The Home Stretch
The summer after a student's junior year is where it all comes together. All the hard work from the last 3 years of high-school are now going to be wrapped together in a single application for the schools of their choice to unlock the next chapter of their lives.
The reason why this summer is important is self explanatory, but to explain it, this is the summer where a student's college journey starts to come to head. They're right at the finish line and as long as they don't slip up they'll be well on their way towards getting into the school of their dreams.
Here is the checklist a student should have by the end of the summer:
#1) They should have a finished and polished final draft of their college application essay
This is critical. The best essays we have read were always finished before the school year began, for the respective students, and were only refined with a few tweaks here and there in order to become nearly perfect. Furthermore, by being completely finished with the common application essay, it clears up space for a student to devote all their creative energy towards their supplemental essays. Allowing them to make these essays the best they can be.
#2) They should have a finalized list of schools they wish to apply to for early action
This is important as it allows a student to create a priority list of schools so that they know what should be done first. There are many instances where students work for an extensive period of time on schools they shouldn't be working on that have deadlines much later than other schools that have deadlines earlier. This puts them in the situation where they're rushing on their application to the schools they want to get into and as a result, are not accepted.
Students should create a list of the top schools they want to get into then prioritize those schools by deadlines and work in that fashion. This way, all the schools a student wants to get into they can, and there'll be no need for rushing or stress when applying to said schools.
#3) They should have final drafts for the supplemental essays of the schools they wish to apply to in the fall
Once the supplemental essays for almost every school are released in the spring, students have ample time to complete them before the fall deadline. Where the winter and spring of a student's junior year were reserved for rough drafts and brainstorming ideas, the summer is now for strictly for linking those ideas together and creating a finished piece. Students should have more or less finished versions of all the supplementals essays they wish to submit for the schools that they are planing on applying to during the early action round of admissions by the end of the summer of their junior year.
With these three points completed on the checklist, students stand a massive advantage when applying to school and should have 95% of their applications to the universities and colleges of their dreams complete. This will allow them to spend 99% of their time making their senior year the best it can be without worrying about college and the application process. They can just focus on enjoying their final year of high school and maintaining their grades for the home stretch.
Next Post: How To Apply To College ->
Closing Words
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