Many people refer to junior year as the most grueling and high-pressure year of high school, which rings true nationwide. Students who plan to attend college –which is over 60% of students in Connecticut– are faced with an abundance of responsibilities. From standardized tests to Common App essays, junior year leaves little time for relaxation. Here are some tips and tricks to avoid burnout while successfully achieving your goals!
Have a schedule
Whether you use a physical planner or the Google Calendar app on your iPhone, scheduling is the easiest way to maintain order in your daily life. Becoming overwhelmed by your workload is a very common experience in junior year, with many internal and external expectations weighing on you. With a calendar app or digital planner, you can adequately carve out chunks of time and eliminate the worries of missing deadlines or forgetting important obligations. Additionally, incorporating time for socializing with friends or practicing activities you enjoy is essential to maintaining your sanity during junior year. Having enjoyable activities in your schedule is one of the most underrated forms of motivation. Knowing you have a trip planned at the end of the week or even just a day with friends is a great way to motivate yourself to power through the rest of the week.
Become familiar with standardized tests early on
Many colleges became test-optional during the pandemic and remained that way for years. However, submitting a standardized test score can provide an advantage in college applications. While McMahon offers a free SAT test for juniors every spring, there are many other options for standardized testing. The SAT is primarily English and math-based, but those who excel in math may want to consider the ACT instead, which is a math and science-based test with smaller English and reading sections. Whichever test you choose to take, your life will be immensely easier if you familiarize yourself with it early on. There are many adequate digital resources free of charge. Khan Academy offers an official SAT Prep module, which includes every individual topic from both the English and math sections of the SAT. While they do not offer an official prep course for the ACT, students can research the topics that will be on the ACT and study them individually through Khan Academy. Bluebook Testing is another valuable resource for SAT season, which includes official practice tests approved by CollegeBoard. Bluebook shows students their practice test scores immediately after taking the test and allows them to view each wrong answer alongside an explanation for why it is incorrect. Most importantly, don’t stress! You can retake these tests as many times as you want, and CollegeBoard offers fee waivers for students eligible for free or reduced lunch.
Research and take advantage of available resources
McMahon offers a variety of resources to help students find their passions, whether it be through internships, secondary education, or a particular trade. You can have a conversation with a guidance counselor or parent about your options or even just google search potential careers you’re interested in and what they require. While junior year is a great time to start having these conversations, these decisions do not have to be finalized for a long time. Many people change their minds about their passions or goals dozens of times, and that’s totally fine! If you choose to attend secondary education, you can also commit to college with an undecided major. McMahon also offers access to resources such as an annual college fair, which can connect you with representatives from various colleges and universities. This panel can be very beneficial, especially when it comes to obtaining more information about schools you may be interested in. McMahon also offers an annual field trip visit to UCONN University, which many students are interested in. Whether you are interested in UCONN specifically or not, seeing the campus could help you narrow down the traits you may want in a potential university.
Participate in extracurricular activities you enjoy!
If you plan on attending college, extracurricular activities can be very beneficial on applications. While broad scopes of activities are great, if you have a specific passion it could be more enjoyable to center your extracurriculars around that. For example, if you’re interested in the field of medicine, volunteering at a local hospital could be an exciting way to learn more about that career path while also adding to your resume. Extracurriculars have a reputation for being excessive or unachievable, but that is simply untrue. You probably already have activities you didn’t even realize would qualify; for example, sports, clubs, and part-time jobs. Yes, jobs count as extracurriculars as well! Colleges love to see involvement within your community, so any type of job or commitment is a great addition to applications. If you were able to obtain a job within your desired passion or field that is another advantage. For example, if you want to be a teacher and currently work a part-time job at a summer camp with kids, that is a significant addition to your profile.
