Each year of your high school career will require that you perform a series of important tasks to ensure that the appropriate steps have been completed that will allow a seamless transition into college. Starting with your freshmen year in high school you need to start thinking about the right courses to take, documenting your activities, and considering potential career interests. Below you will find a series of resouces specific to your year in high school. We encourage you to review these materials, as well as those in the drop down menu to the left that provide more detailed information about taking the right classes and getting the right advice about college.
FRESHMEN
• Colleges care about which courses you're taking in
high school. Remember, you will have more options if you start planning now for college and do your best to earn good
grades.
• 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.
• Do your high school course selections match what most colleges expect you to know? For example, many colleges
require two to four years of foreign language study.
• Establish your college preparatory classes; your schedule should consist of at least 4 college preparatory classes per
year, including:
o 4 years of English
o 3 years of math (through algebra II or trigonometry)
o 2 years of foreign language
o 2 years of natural science
o 2 years of history/social studies
o 1 year of art
o 1 year of electives from the above list
o Enrolling in algebra or geometry classes and a foreign language class for each semester
[most colleges have math and foreign language requirements]
• Copies of report cards.
• Lists of awards and honors.
• Lists of school and community activities in which you are involved, including both paid and volunteer work, and
descriptions of what you do.
• Match your interests to career cluster areas using South Dakota My Life and Get Ready For College Interest
Assessment.
• Find these links at
Know Your Interests.
• Stay active in clubs, activities, and sports that you enjoy.
• Study, study, study! Colleges look at your permanent academic record for admissions beginning with freshman-year
grades.
• Think about an after school or summer job to start saving for college.
• Take the ACT PLAN test in the fall, normally in October or November. This is a valuable test to help you prepare for the
ACT which you can take during your junior year in April or June.
• Review PLAN test results with your parents and school counselor. Compare these to your EXPLORE results to
measure growth.
• Take the PSAT in October. The scores will not count for National Merit Scholar consideration in your sophomore year,
but it is valuable practice for when you take the PSAT again in your junior year when the scores will count, as well as for
the SAT Reasoning Test, which you should also be taking in your junior year. You will receive your PSAT results in
December.
• Start preparing for the SAT Reasoning Test.
• Register in April for the SAT Subject Tests that you will be completing before June.
• Take the SAT Subject Test in June.
• Copies of report cards.
• Lists of awards and honors.
• Lists of school and community activities in which you are involved, including both paid and volunteer work, and
descriptions of what you do.
• Think about selecting a school and find out about the different types. Decide which characteristics are most important
to you, such as the size of the school, distance from home, cost, and extracurricular activities available.
• Visit colleges and talk with college students.
• Be ready with a list of questions to ask on your campus visit.
• Use the above list of college characteristics to decide how to evaluate different colleges.
• Review the high school courses you need to take to meet the admissions requirements of the colleges you are
interested in attending.
• Ask if AP or other honors courses are available.
• See if you are eligible for the honors classes you want to take.
• Find out how to enroll in them for your junior year.
• Continue extracurricular activities, as admissions officers look at students' extracurricular activities when considering
them for admission.
• Continue participation in academic enrichment programs, summer workshops, and camps with specialty focuses such
as music, arts, and science.
• Continue to meet with your college/career counselor at least once a year.
• Check the schedules for the PSAT in the fall, and the SAT Reasoning Test and SAT Subject Tests, ACT, and AP tests
in the spring.
• Discuss with your school counselor why you should take these tests and how they could benefit you.
• Determine which tests you will take. (Remember -- You can always change your mind)
• Sign up and prepare for the tests you have decided to take.
• Continue to take and seek out challenging courses.
• Join an academic club.
• Start or update an academic resume.
• Assume leadership roles in your activities and sports.
• Consider putting together a portfolio that highlights your special skills and talents.
• Gather information from colleges. Request brochures and catalogs as well as attend college fairs.
• Visit colleges and talk with college students.
• Talk with your parents and high school counselor about colleges that interest you.
• During the summer between your junior and senior year, write practice applications and essays and decide where and
if to apply early decision, early action, or regular decision.
• August:
o Start your year off right: Talk with your guidance counselor about your options and your plans. Be sure to ask
about test dates for the PSAT, ACT, and SAT. You will need to register up to six weeks ahead of time.
o Sign up for courses with your eyes on the prize -- college and money to pay for it! A tougher course load may
pay off with scholarships and may get you a better chance to get admitted to the school of your choice.
o Start investigating private and public sources for financial aid. Take note of scholarship deadlines and plan
accordingly.
o Sign up for activities to boost your college applications.
• September:
o Find out about schools you are interested in attending. Treat your school selection process like a research
paper: Make a file and gather information about schools, financial aid, and campus life to put in it. Go to college
fairs, open houses, and learn as much as you can from the Internet about schools.
o Begin planning college visits. Fall, winter, and spring break are good times because you can observe a campus
while classes are going on.
• October:
o Take the PSAT. You will get the results by Christmas.
o Sign up for ACT or SAT prep courses.
o Do your top college picks require essays or recommendations? Now is the time to begin planning your essays
and choosing whom you would like to ask for a recommendation.
• November:
o Sign up for the ACT and SAT, if you haven't already.
• December:
o Begin the application process for service academies (West Point, Annapolis, etc).
o Decide if you should take AP exams in May. Investigate the College-Level Examination Program® or CLEP,
which grants college credit for achievement in exams covering many different college-level subjects.
• January:
o Meet with your guidance counselor again to develop your senior schedule.
o Organize your Individual Graduation Plan.
• February:
o Think about lining up a summer job, internship, or co-op.
o Plan campus visits for spring break.
o Memorize your Social Security Number if you haven't already. It will be your identity on campus.
• March/April:
o Get ready for AP exams next month.
o Write a resume.
• In August, sign up for the ACT if you didn't take it as a junior, or if you aren't satisfied with your score.
• Review ACT test results and retest if necessary.
• Visit with your school counselor to make sure you are on track to graduate and fulfill college admission requirements.
Consider taking courses at a local university or community college .
• Keep working hard all year; second semester grades can affect scholarship eligibility.
• Ask for personal references from teachers, school counselors, or employers early in the year or at least two weeks
before application deadlines.
• Follow your school's procedure for requesting recommendations.
• Visit with admissions counselors who come to your high school.
• Attend a college fair.
• Begin your college essay(s).
• Apply for admission at the colleges you have chosen.
• Avoid common college application mistakes.
• Find out if you qualify for scholarships at each college where you have applied.
• Start the financial aid application process.
• See your school counselor for help finding financial aid and scholarships.
• If you need it, get help completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
• Ask your guidance office in January to send first semester transcripts to schools where you applied. In May, they will
need to send final transcripts to the college you will attend.
• Visit colleges that have invited you to enroll.
• Decide which college to attend, and notify the school of your decision.
• Keep track of and observe deadlines for sending in all required fees and paperwork.
• Notify schools you will not attend of your decision.
• Continue to look for scholarship opportunities.
• Keep track of important financial aid and scholarship deadlines.
• Watch the mail for your Student Aid Report (SAR) -- it should arrive four weeks after the FAFSA is filed.
• Compare financial aid packages from different schools.
• Sign and send in a promissory note if you are borrowing money.
• Notify your college about any outside scholarships you received.
• Make sure your final transcript is sent to the school you will be attending.
• Getting a summer job can help pay some of your college expenses.
• Make a list of what you will need to take with you for your dorm room.
• If you haven't met your roommate, call, write, or e-mail to get acquainted in advance.
• Make sure housing documentation is quickly accessible when you move into the dorm.
• Learn how to get around at your new school. Review a campus map.
• Wait until after your first class meeting to buy your books and supplies.