College Application Process & Planning

Getting ready for the college application and the process can feel intimidating, and most people have concerns about making difficult decisions

You can have a Great Future when you Make a Plan for it!

All students who have gone on to college have had similar questions at some point. A great way to begin is by looking at a timeline that lists essential plans to navigate the college admission process. Below are the sections mapped out to make the process less of a hassle. You can get caught up on things, so don’t worry.

If you still have questions after looking at the timeline, Sentry Tutors has College Application advisors available to help with the entire process.

Starting Freshman Year:

• Get involved with extracurricular activities and volunteering hours.
• Throughout high school is a great way to find areas of interest and develop leadership values.
• Meet with school counselors to plan to take the best classes for success. Students are encouraged to take AP/IB courses and earn college credits while attending high school.
• Note: Students should take courses to show their skill, but only when they get the top grades. Students who get a “B” in an AP Course earn an “A” in the regular college prep level.

Sophomore Year

Fall

• Students begin by making a list of interests and other factors they want to make the search for the right college easier.
• Some factors may include price, distance, class size, campus size, degrees, and more.
• Plan the date to take the Pre-ACT and/or PSAT
• The pre-test scores will help determine if the student will score well on the official test or if tutoring and test prep is needed.

Spring

• Meet with a college application counselor and research college websites to ensure all the academic and testing requirements for your schools of interest are on track.
• A few things to look at when researching colleges are:
• Required test scores from the ACT/SAT to set goals and GPA requirements for college admission.
• Plan the date to take the ACT and/or SAT

 Junior Year

Fall

• Plan the date to take the official ACT or SAT
• Many students take ACT 2-3 times to get the best score. Students need to have the final attempt completed in the summer before senior year.

Spring

• Narrow the list of potential colleges and plan college visits during the late spring and summer to get more insight into a few on the list.
• Schedule the ACT/SAT if the student feels they can raise the scores. 

Summer

• Go to college visits to learn more about the considered school.
• Start filling out the common application and begin outlining college admission essays.
• Talk to teachers to get letters of recommendation and collect them.
• Put together all materials for the college application.
• Students should take their final attempt on the ACT/SAT before the start of senior year.

Senior Year

Fall & Winter

• Early decision applications for college admissions are due in November.

• Students apply only to the First-choice college for early decision applications. Students will receive the admission decision from the college early (usually by early December).

• Regular decision applications for college are due in January/February.

• Students receive regular admission letters in March/April.

Spring

• Make the final choice of college to attend by accepting the offer letter from college admissions.
• Fill out the FASFA

Finally, Graduation! Your next step to a successful future is about to begin.

The process may seem complex, but college application planning is straightforward to complete when you follow the proven timeline.