College Planning

Preparing for the future can be a scary task; how do you know what to do when?  Families often struggle with what steps they should be taking to determine the next step past high school.  While we encourage students to find their passion, and there are plenty of great options for working after high school, the following is focused on the college search and application process.

Here is what students who plan to attend college should be doing at this time of year.

Seniors:  

  • Apply for school….now

  • College Board recommends applying to at least 4 schools

  • Communicating with the counselor for transcript submissions

  • Start working on scholarship opportunities

Juniors:  

  • Be considering majors to determine what you are interested in  

  • Start talking to college representatives when they come to school

  • Begin planning college visits for the spring and summer  

  • Schedule your ACT and/or SAT

Sophomores:  

  • Work hard in your classes

  • Develop relationships with teachers  

  • Take practice ACTs or SATs  

  • Start comparing colleges to see what you like or don’t like  

  • Not sold on college? Start exploring all of your options.

Freshmen:  

  • Develop solid study habits and work to get good grades; your transcript follows you. Utilize your Ohio Means Jobs account to help narrow down career options.  

  • Be open minded to opportunities

    • Sometimes finding out you don’t like something is as valuable as finding something you do like.  

Middle School:  

  • Your counselor will visit your classes to start you on the Ohio Means Jobs website to start taking career interest inventories  

  • Save this information and explore the website with your family

  • www.ohiomeansjobs.com