Im a Senior in high school this year. I was wondering when i should start applying for college?

Answered

Compared to many ambitious seniors, you are already behind. Many of them have already worked or completed their college essays already and filled out all the basics on their Common or Coalition app.

If you have any time before the first day of class, I would highly recommend you create your Common or Coalition app profile. You should also start working on both your Common App main essay and your Supplemental essays from specific colleges. If you know for certain which colleges you are applying to, you can request CollegeBoard or ACT.org to send your SAT, APs, and/or ACT scores directly to them. If you are not satisfied with your ACT or SAT scores, then use this time to register for the SAT or ACT to retake the test.

By now you should have a rough list of colleges are going to apply to. You should have created a chancing profile to determine which ones were super reaches, reaches, hard targets, targets, and safeties. You should also know which school you will or apply early to if that is your goal to take advantage of either ED or EA.

You should know which teachers you are going to ask for a recommendation this fall and ask them now or during the first week of school. When you follow up make sure you submit to them a C.V. (resume) so they know the highlights of your HS career.

In 6 weeks the FAFSA and CSS profile open up, so make sure your parents are aware that they have to get their taxes, bank statements, investments statements together so you can properly fill out that paperwork. If they haven't done this before, it will take a number of hours to do each one correctly.

If you haven't done so already, I would highly suggest visiting some of the colleges you are most interested in applying to with your parents. Many students fail to do this when they can and end up flying blind and applying to schools they have never visited or have any idea of what campus life is like. That's no different than flying into a foreign country and calling it home for 4 years. If you are going to spend 4 years of your life somewhere and your parents and yourself are going into debt for it, you should know first hand what that place looks like and whether or not you will like it there.

Last but not least, now is the time to review your 12th-grade course list against the list of HS requirements from the schools you are applying to. This will ensure you are not going to be 1 or 2 classes short in something. If you need to take another language or math class, now is the time to contact your HS counselor to request a change to your class schedule.

Good luck.