4 Ways to Bounce Back from a Subpar Junior Year of High School

By most measures, the most important year of high school is junior year. It is the last full year in which students can build their application profiles and impress colleges. How well students perform in junior year classes, on standardized tests and in extracurricular activities can significantly affect the level of anxiety felt during college application season.

It may seem impossible to rebound and receive a college acceptance letter after a junior year that is below the standards you set for yourself. Although difficult, bouncing back is possible. Here are four ways to catch up following a disappointing junior year.

1. Acknowledge but don't dwell on your poor performance: When suffering any disappointment, two of the worst responses are to refuse to acknowledge your mistakes and to dwell on those mistakes. To make course corrections following a subpar junior year, first diagnose why your performance suffered. Then acknowledge those reasons.

After all, you cannot correct your performance if you do not know the areas to correct. Examine why you felt this year was subpar: Maybe you scored well below your potential on the ACT because you were distracted during test prep by a big swim meet, or perhaps you were too intimidated to try out for that marching band leadership role you've been dreaming of since freshman year.

Once you understand and have acknowledged where you went wrong, it is vitally important to set aside your mistakes and assume a positive attitude. Otherwise, it is nearly impossible to make progress when you dwell too heavily on your mistakes.

2. Determine the degree of necessary progress: Now that you are looking forward, determine where you need to make progress. For instance, consider your goals for the college admissions process -- what grades do you need for your top-choice schools? What score do you need to achieve on the ACT or SAT? What leadership roles do you need to take on in your extracurricular activities?

Then compare these goals with your current position. This is perhaps the most important step -- to develop a solid plan, you need to know the distance between where you are and where you need to go. Whether the gap is small or large, remain level-headed and positive.

[Don't make these end-of-year mistakes as a junior or senior.]

3. Create a short-term response plan for the summer: Summer is never as long as it seems, and chances are you will need more time for improvement. However, set short-term, manageable goals that will help you close your performance gap. Ensure you can accomplish these goals before summer's end.

If your junior-year grades were your principal disappointment, commit to reviewing material for your senior year courses and building on the material you have already learned, such as with math. If your standardized test score was your deepest woe, spend the summer studying more intensively. Set a minimum number of hours per week to study for the ACT or SAT, and then stick to that plan.

You can also use the summer to enhance your extracurricular profile. School clubs and teams likely do not meet, so explore opportunities to contribute to your larger community -- for instance, through volunteer work -- and enhance your application profile.

[Read about summer fixes for bad high school grades.]

4. Create a long-term response plan: Once you have completed your summer plan, pause and evaluate your progress. Assess where your skills and application profile lie relative to where they both were before. Then create a long-term response plan that takes into account and augments your summer progress.

If you have not seen sufficient improvement in a certain area of the ACT or SAT, for example, devote additional time each week to review and practice that material. If you have achieved your academic and standardized test goals but have not enhanced your extracurriculars, plan to devote energy to them once the school year begins.

Although not ideal, it also is not the end of the world to present to colleges a junior year that casts you in a less-than-favorable light. Following these steps should help you mitigate the damage to your application profile. If you stay positive and remain focused on your goals, there is no reason you cannot successfully rebound from a subpar junior year.

Bradford Holmes is a professional SAT and Latin tutor with Varsity Tutors. He earned his B.A. from Harvard University and his master's degree from the University of Southern California.