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Have a discussion with your parents about college and careers without putting pressure on yourself.

Good grades are important, but life balance is more important.

Meet with the school counselor to make sure you’re taking the right courses/pathway for the types of colleges you’re interested in.

Save your best school projects to include in an academic portfolio.

Consider to take a college admission pretest just for practice.

Start researching college costs and getting your finances organized.

Work on one activity, interest, or skill that you want to cultivate.  This can be a sport, an extracurricular activity like drama, or something unrelated to school like volunteering or hiking.  Academic interests such as foreign languages and science club are great options.

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Meet with a school or college counselor to make sure you are on track with coursework and grades.

Start researching financial aid.

Continue cultivating your special interests. If you think you have anything to offer, find help to discover your passion from your parents, school counselor, teachers

Start researching specific schools. Instead of focusing on the one or two schools you are most familiar with, search for schools that are a good fit for your personality, interests, and career goals.

Attend college fairs and make the most of every opportunity to learn about schools.

Consider a college tour for spring break. If you can’t afford to travel out of state, visit local colleges that are similar in size to the schools you are considering.

Start working on a list of schools. Make sure it includes at least two foundation schools—colleges that you can almost certainly gain admission to.

Familiarize yourself with Common Application, Coalition for Access, Studielink, UCAS; go over it with your parents so you’ll know what a college application portallooks like.

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Find something to do over your spare time related to your special interests or passions. For example, if you’re passionate about the environment, you can volunteer for a conservation organization. If you adore volleyball, you might be able to attend camp. If you aspire to be a lawyer, perhaps you can intern at a law firm.

Work on your personal essay, using topics listed on the Common Application, etc. Brainstorm your ideas. You won’t want to juggle this important task during senior year, when you’re already juggling schoolwork, test prep, and myriad other senior year activities.

Consider using holiday time as an opportunity to visit a couple of colleges.

Keep working together with your parents on a list of schools to apply to.

Meet with school counselor to review your list of schools. Most students apply to four to 12 schools, but the final decision rests with you and your parents.

If any of the schools require recommendations, talk to your teacher about the best people to ask to provide them.

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reflect critically on diverse ways of knowing and on areas of knowledge

consider the role and nature of knowledge in their own culture, in the cultures of others and in the wider world.

be aware of themselves as thinkers, encouraging them to become more acquainted with the complexity of knowledge

recognize the need to act responsibly in an increasingly interconnected but uncertain world.

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Creativity – arts, and other experiences that involve creative thinking.

Activity – physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle, complementing academic work elsewhere in the DP.

Service – an unpaid and voluntary exchange that has a learning benefit for the student. The rights, dignity and autonomy of all those involved are respected.

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The extended essay provides:

practical preparation for undergraduate research

an opportunity for students to investigate a topic of special interest to them, which is also related to one of the student's six DP subjects.

Through the research process for the extended essay, students develop skills in:

formulating an appropriate research question

engaging in a personal exploration of the topic

communicating ideas

developing an argument.

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http://ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/curriculum/creativity-activity-and-service/

http://ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/curriculum/theory-of-knowledge/what-is-tok/