1. Deciding how best to spend your time
as you apply to college and finish up
your high school career can feel a bit
intimidating. Use this weekly break-
down to get closer to the next step
without the stress.
Week 1-10:
Talk to your school’s college coun-
selor. The last thing you should do
before you leave school is make an
appointment with your high school’s
college counselor. They will give you
some good pointers about where to
start your search.
Choose schools. When you’ve
researched all the schools you’re
interested in, make your final choices.
Make sure they fulfill what you’re
looking for in a school: Location, size,
offerings, environment and anything
else you consider important.
Get school applications. If
your school takes the Common
Application, you don’t have to worry
about completing a different one.
However, if they don’t, go to each
school’s website and obtain the appli-
cation you’ll need to complete.
Know your deadlines. Make a list
of deadlines: When the application
is due, when different supplements
are due and when the various finan-
cial aid documents are due. This will
allow you to budget your time, com-
plete each application and submit it
on time—without rushing.
Consider applying early. Is there
a school you want to attend above all
others? Consider applying via early
admission (EA) or early decision
(ED). Applying via EA or ED sends a
message to schools that they are your
first choice, which may increase your
admission chances.
Start looking into scholarships.
Do some legwork and find scholar-
ships and grants on your own. Try
NextStepU.com and FastWeb (www.
fastweb.com).
Week 11-20:
Decide if you’ll take the SAT or
ACT (or both). Register for the tests.
The SAT tests logic and reasoning,
while the ACT tests academic knowl-
edge. Once you have decided, pick a
test date, and register for each test
(www.collegeboard.org, and for the
ACT at www.actstudent.org). Consider
a test prep class to help you prepare.
Create a senior year plan. Avoid
senioritis by sitting down with your
school counselor and mapping out
the classes you’ll take, and thinking
about which extracurriculars you’ll
continue to be involved in.
Think about who will write your
evaluations and ask them! Set up a
meeting and ask teachers (nicely!) to
write you a letter. Remember to tell
them what your application deadlines
are.
Take the SAT (or ACT). Don’t
leave these tests until the last minute.
Ideally, you should think about tak-
ing them in the spring of your junior
year, but if you’ve left it until your
senior year, get it out of the way in
the early fall.
Beef up your work experience.
Keep your résumé fresh and your
experiences outside school interest-
ing by volunteering at a new place,
52 weeks
to college
JunIors: Now’s the time
to start planning!
By Anne Chaconas
Start researching schools.
Figure out what different
schools offer. Check on incom-
ing class sizes, standardized test
score requirements, application
deadlines and financial aid.
Take a leadership role in
your school extracurriculars.
Even if you’re not the captain
of your team or the editor of
your newspaper, take on tasks,
work with others to complete
projects and make a difference
in the groups you’re in.
Think about potential
majors. Colleges have a myriad
of major opportunities—from
English and political science
to folklore or jazz studies. Start
thinking about this now!
May/June 2011 NextStepU Magazine 17

2. or taking on added responsibilities at
your after-school job.
Week 21-30:
Start working on any school-spe-
cific essays. If your school requires
an additional essay beyond the
Common Application, start think-
ing about which topics you will write
about and start drafting.
Request your transcripts. If your
school requires you to send transcripts
in separately, now is the time to
request them.
Week 31-40:
Finalize school-specific essays.
Once you’ve selected topics, done
multiple drafts and had a few people
read and proof your essays, it’s time to
finalize them.
Talk to your parents about financ-
ing college. How are you and your
parents planning on paying for col-
lege? Talk to them and make sure
you’re all on the same page, so that
you can plan your financial future
together.
Complete any Common
Application school-specific
supplements. Get any supplemental
materials together, so you don’t have
to rush right before you submit your
applications.
Send in your applications (don’t
forget the application fee!). Put
everything together and send it in! If
you’re mailing it in, make sure you
have a way of tracking it so you can
see when each college received it. If
you’re applying online, keep all con-
firmation emails.
Complete the FAFSA. After your
parents have completed their taxes,
ask them to complete the FAFSA
(Free Application For Federal Student
Aid). This form is what schools will
use to help you obtain educational
loans, scholarships and grants. Also,
complete any school specific forms.
Relax—you’ve sent everything in.
Take a deep breath. You’ve sent every-
thing in, and now all that’s left to do
is wait for decisions.
Keep doing well in your classes.
Don’t slack off! Schools will want
to see your final spring grades, and
it won’t look good if you
traded in your As and Bs
for Cs and Ds.
Week 41-52:
Thank everyone who helped you
with your apps. Your teachers, your
school counselor, your school admin-
istrators, your coaches, and your par-
ents. Without their help, you wouldn’t
have been able to finish.
Decide where to go. Make your
choice! Start getting excited—you
know where you’re going to college!
Send in your deposit. Submit any
required paperwork, as well as the
deposit, to the school you’ve chosen, to
ensure your seat is held.
Finish with a bang. Cap off your
year with strong grades and an excel-
lent end-of-year extracurricular per-
formance. No slacking off!
But do make your last summer before
college a blast!
Anne Chaconas
is the director of
admissions counseling
for PowerScore
Test Preparation
(www.powerscore.com).
Start working on the
Common Application
Personal Essay. Don’t leave
these essays till the very end!
Start brainstorming and creat-
ing outlines for potential essays
now, so you have plenty of time
to fine-tune them.
Send in your financial aid
applications. After everyone
has given the thumbs up to the
financial aid paperwork, send
it in. The earlier you send it in,
the sooner you’ll know about
your financial aid packages.
Talk it over with your par-
ents. After you’ve analyzed
your financial aid packages and
visited schools, talk it over with
your parents to decide what the
best fit is for you.
Go to NextStepU.com to
win $10,000 for college!
NextStepU Magazine May/June 2011 www.NextStepU.com18