Senior year, the time to relax and not get any work done, right? Wrong. Most people think that Junior and Senior year are the two most important years of a persons high school career, and they’re right.

 During Junior year, Sophomore year, and Freshmen year try to take as many upper level classes as possible. They will be beneficial during the college process. Yes, it’s a lot of work but it will help later on down the road when it comes time to applying to college.

 In fact, it’s never too early to start preparing for college, it will be helpful getting it over and done with, rather than waiting till the last minute. Procrastination is your enemy. Start with something easy, like the essay. During Junior year of high school most teachers help students start their essay the end of the year however some don’t. Start the essay over the summer, and get it over and done with. When finishing the essay, ask an English teacher and a guidance counselor to read it over.

 During Junior year, getting recommendations out of the way helps as well. Ask teachers and then remind them senior year so they don’t forget. “Right before summer, Junior year I asked my teachers to write them. A good deal of teachers do it over the summer so asking them early is great, especially if they have a lot to do,” said Mary Mackie, a current Senior at Nashoba.

 Everyone dreads the standardized testing, most commonly known as the SAT’s and ACT’s. Taking both of these standardized tests more than once, both Junior and Senior year is extremely helpful.

It’s never too early to start looking for colleges, getting to know what type of school you like. “I started the college process way too late. Start junior year thinking about colleges and don’t just look at the usual ones. Just because so many kids apply to these “name” schools, doesn’t mean they’re good, or right for you,” Mackie stated.

 Applying early action gets all of the stress out of the way before Christmas break. Early action application typically happens around November.

 Some students think that they started the college process too late and that it’s going to be a lot of work and it is. “I would definitely start earlier and try and find more people to help. Deadlines were definitely hard so making decisions earlier would have been good,” stated Mackie.

 At our high school we use a helpful website called “Naviance.” Naviance organizes the whole college process. In Naviance there is a section that helps you create a resumé. Creating a resumé organizes what has been accomplished in high school.

 Best of luck to incoming freshmen.

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