Another factor that can be a source of stress for many students are AP classes. The primary benefit of taking an AP class is that it will weigh your GPA higher. In other words, if you take an AP class and pass with an A, it will be weighted as a 5.0 instead of a 4.0 that you would receive from a non-AP class. On top of this, if a student scores well enough on the AP exam, it can count towards college credit. With that said, it is important to consider the whole student before signing up for an AP class. Colleges do not only look at the difficulty in classes that a student has taken. In fact, Ms. Tonucci added, “I recommend students to take an AP class only if it is going to be beneficial to them both academically and mentally. You will get into a college without AP’s, so do not feel pressured or upset to take them if it is not in the cards for you!”
When all is set and done everything will work out. By having some sense of direction towards your future your senior year self will thank you. However, it is perfectly fine to still feel uncertain about what your life will look like after high school. Almost every college requires an activity list and personal essay, as well as additional supplementary questions for that specific school. So, it is not a bad idea to begin putting a rough draft of your extracurriculars and college essay together at some point during your junior year.
If you’re interested in taking the SAT check out the College Board website. Here it will allow you to check out this year’s upcoming SAT dates and register if interested. The late registration deadline for the December SAT is coming up soon on November 21st, so make sure to check it out sooner rather than later! For more information regarding college visits, SATs, and more, Ms. Tonucci encourages students to check their emails and reach out to guidance with any questions.
