<p>Would any older CC posters offer a timeline for people who have or are about to finish 11th grade? The college application process is approaching quickly and I think it would be vastly helpful for the class of 2011 to know what to do and when to do it in order to complete this process in a timely manner.</p>
<p>Great idea! I would like to know when to start writing essays, asking for recommendations, etc…</p>
<p>Google “college application timeline.” Here’s the first one that turned up; there are plenty of others:</p>
<p>[Senior</a> Year College Application Timeline - Keep Track of Senior Year Deadlines](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/admissionstimeline/tp/12th-grade-timeline.htm]Senior”>Senior Year College Application Deadlines)</p>
<p>If you’re at that point you need to get going on the process.
[ul]
[<em>]Know where you want to go and why. This includes discussing finances with your parents as well as things like academics, location, etc. I already knew where I wanted to go by the end of my junior year.
[</em>]Schedule visits to prospective schools either over the summer or early fall (preferable since you can sit in on classes and talk to students as opposed to just getting a feel for the campus).
[<em>]There’s a preview for the Common App out, I believe, and the online version will be available in August, or check the websites of the school if they have their own application.
[</em>]Make sure to ask your teachers/boss/etc for a recommendation early on, in case they get a lot of requests or are otherwise busy.
[<em>]Don’t procrastinate. Work on your apps and essays in chunks at a time, and make sure you know the deadlines. EA/ED are usually early November, and RD can be anywhere from December to January or even later. If you’re looking at a school outside the US, also check the deadlines because they’re usually even earlier.
[</em>]FinAid stuff. You’ll probably need a lot of help from your parents with this one; again do this as soon as possible.
[/ul]</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses! Any other input?</p>
<p>I’m a junior as well. My plan is:</p>
<p>-Get through the last three days of school. 
-Take the SAT in June and pray to the Gods that my score magically goes up by 200 points.
-Attend college fairs (there’s one tonight in my area) and speak with representatives.
-Visit colleges over the summer.
-Work on “why [insert school name here]” essays* over the summer
-Contact teachers for recs over the summer
-Continue meeting with reps in the fall that come to our school
-APPLY!</p>
<p>*Note: I already have my Common App (+ essays) done because we were forced to do them during the spring.</p>