Every 11th and 12th Grader Needs To Do These Things
Last month, I offered big picture tips for ninth and tenth graders from the perspective of a college admissions counselor. If you’re the parents of an upperclassman, they’re still good reading: many 11th and 12th graders haven’t accomplished those tasks yet. This month, however, we’ll move on to what every high school junior and senior should do to prepare for the college application process and college itself. As a college admissions counselor, I’ll provide academic, extracurricular, and college planning advice for 11th and 12th graders in the post below.
11th Grade: College Admissions Counselor Advises Testing, List-Building, Letter-Procuring, and Academic Focus
Many say that junior year is the most intense year of high school – and with good reason! After exploring your academic and extracurricular interests as a freshman and developing them as a sophomore, eleventh grade is the time to demonstrate the full extent of those passions. After all, this year will be the last full year of courses and activities that AOs (admissions officers) see as they evaluate your candidacy for their colleges. Take multiple AP courses if you handled one well as a sophomore. Run for leadership positions or even develop an impact project related to your intended college major to demonstrate your passion and maturity.
While standardized test scores are not the most important criterion for college admission (grades in your college prep courses are), many more colleges now require them, relative to the early 2020s. If you’re taking Algebra II as a junior, start studying for the exams in December (ACT) or January (SAT). While studies suggest that the only significant score gains come from working one-on-one with a test prep tutor, you can find many free and low-cost resources online to help you feel more comfortable taking the test. Here are some tips for the “Verbal” portions of the exam; here are some for Math.
Sit for the ACT in February and April; the SAT, in March and May. (I never suggest cramming, but if your test is less than a month away and you haven’t begun studying, here is a last-minute study guide.) If you’re still not happy with your score (or weren’t feeling your best during the first two), you can try for a third time in June. Aim to be finished with testing by June 15 so you can concentrate on college applications during the summer (see 12th grade below).
Make sure to request a letter of recommendation from two teachers before you and they leave for the summer. Some schools cap the number of letters that teachers of juniors can write, so the earlier you ask, the better! Here are some suggestions on how to choose teachers to ask and how you might help them write the strongest letter possible from a former teacher turned college admissions counselor.
Most college admissions counselors would advise that you should start building your college list no later than the middle of the junior year. Your freshman- and sophomore-year exploration and visits should inform the list and campus tours. Try to visit campuses while classes are in session to get a better feel for the campus’ ambiance. Once again, aim to finalize your college list by June 15. (Here are some free resources for how to do that and what to consider while building your list.)
Image by Adrien Olichon on Unsplash
11th-12th Grade Summer: College Admissions Counselor Recommends Finishing Your College Essay and the Common App Forms
The summer you’re 16 or 17 can and should be a TON of fun. You might even hold your first job. But as a college admissions counselor and time management coach who has begun work with many students around October 1 for November 1 early application deadlines, I urge you to start and finish your Common App personal statement and digital forms before you return to school in the fall.
“Why the rush?” you might wonder. “I don’t even know which colleges I’m definitely applying to.” My response is, “Even more reason to write the one essay you know you’ll have to provide to almost every college on your list!” Since the Common App publishes its prompts for the upcoming season in the late winter, you already know the questions. And while the Common App refreshes on or around August 1 each year, it ports all information you’ve entered in the digital forms (i.e., name, birthdate, parents’ names, address, etc.). If you haven’t finalized your college list, make good use of the summer to do so and to complete the parts of the Common App you’re able to – basically, everything except supplemental essays (which may change after the refresh). (For more tips on using the summer for this purpose, read this.)
If you have a bit more extra time, I’d advise that you begin applying for outside college scholarships this summer, too. While as a college admissions counselor I don’t help students find these scholarships, I do often guide them through writing application essays for them. If you’re planning on applying to colleges’ own scholarships, check deadlines now: many fall before even the usual early application deadline of November 1.
A note about everyone’s new best friend: Claude, or Gemini, or ChatGPT. As a college admissions counselor, I’ve written before about the use of AI in college applications. While I don’t state categorically to never use AI, I believe that there are ethical and unethical ways to do so.
Finally, if you’ve never been great at time management, now might be a great time to break out a monthly calendar and start planning what is due, when, between September through February. You can finish college applications with your sanity intact, but planning is the only way to make that happen!
Image by Estee Janssens on Unsplash
12th Grade: Research and Write Supplemental Essays; Apply; Interview, If Possible; Visit Safety Schools
If you followed the advice above, the “only” piece of the college application that’s left unfinished by the start of your senior year is the supplemental essays. Depending on how many highly selective colleges to which you’re applying, though, these can number in the dozens. Look for similar questions among the colleges on your list and, when you’re given a choice, opt for those you can recycle. (Just remember to change the college’s name, as every college admissions counselor can tell you a story of a student who applied to College A but wrote “College B” in the supplemental essay!)
While typically shorter than the personal statement, the supplemental essay is hardly unimportant. Often, this is where you can make your case for why you belong at this college – and why it’s right for you. Research academic, extracurricular, pre-professional, and other opportunities that college offers. Use proper nouns (e.g., the names of professors, courses, research centers) as much as possible when crafting the “Why Us?” essay. And if you’re applying somewhere with great weather, make sure you’ve got other reasons than meteorological in your supplemental essay!
Most colleges offer an early action (“EA”: generally non-binding) and an early decision (“ED”: generally binding) deadline somewhere between October 15 and November 15. Read this post before applying early anywhere and consider the potential financial aid ramifications before applying ED.
Many selective colleges will permit you to interview with an alumnus/a or a college AO; a few highly selective colleges require you to do so. If you have a choice and, especially, if your GPA and scores are slightly below the median scores for last year’s incoming freshman, interview. There are many ways you can prepare for a college interview: take the opportunity to practice and shine! (For more interviewing tips, watch this.)
Finally, given the plummeting acceptance rates at the most highly selective colleges – and their ubiquity on many students’ lists – it’s an unfortunate responsibility of every college admissions counselor to brace students for possible (and sometimes, probable) rejection or deferral. While some manage to turn deferral into acceptance, many more students receive rejections when March arrives.
The best way you can prepare to not be devastated is to build excitement around some of your “safety” or “likely” schools. Visit them with as much of an open mind as you did when you toured campuses in ninth and tenth grades. Learn about the amazing opportunities you might enjoy as an honors college student, for example, at one of your safety schools (including but not limited to steep tuition discounts!). That way, if the worst happens and you’re rejected from your reach and target schools, you can still relish the chance to spend four years at a wonderful but less selective college on your list.
Conclusion: College Admissions Counselor Wishes You Well
The journey to college is a marathon, not a sprint. By starting the discovery process in ninth grade and steadily advancing your academic skills, extracurricular passions, and self- and college-exploration each year of high school, I’m sure that you will find several institutions perfect for you. Along the way, you will understand yourself, your needs, and your desires more fully – all skills that will serve you well in college and in life!
If you need assistance with any part of this process – from strengthening your academic record, to cultivating your extracurricular profile, to preparing for standardized tests, to building a balanced college list, to crafting winning essays, to interviewing for military academies or elite universities – please don’t hesitate to drop me a line.
In the meantime, are you a 12th grader (or parent of one) with a tip to share? Please drop it in the comments below!
About the Author Dominique Padurano, M.S., Ed., Ph.D. – aka “Dr. P.” – loves helping students across the globe fulfill their academic and personal goals. President and Founder of Crimson Coaching, Dr. P. herself personally tutors students in English, French, History, Math, Spanish, and study, time management, and organizational skills; prepares them for the SAT, ACT, GRE, ISEE, AP, and other exams as a test prep coach; and shepherds them through the college application process as a private college admissions counselor and essay coach. Dr. P.’s students have earned admission to Harvard (her own alma mater), Princeton, Stanford, and other top universities, as well as scholarships – including full rides – totaling more than $2 million. Formerly an adjunct professor of U.S. History at the City University of New York, Dr. P. now teaches Historical Studies online for the State University of New York private college admissions counselor – Empire State. Read more about Dr. P.’s work at www.crimsoncoaching.com and on Google, straight from the hearts and minds of Crimson Coaching’s parents and students.