Junior Year: Need to assemble college list but don't have grades or test scores yet...

[Anonymous]

So it's junior year and my child has friends who are looking at schools already. I'm ready to do the same and my child has aspirations to go to a top college, but with it being so competitive these days it's hard to know what is realistic. I imagine we should look at a range of schools, but he is an athlete and we're a big family and don't have a lot of time for visits. Grades from freshman and sophomore year are good/great, but the first quarter of junior year is only ending this week. He'll take the SATs this spring and by then we'd have a real GPA to work with, but isn't that a little late to start the process? Can I start to target schools based on freshman through first quarter junior year grades alone?

[Anonymous]

My Junior pretty much knew his grade before they were posted. He followed it all quarter.

I would think he should have a pretty good idea what letter grade he is going to get in each course by now.

My son took mock tests for ACT & SAT spring of sophomore year and we knew what type of test taker he was.

By this time of Junior year, based on grades and rigor of courses...and now with even test optional--a basic outline of reach, target, safety should be fairly easy----with adjustments if grades go down, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Junior pretty much knew his grade before they were posted. He followed it all quarter.

I would think he should have a pretty good idea what letter grade he is going to get in each course by now.

My son took mock tests for ACT & SAT spring of sophomore year and we knew what type of test taker he was.

By this time of Junior year, based on grades and rigor of courses...and now with even test optional--a basic outline of reach, target, safety should be fairly easy----with adjustments if grades go down, etc.

Especially because of everyone applying early---Senior grades aren't even factored in.

[Anonymous]

OP here - Thanks. Grades are good so far, I think my concern is that the material could get harder as the year goes on and his marks could dip. It still feels like a shot in the dark, but I guess that's true regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Junior pretty much knew his grade before they were posted. He followed it all quarter.

I would think he should have a pretty good idea what letter grade he is going to get in each course by now.

My son took mock tests for ACT & SAT spring of sophomore year and we knew what type of test taker he was.

By this time of Junior year, based on grades and rigor of courses...and now with even test optional--a basic outline of reach, target, safety should be fairly easy----with adjustments if grades go down, etc.

Agreed. Your DC should have a general sense of how grades are going to play out.

We looked at schools all throughout Jr year - urban, suburban, rural, small, med, and large. The goal was to get a sense of the environment moreso that "this is the school I want to apply to".

I know you didn't ask but I'll offer a piece of advice. Make sure you expose your DC to schools outside of "top colleges". Those rejection rates are so high that students are setting themselves up by not thinking broadly about the schools they could ultimately see themselves attending. And broadly means schools with higher acceptance rates.

[Anonymous]

Focus sorting through types of schools: small vs. large, urban vs. rural, liberal arts versus preprofessional emphasis. Then when you have his stats, you can identify that group of schools and start taking tours.

[Anonymous]

Start with your in-state options, and not at the top of the rankings list. For example, if you are in Virginia, go look at Mary Washington, VCU, and JMU. That will give you a spread of school locations/types and those are all reasonable options for good students who aren't at the top of their class. Their grades could settle at any of those as match schools, or they might be safeties, or if things head south they could be reaches. But you just don't start out by looking at UVA and W&M and then saying "oh sorry, you can't have that."

[Anonymous]

He should be receiving his PSAT score in early December, no? I think this spring would be a great time for visits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Start with your in-state options, and not at the top of the rankings list. For example, if you are in Virginia, go look at Mary Washington, VCU, and JMU. That will give you a spread of school locations/types and those are all reasonable options for good students who aren't at the top of their class. Their grades could settle at any of those as match schools, or they might be safeties, or if things head south they could be reaches. But you just don't start out by looking at UVA and W&M and then saying "oh sorry, you can't have that."

Va Tech is surprisingly missing from your state school list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Focus sorting through types of schools: small vs. large, urban vs. rural, liberal arts versus preprofessional emphasis. Then when you have his stats, you can identify that group of schools and start taking tours.

This is a good strategy.

Also focus on finding safeties and targets. Don't waste time on visiting a bunch of reach, highly selective (25% acceptance rate and below) schools, other than at most a couple to identify an ED school. If your kid gets into those highly selective schools, you can visit then. For now, the main goal is to keep the grades up and get a good test score. You'll have time to visit schools over spring break and summer and make a list before the common app opens on 8/1.

[Anonymous]

I agree that it is too early to determine reach schools without a SAT score or first semester grades. Junior year can be tough academically. Does your athlete plan to play in college? Is he/she currently being recruited or have an interest in D1 or D3? Depending on when your SAT is scheduled, you might be able to schedule tours over Spring break. SAT scores are typically released a few weeks after test day.

If you have time this fall, visit your more local state schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So it's junior year and my child has friends who are looking at schools already. I'm ready to do the same and my child has aspirations to go to a top college, but with it being so competitive these days it's hard to know what is realistic. I imagine we should look at a range of schools, but he is an athlete and we're a big family and don't have a lot of time for visits. Grades from freshman and sophomore year are good/great, but the first quarter of junior year is only ending this week. He'll take the SATs this spring and by then we'd have a real GPA to work with, but isn't that a little late to start the process? Can I start to target schools based on freshman through first quarter junior year grades alone?

At this point in junior year, I could not get my DD to seriously look at any college in particular. So, we only tried to identify generics. Large/Midsize/Small, settings and big sport/Greek or not. Things along those lines, but not specific colleges. That did not kick in until late spring of junior year and then another reality shock set in when working on the common app essay during the summer.
There is still plenty of time to tour colleges and do the online sessions.

It all worked out. She ended up with plenty of good options and is attending CMU.

[Anonymous]

He’s got plenty of time. I wouldn’t even think about this until Spring. By then you’ll know a lot more. Don’t get caught up in the hysteria.

[Anonymous]

Figure out your budget now. Do not talk up top schools if you can’t afford them.

Our list starts with 3 in-state options that we know we can afford and that our kid can get into. Our kid will be grateful for the opportunity and take full advantage of these in-state options. All other schools after that are icing on the cake, if he wishes to find some additional schools to apply to.

The top schools (and others too) fill most of their class with the ED rounds. It’s almost a waste of time to apply to them for regular decision. So, if you are full pay (or willing to take what aid is offered you) and have a top contender for ED, it’s another option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Start with your in-state options, and not at the top of the rankings list. For example, if you are in Virginia, go look at Mary Washington, VCU, and JMU. That will give you a spread of school locations/types and those are all reasonable options for good students who aren't at the top of their class. Their grades could settle at any of those as match schools, or they might be safeties, or if things head south they could be reaches. But you just don't start out by looking at UVA and W&M and then saying "oh sorry, you can't have that."

I think this is a good approach, adding VT in those tours (but understand their admissions seem to be highly unpredictable regardless of the student profile).

I would also throw in visiting a small liberal arts college in the region. Goucher, McDaniel, Washington College, Randolph-Macon, St Mary's of Maryland are all reasonably close by.

If one of these schools really feels good to them, look at their profile in the Fiske Guide. It suggests other schools that are similar.

The other priority is for you to learn about colleges costs, financial aid, merit aid, etc. and figure out what you can afford. No point in applying to a bunch of reaches if you can't afford them, visiting a bunch of reaches early on is IMO a waste of time. We focused in junior year more on finding potential safeties that DD could love. She ended up with a rough junior year and grades a bit lower than she'd had coming out of sophomore year so things that seemed like extreme safeties are still highly likely and a good fit. Her reaches were easy since the only reaches we can afford are UVA, W&M and we can see at this point UVA is totally off the table while W&M is still a reach but possible.

She ended up liking small colleges with good STEM programs, strong research opportunities so applied W&M ED but she has UMW as an in-state safety and several LACs that will give merit to fit our budget.

DS (now in college) loved VT after seeing a range of schools so we focused on finding other big state schools that would fit the budget. He ultimately got into VT but had a couple other strong options.