The summer as a new senior

Try to finalize your college list, it may change last-minute, but you should have a good idea of where you're applying.

Create a sheet/excel of all these colleges, everything you need for them (letters of rec, essays, transcripts, etc) along with deadlines, you can fill it in as you go through the college app process so you don't forget anything.

Begin writing your essays. You can start the 650-word CommonApp whenever, its prompts never change and it takes far more thought, but you might have to wait for certain supplemental essay prompts to release closer to fall.

If you don't already have one, get a job that's preferably low stress if not fun but has decent pay.

But in general, you should just take time to relax and have fun. If you want, though, you can self-study or get tutored to prepare any tougher subjects you're taking like APs. I'm graduating but I plan to review material I learned in AP Calc, Micro/Macroeconomics, and possibly teach myself some basic comp sci.

There's not much more you can do for colleges, you could've applied for selective summer programs that are free or low-cost to attend, not sure if it's too late. Mainly, just continue anything you're already doing and will put on your application.

Step 1. Make an inventory of how strong you are as a college applicant. You can do this on CollegeVine by filling out a detailed profile and comparing it to some of the schools on your college list. So let's say you have 10 schools in mind and have completed a thorough profile. Immediately, you will know if you are in good shape or not. By manipulating things in your control like EC levels, test score levels, course rigor, GPA etc you can see where you need to improve the most.

Step 2. Make a list of the top 3 things that are weak points on your profile. If you have a lower-than-expected SAT or ACT test score, you need to highlight that as a possible area to work on this summer. If you have low course rigor meaning that you haven't taken enough APs, then perhaps taking 2 online AP or college courses is something you can do this summer. And 3, if you are lacking in ECs, perhaps focus on some projects you can do this summer to boost your Intellectual Vitality scores.

Step 3. During August, you should know pretty much how strong an applicant you are and what kind of schools are going to be on your college list. When you know that, start working on your Common App Essay and look at the supplemental essays for all the schools you are applying to. There is no reason to assume that the college list you have today is going to be fixed. Why? Because there are too many moving parts and you should not waste valuable time applying to schools that only have a 3-4% acceptance rate if you are not one of the best students in your entire high school.

Step 4. If you find the whole process overwhelming and you have the financial resources, I would ask your parents to hire a college consultant either on CollegeVine or externally to help make strategic decisions about your upcoming college admissions process. Too many high school kids think that everything is going to fall into place like some right of passage. But they are wrong, 95% of high school students are ill-prepared prior to going into senior year.

Good luck.

I've been told that getting college applications in as soon as they open is a priority.