It may seem that we seniors are heartless creatures whose sole purpose is to make fun of underclassmen; however, we did not become so cynical by accident. Our sardonic comments and malicious mockery can be blamed on none other than junior year. The end of sophomore year is a bittersweet time for high school students. Of course there is a long summer to look forward to, but on the other side lies the most academically crucial (a.k.a stressful) year in high school. Once students have braved Honors English 11, dried the tears of the 2 a.m. panic attack, and sacrificed many a Saturday to the SAT tutor, they leave junior year as changed people. I know first-hand how painful the eleventh grade can be, so on behalf of the class of 2013, I am leaving you with four tips to surviving junior year:
1. Visit colleges during your junior year. Walk on real campuses. Hopefully, falling in love with one will give you the push to work hard during your junior year. When school is getting tough, or when you think about skipping studying for a test, picture yourself at your dream school. I promise it will give you the extra push you need to keep going.
2. Start taking your SAT/ACTs early. Most people wait until the March SAT date to board the emotional rollercoaster that is standardized testing. Of course, studying helps, but sometimes the biggest boost to your grade can come from simply taking the test more than once and becoming comfortable with it. By getting a head start you can get that first bad score out of the way and then rub it in your friends’ faces when you score higher than them in March.
3. Apply to colleges early. By the time mid-August before your senior year rolls around, you should have a list of your top-choice schools you will definitely be applying to. If you apply before the early action deadline (or early decision if you are 100 percent sure that is your school), your fate will be mailed to you in December. Then there are rolling admissions, God’s gift to high school seniors. If a college has a rolling admissions process apply within the first few weeks of school, and you could have an answer from them by mid-September! Yes, bragging rights are fair game when your friends are still stressing over college essays and you have already been accepted.
4. To freshman and sophomore readers: Don’t slack. Even though college seems far off, one thing I can promise you is that FRESHMAN AND SOPHOMORE YEARS MATTER! Colleges look at your overall high school GPA, so if you slack off in ninth and tenth grade, your GPA will take a huge hit (your Honors Bio grade will come back to haunt you). By trying your best during your first two years of high school, you will save yourself a lot of self-hate when it comes time to apply to colleges.
There are many other junior year survival tips I could give you, but they may ruffle the feathers of a few teachers. If all else fails, just remember: junior year may have left the class of 2013 with bumps, bruises, and a few scars, but we lived to tell about it, or should I say, tease you youngins about it.
