College Application Timeline
Here is a general College Application Timeline beginning in the first year of high school. No timeline can provide every single detail, but as a general guide this timeline can help students and families prepare for the college search and application process in a calm and steady manner.
Every Year (9th-12th Grade)
Develop Yourself - Take on challenges to grow not to be perfect
Take on adult responsibilities like managing a budget, solving problems, or leading projects.
Pursue jobs or activities that build responsibility, like team leadership or starting a business.
Explore informal apprenticeships: Find a mentor in any field of interest to you who can teach you practical skills.
Focus on and Improve Academic Performance
Enroll in a balanced schedule (2:3:1 ratio):
2 Challenging Classes (AP/IB/Honors/College-Level) where you aim for the highest possible grade.
3 Moderate Classes that require some effort but are manageable.
1 Lighter Class that aligns with your interests and requires less effort.
Read at least 20 minutes daily and write regularly to improve critical thinking and communication skills.
Work to exceed graduation requirements in key areas like math, science, and writing.
Here are resources on the most effective learning strategies and study skills.
Engage in Extracurricular Activities
Choose activities that are meaningful and reflect your passions.
Take on leadership roles or responsibilities within clubs or organizations.
Keep a detailed record of participation, hours, and accomplishments.
Plan For College
Attend events like parent-student readiness nights and college planning workshops.
Use online tools (such as CollegeRaptor, College Scorecard, and College Simply) to research colleges and career paths.
Develop an ongoing savings plan, or better - a ROTH IRA, even if you can only contribute small amounts.
First Year (9th Grade)
Fall
Meet with Your Counselor to create a 4-year academic plan that includes core requirements and challenging courses.
Identify 2-3 teachers who could become mentors or recommenders and start building a relationship with them.
Explore Extracurriculars and join a few clubs, sports, or community service activities to discover interests and strengths.
If your family is interested in a full-service college consultant to guide your family from start to finish - now's the time to contact Cogi.
Winter/Spring
Engage with the Career Center (to familiarize yourself with available career planning tools) and attend sessions and events to learn more about academic and extracurricular options.
Don't worry too much about having to decide - it's not easy to do that at your age. Here's a good resource to read about college and career decisions.
Have Open Conversations with your parents and counselor about college costs and financing strategies.
Cogi recommends a strategy that maximizes the applicants appeal and likelihood of better than average financial aid.
Review and update your academic plan with your counselor to ensure it aligns with any changing goals
Research summer opportunities (volunteering, internships, or classes).
Summer
Practice drafting personal statements and essays.
Here are some great resources - Winning Essays, Grading Your Essay, and AI as a Writing Coach
Start exploring colleges with the purpose of becoming familiar with navigating college and search websites, understanding metrics, school profiles, and how different sites have different data and information for you to consider.
You can even visit different nearby schools to get a feel for campuses (while you're there try to identify and locate specific resources like, the counseling center, the admissions office, the advising center, etc.)
As you begin to college information about college and receive marketing materials - think about what you'll need to organize everything and keep track of important information - you may even experiment a little to see what works.
Consider engaging a summer opportunity, including volunteering, a college-summer program, etc. that align with your interests and goals.
Sophomore Year (10th Grade)
Fall
Prepare for and take the PSAT for practice and focus on areas needing improvement.
Decide on a way to organize your research and all the information you're receiving. It only has to work for you.
Here are two trackers developed by Cogi - College Search Tracker and Application Tracker
Engage any career resources available at school, online, etc. and begin narrowing your career interests and options.
If you want to go above and beyond - Interview and shadow professionals in careers of interest
Winter/Spring
Start planning for your Junior year
Review your academic plan to ensure it remains aligned with your interests and includes advanced courses like AP/IB classes.
Utilize any available career services to hone in on a few likely career fields and begin mapping out pathways where different majors can lead you to that career.
Summer
Continue practicing drafting personal statements and essays and exploring colleges - honing in on the key aspects you might focus on in your essay and what aspects of colleges appeal to you the most.
Continue working and volunteering and engaging in extracurriculars around school
Continue improving your organization and start preparing a preliminary list of colleges. Be sure you basing decisions on college KPI's (retention, 4/6yr grad rates, ROI, Net Cost, and schools where your GPA and Test Scores are better than average).
Junior Year (11th Grade)
Fall
Take the PSAT early (and remember you can qualify for National Merit Scholarships)
Begin researching colleges and universities in earnest using your PSAT score in lieu of your SAT or ACT to help improve search algorithms
Be sure to update your profile on any search sites with your latest courses, grades, etc.
Continue preparing/practicing for and register for standardized tests (SAT, ACT) and start preparation.
Look for free online prep and practice resources
Continue and begin to wrap up your college list after you have your SAT/ACT scores
Be sure to update your profile on any search sites with your latest courses, grades, etc.
Continue building relationships with potential letter writings and possibly confirm which teachers that are willing to write letters of recommendation for you. (Not formally requesting, just seeing if they are willing to.)
Consider looking for scholarships available to juniors
Take SAT or ACT (or both)
If you think you will need or want help with some aspect of your applications, now is the time to contact Cogi.
Winter/Spring
Take SAT or ACT (or both) if you haven't or have practiced and want to improve your score
Visit college campuses, if you want to use visits to narrow your list
NOTE: It's increasingly common now to reserve campus visits that require travel expenses for after you're received college acceptances.
Request letters of recommendation from teachers.
After you have your test scores and have an idea of your preferences, finances, etc. create a profile of your ideal college (type of college, location, desired retention, graduation, and ROI metrics, where your GPA/Tests are well above average, majors, etc.)
Check out Cogi's Ideal College Profile and our College Readiness Assessment
After that, prepare a list of 10-20 well performing colleges (short list) that align with your ideal profile as much as possible. Consider whether you want to prioritize based on Net Cost, Likelihood of acceptance, or other metrics.
Summer
Prepare your college short list, determine how you'll track your applications, including materials, deadlines, and requirements, and start preparing your applications
Start finalizing personal statements and essays with special attention to improved organization, more compelling narratives, fewer errors, more showing than telling, etc.
Consider whether some of your potential applications will need to be tailored for the particular school and which schools you can use the same essay for.
Consider submitting some applications, particular if you are utilizing an early action/decision process.
Senior Year (12th Grade)
Fall
Finalize college short list.
Complete and submit applications for Early Decision/Early Action (typically due in November).
Gather recommendation letters, transcripts, and test scores for regular decision applications.
Attend any interviews, but practice and prepare beforehand.
File the FAFSA starting October 1 and apply for scholarships and additional financial aid
Track application decisions and financial aid offers as they come in
Winter/Spring
Submit all applications by deadlines, usually January or February.
Receive admission decisions (typically March to April)
Compare financial aid offers. (Unsure what that is - here's a good comparion tool and a brief guide on Financial Aid Offers)
Decide on which campuses to visit
Decide on a college and submit enrollment deposit by May 1.
Here's a good article on how to decide on a college
Plan and prepare for AP exams
Summer
Attend orientation sessions to familiarize yourself with campus life and resources.
Complete all enrollment paperwork and housing applications.
Finalize work-study or part-time job plans for the school year.
Prepare for the transition to college life.
College Application Deadlines
Adhering to application deadlines is crucial. Below is a general overview of common deadlines, but students should track the specific dates of each individual school they apply to:
Early Decision - Deadline is Oct/Nov. prior to enrollment.
Decisions usually arrive in December.
Early Action - Deadline is Oct/Nov. prior to enrollment.
Decisions usually arrive in December.
Regular Decision - Most commonly the deadlines fall in the January prior to enrollment, but a few are in Nov./Dec. or Feb.
Decisions usually arrive in March or April.
Rolling Admission - Deadlines usually do not exist because enrollment is always open, but there there may be a few unusual cases where there is a short period of time they will not be accepting. Check individual schools for exact details.
Decisions are usually delivered in 4-6 weeks.