Three Things High School Juniors Should Do for a Less Stressful Senior year
Last Updated on March 19, 2020 by Jill Schwitzgebel
Some respond to the stress by shutting down conversation about college entirely. Others become really anxious about the whole process and maybe focus a little TOO much on college. I do think the stress can be minimized, if you begin planning for college during your student’s sophomore year. Likewise, you can take steps with your Junior to ensure that their senior year isn’t even more stressful than this one.
1. Test Early
As I write this, it’s January. If your Junior has not taken the SAT or ACT yet, get on the computer and sign them up for the next available test date. And yes, I advocate taking both of them at least once. Compare the scores and decide which of the tests is a better option for them. If scores are in similar percentiles, then your student can just choose which test they prefer to take again. I highly recommend taking each of them sometime before winter break of Junior year.
Taking the test early has a few benefits. It gives you a ballpark idea of what colleges you may want to look at, depending on your student’s college dreams and goals. If your student did well enough to get into their dream college at an affordable cost, then they can be one and done and one source of stress has already been eliminated. Hooray! If not, then taking the tests early allows them to prepare to take their stronger/preferred test again to attempt to raise their score before college application deadlines loom, which is a much less stressful situation. For some kids, this may mean tutoring or taking a test prep class. For other kids, it means taking some more practice tests and going over their answers, so that they just feel better prepared going into the test next time, now that they know what to expect.
My personal goal for my own kids has been to have them complete all testing and re-testing prior to the end of their Junior years. The summer before senior year comes with essay writing for their applications and then as senior year begins, the applications themselves need to be completed. Somewhere in there, you are hopefully squeezing in your college visits too. That’s plenty of work in addition to their schoolwork, so if testing and preparation can be eliminated, it is one source of stress that can be taken off of their plate.
2. Schedule wisely
Many schools schedule for the next school year in January. Our school actually moved up scheduling to December, which meant that my junior had to be thinking about his senior year schedule last month, a month before he completed his first semester of his Junior year! It felt a little crazy to me. And, I can tell you that it raised the stress in my household by several degrees. Part of that was because my Junior and I were not seeing eye-to-eye on what his schedule should look like for next year.
Now, I know there are those of you reading this who are thinking, “Hey, it’s his senior year in high school…it’s time to let him make those decisions on his own.” I get that argument. But, having lived through senior years before, I have some experience with reality and Senioritis. He does not. My first semester Junior was still motivated…but I know that there is no guarantee that will be the case next October . He hates homework as it is and complains endlessly when he has a lot of it, so selfishly, I knew that taking 6 or 7 AP classes (yes, that was where negotiations began) was setting ALL of us up for an incredibly miserable, stressful senior year filled with homework. (Yes, I am aware that I also could have told him that he could take the classes, but then he couldn’t complain. But again, he is my third kid and I’m realistic by now – it’s a deal he wouldn’t keep.)
So, we did some background research about time requirements for various classes and negotiated a compromise, although I still believe he is taking more than necessary. He likely believes he isn’t taking enough, although he did grudgingly agree that he trusted my judgment. And don’t get me wrong, I am all for kids taking a rigorous and challenging course load, but I do think you have to know whether your child is likely to balance it all. And factor in those college and scholarship applications to their senior workload.
Plenty of parents and kids find themselves in the opposite situation too. Maybe your child goes to schedule in the middle of Junior year and they are feeling burned out. Therefore, they determine that they want to take basket weaving and dodgeball courses their senior year. And you have to remind them that colleges admissions officers will be looking to see what classes they have and will want to see that yes, they took a math class too. Colleges want students to maintain or even gain momentum academically during their Senior years, so that they are ready for college. So while they shouldn’t overload, this is also not the time to slack off.
3. Schedule college visits now.
No, it’s not too soon. Get on the road or in the plane. A visit can serve many purposes. For a student who is nervous about the next step because they just can’t imagine the unknown, visiting will help them picture what the next step may look like. For a kid who is feeling less than motivated in school, visiting often gets them excited for what’s to come after high school and may provide the goal they need to finish strong. From a practical standpoint, visiting, especially visiting a variety of schools, gives your child and you an idea of what they want in a college and what they don’t like. It helps your child find the right fit for them. And why waste an application fee on a college that it turns out your child doesn’t even like after they’ve seen it in person?
Taking those three steps will go a long way toward a smoother and somewhat more relaxed senior year for both of you.
For an even more comprehensive list of things to do during the junior year to prepare for college applications, go to: Your Guide to High School Junior Year
