
The College Timeline
Learning Tools
What school do I apply to? What is a major?
When do I take the SAT?
Do you have any of these questions as you prepare for life after high school? Read on to see my timeline of what should be accomplished in every year of high school and ways that I can provide help and guidance.
9th Grade

This is your first year of high school, everything you do counts. Schools don't look at your grades or transcripts from before 9th grade. Take this seriously!
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Career Investigation Paper: I offer this course for students to map out and plan their future for high school based on potential majors and careers in the future.
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Join clubs: This is where you figure out your interests, build friendships, and gain experiences. These clubs will be on your resume when you apply to schools.
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Organize yourself and try new systems to help you find stability for the rest of your high school career.
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**Parents: Start a folder for your child to hold onto documentation of awards, accomplishments, sports records, report cards, and schools attended (if applicable)​. This will come in handy when you are putting together names of coaches, sports positions played, dates of recognition, leadership positions and anything else of importance when senior year comes along.**
10th Grade

In 10th grade, you're not a first-year student anymore trying to figure everything out. You have a full year of experience under your belt. Join new clubs, try out for that sport, and go back to the extracurricular activities that give you life.
Continue to work hard to keep your grades the best that they can be.
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Set alarms for yourself when it's time to study or when it's time to get ready for bed. Be diligent and stick to that study and sleep schedule.
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Set yourself on the extra help schedule (to read the blog post for this, click on the link) to keep you accountable for your learning and your grades. Consistency is key!
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Find ways to motivate yourself when you feel lazy. Figure out what works for you! Do you WOOP?
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Be accountable! You are learning to survive in the real world. Baby steps, but keep moving forward.
11th Grade

In 11th grade, most schools will have a mandatory PSAT test as a precursor to the SAT. It will help you gain experience in the standardized testing world and help you see what skills are expected of you on the SAT. Some schools will have free ACT tests, so you can see how you will score on the other standardized test for college or university admissions.
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School Scavenger Hunt: I offer this course to begin the college and university search. It helps you understand more about schools and what makes a good fit. You will learn the process of self-discovery and self-reflection to discover skills, passions, and motivations about yourself, which will be the basis of the personal statement and essays for admissions.
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What's your "Why?": I will help you to discover your why, what inspires you into action. If done correctly, "your why" will emerge and link your interests, extracurricular activities, and lay a blueprint for your future. It will help you understand why and how you do daily habits and activities.
I also don't recommend taking the SAT (or ACT) until your junior year is finished. The SAT is given all through summer and the beginning of your senior school year. If you take it in the middle of your junior year, you have half a year of school that you didn't learn yet that might be on the test.
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Instead, I recommend waiting until right after your junior year ends, so that you have the entire year learned before going into this test. However, if your parents have the extra money to do so, take the test to increase comfortability and familiarity with the test.
12th Grade

By the start of your senior year, you should have some idea of the schools you will be applying to and the SAT should have been taken (twice ideally).
Plan accordingly and stay organized because you will not only be adjusting to your last year of high school, but you will also be navigating the application process at the same time.
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Book your sessions with me during first semester to gain access to my college organization check lists and personal statement and essay consultations. I will help to keep you on a school application timeline and guide you through the short answer and essay questions.
If you are interested in scholarships, you will most likely need to write a few essays and meet specific requirements to qualify. The scholarship finding app and website, My Scholly, is a paid membership website that helps you find scholarships that apply to you. Instead of looking for the specific scholarships, it finds them for you and saves time.