Stay Involved
Stay involved in school or community-based activities that interest you or allow you to explore career interests. Remember, it’s quality or quantity that counts.
- Colleges look for consistency and depth in the non-academic activities you pursue. Taking on leadership roles and making a commitment to the same groups are more important than trying out tons of new activities each year.
- Add any new activities/clubs/jobs to your list (resume) as well as any leadership roles you hold. Colleges, universities and jobs like to see how you have used your time and what skills you have developed.
Meet with Your Counselor
Meet with your counselor to check on your class decile rank and your GPA. Even if your grades haven’t been that good so far, it’s never too late to improve. Colleges like to see an upward trend.
- Evaluate your education options. Now is the time to follow a more specific path. Decide whether you want to pursue full-time employment, further education or career training (such as a vocational-technical school, career college, or two-year or four-year college), or a military career. If you’re interested in attending a military academy, talk to your school counselor about starting the application process now.
- Take as many challenging classes as you are capable. Consider your time constraints, academic ability, and other life stressors as a balanced life is important.
- Select purposeful electives that may lead to a career path. Obtain industry certifications. Learn about dual credit classes, which allow you to earn high school and college credit at the same time, and how they transfer.
- Go to college fairs and college-preparation presentations by college representatives who have scheduled a visit with JHHS.
Gather College Information
- Attend college information nights (programming designed specifically for 11th grade students and their families starts at JHHS in January of your junior year).
- Use Scoir’s College search function to begin building your college lists. Your list of colleges should include schools that meet your most important criteria (for example, size, location, cost, academic majors, or special programs). Weigh each of the factors according to their importance to you and develop a preliminary ranking of the schools on your list.
- It’s good to have reach, fit, and likely schools on your list from an academic perspective. It’s good to have the same range from a financial perspective too (colleges you can definitely afford and colleges you’d need a huge scholarship to make work out). Use this document to help build a college list.
- Looking for more affordable options outside Wyoming? Be sure to look at colleges that offer the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE – pronounced woo-eee) scholarship to students from Wyoming.
- Check out the Going Merry scholarship database to get matched to scholarships that meet your personal criteria.
Take the PSAT
Taking this standardized test qualifies you for the National Merit Scholarship program, which means you could earn money for college. In addition, it’s a good way to practice for the SAT and ACT.
Organize a Testing Plan
- Figure out when you’ll be taking important tests like the ACT, SAT, and AP exams, and mark the dates on your calendar. You’ll want to have plenty of time to prepare.
- Prepare for standardized tests. While many colleges are test optional, a good test score can help you qualify for scholarships (like Hathaway!) and help your application. Register to take the tests you need; most juniors take them in the winter or spring. You can take them again in the fall of your senior year if you’re unhappy with your scores.
- REMEMBER: all TCSD students will take the ACT in April of their junior year. This free, official ACT is a state requirement offered during the school day.
- REMEMBER: register for all tests in advance and be sure to give yourself time to prepare appropriately! If you have difficulty paying a registration fee, see your school counselor about getting the fee waived.
- Many colleges are “Test Optional.” Fair Test’s website has a comprehensive list of schools and how they look at your test scores. Talk to your school counselor if you have questions – this is a confusing topic!
