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Video: 5 Tips to Increase Your Junior Year Success

Junior year has a reputation for being tough, but our student vlogger Robert knows the best tips and tricks to help you succeed all year long.

Junior year has a reputation for being tough—it is when you have to really start thinking about college after all. But our student vlogger Robert knows the best tips and tricks to help you succeed. To stay on top of academics, extracurriculars, and more, check out the video below to learn more!

Get a notebook or binder (1:05)

When it comes to applying for college and having to talk about your accomplishments in high school, it’s hard to remember everything. You should keep an ongoing notebook of all your major achievements, volunteer work, awards, etc. This way, all crucial information will be in one place for you to easily circle back to and reference in all your college applications. Try to start this as early as you possibly can—and get specific with your details, like how long your commitments lasted or what positions you held. 

Related: Video: Organization and Time Management Skills

Begin to find your niche (2:20)

Colleges like, at least to some degree, students who have an idea of what they want. If you structure your courseload in high school to mimic the way your schedule will look in college, you will increase your chances of getting admitted. Really think about what you're good at or what you might like to do after college and load up on your best subjects. Make sure you take classes you like for colleges you want to pursue because success is already loving what you do! Start exploring your career path early. Sure, it'll be a while before you get there, but looking to your future can be motivating.

Figure out your identity (5:40)

Finding your identity can be quite difficult in high school. People are at a vulnerable age and go through a lot of changes. You'll deal with a lot of judgments thrown your way. Despite this, it's important to embrace who you are and to power through the superficial noise. There are so many voices saying things—including in your own head—but none of them should stop you from being unabashedly you. Don't be afraid to be you, and you'll find much more success throughout life than if you let others dictate your choices. 

Related: 4 Great Ways to Start Thinking About Your Future Career

Solidify relationships with your teachers (6:50)

This is super important when it comes to getting a recommendation letter for college. When it comes time to ask for them, you're most likely going to seek out teachers from junior or senior year. And what's going to be a better letter: a teacher who barely knew you or one you really connected with who remembers you as a good student? Form relationships with teachers so they can write a much more valuable recommendation letter because a good rec letter can be a make-or-break situation.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes (8:24)

Avoid putting too much pressure on yourself. Take your academics seriously, but find a balance. Yes, we all make mistakes, but the most important thing is to learn from them. At some point, everyone fails. But once we do that, we learn more about ourselves and how capable we are of achieving our goals.

Related: How to Manage Your Stress for Better Health as a Student

Don't make what is often believed to be the toughest year of high school even more difficult by going into it unprepared. Arm yourself with the organizational skills and resources you need to tackle the start of the college search, challenge yourself in your classes, explore your passions, and have some fun along the way. 

Start searching for colleges on CollegeXpress, and watch more videos from our student vloggers on the CollegeXpress YouTube Channel!

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Lydia Huth

Lydia Huth

Student, Campbell University; CollegeXpress Student Writer

I discovered CollegeXpress while embarking on my college search journey as an excited—but scared and way confused—high schooler without a counselor or college-bound sibling to give me advice. Let me tell you, I’m so glad that I stumbled on this community! CollegeXpress helped me find potential colleges and keep application deadlines straight. It gave me a great list of scholarships, and the blogs and emails made me feel like I wasn’t going it alone. Almost three years later and with freshman year of college down, I still love the CollegeXpress vibe so much that I’m writing for them. I’d recommend this site to anyone!

Maria  Fernanda

Maria Fernanda

High School Class of 2023

CollegeXpress is always telling you with time to spare when to apply for certain scholarships, what they require, and if you’re eligible or not. They also provide helpful tips for both incoming college students and current college students, such as what to absolutely have in your dorm.

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High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress has helped me explore my views on college in that "why do I wanna go to a certain school" way. It’s helped me explore the best fits in all of these outstanding choices. All these college admission counselors can access my accolades showing them how I could help their college. This source of information helps me show these admission directors who I am and what I'm interested in. Thanks to this platform, my experience for education will be better than most, and I'm so grateful for all that it has provided for me.

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