Your college admissions journey, carefully planned, customized to fit your child's needs.
When you’re applying to fourteen schools with eleven different requirements each and three application platforms, it’s easy to lose track of what you need to do by when. That’s why we’ve constructed a general checklist organized by deadline and urgency, along with an overview of the essentials.
IMPORTANT DATES TO KEEP IN MIND:
Mid-October
Last chance to take the ACT and have the score considered in an Early Decision I or Early Action application.
November 1
Most schools’ Early Decision I or Early Action deadline.
First Saturday of November
Last day to take the SAT Reasoning or Subject Tests and have the scores considered in an Early Decision I or Early Action application.
First Saturday of December and January
Last days to take the SAT Reasoning or Subject Tests and have it considered in an Early Decision II or Regular Decision application.
Mid-December
Last chance to take the ACT and have it considered in an Early Decision II or Regular Decision application. Also, most schools release their Early Decision and Early Action results.
January 1
Most schools’ Early Decision II and Regular Decision deadline.
Starting freshman year, there are several things you can do to round out and strengthen your application.
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You should begin to pick up pace around the end of your sophomore year, while keeping in mind that you want to kick into full gear at the end of your junior year.
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In the first half of your junior year, remember to take as many upper-level/AP/IB classes as you think you can manage. Sign up for a standardized test in this time period
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This period lasts from September to January of your senior year. You’re coming down to the wire.
We divide the application process into three phases: Before, During and After. To understand the "before", please see the "Preparation" above for how best to manage the timeline.
"During" is the most critical because it is the time for a student to shine. Years of work will be put into just a few forms and essays to convince admissions why you are the right candidate for the school.
Please don't neglect "After". Sometime a rejection can be overturned because you managed the follow up well. "After" also provides a much smoother transition into college if done right.
The major components are:
1) High School course selection
2) standardized test plan (SAT/ACT, TOEFL/Duolingo, etc.)
3) summer/winter plan
4) extracurricula activity plan
5) student profile
6) communication with college
7) school visit
8) recommendations
9) interview prep
There are 8 blocks of information that students need to provide besides personal and family information:
1) Transcripts
2) Standardized Test Scores
3) Awards
4) Extracurricular Activities
5) Essays
6) Recommendation Letters
7) Main Essay
8) Why School Essays
9) Additional Information (Optional)
10) Resume (Optional, but highly recommend)
Students need to make sure every application is followed up by the some of the following actions:
1) Set up portal
2) Email correspondents
3) Waitlist strategy
4) Final decision
