Junior Advisement SHS Counseling Department

Junior Advisement Agenda Welcome to Junior Advisement! We have a great deal of information to discuss, including:  Graduation Requirements  GHSGT  GACollege411/PSAT/PLAN  College Planning & SAT/ACT  Helpful Websites

Graduation Requirements  All students who entered high school in fall 2008 and after are under the New Graduation Rule.  There is one common set of requirements for all students.  Students are required to earn a minimum of 23 credits/units.

Credits/Units Required for Graduation  4 unitsEnglish  4 unitsMath  4 unitsScience  3 units Social Studies (World History, US History, Government/Econ)  1 unitHealth/PE (3 units of JROTC may be used to meet this requirement)  3 units*CTAE and/or Foreign Language and/or Fine Arts  4 unitsAdditional electives  23 unitsTotal *Students planning to attend a four-year college or university should take two units of the same foreign language.

Credits/Units  Students are required to earn a minimum number of credits/units for each grade level.  Students must have at least 10 units to be considered a Junior. At the beginning of the school year, students must have at least 17 units to be considered a Senior.

GHSGT  Students take the Georgia High Graduation Test (GHSGT) during their junior year.  There are five sections of the GHSGT: Writing (administered in the fall), English/Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science (administered in the spring).  Students are required to pass all five sections.

GHSGT Dates  GHSWT (Writing)  September 29, 2010  September 30, 2010 (make up) (make up)  February 16, 2011  February 17, 2011 (make up)  GHSGT (Subject Areas)  March 21, 2011— English/Lang. Arts  March 22, 2011—Math  March 23, 2011—Science  March 24, 2011—Social Studies  March 25, 2011—make up

PSAT/PLAN & GACollege411  The PSAT is the pre-SAT. Juniors are encouraged to take the PSAT to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship. (  The PLAN is the pre-ACT. It gives information about college readiness and has a career component. (  Students should also register with This website is maintained by the GA Student Finance Commission and provides information on the college admissions process, financial aid, etc.

College Planning & SAT/ACT College bound juniors are encouraged to:  Begin exploring strengths/weaknesses, interests, etc.  Begin researching colleges of interest.  Start learning about financial aid.  Register for and take the SAT and/or ACT in the spring.  Volunteer, work part-time, or attend summer programs during the summer. Visit colleges of interest.

College Planning & SAT/ACT  Students can take the SAT and/or ACT. Study materials are available online or in the SHS Counseling Office. Students can register via mail or online.  SAT—Students should register for the SAT Reasoning Test. This test has three sections: Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. (  ACT—The ACT is a curriculum-based test that contains English, Math, Reading, Science, and an optional Writing section. It also contains a career component. (  Our school code is:

SAT Test Dates Regular Deadline Late Deadline  Oct 9 Sep 10 Sep 24  Nov 6 Oct 8 Oct 22  Dec 4 Nov 5 Nov 19  Jan 22 Dec 23 Jan 7  Mar 12 Feb 11 Feb 25  May 7 Apr 8 Apr 22  June 4 May 6 May 20 For more information, visit

ACT Test DatesRegular DeadlineLate Deadline  Sep 11Aug 6Aug 7-20  Oct 23Sep 17Sep 18-Oct 1  Dec 11Nov 5Nov 6-19  Feb 12Jan 7Jan 8-21  Apr 9Mar 4Mar 5-18  June 11May 6May 7-20 For more information, visit

Helpful Websites  (financial aid)  (financial aid)  (search engine)  (college info)  (college info)  (test info) *See counselors for username and password.  (career info) username: shs password: tigers

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