As the end of trimester two draws near, juniors across campus may start to feel a little stressed. After all, the next step for most juniors is to attend college. Luckily, there are teachers and counselors on campus that can help. 

Choosing between immediately starting work after high school, entering the military, taking a gap year, starting trade school, attending a two-year community college, and a four-year college or university can be hard. With numerous resources, it makes opting for an option significantly easier. 

 “Current juniors can start their journey by taking the matchmaker and personality type assessment in Xello.World,” Career Guidance Tech Jamie Brown said. Every student has a username and password issued from Poway Unified to Xello, and can go through MyPlan to access the portal. This is the same username and password as the Canvas and MyPlan login. The Titan Center offers college workshops and informational meetings about the application process, community college, and generally what is the right choice for personal skillsets. 

There are other websites that are useful for looking at career options and planning according to your interests; niche.com and collegeboard.com. They are great resources for creating a college list, and finding a job, internship or volunteer opportunity. You can also ask questions to people in a specific field about their career path. 

The counseling website is the best resource for juniors. It has everything from FAQs (frequently asked questions), to college planning tips. “There is a month to month calendar that helps juniors plan out what they can do each month for the remainder of the year leading into senior year,” Counselor (En-Lee) Jerrah Smith said. 

“I encourage juniors to review the junior planning presentation if they have not seen it yet,” Counselor (Rb-Z) Jerilyn Padua Reyes said. Juniors can access that through the Poway High School website, in the Counseling section, under Student Info by Grade Level, and choosing 11 grade. The presentation talks about how to prepare for college applications and what to expect. 

Juniors should be trying to finish the school year as academically strong as possible to strengthen their GPA. They can also volunteer and/or participate in extracurricular activities to add to college applications. “They should sign up and take the SAT or ACT before the end of their junior year,” Reyes said. 

UC and CSU’s do not require SAT or ACT test scores, but are recommended to take because they show where your strengths and weaknesses lie. They can be helpful for students who aren’t sure what they should be doing after high school. 

With only one remaining year left in high school, juniors understand that the third year of high school is very important, especially if they want to attend a four-year college.