College Application Dates To Remember!

Although it may seem early, believe it or not a junior should now be finalizing his or her list of schools by exploring school websites, looking at potential degree programs, creating a spreadsheet of Early Action/Early Decision and Regular Decision application deadlines, and working on doing his or her best in their full and (hopefully) rigorous high school course-load.

School-year breaks are also perfect times to visit a campus and attend a scheduled tour hosted by Admissions. If they offer a tour, be sure to register for one. It shows “interest” in that university and some admission offices may actually track your “interest” (e.g.: Website clicks, formal visits, outreach to programs/professors, etc.).

Junior year is also the time when you will take either the SAT or ACT exam (preferably both) to determine a plan of preparation moving forward. We typically advise high school juniors to register and take the February SAT/ACT exams during the winter of the junior year. Some decide to begin earlier. However, there’s ample time and multiple opportunities during the spring of junior year, summer prior to and fall of the senior year to retake these exams as a means to improve scores. Be sure to read our September blog on this very topic and visit Tarheeltutors.com to reserve a seat in one of our upcoming virtual SAT and/or ACT prep courses today!

Get recommendation letters from teachers, guidance counselors, mentors/employers during the spring of junior year; do not wait until senior year to do so (as many students may be applying Early Action/Early Decision during the fall of senior year when all application materials are preferably “due”). Teachers are inundated with these requests each fall, so ask early and be early on the line of requests. Again, it’s our opinion that the best time to request such a letter (when a teacher can truly pay attention to recommending YOU) will be during the spring of your junior year (even when the guidance office says it’s a senior year “to do” task…nonsense!).

Continue to perform well and end junior year with the highest grades possible, showing an increase in rigor as well as achievement. Additionally, stay active in clubs, sports and extracurricular activities of personal interest (both inside and outside of school) that help you build a compelling personal essay that truly shows your ability to add to the intellectual, diverse, and community-minded fabric of that university!

Summer Prior to the Senior Year: We always inform students to craft the personal essay the summer prior to their senior year of high school, as this essay can often be used for various admission and scholarship applications. It’s just smart to get that off the “to-do” list before a busy and exciting senior year begins.

We offer courses on “Writing a Successful College Application Essay” that will help you tackle the task of writing about yourself in 500 words or less. These courses are taught by Tar Heel Tutors, who themselves had exceptional personal essays that told a compelling story as part of their application! The Common App and Coalition App release their essay prompts every January, so it’s great to get a head start! Registration for these courses will open in EARLY 2023, so register early for a seat in either our late winter, spring or summer courses to ensure your personal statement is FINISHED prior to senior year!

Remember, The Common Application ( known as “The Common APP”) opens on August 1. The Coalition Application (coalitionforcollegeaccess.org) typically opens sometime in July or August.

Early Action/Early Decision deadlines can be as early as October 15. However, each college & university has its own early submission deadline! Therefore, always check with a college or university’s Admissions Office as to their specific deadline date for such early application submissions! If you miss the deadline, you’re out of luck applying early.

Both the CSS Profile and the FAFSA applications open up October 1^st. While parents have time to submit these financial forms, there’s no urgency to submit the FAFSA the first day it becomes available. However, we do urge parents to complete the FAFSA in a timely manner shortly following October 1, rather than waiting until time is running short.

Mid-Year Transcripts: Colleges and universities will require that senior mid-year transcripts are sent to admissions offices halfway through the student’s senior year. Typically, guidance counselors will send these out after the conclusion of the 2 nd semester, senior year. We cannot stress enough the importance of maintaining excellent senior year grades because most colleges and universities will typically receive these mid-year transcripts PRIOR to making admission decisions (unless, by way of example, those that have “rolling admissions”). Transcripts are sent to colleges/universities typically by the high school guidance office sometime between January and early February of a student’s senior year. Make sure your counselor sent your mid-year transcript on time to all schools to which you applied!

National Decision Day is May 1, the day you are required to put a deposit down on your college of choice. If you miss this deadline, colleges and universities assume you will not be attending, and therefore offers of acceptances will most likely expire! A frantic call to the admissions office after the May 1^st enrollment deadline may not necessarily work in your favor.