While there is little formal interaction between III & IV Formers and the College Office, counselors are always available for conversations (phone, email, or in-person) with students or parents. Additionally, we work in coordination with academic departments and individual advisors to indirectly support students with concerns surrounding course scheduling, standardized testing, and other college-related items. (*The final five items are intended for IV Form students only.)
- Recognize the III & IV Form do matter—your grades will become a part of your GPA and will form the foundation of what you do for the remainder of your St. Mark’s career.
- Learn to balance academic demands, social time, and extra- curricular activities. If you are a day student add your commute and your responsibilities at home into the mix.
- Make a conscious effort to get off campus— to Boston, Worcester, programs on college campuses, community service trips, trips to museums, the opera, churches, temples or mosques. St. Mark’s is located in a great area. Take full advantage of it.
- Explore the extracurricular life of the school; stretch yourself to include new activities, interests, or groups.
- Get to know your advisor and at least one other adult in the school.
- Make the effort to meet with your teachers out-side of class when you have questions or need support and when you want to pursue a topic further.
- Talk to your teachers, advisor, and parents about time management skills, how best to build self-advocacy skills, and how to recognize when to ask for help.
- Check in with your advisor and folks in The Center about possible summer enrichment programs or other related programs.
- Read. Read. Read. Make time to read more than your school assignments. Read books, newspapers, magazines, websites, and blogs.
- Consider when you might be able to participate in some Global Citizenship programming; do the same for community service and community equity work.
- When course sign-up time comes around, work with your advisor to map out tentative plans for the upcoming years. Consider the prerequisites you will need to fill and what courses you would like to take. Remember to balance the need to appropriately challenge yourself across the full-breadth of our curriculum.
- Think about some VERY preliminary college visits while traveling for vacation or to visit family. Establishing a framework of what works and what does not for you in terms of size, location, school type without concern for admissibility is the goal for now. There are many areas you could visit to see a variety of “types” (a small college, a mid-sized school, and a large university) to further define your interests and preferences. Talk to college counselors for suggestions.
IV Form specific
- Take PSAT (administered at SM) in October and carefully review score report when it arrives in December.
- Take practice ACT (administered at SM) in the spring and carefully review results and your preliminary testing plans created by the College Counseling Office.
- Consult with teachers and college counselors about taking SAT Subject exams. Possible tests in Chemistry, Math, Language (for native speakers).
- Attend Class Meetings in spring regarding practice ACT and Standardized test plans.
- Consider test preparation options; begin to work with on-line component of Academic Approach program.