9th Grade
College Planner
Embedded Files
Welcome to your freshman year! Ninth grade is not too early to begin having conversations about college. The plans you make this year will make the entire process of finding the right college for you much easier. Below you will find tasks to check off, information to keep track of, a couple quizzes to complete to help your planning, and tech help for getting your planning process organized.
Task List
Task List
These tasks will get you started in planning for college. Click here for a printable list of tasks by month.
Get organized - How will you keep up with everything as you plan for college? See the Digital Organization section below for ideas & hints and to start your College Planning Google Drive folder.
Build relationships - Talk with family and friends about their career and their college path. This will help you learn about options as you seek guidance from these relationships. See the Conversations section below for some discussion starters. Consider starting a Google Doc where you jot down your thoughts from these conversations. Be sure to save it in your College Planning Google Drive folder.
Get involved & log it - Learn about clubs at your school and about volunteer opportunities in the community. Learn how to log your involvement in the Resume section below.
Meet with your College Readiness Coordinator - Your CRC is a great resource for information about colleges, careers, and how to achieve your goals. Make sure you introduce yourself to the CRC and take advantage of the resources they provide.
Utilize resources - You should be taking some advanced classes in preparation for college (Honors, Pre-AP, AP, or Dual Credit). These classes will challenge you. If you find yourself in need of assistance, speak with your teachers about what you’re struggling with.
Join mailing lists - Mailing lists are a surprisingly good way to keep up with events and information for your potential colleges. Sign up and they’ll make sure you stay up-to-date. Also follow schools you're interested in on social media.
Self-reflect - Journaling is a proven strategy for self-improvement, cementing your learning, and maintaining your emotional equilibrium. Begin writing a journal to self-reflect. You can create a blank Google Doc and store it in your College Planning Google Drive folder if you wish. You can write about what’s going on in your life: both academic and personal. You can write daily, weekly, or monthly. Your journal is just for you - and there’s no better audience!
Learn about scholarships - It’s never too early to start planning how you’ll pay for college! Scholarships are a fundamental part of that payment plan, and many are available for freshmen. Begin checking for scholarships on the district page, and learn how to record your scholarships in the Resume section below.
Spring break and summer activities - Spring break and summer can be great learning opportunities! Explore new things, read a new book, learn a new skill, visit historical sites or museums, or tour a college campus. It’s also a great time for some volunteer work. Remember to log everything in the Resume section.
Conversations
Conversations
Here are some conversation starters for you and your family or other trusted adults.
College Conversations
What made you decide to go to college?
How did you decide what you wanted to study in college?
Were you nervous about going to college? If so, what helped you overcome those fears?
What advice would you give me about applying to college?
Who would you recommend I reach out to support during this stage of my college preparation?
Can you help me with the college search process?
Can we start visiting colleges soon?
How do I set goals, and what goals should I start setting for college?
Career Conversations
How and when did you decide what career to choose?
What careers have you had?
How did college help prepare you for your careers?
Financial Planning
Can we discuss financial planning for college?
Can we look into college scholarships together?
What do you expect to contribute towards college expenses?
Is there a budget I should keep in mind when researching colleges?
Should I expect to take out student loans?
Are there any veterans benefits that could help fund my education (G.I. Bill, Hazlewood Act, etc.)?
Build Your Resume
Build Your Resume
You can begin building your resume right now, and we have a tool for you!
Xello is a fantastic tool to help you plan for college. In Xello, you can store information about your work experience, volunteer hours, academic successes, and awards & honors. Xello will then use these to create a resume for you.
It is worth logging this information now - senior year doesn't seem that far away, but if you don't have a record of what you did during 9th grade, you may forget some of it by then! See the Xello page on this site for instructions for accessing Xello and for using the resume tool.
An additional piece of building a resume is gathering letters of recommendation. As you build relationships with your teachers, ask one of them to write you a letter of recommendation. You can use it throughout your college planning journey. Store the file in your College Planning Google Drive folder.
Career Exploration
Career Exploration
Take some time to explore careers. This step is key!
Once you know what careers you are interested in (and there should be many at this point) you’ll have a better idea of what majors are appropriate, and which colleges offer those majors. Make sure you create a Google Doc in your College Planning Google Drive folder where you make notes of the careers that interest you.
Xello can also help with career exploration. Instructions for accessing Xello are under Resources in the navigation bar.
Once you are in Xello, take a couple quizzes on the About Me tab - Matchmaker and Skills Lab are great ones to start with. The results of these quizzes will be used to create a custom list of potential careers suited to your preferences. You can click the heart button to save ones you might be interested in.
Also, complete all of the 9th grade lessons: Personality Styles, Exploring Career Factors, Getting Experience, and Study Skills and Habits.
Career Finder is another great starting point, in addition to conversations you have with friends and family. Make sure you jot down your notes about careers you might be interested in from the site, or find them in Xello and heart them.
College Exploration
College Exploration
One step is to define your current "best-fit" college. Once you have a better idea about the type of school you're looking for, you will be able to determine if a college matches your "best-fit" profile. Make a copy of a "best-fit" profile page.
As you explore colleges in 9th grade, you should keep lots of options open.
As with careers, Xello is a great tool for exploring colleges. You can use your "best-fit" profile to help you find colleges that match your preferences, and your career choices can guide you to schools with the right programs for you. When you find schools that might be of interest, heart them to save them for later in Xello. Instructions for accessing Xello and using the college search features are under Resources in the navigation bar.
Additionally, create a College Board account if you don’t already have one, and explore their resources on finding colleges that fit you. Type up notes and thoughts on the following slide. Duplicate it and add more notes if that would be helpful.
Digital Organization
Digital Organization
As a Burleson ISD student, you have a Google account (Drive and Gmail) through our school district.
Your district Google account contains powerful tools that allow you to aggregate college-prep resources and communicate with fellow students, teachers, prospective colleges, and more. Familiarize yourself with the Tech Support section of this document for tips on how to stay organized as you work toward college acceptance.
Drive – Organize Your College Planning
Visit Google Drive.
Create a folder in your Google Drive and title it College Planning.
Inside the College Planning folder, create subfolders for Scholarships, Test Applications, and High School Portfolio.
Gmail – Create an Email Signature
Automatically appearing at the end of each email, an email signature provides a convenient way for recipients to access your contact information.
Gmail – Create Labels
Labels in Gmail will help keep your inbox orderly. They store emails away from your inbox – freeing your inbox from clutter. Consider creating a label for each college with which you correspond, as well as for entrance exams. As emails from appear in your inbox, delete the ones you don’t need, and assign the important ones to the appropriate label. When you wish to retrieve an email, click the proper label in Gmail’s left menu to reveal the one you need.
Gmail – Additional Tips
Use the same email address when registering for college mailing lists, tests, and scholarships. All incoming information is directed to one place, and you’re less likely to miss important information while switching between two email accounts.
Check your email at least once a day.
As a professional courtesy, reply to an email within 24 hours.
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