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Junior year is often the most pivotal stretch of high school. Demanding courses, escalating extracurricular commitments, and the arrival of high-stakes testing converge all at once. To navigate this busy season—especially amid this year’s ACT/SAT changes—it’s more important than ever to start early. Here are our key recommendations for a strong start to an outstanding junior year:

1. ACT/SAT Prep

If you haven’t started already, begin diagnostics now before the start of the academic season. Forum ACT and SAT programs are designed so students reach their goal scores by March of junior year. This design frees them to focus on AP exams, finals, and college-visit planning—with scores already in hand. This year that efficiency matters more more than ever: due to their recent changes, both the ACT and the SAT show more variance at the top range of the scoring scale, which means students will typically need more official administration sittings to reach their goal score, pushing ideal prep timelines earlier than ever.

And top test centers fill quickly. We recommend reserving seats for every plausible date now (you can always cancel later):

• ACT registration: act.org/registration
• SAT registration: satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat/registration

2. Academic Support

While testing requirements are returning at many colleges, transcripts remain the single most important credential—and junior-year grades carry the greatest weight. Coursework shifts from foundational skills to college-level depth, and the pace accelerates. At the same time, how students start the year is the best predictor of how they will finish. If your student hasn’t begun previewing their junior year material yet, we encourage starting now: securing subject support early, rather than waiting for a progress-report surprise, can preserve strong grades and prevent stress from snowballing later in the year. Many of our high school tutors are nearly booked for the school year. If you haven't yet arranged your child’s tutoring for the 2025-2026 academic season, I would love to be in touch.