<p>The best thing to do is check the website of each school you are interested in to find out when their application is due. A good rule of thumb is to assume Jan. 1 but as klf1120 says some schools have earlier deadlines some have later. If you are from the UK and 'oblivious' you probably won't be applying EA/ED (early action/decision) and some schools don't let internationals apply early anyway, so don't be too concerned about that. Their websites will sometimes tell you when they respond with a decision, but very few schools will give you an exact date. For some schools there is rolling admission, where they inform you of the decision soon after you apply. For most schools they wait and inform everyone at once, usually around Apr. 1 or a little earlier. The national reply date for all colleges is May 1: that is the date when students need to accept or decline all their admission offers. Everyone does this at the same time. (Then later in May or in June, schools with waiting lists might make offers to some students on those lists depending on the answers they got from admitted students.)</p>
<p>US students usually take the SATs starting the year before their final year in school (which for us is called the junior year -- final year is called the senior year). The College Board has a chart of dates for the SATs here
<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/calenfees.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/calenfees.html</a><br>
There is a test in Oct., Nov. and Dec. (none over summer) and if you are applying to schools this coming fall you will want to take them as early as you can.</p>