<p>Just realize how fast would a junior change their mind about college.</p>
<p>As long as we set the date for important things like SAT I and II, we should just wait until 1/2008 to start the application process. Otherwise, everything is subject to change.</p>
<p>This is the time for parents to be doing various FA scenarios (if FA is even remotely possible) and checking out other financial possibilities if FA is not an option. The kids need to be refining their lists . (D's would shrink and swell depending on her mood. Her initial number one didn't even make the cut come app time.)</p>
<p>Actual application work is still a ways off. Spring break junior year is a great time to visit schools, if school vists are something you plan to do.</p>
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Otherwise, everything is subject to change.
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Chances are everything will continue to change until you send in the deposit, and even later for some. ;)</p>
<p>Actually, your student (if he is a junior now) should really consider starting the application process in the fall of his/her senior year. It sounds like that would be Fall 2008. Some things he/she can do...work on essays, request that transcripts be sent from the HS to ANY schools the student might consider applying to (you don't have to apply...but if you don't make transcript requests early sometimes it's hard to get them done on time), formulate a list of potential schools which the student will whittle down somewhere between when it is formed and when the student actually gets accepted (some students drop schools off prior to applying, some drop them after acceptance), makes a list of what the student is looking for in schools and compare that to the potential list of schools, discuss finances (so that the student will know up front if that is a consideration). For some kids everything is NOT subject to change. Both of my kids had their final list of colleges by September, and applications completed by October 15. They both didn't want to have a bothersome senior year and were very happy to have the "monkey around their neck" of applications, etc DONE early on while their friends continued to struggle. Both enjoyed their Thanksgiving and winter holiday breaks without the stress of working on college applications. DS did not apply early action, DD applied EA to two schools. Both had at least one rolling admissions school on their list and had been accepted to that school before Thanksgiving. </p>
<p>Are things subject to change? Sure. DD's second choice became her bottom choice. DS's first choice flip flopped numerous times between visits and final decision time. </p>
<p>But truthfully, waiting until Jan of senior year will be highly stressful, in my opinion, because your student will be making lots of decisions, and doing lots of paperwork in a very short period of time.</p>
<p>OH...and then there's the finaid part. Many schools have priority deadlines for finaid that are either Jan 1 or sometime in Jan. If you don't even know which schools you are applying TO, how in the world will you know which schools you need to submit FAFSA and possibly Profile to....and then meet those deadlines.</p>
<p>Agreed. Make plans for applying in summer - figure out who to ask for recommendations, etc. Best option is to have all testing done by October. Apply to at least one rollling admission school you want to attend by mid October..<br>
It's such a relief to have all this done with my kids! :) Now, we sit back and wait for the financial aid packages.</p>
<p>^^^I wholeheartedly agree w/above timetable. All schools my D applied to, except one had application deadlines on or BEFORE January 1.</p>
<p>Now is the time to start. Plan on making some visits before May. It is less useful to visit in the summer and by next Fall there will be little time. You will need to have final selections and to start the application process before Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>Is your kid a junior?<br>
Spring should be the time to make campus visits when college is still in session.
Also, your student should make sure to take the ACT or SAT this spring, and, as necessary, SAT-IIs at the end of the school year, when the materials are still fresh in your kid's mind. If the results are not satisfactory, there will still be time to retake one or more of those tests.
At the end of the school year, your student should ask teachers that are likely to write the best recs if they are willing to write such recs. These recs can be written in the fall, but it's good to have lined up rec writers in advance.
During the summer, your student should make a list of colleges s/he is interested in (whether or not s/he has visited), check the requirements and look at the essay writing prompts. Begin thinking about what to write--even if the actual essay won't get written the night before the due date. </p>
<p>On your part, check the FAFSA instructions. There seem to be all sorts of dos and don'ts when it comes to financial planning.</p>
<p>If his son/daughter is applying in Fall 2008, 1/08 leaves PLENTY of time to start the process.</p>
<p>Ah!! Thanks for adding letters of recommendation. If your child knows who they want to ask, they can actually do so as early as the end of junior year. Teachers appreciate having the time to complete these things thoughtfully. 19382...for some students beginning in 1/08 for a fall 2008 college start is fine. But for the life of me, I can't figure out how one would completely begin this process in January with application deadlines becoming earlier and earlier each year. If you are just beginning to look at colleges in January, then you would be in the position of seeking recommendations, writing essays, sending transcripts, completing finaid applications, etc...ALL happening in January. I'm sorry but for many students, those tasks would be very hard to complete if the student didn't even have clue where their applications were going until Jan 1. For some, it might be fine...but the deadlines are so soon after that, it is not the best plan, in my opinion.</p>
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My DD is a junior in HS now and the #1 conversion topic in our household has been "College".
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<p>Starting in the fall was a bit early. Now, however, is time to get serious.</p>
<p>Whether or not you started way to early is a moot point now.</p>
<p>But the time to get going is in the next few months. Waiting until January 2008 is not a good idea.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the highest priority is the SAT Subject Tests. If your student needs to take more of these, the best time is probably this May or June. </p>
<p>But in order to decide which subject tests to take, the student needs a good idea of what colleges he or she will apply to -- since different colleges and different programs within a college may want different tests. </p>
<p>What each of my kids and I did at this point was to make up a LONG list of all the colleges (and specific programs within the colleges) that might possibly end up on the student's application list the next fall. Then, we went to each college's Web site to find out what SAT Subject Tests the college required or recommended. This led to decisions on which tests the kid should take.</p>
<p>You pretty much have to do this in the next six weeks or so. The deadlines for registering for the May and June SATs are in April.</p>
<p>Visiting college campuses during Spring Break of junior year is also a good idea, but registering for the SAT Subject Tests is more important.</p>
<p>I think a good time to start looking at colleges is the fall of junior year. I think it's really, really good to look at colleges when they are in session and if you can take your time visiting them when it works into the HS students and family schedule, the visits can be fun. With my daughter we did the first visit probably this time of year her junior year. All she knew was that she wanted to major in education so we just started researching, visiting and narrowing the list. So many more good fit colleges turned up as we figured out what she wanted in a college but by fall of senior year there was just time to get the applications in. </p>
<p>With my son we started visitng colleges early fall (maybe even end of August!) in his junior year. I would look at the college schedule and his schedule and if there was a three day weekend for his HS and I was off, we would go look at a college. It took him quite a while to figure out what he liked and didn't like but because I expected that and we had started early enough, it didn't matter. By the time fall of senior year rolled around and marching band season had started he pretty much knew where he was applying. He still visited two colleges after acceptance but we knew that would happen when he applied. </p>
<p>The mistake some parents make is overthinking each and every college. Researching and visiting colleges is something that takes a little time and alot of patience.</p>