Maybe the biggest surprise to me when I started this job was how crucial junior year is in college planning. When I did this decades ago, I don’t think I even started thinking about college until my senior year started. Not sure how much of that was due to changing times and how much was due to my own lack of understanding the process.
Regardless, Junior year is a critical time in the college admissions process, and as counselors, we know that balancing guidance for students while managing everything else on our plate can be a challenge. This is the year when students should be researching colleges, planning campus visits, taking standardized tests, and considering financial aid options—all while keeping up with their coursework and activities.
To make this process easier, I’ve included one-page Junior Year College Planning Checklists (one for a counselor to use and one for them to give to a student). I borrowed heavily from multiple trusted sources, including NACAC, College Board, and FAFSA. I know there are plenty of checklists out there, but this is a modified version of what I use that hopefully can help other counselors when guiding juniors.
⬇️ Download the Checklists Here:
📄 Counselor Junior Year Checklist
📄 Student Junior Year Checklist
Guiding Juniors Through the College Process
We know that junior year can be overwhelming, so breaking it down into manageable steps can help students stay on track without feeling lost in the process. Here are some key areas to focus on when guiding juniors:
1. Encouraging College Research
- Help students create a balanced college list with reach, match, and safety schools.
- Encourage them to use resources like BigFuture by College Board to explore potential colleges.
- If possible, recommend in-person or virtual college visits to get a feel for campuses.
2. Standardized Testing Strategy
- Discuss whether the student should take the SAT and ACT. Make them aware of test-optional, test-blind, and other options, but I always prefer to operate planning on submitting their test scores.
- Share registration deadlines for the SAT and ACT so they don’t miss their testing windows.
- Encourage students to take advantage of free test prep resources like Khan Academy.
3. Financial Aid and Scholarships
- Introduce students to the FAFSA website so they understand the financial aid process before their senior year.
- Help them research scholarships through trusted sources like Fastweb or Scholarships.com. Remind them to always be careful and check sources before sharing sensitive personal and financial information.
- If students are considering need-based aid, explain the difference between merit scholarships and federal financial aid.
4. College Applications and Letters of Recommendation
- Make sure students understand application components like personal statements, supplemental essays, and recommendation letters.
- Encourage them to request teacher recommendations before the end of junior year to give teachers ample time to write them over the summer. Their fall semester gets busy, too!
- Direct them to application platforms like the Common App or Coalition for College.
5. Summer Planning and Next Steps
- Encourage students to use summer wisely—internships, summer programs, or volunteering can strengthen their applications.
- If students need essay help, suggest they start brainstorming ideas over the summer.
- Remind them that senior year moves fast, so getting a head start now will ease stress later.
Downloadable Junior Year College Planning Checklists
To make things even simpler, I’ve created two downloadable checklists—one for counselors to use when advising students and one for students to use themselves. These lists cover major action items, but you can always customize them based on your school’s needs.
📄 Counselor Junior Year Checklist
📄 Student Junior Year Checklist
I hope this helps you guide your juniors through this crucial stage of the college process!