Junior & Senior Timeline

Junior year: Academics & Test Scores

Your top priorities are

  • Keeping your grades up in rigorous classes

  • Preparing for SAT/ACT, if applicable

  • Doing well on AP tests, if applicable.

  • Building rapport with potential recommenders

  • Working with your coach to build your story and plant flowers in your gardens!

In the winter/spring, you also want to focus on

  • Choosing senior year classes that support your story

  • Updating your resume

  • Confirming recommenders and either filling out their form, or sending them your resume with an email explaining your interests and approach

  • Completing the Junior Questionnaire form for your College Counselor, if applicable

  • Planning activities for the summer that build your stor(ies)

  • Making a plan for writing your application in the summer

June: Finalize List and Complete the Common Application

The optimal time to complete the Common Application (and the Coalition Application if your coach determines that will give you an advantage) is June and July, before the supplements come out. 

How many sessions should I book? 

The Common Application (including the personal essay but not including the supplements) takes roughly 12 hours, although this estimate can vary widely, depending on the student. Students whose activities sections are full and complex require extra time and strategy. If you have been working with a coach already, you will have a huge head start!

We recommend clustering sessions and even doing back to back sessions to take advantage of momentum! We find that doing five 2-hour sessions in a week is a great way to get the Common App done (including the personal essay) quickly and efficiently! Sometimes of course, schedules don’t allow for this intensity. 

What will I do with my coach in these 12 sessions? 

Your coach will get to know you, if you are new. If you have already been working together, you will start to refine your stories and think about which stories go where in the application.

You will also draft

  • The Activities section

  • The “extra” questions (Challenges & Circumstances, Change in Progression, School Change, Disciplinary explanations), if applicable

  • The Honors section 

  • The Additional Information section, if needed

  • The personal essay!!!

Please note: Not all schools take the Common Application. Some students will also use this time to repurpose writings from the Common App for the Coalition App, UC system, or college specific applications like MIT. 

July & August: College-Specific Supplements 

Students who complete the Common/Coalition Application in June and July are ready to tackle the supplements. Though officially released when the Common App rolls over on August 1, many schools start releasing their supplemental essay questions in July. Either way, we can get started on the supplements since we are focused on the stories WE want to tell. Then we can tailor what we’ve written if the questions have changed from the year before.

If a college has no supplemental essay questions, we can draft a letter to the regional admissions counselor that serves as a supplement. We also include the resume.

Once AP scores, final tests scores, and final grades are available, is also the time to finalize the list by determining admissions probability and admissions strategy. Of course, this is a fluid process and students can make changes until they hit submit.

How many sessions do I need for supplements? 

There is no way to estimate time needed for supplements, since every school has its own requirements and students have bespoke lists of colleges. After researching how all aspects of the school match a student’s activities, background, and academic interests, we repurpose what we have already written, expanding, shrinking or fine-tuning to match word-count limits and prompts. 

September-November

Proofread, polish, and submit Rolling, EA, and ED schools.

Check your portal to be sure they have everything. Submit SRAR if necessary. E

Contact Regional Admissions Counselor with any updates.

December

If accepted ED: Celebrate! Then withdraw all applications.

If accepted EA: Cleebrate! Then withdraw all applications of colleges lower on your list than the school(s) that accepted you so others can have that slot.

If deferred: Write LOCI and submit ED2 and RD applications so you can enjoy winter break.

If not accepted: Chin up! There is another round. Submit ED2 and RD applications so you can enjoy winter break.

January-February

Submit any final applications!