For juniors:
– Optimize your free time. Unfortunately, eleventh grade tends to be the
most difficult in terms of time management due to the large amount of
studying that is required of all students – not only for their courses, but
for standardized tests. We recommend going out with friends only one
night a week, preferably a Saturday night. You probably want to get into
the habit of staying in on Friday nights – or at least having more relaxed
Friday nights – because most standardized tests occur early on
Saturday mornings. I know that 11th grade is a very social year, and it’s
easy to get distracted by friends, so we recommend that students plan
their study time at home very carefully. Break that time up into one-hour
blocks, working on homework and studying for 50-55 minutes and
taking 5-10 minutes at the end of each hour to take a break and
communicate with your friends. This requires discipline, but you will get
a lot more done with way than if you let yourself get caught up in an
hour-long phone conversation or IM session. It is very important to
prioritize what you have to do every week, keeping in mind that large
projects, tests and papers come first. Plan to work on these in advance,
not the night or even week before. In fact, as soon as you get the
assignment or test date, you should begin preparing incrementally. A
project done the night before is never as good as one that has been
gradually strengthened over time, and furthermore, you need a good
night’s sleep–7 or 8 hours if possible–before a presentation or test.
Pulling an all-nighter ultimately does you a disservice. If you are tired
after school, instead of sleeping until dinner, you should train yourself to
take 30-minute power naps, which will re-energize you without wasting
valuable time.
– Stick to your IvyWise testing schedule. Eleventh grade, we’re sorry to
say, is also the year of heavy standardized testing. The best way to
handle it all is by beginning preparation for the SAT I, SAT subject tests,
and AP exams (if you’re taking them in May) at the beginning of the
school year. In addition, try spacing your test dates out so you are not
wrestling with too much test prep at any given time. For example, you
can take the Math I or II SAT subject test in November and December
and get them out of the way. If you are able to prepare well enough in
advance, we recommend taking the SAT I in both January and April and
leaving May and June open for subject tests. The May SAT date does
not conflict with the dates of the May AP tests, which are usually given at
school during the week. In order to get the most out of a testing day, we
advise–especially at the end of the school year–taking 3 SAT subject
tests on both the May and June dates. The subjects you take on these
dates should coincide with your 11th-grade courses, as learning is
cumulative, and you should already know most of the information on the
tests by May or June due to your in-school coursework. Also, remember
that because colleges take only your highest scores, you can take tests
twice. For example, if you take US History as an 11th-grader, you may
want to sign up for the US History SAT subject test in both May and June
to give yourself two shots at it. For the SAT I, colleges will take your
highest score in each section, even if they occur on different test dates.
If you want a third chance at the SAT I or any SAT subject tests, you still
have October and November of your senior year to use as retake dates.
Finally, just a reminder that in order to be prepared for standardized
tests, it is important to practice. You should do about eight realistic
practice tests for each exam, whether it be the SAT I, a subject test, or an
AP exam, before going into the real test.
– Nurture your teacher relationships. Eleventh grade is the most
important time in your high school career to cultivate your relationships
with teachers. Most likely, two of your 11th-grade teachers will later be
writing your college recommendations. Try to be absent as little as
possible (aim for 3 days maximum per year, and those should only be
due to extreme illness), be responsible with your schoolwork, go above
and beyond the boundaries of the classroom assignments, be respectful
of your teachers and peers, and meet regularly with your teacher
outside of the classroom for extra help and so you can build a better
relationship. By the end of the year, you should have at least two
teachers who will want to go to bat for you. The better a teacher knows
you, the better his or her recommendation will be, as he or she can
include detailed and lively anecdotes about you in your letter of
recommendation.
– Start your college research early. Beginning in 11th grade, we
recommend visiting as many campuses as possible of those that interest
you, because you will learn a lot just by being on the campus and
seeing the community firsthand. You can start your research using the
Fiske Guide to Colleges, which is an especially great resource, because
each school’s description also includes a list of schools that are typical
overlaps (a list of schools where applicants to that particular school also
applied). Once you read a bit about a college, you can do more
research about it online by taking virtual tours and reading about
professors, course offerings, clubs and organizations, community
service, internships and study abroad opportunities. After awhile, you
will really start to get a feel for what it would be like to go there. When
you visit, you should attend both the information session and the
campus tour, as you get two different points of view: Generally, an
admissions representative leads the information session while a current
student leads the tour. As an eleventh-grader, it is also a great idea to
make contacts at the schools in which you’re interested. For example,
contact the admissions office at a school you love, find out who will be
reading applications from your area, and start an email dialogue with
this reader. This is a good way to get your specific questions answered,
as well as have your name heard by the person who will eventually be
evaluating your application.
– Set high but realistic grade goals for each semester. Colleges will look
first and foremost at your academic record from 9th grade through the
end of 11th grade. Therefore, your goal should be to end 11th grade as
strong as possible. This is especially important if you started high
school out on a shaky note – if you finish 11th grade on an upward
grade trend, your lower grades in your freshman year will be more likely
to be excused. Most colleges will only see the very beginning of your
senior year’s performance in your courses by the time you apply, so
your end-of-year grades during junior year must be reflective of your
academic capabilities. College is about getting a higher education and
admissions readers want to be sure that the students they admit can do
the work at their school. Remember, grades always come first!
For seniors:
– Focus on all of your schools, not just your early choice. If you applied
early, it can be tempting to “wait and see” before seriously working on
your other college applications–however, since most early programs
send out their decisions in mid-December and most regular applications
are due in early January, putting off the other applications would be a
mistake. Give yourself your winter vacation as a time to relax, not as a
time to be frantically working on your college applications. Furthermore,
keep researching all of the schools on your list. Take comfort in the fact
that you put together your college list based on careful research–you
would likely be equally happy and successful at any of the schools on
your list. Continued research should help you get excited about multiple
colleges, instead of just focusing on one. That way, once you receive
your early application decision, you will be prepared for all options.
– You are in charge of what you share. In other words, if your relatives
nag you over where you are applying and whether you will be going to
an Ivy League school, feel free to decide how much you want to share.
If a particular extended family member or friend is adding to your stress
rather than helping alleviate it, you might want to calmly and directly
explain that you would rather not discuss it right now. Remember that if
someone is giving you a hard time, it is likely a result of his/her own
feelings and not about you. Surround yourself with people who will
support you, and think about how your words might be affecting those
around you as well.
– Don’t forget that you are still in high school. Senior year, as you know,
is often very stressful. Seniors are so busy planning and preparing for
leaving home and going to college while at the same time still trying to
enjoy their last year of high school. Don’t get so caught up in applying
to college that you neglect high school–including your schoolwork.
Stay motivated by using your last year of high school to get the most out
of your classes, and to contribute more than you have in the past.
Adding to class discussions, challenging yourself on papers and
assignments, and managing your busy schedule are great practice for
college, when you will most likely have harder classes and more
freedom.
– Be a leader. As a senior, you are automatically a leader in your
school, whether or not you are captain of a sport or president of a club.
Assume your leadership role with pride. Be a role model to younger
students. Lead by example in the classroom, on the sports fields, and in
your clubs and activities.
– Remember that things do work out. It may be difficult to hear now, but
whether or not you are admitted to your first choice school, things do
work out in the end. Most students I have spoken to agree that they
would have been happy and successful at many, many colleges.
Success is based on the individual, not on the college he/she attends.
College admission is not a statement about your worth as a person.
This fact is important for everyone to keep in mind–even the person
who is admitted to every school on the list. Celebrate your many
accomplishments before you hear from your colleges.
For parents of juniors:
– Start planning trips around college visits. A helpful way for a parent to
get involved in the college application process is by starting to plan
college visits in advance, before the pressure is on during senior year.
Longer trips can be planned during fall or winter break, whereas a quick
trip should be planned for a day off of school. Ideally, a visit should be
when school is in session, so the student can get a realistic idea of what
it’s like to live and study in that particular community. Initiating
discussion of college visits is also a great way to encourage your son or
daughter to begin the college research process early. Remember,
however, that your role is to plan the visits and provide support for your
son or daughter throughout the duration of the visit; it is not to decide
whether the school is a good match for your son or daughter. Of course,
your opinion will likely matter to your son or daughter, it’s important that
you stay at arm’s length – you are not applying to school.
– Help your child understand the importance of junior year grades.
Eleventh grade can be an extremely stressful and work-intensive year
for students who are planning on applying to the top tier of colleges. In
some cases, the overload can cause a backlash or a descent into
indifference. It is then your role to help your son or daughter understand
that 11th grade academic performance is basically the most important
aspect of a college application, and this is the most inopportune time for
a high school student to drop the ball in his or her coursework. While it
is true that in terms of grades, college starts in 9th grade, there is a bit of
room for error in the earlier years, as long as the student eventually
demonstrates an upward grade trend. By the fall term of 11th grade, this
upward trend has to have begun; it is then the student’s responsibility to
reinforce these high grades throughout the rest of his or her high school
career. It is therefore also crucial to end midterms on a strong note. You
should check in with your son or daughter periodically to see how each
individual class of theirs is going so you can pinpoint any particular
problem areas early on. If they seem to be having problems in a certain
area, encourage your son or daughter to talk to the teacher outside of
the classroom on a biweekly basis. This not only will help your child
understand the material, it will help him or her build an important
relationship with a teacher who could vouch for him or her on a college
application during the following year. It’s also a good idea to ask
questions about their classes from an intellectual standpoint: Try and
help your child connect the actual course material by engaging in
dinnertime conversation about what he or she is studying. Play the role
of student by having your child explain in detail what is being covered in
their core classes. Still, if your son or daughter seems to be slipping
grade-wise or seems increasingly disinterested in his or her schoolwork,
you may want to start encouraging the college research process with a
possible trip to a reach school or two. Seeing the school’s environment
and realizing what the commitment it will take to get there will likely
serve as a motivator more commanding than your reminders that
schoolwork comes first.
– Stay on top of your son or daughter’s standardized testing schedule. It
is important to really keep on top of your kids about this: Are they signed
up for the right standardized tests? Are they properly registered? It has
unfortunately proven more than once that leaving minute details such as
picking up registration forms up to the student is not always a foolproof
plan. Also, ask to see the registration forms to make sure that your son
or daughter’s name is spelled and recorded exactly the same way on
each SAT form. If a student sits an SAT or a subject test on more than
one occasion and his or her name is recorded differently in any way
from one date to the other, not all scores will be grouped together. Even
something as minor as the presence or absence of a hyphen in a
compound last name can cause a separate record to be created for your
child, so please be vigilant about spelling!
– Finally, don’t stress yourself out, too! As we said earlier, 11th grade is
indeed a demanding and tense year for students. It is your job to serve
as a support system during this time, not add unneeded extra pressure.
For parents of seniors:
– Encourage your son or daughter not to lose steam in school. Probably
the most important thing you can do for your senior right now is to help
them avoid the infamous senioritis like the plague. Especially now that
early-round applications have likely been submitted, the temptation to
extend much-needed relaxation into slacking off is looming strong. You
can help by providing continual reminders that senior year does count
and can in fact be the deciding factor of acceptance if he or she is
deferred or waitlisted. If he or she needs more help internalizing this
fact, you might want to have your child give his or her IvyWise counselor
a call!
– Help set up mock interviews for your son or daughter. Many schools
require or recommend an interview to accompany students’ written
applications, and for many students, this can seem somewhat daunting.
Naturally, practicing will help! Try arranging a mock interview with
another adult – perhaps a friend of yours t whom your son or daughter is
not too close – to mimic the experience a bit more accurately. Also, if
your student is signed up for an IvyWise package, have them consult his
or her manual and thoroughly review the sample questions provided in
the interview section.
– Don’t place too much emphasis on your child’s early school. Now that
early applications are in, there is little else a student can do but wait for
his or her first-choice school’s decision. Do your best to avoid closing
the college discussion to other schools by saying, “Well, if Penn [replace
Penn with Harvard, Princeton Brown, etc.] accepts you, none of this will
be relevant, but you should start working on your NYU application just in
case.” Although you are not technically eliminating other schools from
the mix, it can definitely be too much for a student to handle if his or
parents consistently bring up the outside chance that he or she will be
accepted at his or her dream school, which for many students is a very
high reach. Now that year-end grades and test scores are in place, this
point in the year is a great time for you to schedule a meeting with the
college counselor at school, where you can go over your child’s college
list and get the school counselor’s perspective on the likelihood of your
child being admitted to each school on the list. Make sure the list is
complete with all reach levels (high reach, target, and true safety
schools) – it’s time for a reality check! In some cases this may mean
redefining a list somewhat, but it’s certainly better to do that now than
after the fact. In brief, it’s important at this time for you to keep the
conversation open to the idea that there are many choices, and if your
child is not accepted early, it is not the end of the world and can be a
blessing in disguise. After all, you are the parent and your job is to
make your child appreciate his or her successes, of which there are
certainly are many!
– Applying to college is not a “we” process. The college application
process can be very scary for parents: The child you raised is growing
up and leaving the nest. Where they go after leaving said nest,
however, should not ultimately be up to you. The decision-making
process belongs to the student. Please try and keep the “we” out of it as
much as possible. You can and should be your child’s biggest
cheerleader, but allowing your son or daughter to take ownership of
what is likely his or her most major life decision is essential.
Furthermore, if the applicant is eventually deferred, waitlisted, or
rejected, do not try and assume the blame by making it a mutual
rejection (“‘We’ were rejected from Notre Dame” is not going to soften
the blow for your son or daughter.). As most applicants ultimately
understand, acceptances to colleges are based on a complex
interaction of factors, and no one should consider it a personal failure if
the ideal end result does not materialize. It is the parent’s responsibility
to help the student understand this – not to appropriate the rejection as
a sign of your own shortcomings. Your objective, adult point of view is a
crucial element to your son or daughter’s comprehension of this
situation, so please do your best to keep an impartial attitude toward the
end result (al the while, of course, while reminding your child that he or
she will always be loved and that he or she is indeed successful).
