Grade-by-Grade College Prep Checklist

This article first appeared on GoLocalPDX.com on July 15, 2015.

Here’s a handy checklist for 9th-11th graders to ensure you stay on track for college admissions.

9th Grade

• Take the most rigorous classes you can handle, and review after first semester
• Understand your GPA and why it matters
• Understand standardized tests and create a general timeline for taking them
• Find one extracurricular and one service venue that you will commit to for four years
• Start a record/hour log of activities, awards and service
• Explore your interests
• Visit colleges when your family travels
• Read for pleasure, keep a vocab log, play family word games
• Job shadow your parents
• Athletes and artists- capture video
• Use your summer well
• Ask your parents to run college financial calculators

10th Grade

• Continue to take challenging courses and plot your courses through high school
• Take the optional PSAT and set a testing timeline
• Take on additional responsibility in your primary extracurricular and service area
• Start a college visit journal and visit a small, medium and large school
• Start attending college admission rep info sessions at your school and in town
• Attend local college fair
• Take an interests, values and personality assessment
• Job shadow at least three family friends
• Apply for summer internships or a summer job or take a summer community college class
• Athletes and artists-hone skills, capture video, work on portfolio/sign up on recruiting sites
• Register on scholarship match websites
• Do test prep the summer between 10th-11th grade

11th Grade

• Continue to take challenging classes including honors, AP or IB in subjects that interest you
• Get your school Naviance login and create account
• Attend local college fair (again!)
• Identify college characteristics that are important and create initial list (20-30 schools)
• Use days off from school for college visits
• Plan and take a spring break college visit tour
• Do very detailed school specific research and keep notes
• Continue attending college admission rep visits at your school and in town
• Take a benchmark ACT and the PSAT in the fall
• Prep and take the ACT or SAT in the spring
• Take SAT Subject tests (only for very selective colleges) in May or June
• Athletes register with NCAA Clearinghouse
• Make it a point to get to know at least two teachers very well; request rec letters in May
• Get a copy of your end-of-year transcript!

If you are a senior and need month-by-month guidance, check out last week’s slideshow.