Discover how to DIY your child’s college planning timeline with essential tips and strategies to prepare for college tours and make informed decisions at every age.
One minute, your child was playing with stuffed animals. You blinked, and now it’s time to talk about what to do after high school.
How did you get here? Don’t worry. You are not alone.
And it’s not entirely up to you or your child; pray and ask God for His best. As we trust His wisdom and work in partnership, God has a way of opening our eyes—and our children’s eyes—to what we may not have seen without Him.
What to Discuss with Your High School Student in 9th, 10th, 11th & 12th Grade
9th Grade:
This is when you want your child to start zeroing in on what makes him or her tick.
- Does she love to be around people, or does he need alone time to recharge?
- Will he spend hours taking something apart to figure out how it works?
- Does she want to spend her Sunday afternoon with a mystery or figure out how to style the neighbor’s dog with the latest pooch haute couture?
Beyond mere interests, as we know these will waver, start to help your student understand what they’ve always gravitated toward. Suppose she’s tended toward pursuits that involve math concepts, such as music, engineering, spatial relations-dependent interests like aviation, construction or architecture. In that case, it will likely be reflected in how she played as a child, what she enjoys doing for fun, the school projects she chooses, and even the way she decorates her room.
These aren’t just hobbies or school subjects; these tendencies are often hard-wired into our kids. They naturally lean toward the arts, sciences, maths, or social sciences. Or maybe they’re highly communicative, intuitive, empathetic, sensitive, and their friends come to them for advice. Perhaps they often find themselves in entrepreneurial startups, even if they’re not financially high-yielding yet. Or maybe they’re skilled athletes who take an interest not just in the sport but also in health and wellness.
Ninth grade is a terrific time for students to explore these interests by interviewing community members in careers that they might be interested in pursuing, and you can help them set those up. They can also explore a short mentoring experience or job shadow for a few hours if your school offers that or if you are willing to accompany them and the job site allows it.
The goal isn’t to choose a career; it’s to start thinking beyond the “right now” toward the future. Your ninth grader’s classes will likely line up with other ninth graders largely, unless he or she has been in an accelerated math or language arts class in middle school. If they’ve traditionally been in higher-level classes, they’ll likely continue that plan, or if they’re interested in a math-heavy career pursuit, you may want to talk to your school administrator or counselor to ensure they’re already on a track that will allow them to explore those higher level classes before they graduate. (They likely already are.)
Ninth grade is still pretty early, so this isn’t when you need to be uber-concerned about registration for the rest of their high school career.
10th Grade:
During 10th grade, you’ll want to dive deeper into areas of interest and exploration of technical vs. four-year colleges. You may want to start a spreadsheet to keep track of the options you explore, too. Some simple questions to talk about include:
- Do you see yourself at a metro campus, in the middle of a city, or something more rural or suburban?
- Do you want an enclosed campus where most of the activities are student-driven or initiated through campus organizations and extracurriculars?
- Do you prefer a technical route, where you can experience hands-on education and learn almost immediately what your career field requires?
- How far away from home, familiar medical and dental care, and friends and family do you want to be?
While these may change, looking outside of what a student wants for a career can be helpful during their sophomore year because it’s still too early to be zeroing in on a major. However, they may have learned enough about themselves to know they are more of a homebody who enjoys staying in on a Friday night and heading to the local farmer’s market every Saturday morning. Or they may recognize that the small-town life isn’t for them and a city vibe is calling their name.
Exploring a few college campuses and/or technical schools in different types of communities will help your student recognize that the options extend beyond what they want to study or learn. Lifestyle is a big part of making the college planning timeline work for them.
Tenth grade is also a great time to start thinking about extracurricular activities. Many students are already involved in a “lane,” so to speak, by the time they reach sophomore year. But if not, it’s not too late. Let them consider if they want to pursue something new. Just because they’ve always played soccer doesn’t mean they have to continue if they’re interested in trying out for the high school musical or they want to join a club.
Starting a club or community organization is also something students might not readily consider doing. Encourage your child to think beyond what’s offered if their passions are in a subject that their school doesn’t already provide. At Learnwell, students are encouraged to think entrepreneurially, particularly in high school, as they will plan for their entrepreneurial business or service in their junior year and launch it in their senior year.
Of course, grades are always a factor, and the PSAT isn’t a bad idea in 10th grade, but it’s also not required. You can decide with your child whether they feel ready to take a practice test, particularly toward the end of their 10th-grade year. It can help them learn the style of questions that appear on the standardized exam and give them an idea of what it’s like. But if they are not ready, many students wait until the fall of their junior year to take it if they know they want to attend a four-year college.
Others choose the technical route, which, later in high school, may include a placement test but may not. Review the next sections in 11th and 12th grade to see what to expect.
Students can start to consider what type of campus they might enjoy, such as a city versus suburban feel or an enclosed versus sprawling campus that’s spread throughout town.
11th Grade:
Eleventh grade is when students start hearing about “what’s next” in several avenues of life. They’re being asked about it in the community, at church, and certainly in school. While most of these sentences finish with statements like, “You’ve got time,” it’s also prudent to prepare your college planning timeline now for a season that can fly by.
At Learnwell, the 11th grade is when students dig deeply into brainstorming what kind of service they want to provide their community or the business they’d like to start. Research from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor U.S. Report (2023-2024) suggests that the fastest rising entrepreneurial activity is among the 18- to 24-year-old age group, which is skewing younger than in previous years.
If your child is interested in a field where entrepreneurship makes sense, thinking through alternative programs of study may be helpful as you visit colleges, look at their fields of study online, and add to the spreadsheet you created in 10th grade. Comparing and contrasting what you see at each college can get more complex this year, too.
Factors you’ll want to start considering include:
- Overall tuition + average freshman scholarship award – Simply looking at the tuition price tag isn’t the way to go, because most private schools, especially those with endowments, can provide additional funding that public schools often lack. Always keep this in mind when considering the overall tuition cost.
- Specialized scholarships offered at a specific wish-list school – If your child knows they want to be an engineer, they’re likely zeroing in on schools that are well-known for the engineering programs of study. Those departments usually also offer scholarships geared toward those incoming freshmen who are ready to declare a major in that department. Start asking early about how the scholarships work, what’s required, and when the application deadlines are.
- Interdisciplinary degree programs – Many universities are diversifying what they offer by devising combination (or multidisciplinary) degrees, where students can explore a variety of career fields, creating coursework tailored to the career they want, which often includes several credit hours as internships.
- Combined programs of study – Sometimes, students are limited by not knowing what they don’t know. Let’s help them explore their interests by not limiting them to just one field if possible. There are colleges across the country that allow students to combine degrees or explore dual degrees, providing them with more flexibility in the job market.
- On-campus work programs – Several academic institutions offer work-study programs on campus, and some even require them as part of their curriculum. Schools like Berea College, Alice Lloyd College, Warren Wilson College, and Berry College are just a few that are known for either required work programs or a high percentage of students who choose to participate in on-campus work/mentor programs.
- Lifestyle & organizations – Civically minded students may want to choose a campus that offers additional opportunities for civic involvement, and students who serve in the local community may want to continue that involvement at the collegiate level. Looking for a place where they can easily integrate that into their coursework or schedule would be important. Another factor might be schools that offer rideshare assistance to campus ministries, off-campus churches, and help with medical, shopping, and practical needs.
- Undecided majors & life after college – If your student is already well underway in choosing a major, they may want to start thinking about how this department helps its graduates with career advancement. If not, that’s okay. Many colleges offer undecided degree pathways for incoming freshmen, so that’s another avenue to explore when touring campuses. Still, it doesn’t hurt to ask the Student Life Center on campus how it’s positioned to help graduating seniors enter the workforce.
12th Grade:
This is the year your student should develop a shortlist of colleges or technical schools to which they are interested in applying. Some colleges are test-optional, others ask for SAT or ACT scores and transcripts, and still others (technical and vocational) require an admissions test called the ACCUPLACER or a GED. Suppose your student decides that the next step isn’t formal education. In that case, an alternative is to pursue a career interest or travel for a year, further exploring and waiting until they’re more certain that college or vocational studies are right for them.
If you haven’t already toured a few schools, this is definitely something to do earlier in the school year. Many competitive universities have early application deadlines, so deciding early can be crucial. However, for the majority of students who are undecided or could pursue their studies at various universities, early application isn’t necessary. Scholarships and funding may have specific deadlines, so researching alumni and honors programs, as well as civic or community scholarships, before or during the summer of your student’s senior year will be beneficial.
In fact, your student’s decision about where to apply may come down to a few factors. In addition to cost, you may want to ask questions to discuss as a family, as well as with others who have been influential in your child’s life, such as a pastor, youth pastor, teacher, or coach. Before discussions with others, though, please ensure that conversations with your child include narrowing down their options and asking what feels right to them. The last thing you want to do is invite others into a decision that’s already overwhelming and cause even more confusion with too many choices and opinions. Let your child decide whether they’d like outside input.
Creating a decision matrix can help your child prioritize their options as they approach a decision about a college or vocational degree.
Discussing whether or not your child is life-ready is essential. Can they manage their own schedule and everyday living requirements (such as hygiene, laundry, organization, medication, and sleep needs)? Will they need assistance with a car or other type of transportation if they go to school far from home? Do they learn well in online courses, in-person, or hands-on environments? How are they at setting boundaries with friends (Will they struggle to say no to social opportunities when there’s a project due or a test they need to study for)? Students are typically pretty good at self-evaluation by the time they’re asking these questions during their senior year. Listen to what they feel they can handle.
Other considerations include the time it would take to complete their chosen degree, the career options available, the potential debt burden if they incur it, average salaries, and the flexibility of their career path if their ideal career isn’t hiring when they graduate. Do they have relationships with professionals who can help them explore adjacent careers while they wait for an opportunity to open up? Are they willing to obtain a technical certificate in addition to a college diploma to acquire hands-on skills that can provide further career grounding? They’ll likely need your guidance to answer some of these.
Then, of course, taking into account a student’s passions, instinct and aptitude for life transitions is always advisable. Helping your students get ready will likely be an intangible goal that’s hard to reach. But the preparation you’re putting in all along the way will net the result of helping them feel more at ease with whatever they choose.