One of the best strategies for a manageable and low-stress college application process is to start early and finish early.
Why?
Reason #1: Inconveniently, the most common application deadlines are right before, right after, and even during major cultural and religious holidays and school vacation weeks. Check it out:
Admission Round | Deadline | Holiday |
Early Decision 1 (ED1) & Early Action (EA) | November 1 & 15 (most common "early" deadlines) | Halloween (October 31) Diwali (November 1, 2024) |
ED1 & EA | December 1 (also common) | Thanksgiving (November 28, 2024) |
Regular Decision (RD) & Early Decision 2 (ED2) | January 1-15 (most common "regular" deadlines) | Winter Break Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa (December 21-January 5) |
Recognizing that these holidays are more or less significant for different people, where would you rather be on October 31st of your senior year: hanging out with friends at a Halloween party, or holed up in your room typing away at the personal essay for your college applications? How about on Thanksgiving Day: would you rather be doing last-minute college research, or would you rather be polishing off a second piece of apple pie over a card game with your grandparents? And how about winter break: would you rather be stressing out because your teacher hasn’t replied to your email about the missing letter of recommendation, or snuggled up under a blanket watching Elf with your little brother?
Completing your applications well before the deadlines -- and well before the holidays and associated school breaks -- prevents high school seniors from having to choose between family traditions and the important work of applying to college.
Reason #2 for starting and finishing your applications early: Also inconveniently, college applications overlap with important and beloved senior year activities, including Homecoming, high school football games, and other social activities that you probably won’t want to miss – and that you might want to actually enjoy, instead of spending them preoccupied with the application tasks waiting for you at home.
If you started senior year with most of your application work done, you'd be free to relax and enjoy your last year of high school (while maintaining your grades and continuing to contribute to your extracurricular activities, of course!).
Reason #3: No one is doing their best thinking at 11:45pm on December 31st while making last-minute changes to an application that’s due before midnight!
Working up against the deadline is one of the best ways to make mistakes, encounter unexpected technological difficulties without time to navigate them, and make important decisions driven by emotion rather than careful thought and planning. Even two days before the deadline, students working on applications over Thanksgiving or winter break are less likely to have access to the support of school counselors, teachers, and independent educational consultants, should they have a question or need help.
By starting college applications early and then finishing them early, high school seniors can:
Enjoy their final year of high school with friends,
Celebrate holidays (and early admission decisions!) with family, and
Know with confidence that they submitted carefully planned and executed applications that present their best, most authentic selves.
How can you complete all of your application-related tasks with time to spare before senior year and holiday excitement?
Follow these college planning timeline tips to stay on track for a more manageable, lower-stress college search and application process.
11th Grade College Planning Timeline
September-December
Manage homework and maintain the best grades possible in your classes.
Develop positive relationships with teachers: participate in class, meet for extra help, engage cooperatively with peers.
Consider taking the SAT or ACT, especially if you took Algebra 2 in 10th grade.
Participate in clubs and organizations related to your main interests. Take on leadership roles when possible.
Begin considering factors that will be important to you in your college education and experience, including the learning and living environments in which you thrive.
January-May
Consider in earnest the characteristics that will make a college or university “right” for you. Make a list of the academic, social, and financial factors that matter most – your college criteria or “must haves.”
Search for and make a list of schools that meet your criteria.
Meet with your school counselor to discuss college planning and ask for college and university recommendations based on your criteria.
Conduct careful college research for each institution on your list, and keep thorough notes.
Prepare for and take the SAT or ACT, especially if you are taking Algebra 2 in 11th grade.
Visit campuses during spring break, when you can experience the school while students are present and classes are in session.
Before summer break, ask teachers for strong, positive letters of recommendation for your college applications.
What to Do During Summer Before 12th Grade
June-July
Continue visiting colleges and universities of interest. When possible, sign up to interview during visits (this is good practice, even if you’re not sure you’ll apply!).
Continue researching schools that meet your criteria.
Complete the basic information in the Common Application (or other application, if not using Common App), including the Profile, Family, Education, and Testing sections.
Draft, revise, edit, and complete your Activities list for the Common App.
Generate ideas for, draft, revise, edit, and polish your Personal Essay.
Prepare for the SAT or ACT if you are planning to (re)take it during the summer or early fall.
Before August: Finalize your list of schools to which you’ll apply. Ensure that all of the schools on the list are institutions where you’ll thrive academically, socially, personally, and financially, and that your list contains a range of more and less selective schools. Decide which schools you’ll apply to under Early Decision and/or Early Action plans, and which schools you’ll apply to Regular Decision.
August
After August 1: When Common App rolls over to the new application cycle (and colleges and universities open their applications and release their supplemental essay questions), add the colleges and universities to which you’ll apply to the My Colleges tab in your Common App account.
Generate ideas for, draft, revise, edit, and polish supplemental essays, prioritizing essays for schools to which you’ll apply Early Decision or Early Action (or schools with “rolling” admission to which you plan to apply early).
By September: Complete SAT or ACT testing.
What to Finish in 12th Grade
September-October
Follow up with teachers to ensure that letters of recommendation are completed before deadlines.
Polish and submit Early Decision and Early Action applications (and applications to schools with rolling admission plans).
After the FAFSA and CSS Profile open on October 1 (in typical years), complete financial aid applications and submit them before each school’s early application deadline.
Sign up for admission interviews.
November-January
Revise and polish Regular Decision applications, even if you’ll wait to submit them until after ED and EA decisions are released.
Receive admission decisions from ED and/or EA applications – at which point you might be DONE!
Submit any remaining Regular Decision applications, if necessary, along with any remaining financial aid applications.
Sign up and prepare for admission interviews.
February-May
Wait patiently (this is a good time to apply for scholarships!).
Receive RD admission decisions.
Compare financial aid packages, attend admitted student events, and choose the best option for you.
By May 1 (typically), send in your deposit to the college of your choice, and notify the others of your decision.
Celebrate!
Notice how the tasks begin dwindling as school gears up in September?
Here is a visual representation of how breaking the process into smaller chunks – and distributing these more manageable tasks over the months leading up to applications deadlines – can help ease the workload during senior year and over the busy holiday season:
In practice, any given student’s college planning timeline looks a little different from their friend or classmate’s. But, generally speaking, students who begin senior year with the bulk of their application work done are happy students and confident applicants.
Early starters have taken time to think through their decisions, including decisions about which schools to apply to, whom to ask for letters of recommendation, and what to write about in their essays. They’ve leveraged their summer break to visit campuses, complete basic application questions, and write (and complete!) their application essays. They’re done with their standardized testing and can use their time to focus on senior year classes, extracurricular activities, and social events. And if they need help with applications or run into problems, they have plenty of time to seek assistance and find solutions.
If you need help with all of some of the college planning process, reach out to your school counselor, college access advisor, or an independent educational consultant (like me!). My Comprehensive College Planning service guides 11th graders through all of these steps, providing structure and accountability that keeps anxiety low and confidence high.
Good luck, and remember: you've got this!
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