Plan your life! A guide to using calendars

Staying organized is a critical skill to develop and maintain during high school. As your workload increases and your responsibilities begin to add up, it’s important that you keep track of all your commitments. This isn’t always an easy task. As you near senior year, you’ll have to balance school assignments, exams,  standardized tests, scholarship and college application deadlines, and extracurricular commitments. This can sometimes turn into a real juggling act, especially towards the end of the school year with finals and the penultimate board exams. 

If you want to ensure that you’re prepared for the work ahead and that you don’t drop any of the important balls you’ve got in the air, you’ll need to come up with a foolproof organization system. This means using your time wisely, developing stress management techniques, and, of course, staying organized.

One critical key to your organization should be the use of a planner or calendar. Using a planner or calendar will help you to visualize the many commitments you have made and will also aid you in keeping track of them. Having a visual reminder of what is happening when can also deter you from biting off more than you can chew.

There are many different systems for using these important tools, but ultimately how you maximize your use of them will be up to your personal preferences. In this post, we’ll outline the benefits of using various calendar systems, the various methods you might employ in using them, and the types of things you should include on your calendar. To learn more about how using a calendar or planner can help you to stay organized and on track even during the busiest of times, read on.

Benefits of Online Calendars

One type of calendar to consider using is an online calendar. This type of calendar can generally be accessed as an app or through a website, and it is generally a very popular choice for high school students and professionals alike.

Major benefits are: 

1. It can be shared across devices: Once you add something to the calendar on your phone, it will automatically sync so that the event shows up on your computer, tablet, or any other device you might access it from
2. Multiple calendars: Online calendars also allow you to overlay different calendars onto the same template. This way, you can add events for an extracurricular calendar, school assignments calendar, college applications calendar, and more
3. Easily shareable: You can add other users to your calendar and choose what type of access each has, including whether they can edit the calendar themselves or just view what you have added to it. This way, you can add your parents or mentors to your calendar
4. Active notifications: You can set a notification to alert you at a set time before a scheduled event takes place, or you can set a daily alert to update you with that day’s agenda. These alerts can be synced directly to your phone so that you’re sure not to miss them, even on a busy day.

Online calendars are a very popular choice due to the ease with which you can access and coordinate with others through them. Being able to filter your view and access all events from all your devices is certainly a major advantage.

Benefits of Physical Planners or Calendars

Of course, online calendars and planners aren’t the only option available. Sometimes, you might find that a physical planner or calendar is a better choice for you.

Major benefits are: 

1. Multiple kinds of formats: Physical planners or calendars exist in nearly every format imaginable. You might have one that shows one day per page, or you might have one that shows an entire month. If you can’t find the template you prefer at an office supply store or for purchase online, it is fairly easy to make your own using a slim three-ring binder and a hole punch. Simply create your own template exactly how you want it using Microsoft Excel and run off enough copies to last for the year, or find a blank template online that you can print yourself.
2. Can be accessed anywhere: physical planner can be accessed anywhere, including during classes when phones or other devices are not allowed. You can use your planner as an assignment book, bringing it along with you to every class and adding assignments or other important commitments immediately as they arise. Generally, phones or other devices are often not allowed to be used in the classroom, so if you are using a virtual calendar, you’ll need to wait until after class to add important assignments. A physical planner allows you to enter these important deadlines immediately 
3. Helps you remember better: a physical planner requires that you handwrite each commitment. While this might not seem like a big deal, studies show that that students who write their notes by hand are more likely to commit them to memory than students who type notes during a lecture. If the same theory is carried over to a calendar, then it would stand to reason that students who hand-write their commitments into a physical planner may be more likely to remember them independently than students who type them into an online calendar.   

Best Calendar Programs

Google Calendar. Google Calendar is one way to keep track of important dates, deadlines, and events. It syncs across devices and is easily shareable with others, so you can keep your family and friends informed as well. It also allows you to set alerts or notifications to make sure you don’t forget important deadlines.

Microsoft Outlook. Microsoft Outlook Calendar is another popular choice. It includes many of the same options as Google Calendar, and also allows you to set recurring events, for example on the first weekday or first weekend of the month. One drawback of MS Outlook is that it only allows you to schedule reminders two weeks in advance of events.

iCal. iCal is another solid option, not particularly dissimilar to Microsoft Outlook or Google Calendar. If you are already an iOS user, though, you might find iCal more convenient since it is the default calendar app included with your Apple devices. Additionally, when you are signed into your iCloud account, it will automatically sync across all devices associated with that account.

We hope this helps. If you use a calendar, comment below of what you use and if you don’t, then tell us what you might use! 

4 things you can do today to prepare for college

After all the work and stress of the college application process, actually starting college may seem like a comparatively easier and more positive experience. However, college life differs in many ways from the lives of most high school students. Going away for college is a unique experience for everyone, but for most students, it will involve making major adjustments.

Once you’re on campus, you’ll typically be expected to handle most aspects of your life much more independently, from academics to social activities to everyday practical concerns. Balancing all these new responsibilities can be a challenging task.

While people often focus on the academic side of preparing for college, the more personal and practical skill sets that college also requires are just as important.

Here are 4 areas you’ll need to consider as you get ready for the demands of college life: 

Get comfortable taking care of household chores and errands.

For many young people, the beginning of college is the first time they’ve lived independently from their families for an extended period of time. It can come as a shock for them to suddenly find themselves personally responsible for a whole range of activities that might have previously been taken care of by their parents or other family members.

From cleaning to paying the bills to running errands, there are many adult tasks for which you’ll need to take responsibility in order for your college life to run smoothly. It’s wise to start learning how to accomplish these tasks well before it becomes absolutely necessary for you to do them for yourself.

Many young people encounter obstacles as they learn to take on more substantial domestic tasks, but minor disasters, like shrinking all your sweaters by using the wrong temperature on the washing machine, are part of the learning process. With practice, you’ll become much more comfortable with these tasks, and the earlier you start practicing, the more secure in your abilities you’ll feel when you leave for college.

Understand and manage your financial situation.

In order for you to learn to handle your own finances, the first thing you’ll need to figure out is what financial resources you have and in what forms. Do you have savings, and if so, where are they held? Are there bonds in your name waiting to mature, or is there a trust fund or college fund being held for you? Whatever your situation, learn as much as you can about it.

If you have a bank account, check out its terms, and get in the habit of actually looking at your bank statements. (If you don’t have a bank account, get one!) You can also look up whether the bank you use now has branches and ATMs in the cities where you’re considering going to college—if not, you may end up finding it more convenient to open an additional account at a more accessible bank.

If you do have substantial savings, investments, or other financial resources of your own, now is the time to make sure you know what they are and how they work. Your family may be able to help you learn more and access more advanced financial planning resources.

High school is also a great time to start practicing making and sticking to a budget. No matter how much or how little money you have, you can keep track of and think critically about how much you earn, save, and spend. It’s also smart to get a sense of how much money is required in order to meet your usual needs and wants.

Talking about money can be awkward, but it’s important that you have an honest and forthright discussion with your parents about who pays for what and how. There are a number of important questions to be answered before you leave for college, some regarding everyday expenses, others regarding what plans are in place to help you in an emergency situation. 

How much will your parents contribute to your living expenses during college, and how will they send you those funds? Will you have access to a family credit card for emergencies and/or for everyday expenses? Who pays for textbooks and school supplies, and what about medical expenses? Whatever you decide as a family, it’s best to make sure everyone is on the same page before you leave home.

Develop sustainable and organized work habits.

Everybody procrastinates sometimes, and college offers plenty of distractions that can interfere with your academic performance. The same is true of high school, of course, but at least in high school, you’re generally operating in a very structured academic environment with routines and rules that help guide your workflow.

Once you get to college, you’ll have to keep up with your workload much more independently. There are many benefits to this increased intellectual freedom, but the downside is that you’ll have less of a framework to depend upon to provide support, guidance, and check-ins as you complete course assignments. 

It’s important to learn good work habits while you’re still in high school because sooner or later, they’ll become essential to your academic success. Studying, writing essays, and other academic tasks become much easier if you have good habits already in place for managing your schoolwork.

Particularly in the present day, technology can be a useful ally. There are a wide range of productivity apps and computer programs available that might be a good fit for you. Some block your computer or phone from accessing social media websites for a certain period of time. Others help structure your study schedule with tools like checklists, alarms, calendars, and reminders

The bottom line is that you should do what works best for you, as long as it’s healthy and constructive. Whether it’s asking a trusted friend to change your Facebook password during finals period, maintaining an elaborate system of Post-It notes, or managing your time with a calendar app, the best work and organizational habits are those that you can effectively maintain over time and come to rely upon.

In the end, only you can say what will genuinely help you to get work done and which specific strategies match up to which of your goals. Use your time in high school to experiment and find the methods that work best for you.

Learn how to ask for help.

Sometimes, people conflate adulthood with total independence, but this approach isn’t always the best way to go. No matter how old, experienced, or ambitious you are, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it—and sooner or later, everyone needs help.

What you need to learn, the earlier the better, is how to ask for help in a clear, mature, and effective way. This includes figuring out when it’s time to seek help with a task or decision, which can affect how easy it is to resolve the problem—recognizing the issue and intervening early can make a huge difference.

You’ll also need to work on ascertaining who is able and willing to provide that help, and phrasing your request in an appropriate way to get the specific information or assistance you need. If you don’t direct the right questions to the right people, you won’t find your answers nearly as easily. 

Once you get to college, you’ll most likely be surrounded by resources that you can access to help you solve problems and make the best of your college experiment. These might include academic tutoring, mediation for interpersonal or roommate issues, counseling to keep you mentally and physically healthy, and programs to help you manage your stress level, among many others.

These resources are great to have, but once you’re attending college and living a more adult life, they do require some work and commitment on your part to access. An instructor might, for example, recommend that you seek out tutoring to help you through a rough patch in one of your courses, but it’s up to you to actually sign up and go to your tutoring sessions.

As you get closer to college, it’s vital that you develop your ability to ask for help effectively and appropriately. You need to start taking ownership of your life, and this includes recognizing your limits and proactively seeking out the help you need rather than muddling through and hoping that problems just go away.

We hope this helps. For other resource help, comment below or shoot us an email

Juniors: This is the right time for you to start preparing for the SAT & ACT

If it’s your junior year, odds are that your thoughts have turned to standardized tests. Maybe you’re still deciding whether you’ll take the ACT or the SAT. Perhaps you’re looking ahead at your calendar to plan possible test dates, or you’ve purchased a study guide that is beginning to gather dust on your shelves.

As a junior, standardized tests may seem a distant reality until the spring when suddenly it’s time to get serious about them. During the first semester, you may be thinking that you have plenty of time to get studying. Maybe you’re even thinking that if you begin to study now, you’ll forget everything you learn before test day. Rest assured, though, that when the second semester rolls around, the heat will be on.

In reality, the first semester of junior year is the perfect time to get serious about preparing for your ACT or SAT. To learn more about why you should start prepping for standardized tests during the first semester of your junior year, keep reading.

Underestimating ACT and SAT Time Commitment

If you’re like most juniors, you’ve had your share of tests already. You’ve probably taken on finals or maybe even a few AP exams already. You might think that prepping for tests is no big deal. We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but the time commitment involved with preparing for other tests, even when it represents a year’s worth of knowledge, is still minimal in comparison to the preparation required to tackle an SAT or ACT. Here’s why.

The SAT and ACT are unlike any other tests you’ve ever taken. If you took the PSAT as a junior, (which you definitely should, if there’s any question,) then you have some idea of the test format and content. Essentially these tests don’t just simply test a collection of knowledge, but also a variety of skills, thought processes, and strategies. Preparing for them requires a variety of different approaches, and it isn’t something you can master in a few weeks.

Many students believe that prepping for the SAT or ACT should take roughly four to six weeks. While this does represent a significant time drain for the serious student, it is still just a scratch on the surface. To really prepare, absorb, and master all the test knowledge and techniques that you’ll need on exam day, you need roughly nine months. At first glance this may seem excessive, but remember that most students take these tests more than once, so allowing six months of prep before your first test date will leave you another three months of prep to improve before your second test date.

Underestimating the time commitment involved with successfully mastering the materials and strategy necessary to ace your standardized tests is an all too common error. To really make sure you’re ready to perform at the peak of your ability, allow about nine months for standardized test preparations.

Overestimating the SAT vs ACT Decision

We know lots of students who say that they aren’t ready to begin test prep because they have yet to decide which standardized test they’ll take. While this is indeed an important decision that bears careful consideration, it is no reason to delay actual test preparations. In fact, even if you choose the “wrong” test for your unique skills and situation, the time you can spend preparing for it if you begin now should more than pay off for making an earlier decision about which test you’ll take.

In other words, the benefit of selecting the right test cannot outweigh the score improvement of slow and gradual preparations over a prolonged period. Selecting which test you’ll take is an important decision, but it’s one that you are more than ready to make right now. If this choice is what’s holding you back, take the plunge and make your best decision possible. Starting to study for your test now will more than pay off in the end.

Underestimating the Number of Practice Tests Recommended

While studying for the test can and will take up the majority of your prep time, many students forget to consider how much time will also be spent on practice tests. Keep in mind that these tests are lengthy. A realistic practice test will mimic an actual test not only in content but also in format. This means that it will take as long as an actual test, up to half a day!

Most students believe that two or three practice tests is a lot to take before your actual test day. At EdBrand, we recommend more. To start with, we recommend a formative assessment at the very beginning of your studying to help guide your progress. This is a practice test before you even begin studying. In addition, we recommend two or three more practice tests along the way.

While this might seem like a nonissue if you have yet to take one, seasoned test takers know that a practice test can take up to four hours to complete, and then another two to three hours to review. This essentially means a whole day needs to be spent on each one. To ensure that you have enough time in your undoubtedably busy schedule, don’t delay.

Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Get Started

Junior year is no cakewalk. If you’re feeling the pressure already, rest assured that there will be some relief headed your way soon. The winter term of junior year is generally the slowest. You’ll be past the phase of settling into new classes, learning the ropes of new teachers, and simply navigating a whole new workload. At the same time, you aren’t yet feeling the weight of college applications or standardized tests seriously around the corner.

For these reasons, starting your standardized test prep now is a great idea. Take advantage of the time that you have to allow a steadily progressing approach to standardized tests. Many strategies such as time management are ones that cannot be learned overnight, but instead need to be carefully calculated for your individual pacing requirements. This means getting a head start to learn more about your own strengths and weaknesses before perfecting your approach.

Remember, while you can always dial back your study time later on if you feel you have everything under control, you’ll never be able to get back lost time if you start later and wish you hadn’t. It’s best to dive into studying for your ACT or SAT now, and then put on the brakes later if you can.

Come chat with us if you need more help planning your road to college! 

Guide to Extracurricular Activities for students in Class 11

Besides being a fun and engaging way to socialize and interact with other high school students, extracurriculars are an extremely important part of your high school record, and their impact on your future college applications is something you should already be keeping in mind.

Your extracurriculars can teach you useful skills, provide leadership opportunities, and allow you to pursue your interests in ways that stretch far beyond the classroom. 11th grade — the last full year of high school you’ll have to show on your college applications — is a particularly significant time for your extracurriculars, and you’ll need to keep a careful eye on how you develop your involvement during this school year.

Interested in learning more about how to strengthen your extracurricular activity resume in 11th grade? Below, we’ll go over what makes 11th grade special, what to expect in 11th grade, and what you should aim for when considering your 11th-grade extracurricular involvement.

What’s so special about extracurriculars in 11th grade?

As you’ve most likely already heard, 11th grade is a very important year for your future college applications. This is true for two reasons.

One reason is that once you reach 11th grade, you have a great deal more experience than you did when you started high school, and your potential for achievement is much higher. With your accumulated experience, you’ll have the opportunity to become a leader, take on additional responsibilities, and perhaps even create lasting change in your school or community.

Your accomplishments during this time period are significant for your personal development, but they’re also highly useful when you apply to college. College applications will require you not only to list your activities, but to detail your involvement in each extracurricular. Your achievements and the roles you take on during your junior year can demonstrate to colleges that you’re dedicated, hardworking, and proactive in pursuit of your passions.

The other factor contributing to the importance of 11th grade to your applications is simply that the timing of the college application process places special emphasis on your junior-year record. Assuming that you’ll fill out your college applications in the fall of 12th grade, 11th grade will be the most recent full academic year for which colleges are able to see your academic and extracurricular performance.

Because 11th grade is quite important, it’s likely to be a busy year for you. Not only will your classes be more challenging, but competition among students for high grades and class rank can get fierce. You’ll also get started in earnest with the process of applying to college, which is no simple task.

If you’re thinking about applying to college through an Early Decision or Early Action program, You’ll need to have a solid resume ready to submit by October of your senior year at the latest.

Keeping on top of your extracurriculars while you manage these other tasks can be difficult, but maintaining and growing your extracurricular involvement is essential during this time. Remember, high grades and test scores alone won’t get you admitted to colleges, especially those with selective and holistic admissions policies.

What can I expect from extracurriculars in 11th grade?

As we mentioned above, once you’re in 11th grade, you can anticipate facing higher expectations from those around you, such as your coaches, advisors, or teammates. You’ll also have higher expectations for yourself. If you made it to the state tournament in tennis last year, for example, maybe this year your goal will be to reach the final round in that tournament. Your coaches or advisors can help you determine what goals are appropriate and how to set goals in a strategic, constructive way.

Meeting these new, higher expectations from yourself and others will take time. Unsurprisingly, you can expect your time commitment to your extracurriculars to increase, especially if you take on greater responsibilities and leadership roles. Between spending time with friends and family, tuitions, and getting a good night’s sleep, your days will be fuller than ever.

The increased time commitment for your extracurriculars, along with the responsibilities of keeping up your grades and starting the college application process, means that you’ll have to develop your time-management skills to a higher degree. There are only so many hours in a day, and you’ll need to use those hours strategically.

Some people find that they need to reduce their total number of extracurricular activities in order to fit them into the available time. Others may decrease their involvement with one activity in order to prioritize another. It’s up to you to decide which of your extracurriculars are the most important — something we’ll address below — and create the right balance.

Overall, you should not be resistant to the idea of reducing your commitments in some area if you feel overwhelmed. Your mental and physical health should always take precedence over academic and extracurricular obligations. 

Your school or your guidance counselor may offer resources to help you manage your busy schedule and reduce your stress level as you work toward your college ambitions. Different methods work for different people, so be prepared to try several different paths to find the best one for you.

As you move through 11th grade and strengthen your extracurricular involvement, you can even start thinking about your long-term impact on your activity or organization. Even if you don’t take on a formal leadership title, you may be called upon to coach, manage, and set a good example for younger participants. You’ll have opportunities to shape your club or group and set it up for a successful future, with long-term plans and goals to aim for.

What should I be aiming for in my junior-year extracurriculars?

11th grade is the time to develop and deepen your skills in your extracurriculars. In recent years, colleges have preferred to see applications that are specialized — in other words, applications that display a deep commitment to a few key passions rather than shallow involvement in a large number of different activities.

If you enjoy a particular activity, you might think about also becoming involved in related activities in order to help demonstrate that specialization on your application. For example, if you love performing with the Drama Club, you might also strengthen your skills and your college applications by becoming involved in the local spoken-word poetry group, or become a news presenter for your school’s student news channel.

Obviously, you should take on leadership positions and additional responsibilities when possible. It’s also necessary to take these commitments seriously; they will require your time and effort to do well. Success in leadership positions not only demonstrates that your peers like and respect you, but shows colleges that you’ll have the dedication and the skills to make the most of the more independent opportunities that will become available to you after high school.

For competitive activities, you need to put significant work into analyzing and preparing for competitions. Being a member of the team is far from all that matters, and on your resume and college applications, you’ll be expected to describe what you actually accomplished in as concrete terms as possible. It’s difficult for colleges to place the quality of your extracurricular involvement on an objective scale, but your success in competition offers one small way to quantitatively determine your success.

If your extracurricular activities include athletic involvement, and you’re an especially talented athlete, you’ll need to learn about the athletic recruitment process (if you haven’t already done so) and determine whether it might play a role in your college application process

For any extracurricular, you’ll also need to start thinking about whether and how you plan on continuing that activity in college. Not every college offers every extracurricular, of course, and if you are strongly interested in continuing your involvement past your high school graduation, you’ll need to check the opportunities available at each school before you decide to apply.

 In 11th grade, you’ll face not only increased demands on your time and responsibility, but some fantastic opportunities to create change, achieve high-level goals, and make a name for yourself through your extracurriculars. With the help of your counselor, advisors, coaches, Edbrand Mentors, and other supporters, it’s up to you to figure out which extracurricular path to take in order to best prepare you for the future.

5 things 11th graders need to do this spring

It’s true—junior year of high school is kind of a big deal. It’s a barrage of standardized tests to take, grades to worry about, a whole slew of extracurriculars to juggle, and of course, impending college applications looming overhead.

So, as winter turns to spring and you start eyeing the summer months like a fox at a chicken farm, it’s tempting to hit the brakes with them and enjoy the slower pace as the school year winds down. Keep in mind that there are a handful of important tasks that you needs to attend to before you reach senior status. These things aren’t particularly time-consuming, but they’re important, and they’ll go more smoothly with a little parental insight and nudge along the way.

1. Have an honest conversation with your parents about life after high school.

It’s often our tendency to think that everyone follows the same prescribed path after that diploma lands in their hand, but it’s important to step back and realize that that’s not always the case. And without an honest conversation about planning and goals, you might find that you and your parents have different paths in mind.

Start with the idea that college isn’t always a given and even if you do choose to go to college, there are options whether that is applying early decision to the college of your top choice, taking a gap year before you head out.

There’s nothing wrong with any of these plans, especially if they are actually plans and not just last resorts. If your decisions for life after high school are made with a level head and some forethought, you're off to a good start, wherever the path leads.

2.  If college is on the horizon, make a college short-list.

Choose eight to 10 schools for your college list. However, students who are less picky can do six and the ultra-ambitious can aim for 12. There are a number of factors to consider when making this short-list. Although dining hall options and dorm life might factor into your decision, at this point the most important considerations are more likely to be things like college selectivity, geographical region, programs geared towards an intended major, and extracurricular offerings.

These are generally the most important factors to consider at this stage of the game. (Soft serve at the dining hall usually comes much later.)

Remember to take a good hard look at your test scores, grades, and extracurriculars to get a realistic idea of the kinds of schools he or she should consider. The shortlist should ideally contain about two or three safety schools, two or three reach schools, and four or five target schools.

3. Create a standardized test schedule.

Unfortunately, you can’t just show up at school on any given Saturday and take the SATs as the whim strikes them. The schedules for SAT tests and ACT tests are available online and announced well in advance, and the test is administered only a few times over the course of the school year.

One important reason to make sure you have finished a college short-list is so that you can plan to accommodate the necessary standardized tests. Many colleges or specific programs require certain SAT Subject Tests. Others require these subject tests only of students who take the SAT, but not of students who take the ACT. In any case, you need to know which standardized tests are required for each school on your short list.

It’s most likely that your teen has already taken an SAT or ACT by spring of junior year, but if not, now is definitely the time to get started. There are two spring test dates to choose from, and if your child is taking the SAT, it’s likely that one of those dates will be consumed by SAT Subject Tests, leaving only the other free for the SAT.

There are also two fall dates to choose from for both the SAT and the ACT. If you are considering an Early Decision application, try to take tests earlier to be sure that you’ll have plenty of time to send the scores to the appropriate school.

4. Take a critical look at extracurriculars.

 To call senior year busy is an understatement. Between classes, standardized tests, social life and all the inevitable milestones, time is at a premium. Review the extracurriculars you anticipate as you enter senior year.

If you are worried that you might being overextending, now is the time recalibrate. If you wait until the school year has begun, it’s likely that grades, test scores, or relationships with friends and family will already be impacted.

Generally, college admissions committees want to see leadership positions and dedication to a few key activities over time therefore cut activities that are time consuming and have no leadership positions. 

5. Plan a productive summer.

 After all the work of junior year, it’s probably tempting to spend the summer at the beach. But ultimately, this isn’t the best plan. Many college applications explicitly ask about how applicants spend their summer, and colleges that don’t ask directly still ask students to outline their activities and work experiences.

Plan a productive and meaningful summer. This could include a job or internship somehow related to an intended career path, or a summer program dedicated to important academics or extracurriculars. Some students pursue research opportunities or service projects. Others seize the chance to get college visits out of the way.

Whatever the case may be, make sure that there are some plans in place that will ensure that summer is a productive time.

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and the tumult of junior year. There is a lot at stake and it comes at a time when most teens are still trying to figure themselves out. Keep these five considerations in mind and be sure to go through them before the summer months to make sure that you’re working towards future goals.