College Application Timeline

The process of applying for college is one that begins early in the high school years. Much earlier than most people realize. In fact, there are many things that you can do even as early as 8th and 9th grade to make sure that your child is ready for the process of applying for and being accepted into the college of your choice.

The purpose of this page is to help you figure out how to make that a seamless process, to help you define the college application process and also to help define a college application timeline that will help you make sure things get done both properly and on schedule.

College Funding Timeline

This timeline is designed to help parents and students with task of keeping straight the tasks associated to college funding. I realize that many of your students are further along in school then the high school sophomore year. The sooner you start, the better off you will be when it comes to getting the money you and your students need and deserve. Look through the earlier parts of the timeline because you can still perform some of the tasks that will have a tremendous benefit on your future (i.e. scholarship search).

Here Are Some Tips For:

High School Sophomores:

First Semester

• Select clubs and organizations to participate in. This will be beneficial when applying to college in the future as potential grantors and sponsors of scholarships and grants will take into consideration extra-curricular activities
• Begin to explore career options and consider fields of study
• Begin a file of potential colleges, degree’s & area’s of interest, etc.

Second Semester

• Begin scholarship file including a list of private scholarships sources
• Internet scholarship search’s: These are resources (most free) that you can register for and perform search for college scholarships to find the one that is right for you. Click on them and bookmark them for future reference
• Fast Web – One of the Internet’s leading scholarship search, helps people find valuable scholarship money to pay for college or an advanced degree. Recommended by more than 18,000 guidance counselors and financial aid officers, FastWeb is one of the most trusted education resource online.
• Free Scholarship Guide – Every year they have their $10,000 Annual Scholarship Contest! The winner can use the $10,000 Scholarship for any College, University, or Education Program, to pay off their Student Loans, or even give the Scholarship to a family member.
• Scholarship Experts – They have been helping parents and students find scholarships and free college money since 2001. They constantly update their database of college scholarships and grad school scholarships to provide accurate and timely scholarship information.
• The Scholarship and Grant Guide – Search over 20 million free scholarships and grants from one guide. This will save you countless hours of mind numbing research! It comes highly recommended by educators for all students including minorities, returning adults and online students!
• Look into local community resources for scholarships. Some possibilities include: Clubs, Organizations, Agencies, Parent-Teacher Associations, Veterans Groups, Professional Organizations, Parents Employer and/or Union, Corporations, Ethnic Heritage Groups, Religious Affiliations, Chamber of Commerce, Local Libraries, Yellow Pages (Under Foundations), American Legion Post, Local Businesses (Human Relations Department), High School Guidance Office
• Continue involvement in clubs
• Consider teachers for recommendation letters to include in admission applications
• Take a FREE, Full Length Practice Exam. There are several places that you can go to register for practice exams. Our recommendation is Petersen’s Exams where you can take a free, full length practice exam. By trying your hand at questions just like those on the real thing, you’ll find out where to focus your study time, learn test-taking strategies, and build confidence.
• Plan schedule for junior year
• List important factors to consider when applying for colleges
• Begin compiling a list of possible colleges (don’t consider tuition at this time)
• Begin looking at mail that is received from colleges and universities and save info that is interesting
• Attend local college fairs

High School Junior Year

Beginning of School Year

• Register and take the SAT, ACT and National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
• Begin looking at any institution that makes educational loans like banks, and credit unions and create a file on each one
• Apply and register for advanced placement courses, which allow them to take college courses while still attending high school

October

• After reviewing results of first PSAT, take the PSAT for the second time

November

• Attend any financial aid workshop available in your area. We also are getting ready to offer teleconferences and webinars that will explain in detail the college application process. Look for those updates on our site soon
• Attend any other college fair and begin planning campus visits

December

• Make sure all assets are positioned properly. Selling of investments, structuring of savings accounts and other positioning of assets must be done by December to maximize student’s eligibility
• Review results from second PSAT
• Begin narrowing list of possible colleges to 6-10

January

• Continue research into scholarships sponsors
• Student should begin writing to prospective colleges to request information regarding admission and available financial aid, including scholarship possibilities. This information should be included in a separate file for each college.

February

• Register for the SAT II which is taken in May or June
• Student should take the SAT and/or ACT, preferably both

March

• Continue to gather additional information regarding colleges and universities from their high school guidance office

April

• Continue to look for free scholarship searches from websites
• Follow up on career interest with additional research and personal interviews with individual’s in the field

May

• Contact state’s scholarship administration and inquire about available state financial aid

High School Senior Year

August

• Begin preparation of high school transcript, making sure all required courses are included. Students should also enroll in all courses that are important to colleges, such as five ’solid’ subjects as well as any advanced placement courses
• Continue scholarship search
• Decide upon college major or general area of study
• Complete the college search and compile a list of possible colleges that should include six finalists. Remember not to base your decision on money or available financial aid. Base it strictly on your educational goals and needs. Financial aid will be covered on other parts of the website

September

• Apply for and take the ACT and SAT tests for the 2nd time. The highest score of the tests is the one the financial aid offices look at
• Begin planning college campus visits
• Begin compiling and arrange information necessary for the scholarship and admission applications. Many of the questions on the forms are universal and will be used throughout the application process so it makes it easy to have it all in one place that is easy to access. This is some of the information you will need:

1. Unofficial high school transcript
2. Recommendation letters from Teachers, High School Counselor, Community Leaders, Business and Professional People, Religious Leaders
3. List of work experience, 500 Word Essay about an experience that has special meaning to the student (Some colleges or scholarship sponsors may give the student a specific topic to write about in place of this type of essay)
4. List of references who can comment on your skills and work experience
5. List of volunteer or community activities in which you participated
6. List of positions held in school that shows leadership and responsibility
7. Copies of any documents or newspaper clippings verifying your awards and honors
8. Run more scholarships searches and request applications and qualification rules from each of the scholarship sponsors listed. The student does this by writing each address listed on the scholarship search report and mailing these requests directly to each sponsor
9. Immediately apply to each of these scholarships after receiving the application and list of rules from the sponsor

October

• Apply for admission to 6 different colleges using the core application information that has been previously compiled. Keep a list of colleges where you applied as this information will be used when completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
• Complete the CSS/Profile application to the CSS processing center if required be any of your college selections. Online completion can be done at http://www.collegeboard.com
• Student should continue the scholarship search and application process

November

• Research the colleges where you have applied to get an idea of what kind of financial aid package you may expect from each individual college
• Parents and students should attend a college financial aid workshop (we will be hosting webinar training here on this website shortly, please check back often for updates on details)
• Students and family should complete and submit any additional institutional aid applications, or miscellaneous forms, required by the college

December

• Students and family should research and familiarize themselves with all sources of financial aid
• Gather items, data and information needed to file the FAFSA
• Run a trial FAFSA application by using calculator online at www.finaid.org/calculators/
• Make final preparations for filing of your financial aid forms

January

• Student and family should file the FAFSA with the government either online or by mail in application on January 2nd or as soon thereafter as possible as financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. File the FAFSA at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov
• Student and family should continue the college campus visits

February

• If CSS/Profile was submitted, student should review the confirmation report
• Submit copies of their completed federal tax return forms and W-2 forms for the application year to each of the final six college choices
• Student will receive the Student Aid Report (SAR) from the government. This SAR will have your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) listed on it. Please review the results and compare with your figures and statistics making sure have received the proper aid package. Complete it if necessary

March

• Student will receive the corrected SAR. The student and parent should then forward a copy onto each of the final six colleges

April

• Student will receive and should accept all admission offers. The student should send a letter of acceptance to each college after receiving the offer
• Student will receive and accept all financial aid awards and packages. The student should return all award letters with acceptance promptly. Although you accept all award offers, you can still negotiate and decide on your final college choice
• The student and family should do a side-by-side comparison of each college award letter and make sure the figures agree with the research they did in November of last year
• Student should now make the final college choice. Consider all of the following aspects when making your decision:

1. Personal note from your campus visit
2. College location, size and appeal
3. Your personal preference
4. The most appealing and complete financial aid package

• Double check and make sure all financial aid award offers are accepted and submitted to the final choice college
• Student should then make sure that a copy of the SAR along with a copy of the student’s and families federal tax returns, including W-2’s is forwarded by certified mail to the financial aid office of the final choice college
• Student should make sure all necessary deposits are made for on campus housing at their final college
• Continue to track the progress of scholarship applications

May

• Student should obtain and complete the family’s section of the Stafford, Perkins or FPLUS loan forms and submit these by certified mail to the final choice college
• Receive and accept all outside scholarship offers. Immediately respond to the scholarship sponsor with a letter of acceptance and also call the sponsor and personally thank the person whose name appears on the scholarship offer for the award
• Notify each college they will not attend that they are relinquishing their earlier financial aid acceptance
• Obtain and forward to the final college an official final grade transcript from the high school
• Complete all necessary paperwork for on-campus housing at your final college choice

June through August

• Student should begin a scholarship search for the next years academic year
• Make sure all scholarship awards are received

College Freshman Year

September

• Set an appointment with the college financial aid officer to discuss the arrangements for the work-study job included in his or her financial aid package

October – December

• Student continues scholarships search and application process

January

• Student and parents should complete and submit the new FAFSA for the sophomore year financial aid package
• Student and parent should complete CSS/Profile application for the sophomore year

February / March

• Receive and review new SAR from the government and resubmit with any corrections
• Forward a copy of the SAR to the college’s financial aid office or wait for the corrected copy to arrive and then forward it

May

• Student will receive the college’s financial aid award renewal letter and should accept it by immediately signing and returning it to the schools financial aid office

These are just a few of the many steps that need to be considered and followed as closely as possible to give you an advantage when going through the college application process.

If you follow the steps in this college application process checklist, you will gain many advantages when it comes to obtaining the financial aid you seek.

Final Thoughts

If you have not see our free videos on what you can do to get the most money possible for yours or your childs education, please visit the video page at http://www.myschoolplans.com/tips.