Portions of the college admissions process should be performed each year in high school. Steady, cumulative completion of set tasks is vastly more effective than cramming everything into the waning moments of senior year. Take control of your admissions process and it will entice you to take control of your future—that is a skill rarely learned in any institution and will serve you well throughout your life.
Beginning freshman year take the most demanding classes possible. The standard path is 4 years of English, with two of them possibly AP Language and Literature, history, math, sciences with labs, and a foreign language. Most colleges like to see a student stick with a foreign language all four years. Also start thinking about the financial aid possibilities. Look at College Navigator for scholarships and grants offered to recent students. The better you know the financial aid system, the more you’ll understand the possibilities of your college selections. Additionally, select one or two extracurricular activities that you will stick with throughout high school.
Sophomore year is the time to practice either the SAT or ACT test. Figure out which you prefer and make a study plan. If you’re taking AP World History or Honor’s Pre-Calculus, you should plan to take the SAT Subject Tests in June in World History and Math 2C. Getting 4-6 subject tests completed is wise. It’s also a good time to learn that there are a lot of extremely well-respected colleges, over 800, which have flexible standardized test requirements; go to www.fairtest.org to find them. Additionally, there is no way you have the time to visit many of them. A good place to take a virtual tour is on www.youniversitytv.com: it contains over 3,000 campuses. By the end of sophomore year, if you have a sense of the type of college you prefer and an inkling of what you might want to get out of college, you’re in good shape.
Junior year set your testing schedule, determine your best teacher recommendation candidates, and meet with your high school counselor: most private schools and some public schools require counselor recommendations. Try to pull together a list of 5-20 colleges that are particularly attractive If possible it’s a good idea to consider the type of curriculum you might prefer, whether it be a series of required general educational courses, or great book discussions… Additionally, get to know the faculty at various colleges. Go to ‘RateMyProfessors.com” and look at the profiles. Lastly, if time is available, write a rough draft of at least one application essay.
By senior year produce a master calendar with essential standardized test, financial aid, and application dates and deadlines. It’s now time to determine your early action or decision schools. Additionally, it’s a good idea to firmly figure out where it is you’ll feel at home academically. Right after January 1st, you’ll want to electronically submit your FAFSA form. With all the applications submitted, consider the benefits of the schools you’ve applied to. Additionally, try to develop a list of the students you have met on your college visits, or, better still, a list of students from your high school who attend some of the colleges you’re applying to. If and when you gain admissions, they might be excellent sources of information as you consider your final decisions. Trust your gut.
By doing your groundwork in preparation for college throughout your high school years, you can turn what might otherwise be a pressurized, difficult decision into one that flows with your activities and desires. A lot of the elements to mold such an outcome need to be provided throughout the high school years. Making the steady effort requires discipline, but so does anything good—and this effort will reward you for four years to come.