College Admissions 101 - Notes from a Coffee at my son's school

     I recently attended an “Applying to College 101” coffee at my son’s school.  For me, the timeline described by the guidance counselor was really helpful, and I thought I would share the highlights.  As the Guidance Counselor stressed, this timeline is not for everyone.  We all know each student is an individual, with different backgrounds, goals, etc.  But for someone, like me, who is trying to guide a first child through the college application process, this info may be helpful.

Freshman year :  Try to take the ACT’s if possible just for practice.  Do well in school for transcript purpose (which is stating the obvious.)

Sophmore year:  Start to check out schools if you happen to be in the area, e.g., on vacation.  Try to take the PSAT’s for practice.  Pay attention to grades and transcript.

Junior Year: 

•      Academics is key this year
•       Take PSAT’s in October
•        After Winter break, meet with guidance counselor to discuss a list of schools (what drives search…Social?  Academic? Size? Rural? City? Specialties?)
•      Start to research colleges on the web, and/or use the Princeton Review.
•         Become familiar with your school’s online college research tool.  My son’s school uses Naviance.
•          SAT’s – take them two times before the summer (March, May or June.)  June might be a good time to take the SAT subject tests because students are also studying for finals.
•          Test prep – students may or may not do this …  This counselor seemed to lean toward doing a test prep course between taking SAT’s junior year (e.g., between March and May.)
•          Get 2 teacher recommendations Junior year.
•          Check out Finaid.org for financial aid info.
•          Take ACT’s if you choose to (some students perform better on these, some don’t.)
•       Tour schools over the summer

Senior Year:

•          Take SAT's in October.
•      Work on 2.5 page essay from common application (Commonapp.org) – many English teachers begin Senior year working on this.

•          Decide if you want to apply Early Action (do not have to attend) or Early Decision (do have to attend and can only apply to 1 school.)  These apps are due around November 1^st.
•          Most General Admission applications should be ready to send by Thanksgiving.

Other helpful hints:  Create a chart to track college applications.   Ask to have essay edited by guidance counselors, English teachers, etc.  Guidance may also help with a mock interview.  Also, many students apply to 2 reach schools, 3 middle schools, and 2 safety schools.

I hope this info was somewhat helpful.  Of course, it’s the tips of the iceberg, but it was a good start for me!