The Junior Seminar class is a requirement for juniors. The purpose of this course is to prepare juniors for the college application process. The course will include ample time for discussion, questions, and feedback. Each student will assess her own educational interests and will learn about many elements of the college search and application process, including interviewing techniques, print and online resources for researching colleges, transcripts and recommendations, standardized test registration and preparation, the application essay, types of colleges, and elements she may want to consider in the decision-making process. The seminar class is designed to complement the individual counseling process that will occur between the college counselor and each student, which will begin mid-way through the course. Oldfields deliberately seeks a student body that is diverse in nature. The list of colleges students choose to attend reflects this diversity.
Sample Junior Seminar Syllabus: (copyright 1999)
Week 1: Course Goals and Discussion of Role of Student Records in Process
Week 2: Educational Interest Inventory (guides choice of major)
Week 3: Review Results of Inventory and work with Majors/ Career Book
Week 4: College Environment Inventory
Week 5: Create Personal Profile from results of Inventories
Week 6: Discuss College Interview Sheets/ Questions
Week 7: View Video and Critique Student Interviews
Week 8: View Video and Critique Process
Week 9: Internet Search of appropriate college-related web sites
Week 10: Fill out and mail SAT/ACT Registration Forms
Week 11: Create Personal resumes
Week 12: Mock Admissions Committee
Week 13: Reading college view books and catalogues with a critical eye
Week 14: How to prepare for the College Fair/ Create Question/Answer Notebooks
Week 15: Writing your College Essay/ brainstorming topics
Week 16: Share essay topics; continue to brainstorm
Week 17: Wrap-up and prepare for summer
Testing Calendar:
Sophomore year: PSAT
Junior year: PSAT; SAT and SAT Subject Tests; ACT; TOEFL; AP
Senior year: SAT and SAT Subject Tests; ACT; TOEFL; AP
(All tests are offered on the campus with Oldfields proctors, with the exception of TOEFL)
