Navigating Junior Year

Exciting, challenging, meaningful. Junior year is the halfway point to graduation. It is a time to enjoy the familiarity of campus life while preparing for the future.

Your student may be more confident and purpose-driven in managing academics and a leadership role on campus. And yet, challenges exist. Among them are the pressures of post-graduation plans.

Your support is important. Understanding the dynamics of junior year can help in the process.

Academics Become Increasingly Meaningful

• With fewer competency curriculum courses in their schedule, students gain in-depth study in their major through upper-division classes. These challenging courses foster critical thinking skills that enable students to apply classroom theory to real-world situations. In addition, they develop the confidence to express their views, even if they conflict with textbooks, professors and peers.
• Peer support within one's academic major further develops as students spend more time together in the classroom and through co-curricular activities.
• Experiential activities like internships, study abroad, independent study and research offer increased opportunities for students to enrich their learning.
• Faculty-student mentoring becomes increasingly important as students seek out-of-classroom learning opportunities and advice regarding post-graduation.

Graduate School and Career Plans Move to the Forefront

• Active participation in BW Career Center programs and workshops is imperative as students plan for employment or graduate school. Career center resources provide insights and support that can help students polish their resumes, curricula vitae, portfolios and interview skills.
• Students who diversify their experiences through multiple internships, study abroad and service-learning activities broaden their perspectives and capabilities, in addition to boosting their resumes and graduate school applications.

Co-curricular Leadership Builds Impressive Skills

• Leadership progression in athletic, academic and co-curricular activities demonstrates a willingness to assume greater responsibility and initiative. Junior year is the time students should assume their role as campus leader.
• Mentoring relationships with younger peers builds confidence and replicates the workplace, where it is important to form professional associations with persons of all ages.
• Networking opportunities through off-campus activities build a community of mentor contacts that may be called upon during a job search.