College Planning Checklist for 9th & 10th Grade

college planning checklist for 9th and 10th grade

College Planning Checklist for 9th & 10th Grade

Published August 1, 2019 | Last Updated July 24th, 2023 at 12:03 pm

college planning checklist for 9th and 10th grade

9th GRADE COLLEGE PLANNING CHECKLIST

Academic and Extra Curriculum Suggestions

  • Get to know your school counselor. Schedule a meeting just to introduce yourself, even if you don’t need any help at the time. For some schools, counselors are required to write college recommendations (in addition to teachers), so make sure he/she gets to know you over the next four years.
  • Consider where you want to be as a senior and map out a four-year curriculum to get there. Do you want to take AP classes in junior and senior year? What prerequisites do you need in 9th and 10th grade to be ready for advanced classes?
  • Get involved in clubs or outside activities that let you pursue your interests. If you want to start something new, now is the time to try—colleges want to see passion and commitment. If there is something that really excites you, explore it. Don’t wait till junior year to get started.
  • Keep track of your accomplishments. Start developing a file and write down a summary of your activities, jobs, and experiences to use in creating a resume and also for generating ideas for college essays.
  • Buckle down and work hard in classes. Grades in your freshman year count equally towards your overall GPA and in the eyes of college admissions.
  • Don’t waste your summers. You don’t have to do anything fancy, but use the time wisely. Are you entrepreneurial? Start a small business…even if it’s just mowing lawns. Having a job, even at a local ice cream store, will show you are reliable. Consider volunteering in an area you have interest in. Or possibly take a summer class to get ahead and prepare for more advanced classes.
  • Make sure there’s a solid foundation. The best test prep for college entrance exams is for your student to have a solid foundation and understanding of their course work. Good grades may not always mean they truly learned the subject matter. And not-so-good grades mean they need more help to really understand the subject matter. Consider hiring a tutor or push your student to ask for help from their teachers.

College Financing Suggestions

10th GRADE COLLEGE PLANNING CHECKLIST

Academic and Extra Curriculum Suggestions

  • Register to take the PSAT even if your school is not offering it. This will give your student practice.
  • Start researching schools that might interest your student. Consider attending a college fair—check out NACAC for fairs close by. Visit websites to start building a list of potential schools and review the college admissions statistics. This will give your student an idea of what types of grades and test scores are needed to get into schools he/she may be interested in.
  • Encourage your student to develop relationships with their teachers, especially in subjects they are strong in. This will help when asking for college recommendations.
  • It’s not too early to start visiting colleges. If you live by any colleges, consider visiting to get an idea of the type of school your child might be interested in – urban/rural; big/small; public/private. Start talking about subject areas they may be interested in pursuing as a major because this will help them decide what schools to include on their list of potential colleges.

College Financing Suggestions

  • The January of your student’s sophomore year starts the beginning of a family’s base year that will be used for financial aid assessment by colleges. FAFSA asks for tax information from two years prior to the year your child starts college. The tax year from January of 10th grade to the end of December of junior year, is the tax year that will be used for the FAFSA you’ll be filling out when your student applies to college.
  • Consider schools that are “financial safety” schools. Include schools that are financial safety schools on the list.
  • Know what a net price calculator is. Start looking into net price calculators for the schools on your student’s list. The College Board has a link to every school’s net price calculator. ECMC lets you enter your information and financially compare six schools at once.
  • Start your scholarship search. Be wary of “no essay” scholarships or ones that don’t ask for much information – they are just like sweepstakes with companies looking to gather your information. Don’t ever pay a fee to apply for a scholarship. Chances of winning a scholarship are highest when applying for locally sponsored funds, so start researching and creating a list.

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Use R2C Insights to help find merit aid and schools that fit the criteria most important to your student. You’ll not only save precious time, but your student will avoid the heartache of applying to schools they aren’t likely to get into or can’t afford to attend.  

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JOIN ONE OF OUR FACEBOOK GROUPS & CONNECT WITH OTHER PARENTS: 

PAYING FOR COLLEGE 101

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