<p>Hey all
I'm going to be applying for schools this coming fall, and I was wondering, whens a good time to start applications/essays/etc. I wanted to start in the summer so I have a headstart and don't have to worry about it next school year, but are most apps even up in the summer?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Don't start in the summer, if you're gonna be applying do it 3 months before it's due, start writing those essays too, and get whatever letters of recommendation you may need.</p>
<p>Also, don't turn your apps the day it's due, do it a days before.</p>
<p>Some Apps like for state colleges, CCs are up</p>
<p>Why shouldn't you start in the summer?</p>
<p>yea, i'm wondering the same. It seems like it would be a lot less to worry about in the fall after schools started?</p>
<p>^ Summer's fun! lol</p>
<p>Well, starting to write the personal essays and getting recommendation should start before school does.</p>
<p>Haha, trueee. I'm going to be spending more than half my summer in a classroom (screw econ/gov) so I don't really mind.</p>
<p>youre supposed to spend the summer doing something worthwhile productive (other than SATs and essays...) </p>
<p>I mean on some apps theyll ask what you did in summer. And its stupid to say... i studied all summer.</p>
<p>Get a job, go abroad, volunteer...</p>
<p>do it starting september.</p>
<p>Umm.. of course.</p>
<p>But there's absolutely no reason you can't have a job, go aboard, or volunteer WHILE working on college apps.</p>
<p>If you can do it during the school year, you can definitely do it while doing those...</p>
<p>The best advice I can give you is to know EXACTLY where you're going to be applying by the end of summer vacation. Have the list absolutely nailed — where you're applying early, whether you need to take more SAT IIs, etc —*before you start school and you'll be good. That way, you can ask your teachers for recs way before everyone else does because few people will know precisely where they're applying before, say, October. And teachers will be more happy to write you recs before they get flooded with requests.</p>
<p>As for starting apps, I had the intent of finishing all my "generic" essays I could use on a bunch of my apps by the end of summer vacation... but that didn't happen. I read a couple books on writing college app essays, but this turned out to be really helpful. I read The Princeton Review's "College Essays that Made a Difference," which was basically a collection of several hundred real college essays; it had each applicant's stats, ECs, where they applied, and where they got in. I went through with some Post-Its and flagged all the essays I really liked, and then compared my favorites. They all turned out to have a similar tone and style, even if the content was different, and this was really helpful for me when I actually started writing my essays.</p>
<p>start as soon as it strikes you.... hope you do not submit your app 3 mins before midnight like me... lol</p>
<p>im going to be continuing an internship over the summer, so its not going to be totally unproductive. thanks for the tips everyone!</p>
<p>I would recommend starting the summer during the last days of summer.
Start getting acquainted to the common app site and brush off a solid college list.
Also, you can start brainstorming for your essay.
It's what I did and I didn't even apply ED.</p>
<p>The common app always has an essay that is a "write an essay on anything" essay, so you could start writing it at any time. I wrote mine during the summer and then finished editing/tweaking it in the early fall.</p>