PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS

A Student Timeline

9th Grade

You should be prepared for high school. This is a time to establish your academic and extracurricular credentials. Seek options for your career or further education.

Fall

Meet your guidance counselor. They are able to help you make sense of your college and career options. Get involved. Extracurricular activities (both school- and non-school-sponsored) are an important part of high school. Make the effort to get involved with groups, clubs, or teams that interest you. These activities are fun and make you a well- rounded student.

Pick the right mix of classes. Make sure you’re enrolled in the appropriate college-prep or tech-prep classes and that you’re taking key core requirements, such as English, math, science, history, and a foreign language.

Winter

class rank. Although college seems like a long way off right now, grades really do count toward college admission and scholarships.

Make good grades because they will impact your GPA and

Take advantage of Career Day opportunities at your school. Talk to your parents about planning for college expenses. If your family already has a savings plan, continue to add to it. If not, start saving for college.

Explore your interests and possible careers both on your own and with your counselor.

Spring/Summer

Build your credentials. Keep track of academic and extracurricular awards, community serv- ice achievements, and anything else you participate in, It will come in handy later when you want to highlight your accomplishments--such as when you’re filling out college applications, scholar- ship letters or creating a resume.

office and school and public libraries. Check out college Web sites. You may even want to start a list of colleges that interest you. Begin to get a feel for college life. Visiting relatives or friends who live on or near a college campus is a great way to get a sense of what college is like. Check out the dorms, go to the library and student center, and walk around the campus. Don’t worry yet about where you want to go-- just get a feel for college in general. Make summer count. There are plenty of ways to have fun and build your credentials during the summer, such as volunteering, getting a job, or signing up for classes or an enrichment program.

Start learning about college. Look at the college information available in your counselor’s Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12