Las Virgenes Educational Foundation - College Pathway

College Pathway - Junior Year

Juniors will be faced with their most intense academic experience and need to be mentally and physically prepared for a very demanding year. Students preparing for a highly selective college should be enrolled in a set of rigorous classes that may include between 2-4 Honors and/or Advanced Placement classes. However, all OPHS juniors will experience the high expectations of a college prep curriculum which anticipates that students have begun to emerge as young adults who are organizing their time and prioritizing their interests in order to put their best foot forward. Besides the challenging coursework, juniors have to pay attention to participating in a testing sequence that will enable them to take advantage of the admission options they will encounter as seniors. It is also the time when they begin to define their lists of colleges that change and evolve over the course of the year.

The To Do list for juniors is much more detailed than the first two years of high school:

Students should be even more focused on their extracurricular activities this year, reaching for leadership and excellent performance in their chosen interests.
This summer between the junior & senior year is the last opportunity you have to make up any D grades you may have earned in college preparatory courses. Remember, even though a D earns credit for high school, it is unacceptable for most colleges and universities!
Stay organized. During this year, especially after taking the PSAT, colleges will begin to send large amounts of material to you. It helps if you file information alphabetically or by state in a file cabinet or large container.
If you are interested in a military academy or ROTC, the process should begin in the fall of the junior year by contacting your local state representative who has the nomination papers and an outline of the procedures.
Seriously begin the process of visiting colleges over the summer. Try to incorporate these visits with your family vacations. Check the websites of the schools you are interested in for Open House or Campus Tour information.

College & Career Center (CHS | AHS): Become a frequent visitor to the College & Career Center in your school. The center has accumulated many guide books as well as scholarship opportunities, post-graduate options, and computers dedicated to college & career searches.

College Internet Resources: The Junior year is the time to seriously begin researching which colleges you might be interested in. There are several outstanding search engines and College Matching Assistants available to assist you.

College Visits, Fairs & Tours: In the fall and spring, college fairs are a frequent occurrence. Plan to attend as many of these as possible. Take advantage of the many college representatives who will be visiting your school campus in order to acquire a broader understanding of the myriad of choices available. Juniors and their parents should also make plans to attend the College Knowledge Night and College Fairs that will be held in the Fall and Spring at Agoura, Calabasas, or Oak Park High Schools. The dates and locations rotate each year. Many "National" college fairs are scheduled throughout the year, so be on the lookout for them. This is another great way to meet admissions representatives and pick up free materials. Check the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) website for upcoming fairs.

The PSAT All college bound juniors should sign up to take the PSAT, which also includes a section called the NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test). The PSAT is a practice test for the SAT, but the NMSQT is a separate organization that determines the highest level testers in the United States. Qualification at this tier can mean special recognition and scholarship opportunities for students.

Test Preparation The results of the PSAT come in late December or early January. Based on the results, students may decide they would like to enroll in an SAT prep course. All students should consider doing some form of test preparation prior to taking the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT in the spring of their Junior year. At the very least, students should work through one of the many test prep books or CDs that can be purchased at any bookstore.

SAT & ACT Information The SAT Reasoning Test and/or the ACT should definitely be taken at least once during the spring semester of the junior year, preferably in April and/or May. There is a June test date for SATs, for those who need a back-up date. However, this date is primarily used for taking the SAT Subject tests. Both the SAT and the ACT test are accepted equally by virtually every college and university in the country.

SAT Subject Tests: Many colleges & universities require additional tests beyond the SAT or ACT. As a result, many students will also need to take the SAT Subject Tests. For example, most juniors will probably be most prepared to take the US History, Math, Chemistry, or Literature tests in June of this school year. It is an ideal time to take these three tests since they fall near final exams and studying for finals is great preparation for these tests. It is possible to take as many as 3 of these Subject Tests in one sitting!

Athletes who want to play at a NCAA university need to register with the NCAA, a process called certification by the NCAA Clearinghouse. This should be done after the spring semester of the junior year. The NCAA will also need the grades from the second semester the junior year, as well as a student's SAT scores to complete the certification process). Athletes should also become familiar with recruiting guidelines which can be found on the NCAA website. Links to both the NCAA & the NAIA can be found at our "NCAA & College Sports" link.

Summer Programs Juniors should look forward to the summer as an opportunity to pursue interesting, challenging summer courses, or internships, jobs, travel or other engaging activities. These are important components to a studen's resume and there is a huge array of options available to students. The summer prior to the senior year is a great time to incorporate college visits into your family vacations! Also look into the numerous college summer residential programs that are available for research through our "Summer Programs" web link. The most reputable and useful have been linked to this page. Whatever you choose, even if it's just a job, the summer prior to your senior year you should definitely do "something of significance" that you can list on your college resume!

Early Action/Decision Juniors should become acquainted with the concepts of Early Decision, Early Action and Regular Decision application options which will be available to them as seniors. This will be especially true if they are applying to private schools, especially the very competitive ones. The dates are very early (some as early as September or October of the senior year). So students well need to be ready to act quickly! Click on the "Early Action/Decision" web page above to find additional information about how these programs work.

Financial Aid & Scholarships Students should begin having mature conversations with their parent(s) about what they observe and hope for in their future. Make sure to address issues like college location and costs. If the cost of a college is a concern, parents and students should log onto one of the many websites that will help provide the family EFC (estimated family contribution). This is a financial aid term which means the amount that the family should be able to afford, after evaluating the needs of the family, that the family will be expected to contribute to a student's education. In other words, the family will be expected to pay, say, $15,000 whether the college costs $16,000 for tuition, room and board or $30,000. These estimates can be helpful prior to submitting applications to unrealistic choices.