FRESHMAN YEAR COLLEGE PLANNING
Planning Ahead is a critical step in the college process. There are some key things to focus on and begin
during your freshman year.
 Focus on your organization and study skills to earn excellent grades. Freshman year is critical in
establishing your overall GPA.
 Become involved in extra-curricular activities.
 Find opportunities to volunteer in your community.
 Begin developing a four-year plan to meet your college and career goals.
Utilize your Freshman StEPP activities to help with this process.
 Consider signing up for Honor’s or appropriate AP courses. Freshman AP courses require certain
placement scores to enroll.
 Browse college websites and admission criteria. You can refer to oregoncis.uoregon.edu for
college sort options.
 Know NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) requirements if you want to play sports in
college.
 Attend District Post High School planning nights. Refer to Westview college and career center
website for yearly calendar.
 Look on our scholarship database to see if there are any eligible scholarships for 9th grade
students.
SOPHOMORE YEAR COLLEGE PLANNING
Concentrate on academic preparation and your college readiness skills. Continue to explore post-high
school options that meet your college and career goals.
 Register for the PSAT in October. The PSAT is a preliminary test that will prepare you for the
SAT. This is only a practice test and will not be used for college admissions.
 Continue to stay involved in school activities, community activities or volunteer commitments.
 Keep your grades up. If you struggled freshman year it’s important to raise your grades this
school year.
 Begin to attend College Rep visits at Westview high school. This is a great time to begin exploring
your options.
 Take the ACT PLAN practice test in the spring at Westview High School. All students are
registered for this exam.
 Explore college websites admission requirements to consider courses needed during your junior
year. You don’t want to run out of time to fit in all your coursework. Discuss with your counselor
appropriate AP courses if you have not yet enrolled in an AP course.
 Review C.I.S activities for career research and recommended high school courses.
 Attend district post high school planning nights. Refer to Westview college and career center
website for yearly calendar.
 Look on scholarship database to see if there are eligible scholarships for 10th grade students.
JUNIOR YEAR COLLEGE PLANNING
Begin the college selection process. Attend college fairs, financial aid seminars, District College planning
to learn as much as you can about the college application process.
 Get started on your junior packet required for your junior career education credit. The purpose of
the junior packet is to identify potential post high school options and scholarship and financial aid
information.
 Register for the PSAT in early October. Junior year PSAT scores may qualify a student for the
National Merit Scholarship competition and the National Achievement and the National Hispanic
Scholars program. Your scores will not be used for college admissions, but it is still recommended
to take one last practice for the SAT. Register for the October PSAT in September. A limited
number of tests are ordered, and they are purchased on a first come basis.
 Attend the Portland National College Fair at the Convention Center in the fall to explore college
opportunities across the country.
 Begin attending campus visits of schools you are considering. A campus visit is vital to the
decision making process of selecting a school.
 Get involved in your community and school. Community service and extra-curricular activities are
one key component of scholarship opportunities.
 Keep the rigor and grades up. When you apply to school in the fall colleges will first see junior
year grades since you will have not completed first semester when you apply.
 Begin creating your activities list. You can record and keep updated in your C.I.S portfolio.
 Take the ACT college admission exams. All juniors at Westview can take this exam. Juniors will be
notified of a date and time to register for the exam. If they miss this date please have them follow
up in the career center to register.
 Attend District Post High School Planning Nights. Refer to website for yearly calendar.
 Narrow down to 3-5 schools to apply to in the fall.
 Review the scholarship database list on the Westview calendar to begin a timeline of scholarships
you would like to apply for during senior year. Look to see if you are eligible for any junior year.
SENIOR YEAR COLLEGE PLANNING
It’s time to apply and begin the steps to reach your post high school college and career goals.
 Keep the rigor and grades up. Don’t drop classes second semester. Colleges will see and notice
you’ve dropped a class and they want seniors to still be challenging themselves to be prepared
academically for college.
 Make a timeline of deadlines for college applications and submit applications.
 Review required application procedures and documents required carefully. Not submitting all
items will delay your admission status.
 Letters of recommendations for counselors and teachers require four weeks notice before
deadlines. Speak with your teacher and counselor before sending links requesting a letter of
recommendation.
 Attend district Post High School Planning Nights. Refer to website for yearly calendar.
 Apply for FAFSA pin and get documents together to submit as soon after January 1st to be eligible
for the most amount aid. Many funding opportunities are on a first come first serve basis to
students who qualify.
 Look over your SAR (Student Aid Report) received fro FAFSA and update tax information once
completed and double check for any errors.
 Apply for the OSAC scholarship at oregonstudentaid.gov. One application for multiple
scholarships.
 Refer regularly to the scholarship database on our Westview website for current scholarship
opportunities.
 Open all documents you receive through email and mail from colleges you have submitted an
application to. Don’t miss important deadlines or information they may still be requesting from
you.