Senior Summer Productivity

After the post I wrote a few days ago related to college visits I started thinking about the incoming seniors and wondered how all of you are doing at being productive this summer with the tasks/ projects/ responsibilities we had started discussing back in February at your junior student/ parent meeting.

Just to give you a reminder of some of the things we had discussed that you could (and should) be starting to work on this summer, here is a list:

- Researching colleges
- Making college visits (see post from a few days ago)
- If you need recommendation letters hopefully you asked your teachers (or me) for a letter before the school year ended - the next few weeks would be a great time to send them an email to ask if they need any additional information from you to help as they are writing your recommendation letter
- Creating a resume
- Developing your final narrowed list of where you plan to apply to college
- Doing prep work for the ACT/ SAT as needed
- Registering for the upcoming ACT/ SAT tests as needed
- Working on your college essay - By the way, hopefully you haven't lost your information and resources from the College Application Essay Brainstorming Workshop this spring, but if you didn't attend or have misplaced your forms, you can find additional copies on the Counselor Website
- Volunteering
- Completing your summer coursework for any AP, IB and Honors classes if applicable
- Organizing materials related to your intended colleges - deadlines, materials they require, essays they want, etc.  (If you're not sure about this for some of your schools, the Common App will roll over to the Class of 2020 on August 1st so you'll definitely be able to find it then.)
- Searching for Scholarships
- And we didn't talk about this at the Junior Meetings, but don't forget that I strongly encourage you to do the free YouScience aptitude assessment to help you get additional ideas related to possible careers and majors that could be a good fit for you.  It also has great information to assist with recommendation letters.  If you haven't already asked for an access code, feel free to email me and I will send one to you.

I realize it isn't even July yet, but just starting to think about all of this excites me for the journey that is ahead of you!  I can't wait to hear about all that you have accomplished since our junior meeting and to see all that is ahead of you in senior year.  For those of you who are looking at this list and experiencing far less excitement and a lot more anxiety instead, please take a deep breath, and start.  Just begin the process - one step at a time - and you will be able to productively move forward to help yourself be successful.

Also, for the procrastinators among you, please do not wait until we return to school to begin working on all of this!  I know that it is summer, but your schedule will only get busier once we return to school and you are in classes for 7.5 hours a day, plus homework, plus sports, plus time with friends, etc.  I promise, starting your college prep work now will be worth it!