Juniors – What To Do in May

In addition to all the test taking, juniors should be starting to finalize their college list. It is important to be realistic about grades and test scores and the selectivity of many colleges. Parents, we urge you to have your son or daughter look at some of the data from the schools on their list and make sure they have several schools where they are a good fit academically. For starters, view the mid-range SAT or ACT scores and make sure students are in that range for most of the schools to which they are applying. Of course there is no guarantee of admission to any school, but being in the mid-range of test scores is a good marker. In addition to College Board, we like College Navigator which is run by the National Center for Education Statistics. In addition to test data, you will find additional admissions and financial aid information.

For athletes, we highly recommend contacting any coaches at schools where you would like to continue your sport. Although the official date for coaches to call athletes is July 1 after their junior year, it is very important not to wait for this date. Coaches are filling their rosters for 2012 now and it is important for you to get on their radar screen if you want to be considered. The easiest way to do this is to fill out the athletic questionnaire on the school’s website. You may have to dig a little, but almost every school has one either on the general athletics home page or on the sport specific page. We also recommend sending a letter to the coach. Once you fill out the questionnaire, you will most likely be invited to their ID camp. While these can be very beneficial, and coaches do recruit from these camps, they are also a revenue source for the coaches and it can be pricey to attend several camps. We recommend attending a camp at a school that is a serious contender to so that your student can get a feel for the campus. It can be eye-opening to experience summer weather in another part of the country!