November College Prep Checklist for High School Juniors

November is an important prep time for high school juniors, and we’re not just talking about the big turkey dinner at the end of the month. From this point on, every move you make matters. Your academic footprint and your decision making toward the college admissions and financial aid processes are a much bigger deal at this stage in the game. You need to focus more than ever on your studies, which classes you choose to take, and how much you devote to preparing for standardized testing and college research outside the classroom. Class of 2025, here’s a checklist to help you keep track of what to do during the month of November to stay on top of your college preparation and planning processes:

November Planning Checklist for High School Juniors:

Work to stay on track in your classes and keep your grades up.

Even if you’re not at the top of your class, that’s ok. Continual improvement is what is most important. Always remember that colleges love to see upward trends!

Meet with your counselor.

When you meet with your school counselor, discuss college options, standardized testing, your class rank, and any other concerns you may have regarding your college admissions and planning. Meet with your counselor to touch base at least once each semester to ensure you’re on track with the college planning process.

Create a standardized testing plan.

Work with your counselor to form a testing plan so that you know which standardized tests you plan to take, based on which schools you are going to be applying to, and which standardized test he or she would recommend. Also, discuss which preparatory measures he or she would suggest you take and when you should begin studying. Make note of important registration deadlines so that you don’t miss them. Finally, ensure you have more than enough time to prepare for each exam and account for any retakes you may want.

Start to think about and evaluate your college options.

After you've about GPA and class rank, it's time to turn your attention to college options. Discuss the schools you’ve been thinking of applying to next year and whether those options are realistic given your current academic status.

Create a college list.

Start a list of colleges that meet your basic criteria, such as: school size, location, majors you’re interested in studying, and cost. Once you have that list created, keep adding additional factors and weighing each aspect based on importance so that you have the list ranked. At this point, your college list can range anywhere from 10 to 20 schools.

Research colleges you are interested in learning more about.

Start gathering more information about colleges you’re interested in by attending college fairs or college nights. Talk to college representatives if they happen to visit your school or research colleges online independently. This will help you narrow down your college list and may even add additional schools you hadn’t thought of to your list, which is perfectly alright. Either way, it will lead you in the right direction to the right school!

Continue to explore your interests.

This can be done through extracurricular activities, academic clubs, and volunteering. It can also be accomplished through job shadowing or obtaining a part-time job, apprenticeship, or internship, in a profession that may interest you. By doing so, you can narrow down your career interests and potentially discover which colleges offer the majors and fields of study you may want to pursue. Plus, if it happens to be a paid position, you can save for college and avoid taking out more student loans!

Stay involved in extracurricular activities.

Whether you’re already involved or just getting started, it’s important to be active in high school. Make sure you’re always involved in at least one or two extracurriculars – and stick with them!

Create a college file to stay organized.

From now until the time you leave for college, piles of college documents and information on each school will accumulate. Keeping everything organized now will avoid chaos later. Start a file for your research so that you can keep track of what you find for each school. That way, you’ll know exactly where to look when you need to reference back to each school’s folder, which should also include any college application information.

Create an academic resume.

Consider creating an academic resume to include within your portfolio. Including an academic resume allows an admissions officer to see your student information in brief, including your education, honors, and employment/internship experience as well as any special interests, volunteer or community service work, hobbies, and passions.