When are college application deadlines for juniors?

I know most deadlines are for seniors, but are there any college application deadlines that juniors should be aware of to begin preparing early? How crucial is it to start thinking of deadlines now?

While most college application deadlines are indeed in the fall of senior year, as a junior, there are a few important dates to keep an eye on. Here are the main deadlines you should be aware of:

- For the Common Application the Coalition Application, usually they open for the upcoming school year on August 1st. While you can make an account now to start exploring the platform, don't enter any information, as usually the forms will reset when the new application cycle starts. Note that while many schools are on one of these two platforms, some have their own, like MIT or the UC System, which might open at a different time.

- If you're considering applying for ROTC scholarships, be aware that they open up the late spring of junior year and have different deadlines depending on the military branch.

- If you plan to apply to colleges with rolling admissions, you generally want to submit your application as early as possible, perhaps even over summer before senior year, as the earlier you apply, the more spots in the class are still open, and there also could be priority deadlines for scholarships or certain competitive programs.

As for the importance of these deadlines, while none of these are firm deadlines in the sense that missing them will prevent you from applying to college, being aware of them is essential to staying organized and ahead of the game. Starting early allows you to spread out the workload, which can alleviate a significant amount of stress during your senior year. So getting a head start by being aware of these key dates, as you're trying to do now, is a very wise move!