College Planning Calendar - Senior Year
Fall Semester
- Continue taking challenging academic courses and keep up your grades. Beware of “senioritis”!
- Continue involvement in volunteer and extra-curricular activities; update your résumé
- Meet individually with your counselor to narrow list of colleges, discuss financial aid and scholarship opportunities
- Decide schools to which you will apply and prepare a list of deadlines having noted over summer any early action or early decision deadlines at colleges of choice
- Take any additionally needed SAT, ACT, or SAT Subject Tests in September or October
- Attend Senior College Forum for all seniors (September)
- Parents attend Nuts and Bolts for a detailed explanation of the college application process (September)
- Parents attend Financial Aid Night (September)
- Complete senior packet on Naviance – one for parents, one for students (October 1)
- Research scholarship opportunities and internships listed in Naviance and track deadlines
- Complete NCAA Clearinghouse application (www.ncaaclearinghouse.net) if a student athlete
- Complete official FAFSA (financial aid form) at www.fafsa.ed.gov, beginning October 1. If required, complete the CSS/Financial Aid Profile at profileonline.collegeboard.org
- Attend Interviewing Skills Workshop (October)
- Arrange for college interviews if required – preparation for which should include scheduling a mock interview in the College Information Center
- Request ACT scores at www.actstudent.org or SAT, Subject Test, and AP scores at sat.collegeboard.org be sent to colleges at least three weeks before the application deadline(s) if scores have not been previously sent
- Submit WHHS counseling office request form so that counselors complete letters of recommendation
- Make certain teachers submit letters of recommendation at least two weeks prior to the college deadline and by November 15 at the latest
- Brainstorm, write your essays, and enlist editors to help you revise them. Create a master list of supplemental essays
- Visit colleges of major interest. Plan an overnight in a dorm if possible
- Attend college representative visits and ask questions!
- Submit by November 15 counseling office transcript requests for each school to which you are applying
Spring Semester
- Continue to apply for scholarships (January – March)
- Send supplemental information to colleges as it becomes available, i.e., awards
- Meet Acceptance Reply Date. Write to inform and thank colleges whose offers you did not accept
- Write thank-you notes to teachers who wrote letters of recommendation
- Complete the Future Plans / Final Transcript request form on Naviance (May)
- Create a college budget and begin applying for additional student loans, if necessary
- Attend Senior Exit Meeting with your counselor (May)