As students transition from middle school to high school, there should be a mindfulness about how high school will broadly prepare students for college as functioning adult members of society, and also how it will prepare students for the college application process itself. I use the word “mindful” deliberately. This is not an article about creating stress and anxiety over every choice that consumes limited resources in families; rather, it is about how to maximize the joy and learning that result from the activities chosen by students and families during high school.
Executive Functioning Skills and Transcripts
The first thing that every parent and student needs to know is that this transition from middle school to high school is really when the college journey begins. When writing essays and turning in transcripts, most colleges and universities don’t care about what happened in middle school. If your child struggles with organization and understanding consequences, middle school is the time to address those issues and perhaps let your student fail at something. High school matters exponentially more for behavior, grades, and activities than anything that happens in middle school, so in middle school keep the focus on necessary skills, such as executive functioning or emotional regulation, rather than grades. The exception is if your student is taking a high school course in middle school, such as Algebra I. Some schools will allow families to decide whether or not middle school grades will show up on the transcript, some will show the class and the grade, but not count the grades towards the final GPA on the transcript the student submits with applications. Families should clearly understand how those classes will appear on, or otherwise impact, their student’s final transcript by speaking with their school counselor.
Rigor, Interest, and Grades
Second, as potential course schedules are sent home in the spring, parents and students should be discussing what classes will be most beneficial in advancing the student’s individual goals and interests. Students should be balancing rigor with reality. It is difficult for students at most high schools to manage the extra assignments and expectations that are associated with too many honors and AP classes and maintain an appropriately high GPA. Six full classes with these extra demands can potentially eliminate time for community service, hobbies, personal reading, sports, working, and any number of other developmentally enriching opportunities found during high school. Families should consider how many hours of homework the student can handle and remain happy. The rigor courses selected, then, should align with what the student generally envisions themselves doing in college. On a basic level, are they a STEM kid, a writer, a historian, or an artist? Additionally, the caliber of college or university the student wishes to attend will also determine how many years of a foreign language they should take. Most state schools require two years, but highly selective colleges will want to see 3 or even 4 years. You can find out these requirements on most colleges’ websites.
Extracurricular Activities and Service
Third, students should be growing in other ways. Not everyone has to be an athlete, musician, or school leader, but students should be discovering interests and pursuing them. This should be a fun exploration of possibilities and not a chore or checklist to be completed. One of the other trends that has become increasingly important in the college admissions process is that of community service. Again, there is not one volunteer opportunity that is inherently better than another. Let the student’s interests guide volunteer work. A student that loves learning and education can tutor. A student that loves animals can volunteer at an animal shelter. A student that cares about poverty can volunteer at a food pantry. The possibilities are truly endless. However, an opportunity that I would not recommend is the one- or two week mission trip. Within the college-admissions community, this is being increasingly referred to as “poverty tourism.” It implies a limited understanding of genuine community engagement; socio-economic privilege; and, at worst, exploits the people it intends to help. If a student finds a program that the family has carefully vetted that particularly speaks to them, engage and enjoy the international experience, but don’t let it substitute for helping refugees or another group in the local community.
Standardized Testing
Fourth, the big question about standardized testing is when should a student begin this particular voyage? The answer for the vast majority of students is NOT YET. If your high school likes all students to take the PSAT in 9th, 10th, and 11th grade to judge how the school is performing, go ahead and take it. All students should be taking the PSAT in the fall of 11th grade as it is truly a practice exam that will help them understand their weaknesses and it is the only time students can qualify for the National Merit Scholarship. Otherwise, most students are not developmentally ready until the end of 11th grade. The completion of Algebra II and Pre-calculus are essential for higher scores in the math section. Further, while colleges often say that they don’t care how many tests a student takes and that their colleges will superscore these exams, many admissions officers will admit that they are concerned when they see students who are serial test-takers. Most students will be fine taking their test of choice once in the spring of their junior year and again, after some targeted studying, in either the summer or fall of their senior year. Which test should a student take, the SAT or the ACT? It doesn’t matter. The vast majority of colleges will accept either standardized test. Students can take a practice exam of both tests online, at a testing prep center, from a book, or at a local library. In the end, students should take whichever test is more comfortable for them and where they achieve the highest score. It should be noted, however, that superscoring is a much more common practice for the SAT than the ACT. One more exception to this general rule of taking standardized tests 2-4 times during a student’s junior and senior year is the SAT II subject tests. While very few colleges (primarily Ivy League) still require SAT II subject tests to be submitted, there are several highly selective schools that suggest submitting them in the student’s primary area of interest. For example, if a student is thinking about majoring in biology or a pre-med-related major, it would be in their interest to take AP Biology in high school and take the biology SAT II subject exam in June of that same year. Be selective about which SAT II exams to take in order to avoid testing burnout.