Juniors, do some (or all) of these college application tasks over the summer to greatly reduce your stress in the fall
Of course you should have fun over the summer, learn new skills, meet new friends, have great experiences (and not just experiences for your college applications), but, if you do some or all of these things over the summer you will be in great shape in the fall.
Start researching colleges and create a list. As you do your research begin to figure out what is important to you: a big sprawling campus? an urban setting? a certain major or area of study? never having to take math, or a language again? activities on the weekends? different types of housing? Keep track of your research, google docs or google sheets work great for this.
Write down application deadlines (on the google doc or sheet you've started) for schools to which you will apply. I use CollegeHunch a very handy iPhone app that shows college statistics and deadlines. You'll need to verify these dates once the Common Application opens for 2022 in August but in most cases this info doesn't change from year to year.
Open a Common Application account and gradually start to complete the Profile, Family, and Education sections, if you're feeling inspired you can start the Courses & Grades and Testing sections too (though you'll have to complete them when you get your final grades and with any additional testing you might do). This will give you a great feeling of accomplishment.
Brainstorm the personal prompts in the Writing section, copy them into a doc or your phone Notes app and just start adding your thoughts to each question. Some students get big white sticky notes and put them on the wall and write thoughts as they occur to them. Whatever method works for you is what you should do. It will become apparent which prompt resonates best with you. We wrote about brainstorming your personal statement here.
Start listing ALL your activities (including jobs) during high school outside of academics, you'll need these to complete your Activities section. Your parents will be a great resource for this list. Write these in a google doc which you can copy from once you have them organized and fully described. Some tips for your Activities section are in this blog.
Start investigating financial aid requirements and external scholarships, some schools have early deadlines to qualify for scholarships, some may also have additional essays. Make note of these on your college list and calendar the deadlines as well.
Creative students start researching portfolio and audition requirements as well as any associated due dates. These special requirements are sometimes hard to find and you may have to dig deep on admissions or department websites. Write the requirements in your doc. This will give you a good idea of what you will need to present once you start your applications. Advice for your portfolio is in this blog.
Complete these tasks over the summer and we promise that you'll be off to a great start in the fall as your application deadlines near.
As always, if you need guidance here's my calendar to learn how we can help guide you and reduce your stress. Schedule an appointment to talk today.