11th Grade College Planning Checklist
Everything at once
It is March. A junior has four demanding classes, a test date in three weeks and a club she now helps run. At dinner her parents ask which colleges she is thinking about. She has no answer, and that becomes one more thing to worry about.
Junior year feels like this for most students, because every part of the process seems to start together. They don't all start together. The year has an order, and a student who follows it has less to carry at any one time.
What 11th grade is for
Grades come first. In a NACAC survey of four-year colleges, 77% rated grades in college-prep courses as considerably important and 64% said the same of the strength of the curriculum. Junior year is the last complete year of both that colleges see before deciding.
Course choice this year is a balance. The schedule should stretch the student, and the grades still have to hold. A student whose 9th grade was uneven and whose 11th is strong also has something working in their favor, because colleges read the direction of grades as well as the level.
Four tracks through the year
Junior year is easier to manage as four separate tracks, each with one thing to do per season.
| Track | Fall | Winter | Spring | Summer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courses | Start well, because first-semester grades carry weight | Hold the level through midyear | Choose 12th grade courses at the same level | A break from classes |
| Testing | If not done in 10th grade, one practice SAT and one practice ACT, then choose one | Prepare in short, regular sessions | First official test | Retake if the score is below target |
| Colleges | Note what the student likes and dislikes about their own school | Start reading about colleges: size, location, programs, cost | Visit a few, in person or online | A working list of about ten to twelve, from likely to ambitious |
| Recommendations and essays | Take part in class, since these teachers will likely write | Nothing due | Ask the teachers who know the student best, before school ends | Write down moments worth telling and try a first draft |
Read down any column and no season holds more than four things.
A note on test scores
Whether a score is good depends on where it is sent. Each college reports the range its admitted students scored in, and that range is the yardstick. Colleges also differ on whether they require scores at all, and several have changed their policy in recent years, so check each one on the list. Our advice is to take the test even if most colleges on the list are test-optional, so every option stays open.
Five common mistakes
- Carrying on as if nothing has changedSeveral jobs that land in senior fall have to start this year.
- Booking a test date at the last minuteChoose the dates in the fall and plan preparation backward from them.
- Waiting until 12th grade to ask teachersA teacher asked before summer has time to write a considered letter.
- Choosing colleges by ranking onlyFit and cost belong on the list from the first version.
- Taking on new activitiesThe ones already there deserve the time.
The checklist
- Courses that stretch the student, with grades holding
- A practice SAT and a practice ACT, if not done in 10th grade, and one test chosen
- First official test in the spring
- Teachers asked before school ends
- A working list of about ten to twelve colleges
- A summer with something real in it
- Essay moments written down, and a first draft tried
How Pursiva helps in 11th grade
Pursiva puts junior year in order. It lays out the year's tasks with dates. Its SAT coach records SAT scores and advises on whether to retake. Its College list module helps build a list around the student's own profile, and its Recommendations module helps choose which teachers to ask and what to share with them. Essay ideas are saved as they come up, ready for senior year.
Back at the dinner table, the junior's answer can be simple. The college list builds from winter through summer, and it is on the plan.