Your school guidance counselor is one of your most important resources. She or he can help you schedule your courses, balance your workload, and plan for college. Don't know your counselor very well? Make an appointment.
Here are some basic questions to get your conversation started. It always helps to think ahead about what you want to ask or talk about. They're busy and you're busy.
What are the required and recommended courses -- for graduation and for college prep?
How should I work my schedule so I'll complete them?
When is the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) exam? going to be given here?
Is this school a testing center for the SAT or ACT, or will I need to go somewhere nearby?
Do you have any after-school or evening sessions available for college planning, or for taking the SAT or ACT?
Do you have college handbooks or other guides that I can browse or borrow? Do you have a copy of the free Taking the SAT booklet, which has a practice test in it? Or a test booklet to prepare me for the ACT?
What activities can I do at home and over the summer to get ready for college?
What kinds of grades do different colleges require?
Are there any college fairs at this school, or nearby?
Where do other kids from this school go?
Can you put me in touch with recent grads who are going to colleges on my wish list?
Do you have information about colleges far away, or do you favor schools nearby?
If my colleges need a recommendation from you, how can I help you know me better, so it can be more personal?
What are the requirements or standards for the honor society?
Are there any special scholarships or awards that I should know about now, so I can work toward them?
Can I see my transcript as it stands now, to see if everything is as I think it should be?
Do you have any forms I would need to apply for financial aid?
How does our school compare to others, in terms of test scores?
Scholars will launch an interdisciplinary journal next year, called The Journal of Controversial Ideas, where authors will be able to publish their academic work under pseudonyms due to "recent threats against polarizing academics." There will be no restrictions on academic disciplines, and "both left-wingers and right-wingers" are welcome on the editorial board. [...]
Research indicates that college students are expected to vote in record numbers in today's midterm election, in stark contrast to the nation's lowest youth turnout and voter registration in 2014. While forty percent of 18- to 29-year-olds say they will "definitely vote" in the midterm elections, "doesn't mean they'll actually cast a ballot on Election Day." Here are a few of the issues in higher education on which voters will have a say: [...]
Graduate student assistants across the nation are pushing for a $15 per hour stipend, which they believe is a "minimum living wage." Graduate students have attributed the 29 percent stipend increase at Emory University to their successful campus advocacy. [...]
