Class of 2019! Time to start post-secondary planning!

Now that you are ALMOST Seniors, it's time to make a college application prep plan! Remember our conversations with your current Senior classmates...They expressed wishing they'd done some prep work for Senior fall during the summer after their Junior Year. It really is a part-time job. Consider spending a few hours a week on your college research and preparation.

Here are some ideas of what to work on! 

1) Complete a Letter of Recommendation for yourself! Highlight skills and activities that truly reflect your abilities and interests. Your teachers/counselors will be SO impressed with your extra effort when you ask for Letters of Recommendation for college and scholarship applications. Share your Letter with them to help them out.  Here are some tips on how to ask for a Letter of Recommendation when the time comes!

2) Create or update your resume! Summer can be a great time to add some volunteer work in addition to your paid summer job. Just a few hours a week goes a long way! 

3) Put in a few hours a week looking for MORE scholarships to add to your College Research Spreadsheet! Add deadlines to your calendars with reminders in advance of these due dates!

4) Complete at least 2 essays for the Common Application Essay Prompts. Remember, even if you are NOT using the Common App, these essay questions will be applicable to other application questions for schools and scholarships. Be sure to save them in your google drive with clear file names. Share them with yess.emily@gmail.com if you want feedback!

5) If you are not happy with your SAT score, there are plenty of resources that will allow you to improve your skills. Don't forget to sign up for the SAT in the fall if you choose to retake it!


(Here's the link for the College Research Spreadsheet! Be sure to follow the directions for COPYING and saving as your own file.)

As always, let me know if you have any questions! 

Your Junior Spring College Prep!

Hey Juniors, get college ready! Here are some things you should focus on between now and your Senior Year! 

1. Stay focused on your grades! Colleges will be looking at your Junior year grades when you submit your applications in the Fall. Finish the semester strong.
2. Start researching possible majors and colleges you'd like to attend. Don't forget to use your College Research spreadsheet to keep track on info. You can also keep track of job titles that sound interesting to you and discover related majors that way.  
3. Make a list of scholarships for which you'd be eligible. Make sure to add them to the Scholarships tab on your College Research spreadsheet! 
4. Get to know your counselor and Future Center Advisor at school. They'll be able to help you with mailing your transcripts, writing letters of recommendation, and possible fee waivers for your applications. 
5. Visit colleges if you can. Start with the Auraria campus! You can schedule tours online. Community College of Denver, Metro State University, UC Denver
6. Choose challenging classes for Senior Year. Remember, you have to show colleges that you are outstanding and up for challenges! 
7. Prepare for the SAT and/or ACT. Check out this great, FREE resource. While test scores are not the only thing colleges look at, they can separate you in a crowd. 
8. Keep your resume up to date. This is a great habit to get into for your future. You have to learn how to best express your strengths and accomplishments. Again, you are trying to STAND OUT in a crowd! 
9. Start working on a personal statement and other essay prompts. Trust me, the work you do on personal statements and other essay prompt now will help reduce your stress in the fall. You'll also have much better essays to submit since you worked to make them better and better over time. 
10. Plan your summer activities. Remember  your resume? Summer is a great time to add new, unique and challenging experiences to your personal history! Here are some pre-collegiate opportunities to consider. 

I've done some college research but...

" I've done some college research but..." 

• I don't remember what schools I looked up.
• I liked some of the schools I looked at but forget why. 
• I researched so many schools, they are all running together.
• none of them are in a city. 
• etc, etc. 

Remember the research grid some of you completed last week? Well, here is something similar in digital form SO YOU WON'T LOSE IT and you can update it regularly. As you do your college (re)search, keep this document open in another window and ADD the answers as you look through college webpages. Then the info is ALWAYS available to you. Fill in as much info in each box as you can! 

Make sure that when you open this google sheet, you opt to make a copy of it and save it to your own drive. Once you open the document via the link below, click file and select "Make a copy..."
If you have questions on how to do this, just let me know! I'll check your "My College (re)Search" sheet next time I see you, so get started TODAY! 

Here's the link to the sheet.