As students first enter high school, a majority of them concentrate their effort on their freshman and sophomore years before burning out in their junior and senior terms. While every year in high school is important, one year stands out as the most important. Unfortunately, it is not the one most students tend to focus on.

This neglected year is the eleventh grade.

Junior year is the year that most students first gain responsibilities, such as working a job or become leaders of a club or sporting team. This increased level of responsibility tends to shift focus from core schoolwork to extracurricular activities.  This sometimes leads to declining grades.

Extra-curricular activities offer a nice break from the pressure of studying, but students sometimes forget to retain focus on the educational process. Finding a niche for both studying and extra-curricular activities helps build a healthy portfolio for colleges to consider, as well as strengthening the ability to multitask.  However, students tend to focus on their interests and let school work slide. This leads to a conflict between grades and outside interests that not all students can handle.

As the responsibilities mount, so does the pressure and students often crack at the expense of their G.P.A. This breakdown can be catastrophic in terms of college choices.  Since most colleges have fall admission deadlines, students who wait until their senior year often realize that it may be a little too late.  Their junior year grades are the ones sent on transcripts.

The performance shown by the cumulative GPA, standardized testing scores, and class ranks achieved in junior year greatly outweigh all other years. It is the last chance for colleges to gauge an applicant’s strengths and weaknesses. Colleges use the junior year as an indicator for how students will perform at their institution, or whether or not success is likely to transpire.

All years in high school are important to the chances of being successful in a career or in higher education. The skills learned in these core four years will follow each student throughout their life. However, junior year is the most important and should definitely not be taken as a waiting year to get started on post-graduation plans.