<p>As a high school Junior, how should I start preparing for college besides the SAT's and ACT? What do you all recommend me to do in order to get prepared for my senior year?</p>
<p>First, talk to your parents about how much they’ll spend on college. That answer may largely determine where you should apply and where you’ll go to college.</p>
<p>Yes, study for the SAT and ACT…better scores are always a good thing.</p>
<p>Definitely talk to parents about money. Also, do the FAFSA 4Caster and check out the net price calculators of a few schools, and see if your parent’s plans for spending match with those numbers.</p>
<p>Start thinking of whether you’d be happier in a big school or small school, with or without Greek life or football games or nearby skiing, etc. Is prestige more important or less important? Start thinking about what academics you like. You don’t need to choose your career now, but if you’re interested in marine biology, perhaps you should look at schools on the coasts. (Please, no spam from lovers of landlocked schools and their marine biology programs!!! It was just an example!!)</p>
<p>There’s a LOT of work to apply for college. If you look at the Common App now and get an idea of the essays, you can start thinking about them (they almost never change).</p>
<p>Agree, talk to your parents about cost limitations well before, and run the net price calculators on each school under consideration.</p>
<p>If you have any majors in mind, consider the strength of the majors at the various schools. For engineering (especially civil), consider ABET accreditation; for business, consider AACSB accreditation. If undecided, favor schools which have a range of strong major programs in the general areas that you are interested in.</p>
<p>For high school senior scheduling, it is preferable to have completed the following by high school graduation both for admissions and for preparation for taking courses in college:</p>
<ul>
<li>Four years of English.</li>
<li>Math through precalculus or higher.</li>
<li>Fourth level or higher of foreign language (or AP test or other recognized test if you are a native or heritage speaker).</li>
<li>At least two of, and preferably all three of, biology, chemistry, and physics.</li>
<li>Three or more years of history and social studies.</li>
<li>Art and/or music.</li>
</ul>
<p>Ditto the financial talk–very important. Start visiting colleges, any college. Go to preview days close by and whenever you travel and have the opportunity do a tour of a college campus. At this point, you don’t know what you don’t know and by visiting colleges, you’ll start to figure it out.</p>