Admissions Insight: Course & Extracurricular Planning for 7th-10th Graders
Most students don't realize it until it's too late: your college application is built from everything you do starting in 9th grade — which means the planning has to start now.
Starts Wed, Jun 17
11:00 PM UTC · 1h
Joanna
Outcomes, not lecture notes.
Map a four-year high school course sequence that includes key STEM prerequisites without creating scheduling conflicts or an unmanageable workload
Identify which AP and honors courses to take in 9th and 10th grade to build rigor early and free up space for advanced coursework later
Develop a year-by-year extracurricular strategy that moves from exploration to leadership to demonstrable impact
Recognize what admissions officers mean by "evidence of impact" and how to generate it through activities, projects, and initiatives
Design self-guided or entrepreneurial activities that stand out in a competitive applicant pool
Evaluate summer programs, dual-enrollment courses, and other nontraditional options as tools for filling prerequisite gaps and adding rigor outside the standard school schedule
Apply a long-range planning framework so every class, activity, and summer experience builds toward a cohesive, compelling application narrative
Meet Joanna.
Joanna
A proud alumna of Georgetown University, Joanna has decades of experience in the college admissions and standardized testing space. She's a longtime admissions interviewer and current member of the Board of Governors at Georgetown, has worked for standardized test agencies (the Graduate Management Admission Council and HR Certification Institute) and prep companies (Veritas Prep), partnered with a great many admissions offices, and served as a college admissions consultant for hundreds of applicants to elite programs. As a nonprofit marketing executive, she focuses her efforts on educational technology and higher education, and volunteers her spare time at a variety of athletic and military organizations including Dog Tag Bakery, Team Red White & Blue, the Ironman Foundation, and the Pat Tillman Foundation.
Most students don't realize it until it's too late: your college application is built from everything you do starting in 9th grade — which means the planning has to start now. Admissions Insight is a strategic planning course led by Joanna Graham, a veteran admissions consultant and former Georgetown admissions rep, designed specifically for 7th–10th graders who want to compete at the highest level. Students will map out a four-year course sequence that fits in STEM prerequisites, AP and honors classes, and challenging electives without hitting a scheduling crisis junior year. They'll also build a concrete extracurricular roadmap — learning how to find their niche, demonstrate real-world impact, and develop the kind of self-guided projects that make top admissions officers take notice. If you want to walk into 12th grade with a story worth telling, this is where that story starts.
Live Q&A
Cameras / mics optional
Recordings
Available within 1 hour, kept 90 days
Materials
No special materials required
Similar classes
free with a Varsity Tutors membership
11
DAYS01
HRS22
MINWed, Jun 17 • 11:00pm UTC
Starts in 11 days
Admissions Insight: Course & Extracurricular Planning for 7th-10th Graders