Freshman year in high school: Do well in classes. Join a club or two. Play a sport you enjoy. Read good books. Get to know your teachers. Have nice friends. Climb a mountain. Play with your cat. Enjoy your summer vacation.
Sophomore year
Take the classes that your teachers and counselor recommend. When you have choices, take on some challenges, but don’t go for so many honors courses that your workload overwhelms you. Devote yourself passionately to a few activities, choosing only the ones you really care about. Read more good books. Get culture: go to a museum; see a play; attend a concert (not limited to the rock variety). Do something that helps someone else. Don’t worry about having lost some of your freshman-year friends: they were knuckleheads anyway. Swim in the ocean. Play with your dog.
If you’ve been following our advice, by the end of your sophomore year, you’ve established yourself as a respected member of your class, academically and socially. You may be ready to head a committee, run
for an offi ce, or talk about something that really interests you. You’ve gotten to know some of your teachers because you’re a dependable, responsible student. You’ve chosen a sensible but challenging course load for junior year, and you aren’t going to waste your summer sleeping until noon every day. Maybe you’ve got some great baby-sitting or lawn-mowing jobs; maybe you’ll help build a house with Habitat for Humanity; maybe you’ll attend a sports camp. Save time to read more of those good books and take long walks, though.
Some of our students feel as if an SAT or ACT prep course needs to be part of that summer after sophomore year. We don’t think so—with one exception. If you’re that rare person who was born to excel on standardized tests, go ahead and prep for the PSAT. The very top scorers on that test, which is offered in October of the junior year, go on to be recognized by the National Merit Corporation. Being a Merit Scholar doesn’t mean that you’re set for life, but it can grease the skids a little as you apply to colleges and provide some scholarship funds.
Junior year
Fall of the junior year is a good time to push yourself even harder in classes. Colleges will have a long, hard look at junior-year grades, and you’ll very likely be asking some of these teachers to write recommendations for you. Take the PSAT in October, whether or not you’re a terrifi c test-taker. The “P” stands for “preliminary,” but it also means “practice.” You can sign up with your counseling offi ce, and you can also get free sample test materials. Use them to understand the different kinds of questions on the test. When you get the PSAT results, figure out what you’re doing right and what sorts of questions cause trouble for you. This will help you decide whether or not you want to do test prep and what kind of prep might make sense for you.
This is also an excellent time to work on that whole business of self-discovery.Are you a great baseball catcher? Do Amnesty International’s causes fire you up? Do you love performing in the school’s big musical?
Do you like getting together with other French Club members to make éclairs and watch Amelie? Does it make you feel good to tutor a younger student who’s struggling in math? You won’t need a list of ten
activities when you apply to college, but you do need to involve yourself with the life of your school’s community.
Related to this, have you thought about community service? If you haven’t, do, and if you have, make sure you fi nd something and stick with it—and something you actually like, too. Don’t be the kid with The Onion article headline: “Soup-Kitchen Volunteers Hate College- Application-Padding Brat.” Though the story, like the newspaper, is a spoof, the sentiment hits closer to home than you might know. Don’t be that kid, the one the real volunteers shake their heads and grumble about.
Most students start thinking pretty seriously about the college selection process sometime during the middle of the junior year. Maybe it’s seeing all the seniors talking about lists and apps and essays, or maybe it’s just part of growing up. It probably makes sense to start looking at some college books (the one you’re holding now, for example) and visiting some specifi c college websites so that you can learn more about the process and the many types of schools that are out there. If there’s a college or two located near you, then fi t a tour and an information session into your schedule. If you’re spending a holiday at your grandmother’s house in Dallas, visit Southern Methodist University, Austin College, and Texas Christian University while you’re in the area. If your family goes to SeaWorld in San Diego, tour the University of San Diego and the University of California, San Diego.
ACT, SAT, SAT Subject Tests, and AP Exams likely belong somewhere in the second half of the junior year, and it’s also a good time to sit down with your parents and counselor to start building a preliminary list of schools for investigation. Decide on a couple of teachers you’d like to write college recommendations for you, and ask them nicely if they’ll do it. Consider running for an office in your favorite club or your class or even your student body! If you might be eligible to play Division I sports, register with the NCAA Clearinghouse. Sign up for a challenging but sensible senior-year course load, but caution: applying to college takes about as much time as a class during fall semester!
The summer after your junior year is the time to power up on all fronts. Start your own Fortune 500 company, win the US Open, cure AIDS . . . Okay. Just kidding. But do review our advice for the summer
after sophomore year, and take it all up a notch. This could also be primo test-prep time—you’ll have the opportunity to re-take the SAT, the ACT, and SAT Subject Tests in the fall of your senior year.
Visit some of the colleges that interest you. Brainstorm essay ideas for your college apps. Again, though, save some time to have a life and be human.
Senior year
It’s show time! Most of the following speeds up if you’re applying Early Decision or Early Action or even rolling (more about this later), but basically, here’s the schedule. Organization (yes, we know we already talked about this subject) is essential to making the process go smoothly:
September:
- Start your classes on a strong, positive note. Many admission reps say this semester is the best indicator of college success. Politely remind the teachers who’ve agreed to write your recommendations that yes indeed, you’re applying to college.
- Keep these nice people in the loop.
- Sign up for any testing you’ll want to do (or re-do) for your apps.
- Get a copy of the Common Application, on-line or from your counseling office.
October (and into November):
- Go to college fairs, and see the reps from colleges of interest when they come to your high school. Using your best manners, introduce yourself to these visitors. Follow up with thank-you notes.
- Take the tests you signed up for.
- Refine your list of colleges and make decisions about EA, ED, and rolling. Make a clear list of requirements and deadlines for each one.
- If you’re thinking ED (binding), be sure to visit that college at a time when you can attend classes and spend the night in a dorm before you make a final decision about applying.
- Do other college visits as time and money permit.
- Work on your apps, whether or not your first deadline is in
November
- Learn about fi nancial aid requirements if you’re applying for aid.
- Get recommendation forms to your counselor and to your teachers well in advance of the deadline.
- Request that your school send your transcript and that the testing agencies send your test scores to the schools where you’re applying.
- Remember: if you’re applying to the U. of California system, you need to do so during the month of November.
December
- Put the fi nishing touches on all your apps—this will mean doing all supplements for the colleges that accept the Common Application and fi lling out the apps for the schools that don’t accept the Common.
- If you’re applying for fi nancial aid, your parents and you should start work on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
- Write good thank-you notes to your teachers and counselor, and give each of them a small but thoughtful gift.
- Do a great job on end-of-semester projects and exams.
January
- Request that mid-year reports be sent to your colleges.
- Avoid senioritis.
- Submit the FAFSA if you’re applying for aid.
February and March
- Waiting time . . . stay in touch with the colleges and continue to avoid senioritis. Maintain focus on courses and activities.
- Have you thanked your teachers yet?
April
- The good news and maybe some less-than-good news arrive about acceptances.
- An additional visit or two may be in order to help with decision-making.
- Prepare for AP exams in May.
- Notify the lucky school you’ve decided to attend, and send the deposit by the end of the month. Inform (very politely and in writing) other colleges that accepted you that you’re not coming.
May
- Gear up for the big fi nish, doing your best on all your projects and exams.
- Arrange to have your fi nal transcript sent to the college you’ll attend.
June
Graduation! Congratulations!
THE NUTS AND BOLTS DOUBLE-CHECK LIST
1) Take the SAT or ACT and Subject Tests any time from junior year on.
2) Get to know your counselor.
3) Research schools.
4) Make your list of colleges.
5) Check to see which schools take the Common App.
6) Fill out the Common App as well as institution-specific applications.
7) Don’t forget the supplements.
8) Request that your transcript be sent.
9) Have the College Board and/or ACT send your test scores.
10) Hand teachers addressed, stamped envelopes for each of your schools, along with the reference form for each. Make sure you’ve waived the right to see the letter.
11) Send app with essay and payment.
12) Do the FAFSA if fi nancial aid will be an issue.
13) Make sure materials arrive at the admission offi ce. (But don’t panic if not initially there; the processing takes time.)
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