The Ultimate End-Of-The-Year Checklist for High School Juniors

The end of junior year is super stressful. From AP exams to finals to prom, it seems as if everything is piling up. Although you are probably preoccupied with studying and sorting out your prom pictures (I know I am), there are four crucial things that you need to check off your list before you leave school for the summer.

1. Finalize Any Summer Jobs/Internships

The first thing that you want to finalize before school is out for the summer is any jobs and/or internships that you have. For a job, you can reach out to your boss to finalize a start date (if you haven't agreed on it already). For an internship, you can reach out to the company and thank them for the opportunity that they are giving you, making sure to show that you are excited to work with them this summer.

This also counts for volunteering. If you are volunteering somewhere this summer, such as a nursing home, you could reach out and make sure that they know you will be helping out. Make sure to thank them as well.

If you are going to volunteer at multiple places, make sure to reach out to all of them. This will remind them that you are going to volunteer and demonstrate your commitment to the opportunity that they are giving you.

Photo by Nafina Putra from Unsplash.

2. Ask For Letters of Recommendation

If you haven't already, you need to start reaching out to your teachers for letters of recommendation (check out another one of my articles, linked here, to see how). Ensuring that you have your letters of recommendation is super important because the teachers will be writing them over the summer. Once they get back to school in the fall, they probably aren't going to have enough time to write them for you.

If you already asked your teachers for letters of recommendation, make sure to follow up with them before the summer. You can either talk to them in person or send an email. Make sure to mention when you're going to need the letter and other updates about what you have been doing outside of school (that relates to their subject or your character).

Finally, thank them again for helping you out!

3. Form a Plan for College Applications

Forming a plan for your college applications is super important. This will make sure that you will be able to complete everything on time. For example, if you know you're going to be free every afternoon for two hours, carve that time out to work on an essay.

Another helpful strategy is to set deadlines for yourself. One example would be setting a deadline for the end of each month, and making sure that you have a certain number of schools completed.

Keep in mind that you want a ton of people to read over your essays. Maybe for the summer, completed means having a draft or two of each essay done. Just having a few ideas for each essay will help you in the long run.

So, the more you can draft, the more it will help you. It will also lighten your workload for the school year when you don't have to come up with a bunch of essay ideas from scratch.

Photo by Andrew Neel from Unsplash.

4. Finish Up College Tours

Since you've started building your college list, you probably have a bunch of schools in mind. If I had to guess, you probably haven't toured all of the schools on your list yet (if you have, good for you!). This summer is a great time to finish up your college tours, or start them!

For this summer, prioritize the schools that you aren't entirely sure about so that you can ensure that you like them. This will make it easier when you apply because you will know if you liked the school enough to apply or not.

One thing to keep in mind on these tours is supplemental essays. Before you go, make sure to check if the school you're touring has a "why us" or "why major" essay. If they do, keep these essays in mind as you go on your tours.

If you want to know more, make sure to ask! College tour guides are super friendly and the admissions office will most likely be happy to answer your questions.

Going along with these essays, make sure that you are thinking critically about each school. If you can't see yourself being a student there or don't think you can write a good supplemental essay, it might be time to take that school off of your list. Remember, you should be excited about your top school, but you should also be really excited to go to any of the other schools on your list.

Once you have these four areas finalized, you can finally sit back, relax, and study for your finals. This will take a huge amount of stress off of you because you know exactly what you are doing and when you are doing it.

Not only will all of these things help your college applications, but they will also be great opportunities to gain more experience. Remember to spend time with your friends and go on vacations as well—summer break is a long break for a reason.