Junior Winter
Junior Winter -- Overview
Starting in the winter of the junior year, you, your parents/guardians, and your college counselor will work together to find a number of colleges that will suit your skills, interests, and goals. Although many people will help in this process, the final decisions must be yours. Your willingness to accept these responsibilities – the excitement of envisioning your next step after BB&N and the hard work of applying to colleges on time – will indicate your readiness for college and the independence it will offer.
During this process, you will have several primary tasks:
to engage in self-reflection
to determine what you are looking for in a college
to develop a list of colleges that are of interest to you
to appraise yourself as a college candidate
to complete your applications
to choose the college you will attend
If college is a common topic of conversation in your life, you will hear reports (often conflicting) about specific colleges from various sources – parents, counselors, teachers, coaches, relatives, and well-meaning friends. Resist stereotypes and rumors – you must investigate for yourself. Start your research online, with MaiaLearning and College Kickstart (our web-based research tools), or with a good college guidebook. As you become interested in particular colleges and universities, keep notes of your findings and questions.
As you begin to understand yourself as a candidate, your college counselor will help you to sort through statistical information regarding former BB&N students, the colleges’ admitted student profiles, and recent admission trends to assess your chances of admission at the colleges on your list.
We hope that by working together, we can provide you with the assistance you will need to successfully navigate the college process. To accomplish this task, each member of the partnership must recognize, understand, and fulfill their own responsibilities.
Junior Kick-Off Event
Click this link to check out the content from the Junior Kickoff Event.
What to Expect From the College Office
College Counselors work with students to find the right matches. We are a College Counseling Office, not a College Placement Office. We will meet with your child often to help them learn to identify, research, and choose the colleges that meet their needs, but we will not “give them” a list.
College Counselors communicate with colleges about the BB&N academic program. In the fall, representatives from colleges meet with seniors and with the College Office to better understand what kind of students this school produces. The BB&N School Profile (available on this site under Resources/Downloads) also helps communicate what our education provides. In addition, the counselors are responsible for writing the Counselor Statement, which is sent to colleges on behalf of each student.
College Counselors provide information. Using teaching tools such as scattergrams (charts that plot BB&N application history using grades and test scores) we help students and families understand the competitive nature of college admissions and help to manage expectations. Students use our web-based programs, MaiaLearning and College Kickstart, with our assistance, to help craft a balanced list of colleges.
College Counselors help students create a testing plan. While there are some general recommendations for standardized testing, testing plans are unique to each student. We will work with your child to tailor a plan for the spring of the junior year and the fall of the senior year.
What is Expected of Students
Students should focus on their classes. Grades continue to be the most significant factor in college admissions decisions, and students must put their classes first.
Students should meet with their college counselor. Starting in January, students should sign up for a meeting with their assigned College Counselor. Prior to this meeting, students will complete a questionnaire that requires some reflection on high school experiences and hopes for the future.
Students should visit colleges. March break is the best time to begin to visit a range of colleges, either virtually or in person. These “diagnostic visits” should take students to a big university, a small college, as well as both an urban and rural setting. Students will begin to get a sense of what they might like through these visits and will better be able to refine their lists in the spring. Interviews are not recommended at this stage – just take the tour and see the campus.
Students should check the College Office Canvas Page and read emails. We cannot stress the importance of this responsibility!
What is Expected of Parents
Appropriate Communication. Please feel free to contact us with questions, comments, and concerns. We do our best to respond to emailed questions within two business days, but our daily priority will remain working one-on-one with students.
Positive Support. Whether it is listening to your child, driving to colleges, or just offering a positive word, students need their parents at this time.
Assume positive intent. All of the adults working to help your child – from BB&N, to the college admissions offices, and beyond – are working on behalf of your child.
Read our communications and attend our meetings. Please pay careful attention to our communications and try to attend the meetings we schedule. Almost all of the most frequently-asked questions are addressed in advance.
Let go. Letting your child take the lead role may be the hardest part of the process. However, it is a wonderful opportunity to watch your child take their first step towards adulthood. We will be here to help – both students and parents – navigate this exciting process!