Juniors

Class of 2026!

2 Down and 2 more years to go! But this year is very important. This year is important because the PSAT and the SAT are planned for this school year. Colleges look at all your performance from 9-12 grade yet, 11th grade is the year that will determine your acceptance into college. Make sure you are taking classes and earning the best grade you can. Colleges look for the slips and improvements year after year and they look for AP classes, Honor classes, Dual enrollment, and Extra-Curricular activities. Be well-rounded!

This is a place where you can look for important junior information and updates you might need to know. If you cannot find what you are looking for here, please reach out to College Counselor at the school.

PSAT/NMSQT

This is the test most people think of when they hear “PSAT.” Administered in the fall of junior year, it’s the exact same test as the PSAT 10—except that a sufficiently high score on the PSAT/NMSQT can qualify you for a National Merit Scholarship (Qualifying Test).

SAT

The SAT is an entrance exam used by most colleges and universities to make admissions decisions.

The purpose of the SAT is to measure a student's readiness for college, and provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants. The SAT is switching to a digital format. The digital SAT will be shorter, reading passages will be more concise, questions will be more direct, and students will have access to a wider range of digital tools. (See the chart on the next page).

SAT Practice Testing sites:

Collegeboard.org https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat/practice-preparation

Khanacademy.com https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat/full-length-sat-1

Princeton Review https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/sat-practice-tests

Prepare for the SAT:

The Night Before

Relax! There are a lot of good reasons NOT to study the night before Test Day. Marathoners don't go for a run before Race Day, and mental marathoners like you shouldn't study for more than an hour on the day before you take the SAT. Your brain needs to rest in order to do its best. Read a book or hang out with a friend or two.
Avoid screen time. You're going to need to get a good night's sleep, and bright screens (televisions, phones, movies) will wake up your brain and make it more difficult to drift off at an early hour.
Have a healthy dinner. Drink lots of water and load up with complex carbohydrates, just like marathon runners do: potatoes, pasta, and rice are good choices here, as well as protein and vegetables.
Make a plan to get to the testing site on time.

Test Morning:

Wake up early and have a healthy breakfast. Here are a few good choices: eggs, toast, cereal, bagel, fruit, juice, cheese, milk.
If you drink coffee or tea, then stick to your routine. If you don't drink a caffeinated beverage every day, though, Test Day isn't the time to start. You need calm, slow-burning, consistent energy today.
Get to the test site early.

Type of Change	What’s Changing	How It’s Different From the Old SAT	What It Means For You
Exam administration	The SAT will be administered on a digital device (laptop or tablet) through an application called Bluebook.	The old SAT was administered in a pencil-and-paper format.	You can take the digital SAT at school or a testing center using a digital device that belongs to you or a device that you’ve borrowed from your school or the College Board. You’ll download Bluebook to your device before your exam.
Length	The digital SAT will last for a total of two hours and 14 minutes.	The pencil and paper SAT lasted for three hours.	The digital SAT is an hour shorter! Your exam won’t take as long.
Format	The digital SAT will consist of two sections: Reading and Writing, and Math.	The pencil and paper SAT consisted of three sections: Reading, Writing and Language, and Math.	Your exam experience will be more streamlined.
Format	Both sections of the digital SAT will be divided into two modules: Module 1 and Module 2.	The paper-and-pencil SAT had four sections. They’ve been renamed modules.	You won’t be able to skip back and forth between modules during the exam.
Format and content	Adaptive testing generates an individualized digital SAT exam for you.	The exam was administered on pencil and paper, so the exam could not be adapted to fit your knowledge and skills.	Your performance on Module 1 on both SAT Reading and Writing and SAT Math will be used to generate the questions you receive in Module 2. Every test taker’s exam will be different.
Format and content	Passages on SAT Reading will be shorter, and each reading passage will correspond with only one exam question. Questions on both SAT Reading and SAT Math will be more direct and concise.	The pencil and paper SAT included both long and short reading passages. Reading passages corresponded with sets of multiple questions. Questions were not as explicitly focused on aligning with real college material.	Your exam performance will be a better reflection of your college and career readiness.
Exam tools and rules	Students will have access to a digital countdown clock, flag exam questions and come back to them, built-in graphing calculator, and a digital reference sheet for SAT Math. Also, students may use the graphing calculator for the entire Math section.	Students’ exams were timed by a proctor. Reference sheets for SAT Math were included in the paper exam booklet. Students could not use a graphing calculator on the entire Math section.	All your exam tools will be housed in the Bluebook app, so your exam experience will go more smoothly. You also get to use your calculator to answer more questions.
Scoring	Official score reports will be delivered much more quickly, likely within a few days of your exam date.	Score reports were delivered in a couple of weeks.	You’ll get your scores quickly, so you can make decisions about whether to send your score reports to colleges and whether to retake the SAT more quickly too.
SAT prep	Using your digital device and the Bluebook app, you’ll be able to take full-length, adaptive practice SATs before your exam.	You could download and take paper and pencil practice exams, but there was no app you could use to take them digitally. Old practice exams were not adaptive.	You’ll get more targeted, individualized practice for the exam. Don’t use old versions of the SAT to prep anymore, since they won’t familiarize you with adaptive testing.

What 10 things can I do now as an 11th grader to prepare for college?

Start looking into colleges that you are interested in. Take into consideration the location, tuition (room and board, dining, fees and miscellaneous cost).
Look for your major or the career field that interests you. Note: You do not need to know your major when you apply. It can be decided on later.
Are friends attending the same college. Sometimes having (the right) someone you know at the same college is beneficial.
Do you want to attend a PWI (Predominantly White University), HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), Private, Trade School?
Have an honest conversation with your parents about finances. Are they going to help you, are you on your own, some or half support? Look for scholarships!
Visit colleges and attend College fairs (MMSA college fair is in October), FAFSA Night.
Participate in extra-curricular activities. Colleges look favorably on students that participate in other activities. Pursue leadership roles in those activities.
Perform community Service.
Talk with college students at different year levels in college.
Do well in class. Make sure you are present as much as possible. Plan doctor appointments and vacations on breaks, Saturdays, and on days we are not in school. Save doctor visits during the school day for emergencies. Remember your character is important!!

Important 11th grade Calendar Events