Your junior and senior years are critical times of you high school journey. Juniors begin to make decisions that will affect the rest of your lives, and seniors will find yourselves juggling a multitude of deadlines and responsibilities in addition to the festivities and excitement of the final year of high school. Avoid becoming overwhelmed and stay organized and ahead of the game by mapping out a plan of attack for the coming year. Following are tentative monthly schedules that may be useful in creating a detailed list of dates and deadlines for juniors and seniors.
Junior year calendar
A lot of junior year is preparing for all the work you’ll have to do senior year. Use this calendar to keep you on track.
September
- Determine when you’ll take the SAT or ACT exam.
- Meet with your college counselors to discuss your course selection for the school year and ensure it’s appropriately challenging.
- Step up extracurricular involvement and take on leadership roles.
- Participate in community service activities.
- Register for the PSAT.
- This is a good time to begin looking at college reference books and visiting schools’ websites. Begin a list of schools you’re interested in applying to.
- Review your transcripts thus far with your college counselors and work on improving grades and GPA.
- This is also a good time to begin working on résumés.
October
- Take the PSAT.
- Consider taking career assessment tests to help them explore majors and professions you’re interested in or well suited for.
November
- Continue to focus on maintaining strong grades.
- Work with parents, teachers, and college counselors to develop a game plan for SAT/ACT preparation.
- Begin a more in-depth investigation of colleges. Continue to visit schools’ websites and consider speaking with current students and alumni.
- It’s never too early to begin searching for scholarships and grants. The sooner you start, the more money you’ll find.
December
- PSAT scores arrive in December—discuss the results with your cousnelor.
- Note upcoming SAT/ACT registration deadlines and exam dates and continue to work on test preparation.
January
- Mid-year evaluation of grades. Look for areas that need improvement.
- Continue the search for scholarships and grants.
- Consider job shadowing and volunteer work to learn more about potential careers.
February
- Look at schedule of AP exams and register if applicable.
- Continue SAT/ACT test preparation through prep courses, software, and/or practice tests.
- Start selecting senior year courses, ensuring they’re sufficiently but not overly challenging.
- You and your counselor should discuss potential colleges and start narrowing down the list.
March
- Request admission and financial aid information from colleges.
- Create a folder for each school you’re applying to.
- Begin visiting schools and touring campuses.
- Work on applications for summer jobs and internships.
April
- Continue visiting schools. Attend college fairs and meet with admission representatives.
- Think about teachers, counselors, and mentors who could write letters of recommendation.
- Finalize course selection for senior year.
- Register for summer school, if necessary.
- Continue SAT/ACT and AP test preparation if applicable.
- Re-evaluate the list of colleges you’re thinking of applying to and continue to narrow down the list.
- This is a good time to look into academic summer programs, such as academic summer camps and schools or programs for high schools students at local colleges.
May
- Finalize summer plans.
- Study hard and end the school year with strong grades. Look at final grades and GPA and determine where improvements can be made.
- Continue to visit colleges, setting up interviews, meeting with admission and financial personnel, and talking with current and former students.
Summer
- Get a job and try to put away some money for college.
- Continue to visit and research colleges.
- Get leadership experience through volunteer activities.
- Stay sharp by doing things like participating in academic summer programs and reading challenging books.
Related: Our Best Advice for Junior Year of High School
Senior year calendar
September
- Finalize the list of colleges you plan to apply to and review them with your high school counselor.
- Determine which schools don’t have online applications and request paper applications as necessary.
- Meet with any visiting college representatives. Go to college fairs. Continue to visit colleges and do online virtual tours.
- Register for and take the SAT/ACT if you haven’t already or were unhappy with your original scores.
- You and your counselor should consider creating a “master calendar” of all application and financial aid deadlines.
- Review transcript and make sure everything is accurate.
- Note the deadlines for any schools you’re applying to Early Decision or Early Action—these dates will come very quickly.
- Take on leadership roles and be as involved as possible in extracurricular activities.
- Begin thinking about essay topics.
- Continue to focus on grades—final transcripts will be sent to the schools you’re accepted to.
- Gather documents needed for the FAFSA.
- Go to any financial aid nights/events available.
October
- File the FAFSA as soon after October 1 as possible, then start watching for your Student Aid Report (SAR) and review it for accuracy.
- Submit Early Action or Early Decision applications.
- Start outline application essay ideas and writing them.
- Ask teachers, coaches, or others to write recommendations. Give them at least a month to write.
- Continue to attend college fairs and college nights.
- If distance permits, visit your top choice schools. If they’re too far away, visit the schools’ websites, do virtual tours, and communicate with admission and financial aid representatives.
- Maintain an organized folder for each school.
- Find out what financial aid forms each school requires, note the deadlines, and begin gathering the information that will be required.
- If required, begin working on video auditions, portfolios, writing samples, and other application supplements.
- Students and counselors should work together to ensure transcripts and test scores will be sent to the schools.
November
- Continue working on applications and ensure all deadlines will be met. Be sure to make copies of everything.
- Follow up with everyone who wrote letters of recommendation and ensure the letters will be sent on time and to the correct schools.
- Finalize essays. Scrutinize them carefully, get second opinions, and re-write as necessary.
December
- Start wrapping up applications.
- Continue searching for scholarships and grants.
- Notification of admission decisions for Early Decision and Early Action applications generally arrive in December or January.
January
- Submit any remaining applications with Regular Decision deadlines.
- Continue to focus on grades—they still count.
- If required, send first semester transcripts to schools.
- Finalize any applications not already submitted.
February
- Review all applications and make sure all required materials have been submitted and all deadlines have been met.
- Continue searching and applying for scholarships and grants.
- It’s courteous to send thank-you notes to anyone who sent a letter or recommendation or helped in the application process in some way.
March
- Admission decisions will start coming in. Work with tyour parents and college counselor to rank options and evaluate any wait lists.
- Note the dates of upcoming AP exams and begin studying for them.
- Look for summer jobs and volunteer opportunities.
- Students who have been accepted to more than one school and are unsure of which to attend might consider visiting or re-visiting the campuses to help in making the decision.
April
- Once financial aid packages start coming in from each school, review and compare them.
- Decide on the school you’ll attend by accepting and declining offers as necessary and sending any required deposits, usually by May 1.
- Note orientation, registration, and other important dates and deadlines for the upcoming school year.
- Even at this point, continue to look for scholarships and grants.
- Don’t lose focus—finish the school year with strong grades.
May
- Make sure your high school sends your final grades, class rank, and proof of graduation to your college.
- Finalize your summer plans.
- Analyze your financial situation and work on a budget for your first year of college. Save money from summer jobs.
- Enjoy the rest of your senior year and get ready for a busy summer before college!
Summer
- Work and continue saving money for college.
- Attend orientation and any other activities for incoming freshmen.
- Shop for dorm furnishings and make a list of things to pack.
- Find and connect with future roommates.
- Stay sharp by reading challenging books, brushing up on math skills, and maintaining proficiency in any foreign languages taken in high school.
- Relax, travel if possible, and spend time with friends and family. The next four years will be a busy and exciting whirlwind!
Related: Our Best Advice for Senior Year of High School
Keep in mind this is not a definitive list of what you have to do and when you have to do it. Your college admission journey is going to look different from your friends and peers. But this list is comprehensive so it’s a good guide for the last two years of school. Good luck on your way to college. You got this!
If you haven't built your college list yet, you should check out The CollegeXpress Ultimate Guide to the College Search or go straight to our College Search tool!
