With our final round of individual college counseling meetings under way (and summer vacation just weeks away), now is the time for juniors to make plans to use some of the summer’s unstructured time for college applications/post-secondary planning. Once senior year begins, free time will be non-existent. Using time to complete items on the Rising Senior Summer Checklist will better position students for meeting college and scholarship application deadlines next fall. We reviewed both the summer checklist and preview the Fall Senior Checklist in junior English classes recently. Below are timely tasks/programs that will help you stay ahead of the curve in the fall:
Requesting Letters of Recommendation from Teachers (for college applications)
May is the month to request academic references from two teachers (in core academic subjects) that will be submitted in support of your college applications next school year. The following is a summary of our recommendation request process:
- Ask teachers in person to agree to write your letter of recommendation.
- When the teacher agrees, begin working on writing your responses to the Teacher Recommendation Request Form (you may stop by the College Center for printed copies, which will also be distributed to juniors in English classes on May 1)
- Once finished filling out the Request Form, have your teacher(s) add their signature to the form and promptly bring the form to your College Counselor to confirm your request. The deadline for completing the recommendation request process is Friday, May 29.
- Note that teachers will have the summer and first few weeks of next school year to craft their letters and upload them to Maia Learning by October 1, well in advance of the vast majority of college application deadlines.
If any juniors (or parents) have any questions about the request process or about identifying teachers to approach for letters, please consult with college counseling. Again, the deadline for completing the recommendation request process is Friday, May 29.
For any/all college counseling related questions, please contact Mrs. Sarah Hogan, Director of College Counseling and Alumni Engagement at 763-258-5508.