College-bound Teens

This timeline originally appeared in FamilyPC entitled "Prep Work" by Christine Santo.

A parent-tested timeline for creating the perfect, college-bound teen.

Grade 8
Spring: Get ready

Talk with your child about the kinds of courses she'll be taking in high school. If she's shooting for Advanced Placement (AP) courses later on, have her complete the appropriate prerequisites early in the game.

Grade 9
Fall: Get involved

Make sure course selections are appropriate.
Encourage involvement in extracurricular activities, aiming for depth over breadth. (Don't forget community service - find volunteer opportunities at www.servenet.org.)

Spring: Honor thy test dates

Plan Grade 10 courses, including any appropriate honors classes.
Register for appropriate SAT II exams (i.e., biology), given in May or June.
Now and in the future, refer to www.collegeboard.com for test dates.

Grade 10
Fall: Practice and plan

Have your child take the PSAT or P-ACT in October, for practice.
After results are in, develop a plan to work on areas where improvement is needed.

Spring: Register and enrich

Register for appropriate SAT II exams, given in May or June.
Attend college fairs.
Explore enriching summer programs.
Plan Grade 11 courses, paying attention to AP or honors classes.

Grade 11
Fall: Visit and calculate

Register for October's PSAT (results determine eligibility for National Merit scholarships) or P-ACT.
Review results of PSAT or P-ACT in December. Need test-prep classes? Check out www.kaptest.com for online test-prep services, and www.freevocabulary.com for 5,000 vocabulary words.
Start visiting colleges and gathering financial aid information. Confused? Turn to www.finaid.org for help.
Develop a preliminary list of potential colleges and request information from them.

Spring: Excel and interview

Register for and take the SAT I or ACT exams, plus any SAT II or AP tests needed (several dates available).
Schedule college visits and on-campus interviews.
Plan Grade 12 courses, taking AP ones whenever possible. Need more guidance than the guidance counselor is giving? Get personalized help from an experienced counselor - on a subscription basis - at www.achieva.com.
Find out how your favorite schools rank in terms of parties, politics, and quality of life at The Princeton Review.

Grade 12
Fall: Apply and fill out forms

Applying for early decision? Time to send in an application with early deadlines or rolling admissions.
Register for any additional entrance exams needed.
Get financial aid forms from guidance office.
Make final college visits.
Search for scholarships at FastWeb.

January: Forms, forms, and more forms

File tax and financial aid forms.
Send out any remaining applications.

February: Correspond and wait

Oversee correspondence from colleges about completeness of applications.
Steel yourself for the hardest part of the process: waiting.

March-April: Decisions, decisions

Get answers from colleges. Dance around in little circles!
Revisit top choices.
Make decision and respond with confirmation check by May 1.
Check for school-related scholarships.

May: Take one last test

Take any last necessary AP exams. A good score may save you tuition money later.

June: Congratulate the graduate

Have a party - you both deserve it!

July/August: Pay up

Tuition is due soon.

The Wired Applicant
Technology is becoming an increasingly important factor in the admission process, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). In fact, about 77 percent of colleges now provide online applications of some kind, according to NACAC's November 1999 survey of more than 400 admissions offices.

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