College planning checklists

There are specific things students can do during each year of high school to plan and prepare for college.

Check out the ACT website for college planning checklists to keep track of your progress and view important application deadlines. Here are some ideas to start thinking about.

Freshman year: Establish goals for each school year.

Talk to your counselor about what you should be doing now to advance toward your plans for college and career.

Sophomore year: Start collecting information about the colleges and universities you’re interested in. Find out whether your high school course selections match what most colleges requirefor admissions.

Junior year: Register for the ACT. You should be academically ready to take it by spring. If not, take the ACT test in June or fall of your senior year. If you choose to wait until your senior yearyou need to keep in mind college scholarship and application deadlines.

Senior year: As you prepare to apply to colleges and universities, ask for personal references from your teachers, school counselors or employers early in the year.

Follow your school’s procedure for requesting recommendations and always allow at least two weeks before application deadlines.

Seniors, take ACT early in the school year

If you haven’t alreadydone so, register now to take the ACT. Be sure to plan ahead. Some early decision college application deadlines are set in November and December and you don’t want to experience any last minute panicking hoping your results arrive to your desired college or university before the deadline. ACT score reports are usually mailed within 3 to 8 weeks after each test date.

And if you take the Writing Test, your score report will be mailed only after all your scores are available, including Writing, usually 5 to 8 weeks after the test date.

Choose your high school classes wisely

Colleges care aboutwhich courses you’re taking in high school. The courses you take in high school show colleges what kind of goals you set for yourself.

Are you signing up for advanced classes, honors sections, or accelerated sequences? Are you choosing electives that really stretch your mind and help you develop new abilities? Or are you doing just enough to get by?

Colleges will be more impressed by respectable grades in challenging courses than by outstanding grades in easy ones.

To be continued.

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Editor’s note: Randi Jo Hutchinson-Kelso is the counselor for Pea Ridge High School.

School, Pages 13 on 10/05/2011