I’m just about to start my junior year in high school, when is the right time to take an ACT/SAT?

Many juniors will take the PSAT/NMSQT in October of their Junior year, which is a great practice exam to get you ready for taking the actual exams in the spring of your junior year. You can also link your PSAT score results (once you get them back in December) to Khan Academy which will then run a diagnostic analysis on your results and tailor an SAT prep program that addresses the areas on the PSAT you didn’t do well in and just reviews those areas you got right. All of this is free by the way! The SAT and ACT are exams designed to test you on material you cover through your junior year and so the spring of 11th grade is the perfect time to start testing, as your classes will have covered much of what is on the exams by then.

Additionally, at College Counseling Elevated, we recommend that juniors take one SAT and one ACT in the spring/early summer of their junior year. Often students test better on one exam over the other and by taking one of each you can learn which test suits you best. Once you have your scores back from both tests and you know which test is “your test” then you can use the remainder of your summer and early fall to prepare for that test and retake it in the fall of your senior year before application deadlines. It is important to remember that all colleges accept both the ACT and the SAT equally and there is no preference on one test over the other.

What is Test Optional? Is test optional really test optional?

When COVID hit and students across the globe could not access testing due to school closures, colleges and universities quickly eliminated testing requirements and implemented “test optional” policies. In general, if students can safely access testing opportunities and if their scores are competitive at the schools that that they are applying to, they have the option to submit scores.

The decision to submit or not submit is one that we work closely with students and families to determine.

Currently, over 1,900 colleges and universities have maintained their test optional policies and some have provided data about the role test scores play in their process.

What types of extra curricular activities do colleges want?

For years, the myth of the “well rounded student” permeated the college application process, and students struggled to ensure that they “ticked every box” on the activity section. The truth is that colleges and universities want you to engage and dive deeply into the activities that YOU enjoy. Are you an athlete? Great, find ways to not only play your sport, but develop leadership or get more involved in your sport or athletic organization. Do you love playing in your school’s orchestra? How could you share your passion for music with others? With younger musicians? Are you a debater? Involved in service to your community? Active in your faith community? Do you work after school? Take care of siblings to help out your parents? It all matters and it is all important. No one activity is more valuable than another, the point here is how you talk about why you spend your time outside of the classroom doing what you do, what you have learned as a result, and how has this involvement changed your perspective or the way you engage with the world.

I’m starting my senior year this fall and I haven’t really thought about college yet, am I too late?

Not at all! You are right on time. It is never too early or too late to get started. Begin by learning about the college application process and establish a timeline that will work for you. To use a flight analogy, starting at 30,000 feet will give you a clearer picture of what to expect and prepare for as you approach the landing.

Reflect on what is most important to you and ask yourself why you want to go to college in the first place. What do you hope to learn? How do you want to grow? What new skills, knowledge, experiences do you hope to gain as a result of your college education? From there you can dive into building a list that matches these goals and research schools that will help you achieve them.

Setting yourself up with this strong foundation will empower you to craft an application that is authentic to YOU. Breaking the process down into distinctive parts not only allows you build the most competitive application possible (because it is an honest reflection of who you are and where you want to go) but it will reduce your stress and in the long run, it will save you time!

I’ve been hearing about these extra “essays” that some colleges ask for, what are they and do I really have to do them?

Some colleges and universities will ask additional questions or ask you to respond to essay prompts beyond the main college essay. These additional essays or short answer questions are called supplements and while often schools will say they are optional, students who do take the time to thoughtfully respond to these additional questions quickly distinguish themselves in the application process. These essays are one of many overlooked opportunities in the application process that, when answered well, are a way to make your application much more competitive in the admissions process. So the short answer is yes, you really should answer them.

The most common supplemental essay question that colleges will ask you is “why you are interested in their college/university” this is called the “Why Us” question. In our summer College Application Workshop we not only set up how to approach answering these supplemental essay questions as well as walk you through activities that will outline your answers to the “Why Us” supplemental essay as well as a few more commonly asked responses.

Do colleges really care about my senior year grades? Will they even see them?

The short answer is YES, colleges do care and will see your senior year grades. Depending on when your school issues report cards, colleges may receive one, two, three or four grade reports during your senior year. For students applying to schools with November or December deadlines, colleges may ask your school counselor to send a report of your fall grades in order to help them make a decision in the early rounds, and if you receive a deferral (this is a decision only offered in the early rounds of the application process. It means that you have neither been admitted or denied, rather they are moving you to the next round of applications and the college would like a bit more information, usually your mid-year grades, to make their decision, which they will send to you in the spring). In these cases, those fall grades are that much more important.

Additionally, for all students who are admitted to colleges, regardless of when, your final transcript is required in order for you to enroll and begin selecting your classes. Colleges and universities all place a clause in their admission letters that allow them to revoke your acceptance if the grades at the end of your senior year are not similar to those with which you applied. This means that fighting that “senioritis” that typically strikes just about the same time the weather begins to warm, is important in keeping your spot in the freshmen class.

This doesn’t mean that you have to add stress to your already VERY full plate. What it does require from you is maintenance. Continue to work hard in your classes even though you are near the end. We know it can be challenging to remain focused when you are so close to the finish line, but ending the race even stronger than you finished it sets you up for the best possible start to your college journey!

My GPA is not nearly as high as I would like it to be, my freshman/sophomore year/s really started slow, but my grades have gone up since then, will colleges care?

Yes, colleges will care, but not in the way you might think. Admissions officers love to see upward growth in high school because the student they want on their campus is the one you are becoming now, especially if that student is more engaged and committed to the classroom than the one you were when you started high school four years ago. The 17/18 year old student is much more reflective of who will be in their classrooms than the 14/15 year old you. Upward growth trends are great academic stories and colleges and universities see them all the time.

However, it doesn’t stop with the transcript. If it took you some time to adjust to the academic demands on your time and focus, or if you encountered a challenge outside of school that impacted your academic performance (illness, family issues, a move etc.) then you will want to take the time to explain this to colleges admissions officers. Applications often offer you the opportunity to share “additional information” with them on the application and these text boxes (in the writing section of the Common App) is a great place to provide some context about a dip in grades or an academic trend they may see on your transcript. Our “Overlooked Opportunities” seminar will walk you through how take advantage of these spaces on the application and how to appropriately share this information that positively highlights the skills and lessons you learned as a result of these challenges or trends.