High School Juniors: How to Take the Madness Out of March
Katelyn Gleason Klapper, CEP & Founder of College Options
March often marks the time in junior year when everything regarding grades, testing, and the realities of the college search start to feel a little maddening.
Thankfully, the NCAA has given us the men's and women's basketball tournaments to help distract you a bit from this stress. In my house, there is always a competition when the men's and women’s final 68 are released to see how many schools' locations can be identified. Yes, my nearly 500 campus visits give me a huge advantage, but I assure you that my bracket guesses are so much worse!
If you try this guessing game yourself, you might uncover places you have never heard of, mixed in with the usual conference all-stars, and maybe you'll find some additional schools that pique your interest. At College Options we are always looking for ways to make this college search stuff fun!
We know that many juniors are feeling, if not mad, pretty overwhelmed that junior year is so stressful. If you have lost some ground on your college search, remember that the single most important thing that you can do this spring is keep your focus on academics. If you feel the full court press from adults in your life to make major or college choices “right now”, take a little time to collaborate on a time table and to-do list that works for you and agree to postpone the discussion until you can focus on the college search without distraction.
Despite what many will say, the summer before your senior year is a great time to spend time digging into college websites and research tools to help you better narrow your best fit college list – it’s not too late if you are focused. Summer also gives you the opportunity to build some efficiency into your research by referencing college application supplement questions that are usually released by August 1st. The most popular supplement essay question asks, “Why you are interested in this college?”; use your research time to find specific examples of courses, programs, activities, and career preparation that appeal to your interests and needs, so that your answers move from the generic to a more personalized and interesting read.
If you feel like you have a little bandwidth for college exploration now, spring is a good time to “march” around a few college campuses to confirm your preferences for a school’s physical and social characteristics. Be sure to prioritize not just that dream school but also a school that is more likely to admit you – who doesn’t like to be somewhere they are wanted? However (no pressure), don’t put off tour planning until the last minute, as many colleges fill their spring break tours in March and April more than a month in advance.