Blog — TKG

Sign Up & Subscribe To Our Newsletter. Click Here.

junior year

Junior Year of High School: What to Expect

Junior year can be a whirlwind. After all, it’s the pinnacle of your college preparation journey and while every year of high school is important, 11th grade can, in some instances, be make-or-break. It’s crucial to get your ducks in a row and keep pushing through until the end. If you get organized from the beginning and stay consistent throughout, you should be able to maintain a reasonable pace. Either way, the light is there at the end of the tunnel, so buckle up and drive on forward.

Why you Should Schedule a Meeting with your College Advisor

So it’s nearly junior spring and you’re starting to realize that your college applications aren’t going to complete themselves. Or, you’re a sophomore and some of your older friends and peers are starting to get antsy to graduate. There’s one person who is often left out of the conversation until the 11th hour: your school college advisor.

What Classes Should I Take Junior Year of High School?

We get a lot of questions about which classes kids should take senior year. Somewhat surprisingly, this can be a contentious topic. While we always want to encourage our students to follow their hearts, junior year can be make-or-break and your course load and schedule are crucial components. We have a bit of advice for students who are really grappling with the potential academic paths ahead: keep trucking along.

Five Tips for Your Junior Year of High School

Ah, junior year. For many, junior year signifies such milestones as getting a driver’s license, but it is also known for striking fear in the hearts of underclassmen everywhere. Yes, it’s very true that junior year is a cornerstone year for the college application process, and while we want to assure you that it’s going to be alright, we also want you to be prepared for the reality that junior year brings in tow.

High School Junior Year Checklist

Getting organized for your junior year is a recipe for success. So much of your junior year is defined by tests, papers, standardized testing deadlines, and scheduling obligations. Then, your limited free time is spent studying some more and visiting colleges. It can all get overwhelming very quickly, so having a step-by-step list to follow will help you prioritize your energy, organize your thoughts, and feel accomplished along the way as you check items off the list.

Summer 2020 Ideas for Juniors

Holiday season is in full swing, which means that January 1st, 2020 is right around the corner. If you’re anything like us, the start of the new year will cause you to think about the year ahead. And if you’re a junior who plans to apply to a top tier school, or any school really, it’s time to start thinking about what you should do this summer.

When Should I Start Touring Colleges?

We get this question a lot, and it’s an important one to ask because oftentimes students come to us the summer before their senior year not having visited one school. To be frank, that is kind of an *almost* worst-case scenario. By that time you should have your school list nearly together and have begun working on your Common App personal statement. For that reason, we encourage our students to begin touring colleges the spring of their sophomore year. But the best time would be to plan a trip during the summer between your sophomore and junior year.

Tips for Junior Year of High School

Junior year is a lot. There’s no way to sugar-coat it. However, there are myriad ways to make all of the ancillary college process items more manageable. So, before you dive-in head first, it’s really important to get organized, create a strategy, and stay on track. That way, when things feel chaotic, you have a plan to refer back to. In this post, we talk about ways in which you can forge a clear path for junior year.

What Classes Should I take as a Junior in High School?

When it comes to picking classes for junior year (and all years, really) it’s important to keep in mind that you’re positioning yourself to apply to college. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for an admissions counselor to discern what you want to major in and what your academic interests are. You’re painting a picture of who you are, and your class list is one of the ways to showcase your talents and interests.

Junior Year of High School: College Prep

When you hear the words “junior year” what do you think of? SATs? College tours? Applications? AP exams? 11th grade is often billed as THE “college year,” but any 9th or 10th grader knows that it’s not like students spend the other years twiddling their thumbs. This is a misconception. Consider that every year of high school is a “college year.” In this post, we talk about what you need to be focused on your junior year. Spoiler alert: it is extracurriculars.

Junior Year of High School: College Planning

A lot of people think that junior year is the time to start getting serious about college plans, but that’s not quite true. While waiting until junior year to start college prep is common, you should really start during freshman year. But most people don’t. Lucky for you, we’ve created a junior year of high school college planning to do list so you can get organized.  

Junior Year of High School College Checklist: Month to Month

If you want to go to a top tiered school, junior year is the time to get serious. There’s a list of concrete things you absolutely must do (no matter where you want to go), but we understand how stressful it can be when you aren’t sure when to do what. We thought it would be helpful to give you a month to month checklist, similar to the schedule we provide for TKG students.

A Guide for Juniors Who Don’t Have Summer Plans Yet   

While all of the kids we work with have summer plans by now, we understand that there are some high schoolers out there who haven’t firmed anything up just yet. We know the year has been really busy, but planning something productive for your free time is crucial to the college acceptance process. This process is not new, so while this may sound a little harsh, we’re wondering what you’ve been doing for the past several months. In this post, we’ll talk to you about how you should think about planning your summer. Ultimately, however, it’s all about planning ahead and being ambitious. So, it’s time to kick it into high gear.

Actionable Items for Rising Seniors/Current Juniors

It’s April of your junior year. The sun has come out. Your classmates are planning the next all-school walkout, and you are probably using all of your strength to focus in history class for just a few more weeks so you don’t totally bomb the question about the Teapot Dome Scandal on your final exam. April also means that if you haven’t started thinking about the college process, you’re late to the game.

Spring Break Guide: Juniors Who Haven’t Toured Colleges Edition

So, juniors. Spring break is coming up. And let us guess: you haven’t toured any colleges yet. You have two options: 1) tour some colleges or 2) visit some colleges. That was a trick because those two things are the same. This is the time to take advantage of your upcoming break and start visiting colleges, doing your research, forming opinions, and making decisions. If we’re being honest, it’s late for you to be starting the college visit process (you should have already visited at least a couple of schools by now), but here we are. You can do it.

Summer Activities for Students Interested in Environmental Activism

2017 was colossal in many ways. While you were cramming for the SATs and doing a marathon tour of colleges, America was backing out of the Paris Climate Agreement and Antarctica was losing a chunk of ice the size of Delaware. So, now that you’re free from the clutches of AP U.S. History, you might be considering taking to the streets to join the Climate March on Washington. In this post, we have provided some ideas on how the environmental activists among us can spend their summer while impressing college admissions counselors. 

Summer Activities for Students Interested in Politics

Student government may be over for the year, but this summer, Congress will still be very much in session. 2018 is a watershed year for politics. With more women and people of color running for office than any other time in history and arguably more people marching in the streets than any administration since Nixon, the opportunities to get involved are endless. So what if Sarah Blair became a state legislator when she was practically your age? YOU are going to do something other than read Fire and Fury for the seventh time this vacation.  In this post, we will discuss the ways in which students interested in politics can leverage their summer vacation to get ahead in the polls. 

Summer Activities for Juniors Interested in Healthcare

Summer is a great time to get ahead in the college application game. While your competition is busy binge-watching Grey’s Anatomy, we recommend kicking it into high gear and setting yourself to pursue health care in college. There are a number of different ways you can impress the admissions committee, from taking a great internship to spending the summer in a serious college course. Whatever you choose, make sure you challenge yourself and make sure you get specific. There will be hundreds, perhaps even thousands of other applicants who want to pursue careers in healthcare. In order to set yourself apart, you should spend the remainder of your high school career developing yourself as the best within a niche within healthcare. In other words, market yourself as the kid who is going to be the best nurse in the pediatric ICU, the top doctor in medical bionics, or even a successful healthcare marketing professional.