College Admissions Checklist - How to Prepare a College Admissions Checklist in High School

High school is a time which can be filled with fun and excitement, but it’s also a period during which you’re going to be doing a lot of hard work. That hard work is what’s going to get you into college at the end of the stretch, so you want to make sure that you’re keeping on top of things. The best way to balance the fun and the work of high school is to have a plan for your college admissions process. That way, you can see that you’re getting done the work that you need to while you’re out there having fun and learning about life.

A college admissions checklist is a terrific way to organize all of the things that you’ll need to do in high school in order to prepare for going to college. You can prepare your college admissions checklist and then print it out and keep it in a highly visible place in your room or locker so that you can be sure that you’re staying on top of things. The following is a sample of items that you might want to consider putting on your college admissions checklist. Adapt it as you see fit and put it into a timeline to design a college admissions checklist that works for you.

___ Take the PSAT. This is usually done during your junior year and will give you an indication as to how much studying you will need to do for your senior year exams (the SAT and / or ACT).

___ Take the SAT and / or ACT.

___ Meet your high school guidance counselor. This is the best resource you have at your school to help you with your admissions process so you should develop a relationship with him or her. Make an appointment to discuss college plans and just let this person get to know you.

___ Request college brochures from the schools that interest you.

___ Visit college campuses and / or attend college information fairs so that you can get a better idea of which schools are right for you.

___ Research information about financial aid. Visit www.finaid.org. Sign up for FastWeb scholarship information. File your FAFSA forms as soon after January 1^st of your senior year of high school.

___ Get letters of recommendation from your teachers and / or volunteer organization supervisors.

___ Make a separate checklist with all of the dates and materials needed for every application you plan to complete.

___ Complete all applications in a timely manner. This includes leaving plenty of time for writing your letters of recommendation and gathering together your transcripts.

These are just some of the basic areas that you will want to cover as you make your college admissions checklist. By narrowing down each of these categories and placing them into a reasonable time frame which you then will input into a calendar, you’ll be able to easily see that you’re taking care of the hard work part of college admissions on time. And the rest of your high school experience should be fun!

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