Planning Timeline
This will be a busy but exciting year for all seniors! The following month-by-month schedule will help keep you on track.
September
- Complete your Common Application.
- Schedule an appointment with your advisor to discuss your application and college choices.
- Register for standardized tests.
- Request applications from the colleges/universities to which you plan to apply. (While paper applications are available by mail from most, if not all, colleges, most also have applications on line. These applications can be downloaded and printed after completion, or they can be filed on line. Some schools offer discounts or application fee waivers for electronically filed applications because these applications do not require data entry on the part of university employees. The Common Application and supplements are available online.)
- Schedule visits and interviews.
- Check to see which college representatives will be visiting LCDS. Plan to attend their orientation sessions. Sometimes the representative who visits LCDS is the person who does the initial reading of applications, so it is a good idea to make personal contact.
October
- Discuss application plans with your college advisor—stay in touch! Dates are critical for Early Decision candidates.
- Register for appropriate standardized tests; send scores to colleges.
- Ask teachers if they would be willing to write letters of recommendation for you.
- Visit colleges.
- Attend representative sessions at school or in the local area.
- Visit college fairs.
- Complete all early decision applications; be sure that teachers have their recommendation forms and stamped envelopes well in advance of deadlines; remember to put the return receipt postcard in the envelope before you give it to the teacher. (Mrs. Adams has these cards.)
- Work on all applications. ED and EA candidates should have other applications ready to mail so that if the students are deferred or denied, they will not be in a panic over other deadlines.
November
- Finish all standardized testing—register for the December tests, if needed; arrange to have scores sent to the colleges.
- Finalize your college application list; discuss it with your advisor. Set aside time during the Thanksgiving vacation to finish your applications. December is a busy month, and January 1 deadlines will be here before you know it! Give counselors and teachers appropriate forms the first day of the second trimester.
- Arrange for interviews, if needed.
- Attend college representative sessions at school or in the local area.
- Visit colleges.
- Complete the CSS Profile - click on CSS/PROFILE, under “Pay for College.” This information is required for financial aid applications at some colleges; paper instructions are available in the College Guidance Office.
December
- Take December standardized tests, if needed.
- Receive results of Early Decision applications; if accepted, withdraw other applications, if mailed.
- Register for January SAT (applies primarily to juniors; seniors should have completed most standardized testing by this point). The CEEB code for LCDS is 392115; this is the school code for the ACT as well.
January
- Take SAT I, if needed.
- Complete financial aid forms.
- Register for February ACT (juniors).
February
- This is the month that juniors begin the formal College Guidance process.
- Look for a letter naming your College Advisor so that you can schedule a family conference.
- Register for spring standardized tests.
March
- Juniors continue family conferences.
- Seniors begin receiving admission decisions. Make plans for final visits to colleges.
April
- Junior family conferences continue.
- Seniors will be making their final decisions and notifying colleges. Write letters accepting and declining admission. Thank teachers and others who helped you with the process.
May
- Seniors must be certain that they have mailed the official acceptance notice by May 1. Juniors and Seniors will take AP tests this month.
June
- Graduation! Congratulations, Seniors! Juniors will receive the Common Application to complete during the summer and return by late August. Doing this application conscientiously now will make the process easier in the fall. Have a relaxing summer vacation!
