Stay on track:
  • Meet with your counselor to be sure you are on track to complete CPS requirements for promotion and graduation.
  • Review your course plan and academic progress with your counselor

    • or college advisor to be sure you are taking the right courses to get into the college you want to attend.

  • Enroll in ACT and/or SAT prep classes.
  • Register for and take the ACT and/or SAT.
  • Practice writing and take AP and Honors classes.
  • Read a lot! Try to read 75 pages a day, including homework and leisure reading.
  • Write a lot! In school you will need to complete a 10-page research paper.
  • Stay involved in extracurricular activities.
  • Be a leader in Service-Learning projects. By the end of Junior year you should have completed 30 Service-Learning hours.
  • Ask for help if you are having a hard time with classes or if you are having problems in or out of school.
Follow your plan:
  • Use What's Next Illinois to explore different types of schools. Save your favorite schools to your portfolio.
  • Look at the entrance requirements for colleges you like. How do these match up against your courses and plan?
  • Continue to research colleges and contact them for information you cant find or questions you want answered.
  • Continue to develop your What's Next Illinois portfolio.
Get ready:
  • Plan your senior year courses. Consider taking a fourth year of math and science courses. This will make you more competitive to colleges and universities.
  • Attend college fairs.
  • Schedule college tours at the colleges you want to learn more about.
  • Apply for a summer internship.
  • Attend a workshop on financial aid processes.
  • Use FAFSA4caster to learn about the financial aid and to estimate your eligibility for aid.
  • Start to review the process on how to apply for college and note application deadlines.
  • Write a sample college essay.
  • Identify scholarship opportunities and add to portfolio on What's Next Illinois
  • Participate in job shadowing.