high school juniors - Great College Advice

Boulder Consultant: It’s PSAT Time for Juniors

Jared Hobson — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 08:56:45 +0000

Are you a high school junior? If so, it’s time to take the PSAT!
The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) is a program cosponsored by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

The PSAT/NMSQT is a great way to jump start your standardized testing. Not only is it a test that provides practice for the SAT but it also gives you an opportunity to enter NMSC scholarship programs.

The PSAT/NMSQT test dates are typically in October. In order to participate, you must sign up at your high school or at another school in your community.

As you prepare, remember that this test measures three specific things:

Critical reading skills
Math problem-solving skills
Writing skills

This test can be a great opportunity to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie and gain a better understand of what you may need to study in preparation for the SAT. In addition, you may find yourself receiving a lot of great college information and mailings if you check “yes” to Student Search Service when completing the test.
To learn more about this test, please visit The College Board. If you are interested in developing a testing plan and schedule for yourself, or for your student, please let us know and contact us at Great College Advice.
Good luck on the test!

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10 Tasks for HS Juniors Before Summer

Jared Hobson — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:32:49 +0000

Juniors, as you wrap up this school year there are a lot of college related things that you can and should be thinking about. Go through the list below to make sure you are on top of all of ten!
1) Testing: Spend time preparing for your ACT, SAT, Subject Tests, and AP tests! If you haven’t already registered for your tests make sure to do so.
2) College Fairs: This is a busy time for college fairs at your school or in your community. Don’t forget to check which colleges are coming your way and come up with some good questions to ask.
3) College Nights: Your high school likely holds a college night in the spring. This is a great opportunity to learn the process for requesting letters of recommendation and transcripts so you are ready to go next fall.
4) College Visits: As you start to narrow your college list take some time to plan some college visits with your family.
5) Talk to your Senior friends before graduation: See where they are headed next year and how they made that decision. Ask them for any tips for next year for things they wish they had done differently.
6) Letters of Recommendation: Have you decided whom you are going to ask for a letter of recommendation? It is not too early to have that initial conversation with your teacher about her willingness to write your letter. Try and have this conversation before you leave for summer.
7) Summer Plans: Make sure you have your summer plans mapped out so you can make the most of the next few months. Do you have enough to keep you busy while still finding time to spend with friends and family?
8 ) Start Brainstorming Essay Topics: As you have ideas about essay topics (influential people in your life, an activity that is meaningful to you, books you have read that made an impact, a really funny or enlightening experience, etc) find a place to jot them down and even start free writing on the subject. The more essay work you do now the less you will have to do next fall.
9) Request Information: If you have found some colleges that interest you, start requesting information and adding yourself to their mailing list.
10) Finish Strong: The junior year transcript is very important to colleges (how many times have you heard that?) finish strong and make sure your grades reflect your hard work.

Great College Advice

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Mark Your Calendars: Colleges That Change Lives

Jared Hobson — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:52:26 +0000

Make sure to mark your calendars to learn more about the Colleges that Change Lives as their representatives come to a city near you.

According to the Colleges That Change Lives website, these are schools that have:

Low student-to-faculty ratios
Classes taught by professors
Commitment to undergraduate education
Undergraduate research opportunities
A residential living and learning component
Small student enrollments
Out of classroom learning experiences
Holistic admissions
Strong alumni networks.

Go listen to representatives from these colleges as they share their learning components and the latest research on campus characteristics during a panel discussion.

After the panel presentation you can attend a college fair with these schools where you will be able to collect information from, and speak directly with, admission representatives. The CTCL events are free to the public, and pre-registration is not required.

To find the date and location of a CTCL program near you please visit https://www.ctcl.org/events/program

For more about CTCL and a list of the colleges that are included please visit https://www.ctcl.org/about/ctcl

Mark Montgomery
Expert Educational Consultant

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Advice for Juniors: Check Local Summer College Offers

Jared Hobson — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:45:30 +0000

Juniors, have you started thinking about what you will be doing this summer? How about spending some time on a college campus?
Many colleges and universities around the country offer programs for high school students during the summer. These may include programs where you can take a class for college credit, do a leadership program, play a sport, learn a language, write, explore a particular major and much more. While an obvious advantage to these types of programs may be bolstering your college application and resume there are many personal advantages for you. For example, taking a college class with a real college professor may give you that leg up when you actually enter college as a freshman. You will go into college with some previously earned credit and you will also have a sense of what a college class is like, the type of work expected of you and how to best interact with a professor. Another advantage to participating in one of these programs is learning what it means to live on a college campus. Often, these programs in the summer allow you to live right on campus in a residence hall. This gives you the opportunity to get a feel for having a roommate, living amongst other students, eating on campus, navigating your way around on your own and a sense of independence. These programs all have different lengths so whether you are looking to just spend a couple weeks or perhaps want to be away for a month or more you will likely find a program that interests you.
While there are programs at colleges all over the country to take a look at don’t forget to look at your local colleges as there may be special programs, or discounts, for in-state students.

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