College Planning Checklist for Freshmen

• Meet your counselor. Your counselor can help you strategize a successful four-year plan and prepare you for your college and career goals. Take notes during counselor class lessons. Check Canvas for powerpoint presentations.
• Make sure that you know which high school courses are required to graduate and which are recommended by colleges for which you are interested. Ninth grade is an important foundation year for the rest of high school.
• Take the most challenging course load for which you are eligible.
• Improve your study skills. Seek help from teachers if you experience academic difficulties. Practice time management and test-taking strategies. The Guidance Office and your teachers can steer you in the right direction.
• Encourage your parents to attend Freshman Parent Night.
• Do your best on the PSAT in the fall.
• Explore extracurricular activities inside and outside of school to find those that interest and excite you.
• Make your summer count! Volunteer, attend a summer program or get a job.

College Planning Checklist for Sophomores

• Review your schedule to make sure that you taking the right classes to graduate and get into college. Take challenging courses.
• Take the PSAT in the fall. Valuable feedback is provided through your student score report. You can then work on any of your academic weaknesses while there is still plenty of time to make improvements before taking the SAT or ACT.
• Sign up for your SCOIR account and begin exploring careers and creating a resume. Make sure that you add colleges to your “following” and save your information in your “personal bio” section.
• Start exploring college options and creating a list. Attend college fairs, campus college visits and begin touring college campuses.
• Sign up for and take your AP Exams in May.
• Attend guidance classroom presentations. Encourage your parents to attend the Sophomore College Planning Night.
• Talk to your counselor about your plans for life after high school. The more your counselor knows about you, the more your counselor can help you along the way.
• Continue involvement in extracurricular activities and hold leadership positions in your organizations and athletics.
• Make your summer worthwhile. Consider an internship, job, volunteer position. Attend summer college programs, workshops or camps. Even travel abroad.

College Planning Checklist for Juniors

• Continue to take challenging courses. Keep up your grades and be sure to study hard. Seek help from your teachers early if you experience academic difficulties.
• Take the PSAT in the fall to see if you qualify for a National Merit Scholarship and use your results to prepare for your SAT.
• Work on your resume and update it throughout the year.
• Continue using your SCOIR account to explore careers, colleges, scholarships and more. Begin building your college list and adding it to your “following”.
• Attend college visits and college fairs. Begin communicating with admissions officers/coaches at colleges on your list.
• Visit prospective colleges during school breaks/weekends.
• Students interested in enrolling in one of the five military academies should begin preparing early in high school, and ideally complete a preliminary application in their junior year. You can request the application from a regional command office or from the institution itself, or you can apply online.
• Attend all college planning meetings hosted by the guidance office.
• If you are interest in being recruited for athletics, talk to your coaches and explore eligibility requirements. Sign up with NCAA Clearinghouse.
• Sign up for at least one SAT, ACT or CLT test in the spring or your junior year.
• Choose meaningful summer activities: academic or enrichment programs, volunteer activities or employment.
• Begin preparation for the application process: draft essays, assemble portfolios, contact coaches if you are an athlete, consider letters of recommendation, etc

College Planning Checklist for Seniors

• Discuss college options with your counselor and family
• Create accounts for applications you will be working on. Common Application and Coalition Application are the most common. Submit applications when complete.
• Review essay prompts from all applications. Consider those prompts you may want to select and begin an outline.
• Prepare for all supplementary essay prompts and individual questions from each college.
• Visit college websites to ensure that you are following their individual application instructions.
• Add colleges to which you are applying to SCOIR.
• Seek letters of recommendations from teachers, coaches, others. After asking in person, request recommendations in SCOIR.
• Attend college visits on college campuses, hosted locally or meet with college representatives at Cardinal Mooney High School.
• Register for SAT or ACT tests. Submit tests scores to all colleges you are applying to.
• Maintain high effort in all course work, clubs and activities. Complete your required community service hours.
• Prepare for college interviews if requested or required as part of your application.
• Complete the SSAR if required by your college.
• Apply for Financial Aid through the FAFSA website. (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
•  Apply for Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Award money.
• Continue to review available scholarships posted in SCOIR, Canvas and those distributed through guidance