High School Guidance Counselor Timeline

As you proceed through your high school career, you’ll need to get acquainted with your high school guidance counselor, as you’ll be seeing her often.

Even though your counselor is there to help, it’s a good idea to know exactly what exactly what kind of help you should be asking for during each phase of high school. This will ensure that both you and your counselor are on the same page as you progress from college search to testing to applications.

To help you out, we’ve outlined each of the major occasions you should meet with your high school guidance counselor, and exactly what you should talk about while you’re there.

Freshman Year

• Start your freshman year off right with a trip to your guidance counselor to see what you can do to plan for college now.
• You’ll be in constant contact with your high school counselor regarding class selection and college prep. Now’s the time to work with your counselor to make sure your freshman classes are challenging enough and look into signing up for AP and honors courses.
• During the spring of your freshman year, you’ll want to pay your high school guidance counselor another visit to schedule sophomore classes that emphasize college prep.

Sophomore Year

• Sophomore year is time to start focusing on your high school academic career as a whole. Identify and eliminate any weak classes now and talk about if your college plan has changed.
• In the winter of your sophomore year, you should talk with your counselor about developing a standardized testing plan and taking the tests you think you’re ready for, specifically the PSAT, the PLAN, and SAT Subject Tests.
• As sophomore year winds down, see your counselor to make sure you’re all prepped for next year and that you have a school day packed full of challenging, college prep courses.

Junior Year

• In the spring of your junior year, visit your high school guidance counselor to align your high school classes with your college goals and to develop a standardized testing plan.
• As your junior year progresses, check in with your counselor to talk about GPA and how it relates to college admissions.
• Work with your counselor to develop your college resume and make sure to schedule challenging courses for a senior year that will impress college admissions boards.

Senior Year

• As deadlines approach, check in with your counselor to ensure you have everything in order. Make important decisions about early action and letters of recommendation.
• As you finish up your college applications, take another trip to your counselor's office to make sure you've sent your prospective schools everything they need.
• Your final meeting with your high school counselor will revolve around financial aid and your final college decision.

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