Hey juniors, it’s springtime. Know what that means? Other than nice weather (hopefully) it means that it’s time to start seriously getting into the college application process. Trust us, it’s better to start now rather than have to cram everything in later.
Most importantly, make sure to keep your grades up and stay involved in extracurriculars. If your grades start dropping, call us so we can help you assess the situation.
Here’s the schedule we recommending for your junior year:
- January-February
- Get familiar with the different types of schools (liberal arts, technical, state, national research, etc.).
- Think about what type of school is the best fit for you.
- Visit a few local colleges. Check in different types of schools to get a feel for what’s out there.
- March-April
- Come up with an initial school list—have a variety of ambitious choices and safety schools.
- Schedule visits to your top choice schools if you can.
- Research the schools by reading about them online, watching videos, etc.
- Use our college visit checklists to make your visit productive.
- Create an informal resume. Start to catalogue your accomplishments starting from freshman year, and starting thinking about what you’ll emphasize in your application.
- April-May
- Fine-tune your college list. Which schools are you most excited about? Which are realistic based on your GPA and test scores?
- Reach out to your teachers and mentors and ask them about writing you letters of recommendation so they have plenty of time to write great letters for you.
- Summer–Ideally, you can complete most of the application work now
- Finalize your college lists.
- Start working on the common app and supplement essays.
- Figure out if you’ll need to retake any standardized tests in the fall.
With this timeline, you should be able to create a game plan to keep the process as clear and simple as possible. If you get overwhelmed, remember, we’re always here to help.
