Got PSAT Results? What’s next?

It’s the middle of your junior year.  You may be one of those students who’s been wishing/hoping/dreaming/planning your college career and your PSAT results are bringing you one step closer.  Or, you may be one of those student who wonders why you even bothered taking that test back in October thinking you’re only in 11th grade and college is a long way off.  Or, maybe you’re somewhere in between.

Receiving PSAT results usually brings the importance or pressure of the college search home to students and to their parents.  It’s time to do something – but WHAT?

Here are a few general guidelines to get you started on the right path:

1.  Keep studying – grades are the most important factor colleges consider when making their admissions decisions.

2.  Take some time to consider your academic strengths and the environment in which you learn best.  College is about learning so thinking about the characteristics of the college where you’ll succeed academically is important.

3.  Next, you can think about other preferences you have about college.  Factors like location, size, selectivity, extra-curricular activities, that is, the non-academic part of college need to be considered too.

4.  Research some colleges by visiting their websites, checking out what students say about them on sites like Unigo.com, to test your preferences.  Plan some college visits.

5.  Then of course, you need to pick a test date and prepare for your college entrance exams, either the ACT or the SAT.  If your colleges are likely to require SAT II exams, you’ll need to fit them into your schedule.

There’s help available to you in each of these areas.  Your teachers want to help you succeed academically, so when you’re studying, be sure to ask questions and meet with teachers before or after school to get the help you need.  Your school counselor, websites, and Independent Educational Consultants can help you with the next three steps.  Test prep tutors, classes and books can add to the suggestions in the preparation link we’ve included above.

Don’t let the next few months pass you by without tackling some of these tasks.  You have your PSAT results, take the next step.

Click here for information about a workshop we’re doing to help you take the next step.