Checklist for College Planning. . . . . Junior Year
 September
___ Get in the habit of looking at the college information in the career/college center on a weekly basis.
The list of college representatives visiting Century will be posted on the bulletin board outside the office.
___ Sign up in the career center to meet with the representatives of colleges you are interested in
learning more about.
___ Inquire about the PSAT/NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) date, time and place in
October.
 October
___ Take the PSAT/NMSQT test
___ Attend as many college representative meetings as you are interested in throughout the fall months.
Representatives mainly visit from September through December. Ask specific questions of the college
Rep that you need to have answered to evaluate if the college meets your needs.
___ Attend the Century High School OUS (Oregon University System) College/Financial Aid Night
___ Attend the annual Portland National College Fair at the Convention Center where over 180 colleges
send representatives to talk with students.
___ Begin to prepare for the SAT 1 using your choice of preparation guides. Prep materials and
information are available in the Career Center.
 November
___ Keep your grades up.
___ Continue to research colleges in Career Cruising or other suggested websites, visiting with college
reps, reading evaluative guides and college information materials and looking at college videos.
 December
___ Receive results of PSAT/NMSQT. Read material sent with your scores and consult y our guidance
counselor to determine how you might improve. This can be excellent preparation for your SAT.
___ Discuss, again, career goals and tentative college plans with parents and other significant adults.
Seek out their advice and ideas.
 January
___ Study hard for your final exams in late January. Junior grades are the most important grades of your
high school career.
___ Discuss with your parents financial costs of college and what they realistically feel they can
contribute towards your college costs.
 February
___ Meet with your guidance counselor or Career Center staff to begin preparing a list of colleges to
explore more in-depth and send away for specific information about the colleges you are interested in.
___ Continue to prepare for your SATs.
___ Forecast for appropriate college bound courses for your senior year schedule. Do not take a lot of
easy classes or early releases as colleges might reject students who are not challenging themselves their
senior year.
 March
___ Pick up registration materials for the SAT and ACT in the Counseling/Career office.
___ Register for either the May or June SAT 1 or SAT II test. You cannot take both the SAT 1 and SAT II
on the same day, so you must register for the SAT 1 in May and the SAT II in June. Most colleges do not
require the SAT II tests, if that is true of the colleges you are considering, then only register for the June
SAT. This will be the first time you try these tests “for real”.
___ You are encouraged to make official college visits during your spring break to get a more human
“feel” for the classes, students, and atmosphere of a college.
 April
___ Continue to evaluate/research colleges
___ Begin eliminating some choices from your original list of colleges.
___ Last time to sign up for the June SAT 1 or SAT II.
 May
___ Take the SAT 1 or SAT II
___ Visit colleges if at all possible, so you can be there when students are there.
___ If you plan to apply for a ROTC scholarship or an academy appointment, attend an informational
meeting to receive the first section of the application during this month of your Junior year.
 June
___ Plan visits to colleges during summer.
___ Take SAT 1 or SAT II tests (if appropriate).
 July & August
___ Visit colleges where you would take tours and have interviews with college admission personnel.
___ Continue to refine your list of colleges. Send for all the applications for admission to any college you
are even slightly considering applying for admission. Also send for any viewbooks, catalogs, or financial
aid/scholarship information you need from these colleges.
___ Read through the applications from the colleges to see what they will require of you, especially
what the essay questions are, if they have them. Then begin to write first drafts of these essays before
school even starts!
___ Begin searching for scholarships on: fastweb.com; collegeboard.com; getcollegefunds.org