How to Stay Organized and Complete Your College Apps on Time
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By Matt Musico
Submitting college applications isn鈥檛 overwhelming when you plan properly. Here are some organizing tips for both juniors and seniors that can help you meet your application deadlines with a minimum of stress.
How to Organize and Get Ahead Junior Year
If you鈥檙e currently sure that college is in your immediate future, there are ways to start working on your application as a junior in high school, even while researching and/or visiting colleges.
1. Complete Parts of Your Application
I focus on helping students build and finalize their list by the end of junior year, but once we hit the spring semester, we begin multi-tasking to cross other items off our to-do list. If that鈥檚 the spot you鈥檙e in, this includes completing activity list descriptions and filling out parts of the Common Application.
Within the Common Application, you鈥檙e allowed just 150 characters to describe each of your extracurricular activities done throughout high school. This is typically a multi-meeting process with my students because it鈥檚 harder to write these descriptions than they initially realize. Instead of focusing on describing the activity, focus on any accomplishments achieved, or why you enjoy participating in it.
I鈥檒l also let you in on a college admissions life hack 鈥� while the Common Application doesn鈥檛 go 鈥渓ive鈥� until August 1st, you can start filling out parts of it before then.
At the end of July every year, the Common Application shuts down to prepare for the next admissions cycle. If you鈥檝e answered any specific college application questions, your answers will be lost, but info about your personal and educational background (located in the Common App tab) and any college lists you鈥檝e created will get rolled over from the previous year鈥檚 version.
Instead of waiting for August 1st to start filling things out, you can already have the Profile, Family, Education, Testing, and Activity sections done before shifting your focus elsewhere. Even if your college list includes non-Common Application schools 鈥� schools that might be included with the Coalition Application, the University of California application, Apply Texas, among others 鈥� these schools will ask similar questions. But now, you have a bunch of basic information ready to copy and paste wherever it鈥檚 needed.
2. Prepare to Ask for Letters of Recommendation
If asking two teachers to write you a letter of recommendation for college during the spring of junior year feels early, that鈥檚 because it is. This is on purpose, though 鈥� some teachers may only say yes to a certain number of students. If you want specific people to be part of your application process, it鈥檚 a good idea to ask sooner rather than later.
I usually suggest that students ask for letters of recommendation right after spring break. Teachers are coming back from vacation, so they鈥檙e relaxed, and there鈥檚 no end-of-year stress with AP tests or final exams yet. It鈥檚 that perfect lull in the school year 鈥� especially since they鈥檙e typically not getting bombarded with these requests yet.
Use your time at the beginning of junior year to continue cultivating your relationships with all teachers and to decide which two you鈥檇 like to ask when the time comes.
3. When to Start Thinking About College Essays
My favorite time to help students conceptualize essay ideas is in June and July prior to senior year. Writing an essay still feels natural at that time because you were just doing it in school, but you don鈥檛 have homework to distract you from getting a first draft written.
I鈥檝e found that the best way to get a first draft on paper is to break up the writing process. First, spend time brainstorming different topic ideas, whether it鈥檚 just writing notes on potential ideas, or that鈥檒l force you to contemplate various aspects of your life experiences and personality. From there, map out how you鈥檇 like to attack this topic with a thorough outline.
But juniors shouldn鈥檛 worry about essays until the end of junior year. Before then, focus on crystallizing your list, completing parts of your application, and getting prepared to ask two of your current teachers to write you a letter of recommendation.
How to Stay Organized Senior Year
What happens if you鈥檝e started senior year and you鈥檙e feeling behind? Maybe you didn鈥檛 write your essay over the summer, or you haven鈥檛 finalized your college list. Or perhaps you鈥檙e deciding just now that you want to pursue a college education and haven鈥檛 done any college research.
You鈥檒l have to accomplish more tasks in a shorter period, but it just takes proper planning to make sure your head doesn鈥檛 start spinning.
1. Finalize Your College List
It鈥檚 impossible to submit college applications if you don鈥檛 know where you鈥檇 like to send them. So your first step is to finalize your college list.
In an ideal situation, you could comfortably visit the colleges to see if they have the characteristics you鈥檙e looking for. However, in the fall of senior year, that may not be feasible for several reasons. Doing thoughtful online research is one way to build a college list you can get excited about, especially if you鈥檙e asking yourself the right questions at the beginning. If you can鈥檛 visit all the schools you鈥檙e considering in person, here are some thoughts on how you can build a list virtually.
2. Make a Tracking Document
The number of college applications submitted varies by student. Some college admissions experts suggest applying to somewhere between five and eight schools, while others think makes sense.
Either way, that鈥檚 a lot of dates, deadlines and other details to keep track of. Instead of trying to commit everything to memory, create a tracking document in Excel or Google Sheets so it鈥檚 all in one place.
Your tracking document should include the following information for each college on your list:
- College name
- Admission programs available (Early Decision, Early Action, Rolling, Regular Decision)
- The deadline dates of those various admission programs
- Which applications are accepted (Common App, Coalition App, etc.)?
- What鈥檚 the school鈥檚 testing policy?
- Is there an extra writing supplement to complete?
3. Condense School-Specific Supplemental Questions
For my students, part of the stress with college applications is not knowing what鈥檚 coming on the horizon. With most types of applications asking the same 鈥� or similar 鈥� questions about your personal, family, and educational background, one of the most common variables lies in the school-specific supplements.
Some colleges include short-answer questions, and others don鈥檛. These might include a shorter essay on why you want to attend the college, or other questions. Every college does it differently, making the process of simplifying things crucial. It can be tough to keep all the short-answer prompts straight in your head, so you might find it helpful to compile all the extra writing you鈥檒l have to do in a single document.
Not only can you see everything that you have to complete in one document, but you鈥檒l see if any of the questions or short-answer topics overlap between schools. By combining your writing tracking sheet with the admissions tracking document you made, it鈥檒l be easy to prioritize which writing supplements need to be completed first based on the deadlines you鈥檙e working against.
4. Plan Out Your Writing
Mapping out how you鈥檙e going to finish your short-answer questions and writing supplements 鈥� and when 鈥� takes a lot of the guesswork out as you continue creeping toward those deadlines. If you have five, eight, ten, or twelve schools that require extra writing, you don鈥檛 have to do it all at once.
- Order the colleges on your list from the earliest deadline to the latest one so you can see what needs to get done now and what can wait until later in the fall.
- Make a commitment to complete one or two writing supplements a week and hold yourself accountable by writing your plan down.
If you stay consistent with this plan, your applications will be complete and ready to submit before you know it.
5. Do One Thing at a Time
It鈥檚 common to look at all the parts of a big task and immediately get overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done. As Chinese philosopher Laozi once said, 鈥淎 journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.鈥� Prioritize what needs to get done first and focus on completing that one single step as best you can before moving on.
Here鈥檚 one way you might approach your application tasks:
- Start with your basic information (personal, family, and education) because even if it鈥檚 asked in different ways on various applications, the answer is always the same.
- Next, take care of your activity list descriptions 鈥� they鈥檙e going to be sent to all the colleges you apply to in some form, so it鈥檚 important to get that done early. Completing this task will feel great because you鈥檝e crossed something off your to-do list quickly, providing a confidence boost as you head into writing your college essay.
- Write your essay, using the tips described for juniors (above). Or see 6 Steps to Start Your College Essay. Make sure you give yourself time to get feedback on your essay and to complete revisions.
- Once your essay is done, the final big hurdle to jump over before submitting applications is completing the school-specific supplements. Make your writing plan and follow it.
You Got This!
Nobody conquers a huge task by accident. It takes a lot of planning and devotion to executing that plan to get it done. It鈥檚 possible to not feel totally stressed out when completing and submitting college applications 鈥� even if you鈥檙e starting late. You just need to create a plan, stay organized, and put one proverbial foot in front of the other every day, and eventually, you鈥檒l reach your destination.
Matt Musico is a freelance writer for 密桃视频. He has worked in higher education for the better part of a decade, in both undergraduate admissions and with high school students and their families as a private college counselor.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to 密桃视频, 1st Financial Bank USA or any other person or entity. All liability with respect to actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this article are hereby expressly disclaimed.
