September
- Continue your involvement with extracurricular and leadership activities.
- Make sure that you take courses that challenge you, such as pre-calculus and chemistry and Advanced Placement classes.
October
- Meet with your guidance counselor to discuss your 10th-grade PSAT scores and start to consider your career path.
- Attend fall college fairs.
November
- Use your PSAT scores to help identify the test skills you need to develop before taking the SAT.
December
- Study hard for high school exams.
- Prepare for January Regents exams.
- Find and register for an SAT prep course being held in January or February.
January
- Take January Regents.
- Start learning about financial aid.
- Talk with your guidance counselor about scholarships.
- Attend a New York City Department of Education financial aid workshop with your parents/guardians.
Meet with your guidance counselor and parents/guardians to:
- Review your academic progress.
- Find out which Regents exams you have to take in June.
- Register for the March SAT.
- Register for College Now classes.
February
- Prepare a list of the colleges you’d like to attend. Visit those schools online, call admissions offices or go to college fairs to request free materials.
- Find out if there are special admissions requirements for performing and visual arts colleges.
- Take an SAT prep course.
March
- Register for April ACT.
- Take the March SAT if you are registered.
- English language learners: Find out if the colleges on your list require the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). If so, register for that test.
- Research and apply for a summer program, internship or job.
- Visit some of the colleges that interest you.
- If you plan to take AP or College Level Examination Progress (CLEP) tests this spring, talk with your guidance counselor or teachers about how to prepare.
- Register for the May SAT or subject tests. Even if they took the March SAT, many students choose to retake the test to raise their scores.
April
- Attend spring college fairs.
- Narrow your college application list to six to eight colleges.
- Register with the NCAA Clearinghouse if you are interested in playing sports in college.
- Take the April ACT if you are registered.
May
- Take the May SAT or subject test if you are registered.
- Begin to prepare for your June Regents exams.
June
Meet with your guidance counselor and parents/guardians to:
- Discuss your current courses and the number of credits you have.
- Decide on the classes you will take next year.
- Review your college list.
Summer
- Enjoy your summer program, internship, youth employment or volunteer work. Tell your teachers and/or supervisors that you will ask them for letters of recommendation in the fall.
- Register for College Now classes.
- Request catalogs, admissions applications and financial aid information from colleges you haven’t already contacted.
- Identify at least five scholarships that match your interests or talents.
- Write an outline for an autobiographical essay.
- Visit college campuses.
- Create a résumé that includes all of your jobs and extracurricular activities.
- Find out if a placement test, audition or portfolio is required for admission to a specialized program. Start preparing these items if you need them.
- Research summer deadlines for fall ACT, SAT, TOEFL and CLEP tests.
- Begin preparing for the SAT subject tests that you plan to take in the fall.