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Welcome to June’s CATES College Checklist!

Our monthly admissions-focused newsletter, the CATES College Checklist brings you the month’s important dates and deadlines along with testing and advising resources relevant to your student’s year in school.

In June, end-of-season celebratory events abound, and students look excitedly toward their summer academic programs, internships, travel, and leisure. Once that last hurdle of final exams is behind them, they can bask in the sunshine—and a well-earned sense of freedom!

Last updated: June 2024

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Freshmen

As your freshmen eagerly bid farewell to their first year of high school, they will be reflecting on the leaps and bounds they have taken throughout their first year. They may need a gentle reminder to maintain their academic focus as they must still prepare for finals before fully immersing themselves in the summer break.

Freshman Checklist

  • June: Create a final exams study plan
    • Learn more

      In order to plan effectively for final exams, it is important to create a study schedule that begins weeks in advance. This will ensure that you have adequate time to prepare and allow you to visit an instructor, tutor, or peer mentor for extra help if needed. The first task in test preparation is to know exactly what the test will cover, so three to four weeks in advance, stop in before or after school to ask your instructor. With that knowledge, begin sorting through lecture slides, notes, handouts, and past assignments, quizzes, and tests to be sure that you have study material on all topics. If you have maintained effective learning strategies throughout the year, conceptually understanding subjects rather than simply memorizing information, your study schedule should include a review of each concept with time allotted for application exercises, such as turning chapter headings into “how” or “why” questions and providing answers.

    • Discover Academic Tutoring from CATES
  • June: Work on your strategy for securing extracurricular leadership roles for next year
    • Learn more

      For your future college and scholarship applications, it is important to establish yourself as a leader in the classroom, school, and community. Admissions personnel want to know that they are admitting students who have a documented track record of service in their communities and who will bring that positive influence to their campus. Opportunities abound through school clubs and activities and in the community through non-profit, municipal, and religious organizations.

    • Discover Education Advising from CATES

Sophomores

June brings high emotions for sophomores. They are graduating into the halls of the upperclassmen and preparing to fill their shoes on the athletic field, in the concert hall, and on the stage. They are also experiencing the utmost symbol of their maturation and development: driving themselves—and you to worry!

Sophomore Checklist

  • June: Create a final exams study plan
    • Learn more

      In order to plan effectively for final exams, it is important to create a study schedule that begins weeks in advance. This will ensure that you have adequate time to prepare and allow you to visit an instructor, tutor, or peer mentor for extra help if needed. The first task in test preparation is to know exactly what the test will cover, so three to four weeks in advance, stop in before or after school to ask your instructor. With that knowledge, begin sorting through lecture slides, notes, handouts, and past assignments, quizzes, and tests to be sure that you have study material on all topics. If you have maintained effective learning strategies throughout the year, conceptually understanding subjects rather than simply memorizing information, your study schedule should include a review of each concept with time allotted for application exercises, such as turning chapter headings into “how” or “why” questions and providing answers.

    • Discover Academic Tutoring from CATES
  • June: Take the SAT vs. ACT Diagnostic to determine the best fit
    • Learn more

      CATES offers students a diagnostic exam with sections mimicking both the SAT and the ACT to determine which test best suits a student’s unique strengths. Based on a thorough analysis of the qualitative factors underlying diagnostic score trends, we can determine a student’s best fit and put a test preparation schedule in place. Our tutors will prescribe new strategies and techniques to unlock peak performance and lead students to testing success.

    • Discover SAT/ACT Test Prep from CATES
  • June: Further cement positioning for leadership roles in extracurricular and community activities
    • Watch our video on choosing extracurricular activities
    • Learn more

      For your future college and scholarship applications, it is important to establish yourself as a leader in the classroom, school, and larger community. Admissions personnel want to know that they are admitting students who have a documented track record of service in their communities and who will bring that positive influence to their campus. Opportunities abound through school clubs and activities and in the community through non-profit, municipal, and religious organizations.

      Discover Education Advising from CATES

Juniors

Juniors are completing their final exams and embracing their new position at the top of the high school hierarchy. They may share stories of how it became real to them as they entered the empty senior hallway and realized that it was their turn. These are perfect moments to capitalize on their excitement for the future and discuss the importance of starting to think about their college application narrative—the deliberate, thoughtful packaging of their high school story.

Junior Checklist

  • June: Create a final exams study plan
    • Learn more

      In order to plan effectively for final exams, it is important to create a study schedule that begins weeks in advance. This will ensure that you have adequate time to prepare and allow you to visit an instructor, tutor, or peer mentor for extra help if needed. The first task in test preparation is to know exactly what the test will cover, so three to four weeks in advance, stop in before or after school to ask your instructor. With that knowledge, begin sorting through lecture slides, notes, handouts, and past assignments, quizzes, and tests to be sure that you have study material on all topics. If you have maintained effective learning strategies throughout the year, conceptually understanding subjects rather than simply memorizing information, your study schedule should include a review of each concept with time allotted for application exercises, such as turning chapter headings into “how” or “why” questions and providing answers.

    • Discover Academic Tutoring from CATES
  • June: Visit your college counselor and ask teachers to write college application letters of recommendation
    • Learn more

      Once finals are over and classes are winding down, it is a great time to update your college counselor on your spring activities and approach teachers for a letter of recommendation. They will have more availability to write them over the last days of the semester and can devote more time to a detailed letter. Be sure to bring in a printed resume to give them when you request your letter so that they may be reminded of your academic and extracurricular accomplishments with which they might be acquainted.

  • June 1: June SAT
  • June 7: Registration deadline for the July 13 ACT
  • June 8: June ACT

Seniors

Many of your seniors have already marched down the aisles of their high school auditoriums for the last time, turning their tassels with pride and joyously tossing their caps into the air. They are now looking ahead to an exciting summer of freedom and friends before saying their final goodbyes and moving on to the next stage of their lives. Be sure to plan lots of opportunities for your family to enjoy time with each other and relish in the togetherness.

Senior Checklist

  • June: If applicable, create a final exams study plan
    • Learn more

      Some seniors still have finals to complete, and a solid study plan will be essential to finishing out their high school years strong. By creating a study schedule that begins weeks in advance, you will ensure that you have adequate time to prepare and visit an instructor, tutor, or peer mentor for extra help if needed.

      The first task in test preparation is to know exactly what the test will cover, so three to four weeks in advance, stop by after school to ask your instructor. With that knowledge, begin sorting through lecture slides, notes, handouts, and past assignments, quizzes, and tests to be sure that you have study material on all topics. If you have maintained effective learning strategies throughout the year, conceptually understanding subjects rather than simply memorizing information, your study schedule should include a review of each concept with time allotted for application exercises, such as turning chapter headings into “how” or “why” questions and providing answers.

    • Discover Academic Tutoring from CATES
  • June: Unsubscribe from college mailing lists and withdraw applications
    • Learn more

      Once you have made the big decision about which college you will attend, it is important to formally withdraw your application from the others in order to be respectful to admissions personnel. The process of withdrawing a college application is different for each institution. For some, you may withdraw through the college portal in the location in which you would check your application status; for others, you may withdraw your application by either emailing or writing a formal letter to the admissions office. Be sure to include your name, address, and ID numbers connected to your application.

  • June: Contact your college advisor to create a fall course schedule
    • Learn more

      In most cases, you have already received an email from a major professor or college advisor who will guide you through course selection. Be sure to communicate any interest in other minors or concentrations so that you can begin taking classes in those programs as well.

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