How Counselors Can Help Juniors Prepare and Plan for College Now

Junior year of high school is traditionally seen as the most challenging academically. The challenges, however, go beyond academics as high school juniors need to make decisions about their future. You, as a counselor, can best support juniors as they move forward if you know the pathway a student is focused on. Sure, plenty of students will change their minds, and that’s okay. No matter the pathway a student chooses, Xello can help you help Juniors navigate the crucial tasks.

It doesn’t begin in Junior Year

People procrastinate for many reasons, including not knowing where/how to begin. The only way to realistically expect juniors to make impactful decisions about their future is to guide them from an early age. 

That’s why Xello offers a holistic K-12 approach when it comes to CCR (College and Career Readiness).  Despite engaging in CCR work in elementary school, some juniors may still not know where to start when making the necessary big decisions. Throughout their Xello elementary and high school experience, students gain self-knowledge, uncover their interests, skills and abilities, and start thinking about what happens next.  Now they will have to make concrete decisions about their future and take steps to make their plans a reality.  That can be an intimidating process and they may need some help. 

And that’s okay. “…juniors are really still shopping right now [second semester of Junior Year], and it’s a critical year to shop and be fully aware of all the options, so that they know which one might be their best fit at this moment in time,” said Katie Siewert, Assistant Director, Career and Technical Education at Vancouver Public Schools, at a past Xello Roundtable. 

Xello’s Matchmaker assessment too, which helps students find careers that fit their strengths and interests, is important for students researching their options. Whether it’s for the first time or a re-do, the 10-minute self-reflection activity helps students narrow down their list of possible career paths. 

Once students get their Matchmaker results, they can independently explore career options. Or it may inspire them to apply to college. Either way, as they save careers onto a shortlist, these Juniors can move on to the next step.

Helping Students Through the College Selection Process

And what about those juniors who know they want to go to college and what they want to do but don’t know what they want to major in or where they should apply?

Start them on their chosen career profile and ask them to save some associated majors on Xello. From each page on a major, the student will find a list of specific institutions they can explore that will help them move closer toward their dream career. These institutions are organized automatically by state and may include universities, colleges, technical schools, and community colleges. 

Despite the organizational options, some students may struggle to build a shortlist. “… we want our kids to have between five and seven schools that they are truly interested in,” said Teal Perez at a past Xello Roundtable. Perez, the lead counselor in Frisco Independent School District in Texas, notes she sees students who think they must apply to 37 colleges and others who are content with one. 

“We use the Xello college search feature for them to save their matches…” Making a shortlist is imperative since if juniors don’t know where they’re applying, they can’t start working on the pieces for their applications. 

And, no matter what kind of student they are, the next 8-10 months are bound to be daunting: Between January and October, the class of ‘25 will need to write essays, secure letters of recommendation, take the SAT or ACT (several times, if they can), conduct school visits, request transcripts, and do all sorts of other tasks to get into college. 

They might do some of these activities in Xello, and they can use Xello’s Application Tracker tool to manage their requirements and deadlines. 

One way to get that shortlist built is to talk to people at the various schools. Teens are influenced by their peers’ opinions, and they appreciate authenticity. Xello Communities can help students with this. With this feature, students can engage in authentic conversations with college admissions, ambassadors, and other prospective students before they even make an inquiry. The interactions with Xello Communities can help students feel confident about which colleges to include on their shortlist.

Xello also recently introduced Dashboard Feed which is geared towards grades 6-12. 

Dashboard Feed provides students with personalized college, career, lifestyle content, and more. Xello curates the information found in the feed. Because the content focuses on each student’s preferences, it allows them to explore and discover with intentionality.

Dashboard Feed also helps students learn more about their options after graduation. For those unsure about their post-graduation plans, Dashboard Feed content offers valuable information to help them make well-informed decisions about their future. 

Paying for College

When juniors return to school for their senior year, the first thing many of you college counselors encourage them to do is complete the FAFSA, however challenging it might be this year. 

We all know that college is expensive, and cost is a significant factor in school selection for most students. That’s why scholarships are so important. Scholarships can help make attending college affordable to every student.

Xello is expanding our scholarship database to include national, state, and institutional scholarships, in addition to the local scholarships added by educators. This means millions of new scholarship opportunities will soon be available within Xello to help students achieve their academic and career goals. 

This expanded access will include students in grades 6-12 (where previously it was only available for students in grades 11 & 12). Our built-in matching tool will help students find the best scholarships based on their criteria, making the search process even easier. 

Students will be able to change the criteria selected in their profile at any time to filter the list of scholarships visible and see different matches. They can also search the entire database of scholarships by keyword or scholarship name. 

Educators and students can feel confident knowing we take extra care to ensure all scholarships in our database are carefully reviewed and that student information is kept safe and secure. 

Junior year of high school is traditionally seen as the most challenging academically. The challenges, however, go beyond academics as high school juniors need to make decisions about their future. You, as a counselor, can best support juniors as they move forward if you know the pathway a student is focused on. Sure, plenty of students will change their minds, and that’s okay. No matter the pathway a student chooses, Xello can help you help Juniors navigate the crucial tasks.

Conclusion

The big decisions students make in their junior year make it a challenging time. As a guidance counselor helping students along the journey, you have many responsibilities. Xello makes the journey easier and eliminates some of the stress for you and your students.

Learn more about how Xello can help with this High-Quality College and Career Development Guide.