Action Plan for College: Junior Year

By Joe Messinger, CFP®

August 5, 2022

4 min READ

Junior year is when students can start to see the finish line of high school. They are actively thinking about their next steps–college, career, or maybe military? Things have become REAL! It is the last full year colleges will have complete grades to evaluate in the student’s application.

What do junior students and parents need to be thinking about? Planning for? It’s time for a college action plan!

High School

In high school, juniors should take advantage of courses and electives leading to future college and career goals. They should make sure they meet their graduation requirements. Take advantage of your guidance counselor as a valuable resource, and don’t be afraid to seek help in a challenging class. As we said earlier, junior year coursework is the last full year of grades to show off to colleges. Students need to stay organized.

In January or February of junior year, students will select courses for their senior year. Carefully weigh the selections given the student’s abilities and goals. AP, IB, and dual enrollment (College Credit Plus here in Ohio) are all options that might earn college credit and save families money. In addition to saving money, colleges like to see rigor appropriate to that student’s ability in the courses chosen. They’re always asking whether the student has been challenging themself, and evaluating how they rose to academic challenges in their coursework. Are the students challenging themselves?

Career Thinking

In all the talk about finding a college and taking the right courses, thinking about a potential career can get lost in the shuffle. Students often kick that can down the road.

This can lead to future indecision in school, increased tuition bills if students change their major, etc. It pays to have these conversations now and to encourage your student to think critically about their future career choices!

However, students with specific career goals in mind will find the college search so much easier and will avoid extra semesters of college costs, which can add up. Students succeed in identifying a college major when they know things about themselves–their interests, skills, challenges, values, etc. Students may need help with this thinking. Sometimes interest surveys can help, but they shouldn’t be discouraged if they don’t.

Did you know that nearly 80% of the jobs in the military are non-combat occupations?  

If the student is interested in the military, do your research and meet with recruiters. Read more about paying for college with military service by clicking here.

Preparing for College

Students have many decisions available for life after high school–career, trade school, community college, 2-year or 4-year degree. All are excellent choices depending on the student and their future goals. If college is the choice, keep track (or work on assembling) all the details about honors/awards, activities, community service, extracurricular activities, and leadership positions in the student’s past high school years. Artists may need a portfolio of their work. Families will need all these details when they fill out the applications in the fall of the senior year.

Take advantage of college representative visits at your high school. Athletes will need to register with the NCAA.

Make “official” college visits.

When the student is younger, families can wander a campus to get a feel for it, but now that application time is nearing, having those “official” visits where you register with the college for a tour and information session is a good idea.

Your demonstrated interest is something colleges pay attention to, among many other factors. Our blog about college visits and our helpful College Visit Scorecard might help families stay organized. Students can work on narrowing down the list of colleges they are interested in based on their preferred criteria–big vs. small, urban vs. rural vs. suburban, etc.

College Applications

The Common App, used by over 1,000 colleges, goes live on August 1st of senior year. Many early application deadlines are in November or December, but some are as early as October. These dates are sometimes startling for students. They come so fast!

A little prep work and thinking can help minimize the stress later:

• Start brainstorming for essay topics.
• Think about which teachers you will ask for letters of recommendation from.
• Identify if the college uses a separate application or supplemental questionnaire. You can find the Common App schools here.

Paying for College

If you haven’t already done so, make it a priority to have the college money conversation with the student as soon as possible. Our blog is an excellent tool for this discussion. It is so important (and will avoid much heartache) if parents and students are on the same page about how much college they can afford! We have seen too many parents struggling to tell their children “no” when a specific college is too expensive.

Get the facts about what colleges cost and learn about financial aid, scholarships, loans, work-study, etc. Parents need to understand how all the puzzle pieces fit together. What aid is available and how do you qualify for it?

While most merit aid or scholarships are awarded by the colleges themselves, searching for private scholarships can be something ongoing the family and the student work on. Remember to use your guidance counselor as a resource. More tips on the search can be found here. Be sure to pay attention to important deadlines!

Testing – PSAT, ACT, & SAT

Testing, testing, testing!

Sometimes, it seems like a never-ending testing cycle for students. All juniors will take the PSAT/NMSQT, usually in the fall. The primary purpose of this test is to identify candidates for the National Merit Scholarship awards. The PSAT can also be practiced for the SAT. (However, in our opinion, a better way to “practice” for the SAT is to take the actual SAT exam.)

If a student has an IEP or 504 Plan, families will want to speak with their guidance counselor about accommodations for the ACT and SAT. This process is lengthy, so get started as soon as possible.

Ideally, students should have already taken an ACT or SAT (or both) before junior year. Taking them early is a great practice to understand the topics covered and the timing involved. If taking the exams for the first time in junior year, don’t panic. Try to take each one at least once. Identify the preferred test for that student, and then retake it 2 or 3 more times before senior year. In Ohio, school districts will administer one of these standardized exams in February or March of the junior year.

Before Your Senior Year

Your Junior Year Action Plan:

• Continue to prepare for the college and application tasks ahead.
• Visit more colleges together.
• Make more definite plans — look at degrees and fields of study, different university programs, and college affordability.
• Please encourage students to be active over the summer and during school breaks–working a job, volunteering in the community, participating in a camp (maybe a pre-college, on-campus camp in a program of interest for their future).

Most importantly, enjoy this time. Senior year is a whirlwind of tasks, events, and activities. Enjoy your junior year together before the last year of high school gets underway!

Updated January 2025.