{"id":6368,"date":"2016-04-18t13:37:40","date_gmt":"2016-04-18t20:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/?p=6368"},"modified":"2018-06-26t06:57:42","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26t13:57:42","slug":"when-should-you-start-your-college-applications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/when-should-you-start-your-college-applications\/","title":{"rendered":"when should you start your college applications?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>when you\u2019re a freshman in high school, you know that college is somewhere far away on the horizon, but you don\u2019t think about it too much. then sophomore year comes and you get really involved in extracurricular activities and forming lasting friendships. suddenly, junior year hits and you realize that it\u2019s time to start thinking about life after high school. it can become really overwhelming. when should you start your college applications? what exactly do you need to do? all of the other juniors seem so in the know, while you just feel completely clueless. here\u2019s the ideal timeline of when to start working on applications if you want to stay organized and meet all of your deadlines.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>junior year spring<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-6369 size-full\" src=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2016\/03\/giphy-4.gif\" alt=\"spring-junior-year-magoosh\" width=\"250\" height=\"141\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\nin the spring of your junior year, you should probably begin thinking about where you want to apply to college. start researching schools and try to <a href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/how-to-decide-if-a-college-is-right-for-you\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">compile a list<\/a>, narrowing it down over time. the spring is also a good time to visit colleges. lastly, you should also get a few <a href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/how-to-ask-for-a-letter-of-recommendation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">teacher recommendations<\/a>.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>summer before senior year<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-6370 size-full\" src=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2016\/03\/giphy-5.gif\" alt=\"summer-senior-magoosh\" width=\"499\" height=\"310\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\nin the summer before senior year, you\u2019ll have plenty of time to work on your common application essay, one of the most important parts of your application. spend plenty of time thinking of <a href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/family-guide-to-college-admissions-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a great topic<\/a>, writing thoughtfully, and editing several drafts. if you have even more time and dedication, you could try to finish all of your application materials over the summer. this would mean all of your supplements and the other requirements the colleges ask for. while doing this would make your life a whole lot easier, being this organized is pretty rare. most students just try to work on their main common app essay. you may also want to consider that if you finish your applications too early, you won\u2019t be including any of your accomplishments from first semester of senior year.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>senior year fall<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-6371 size-full\" src=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2016\/03\/giphy-7.gif\" alt=\"senior-fall-magoosh\" width=\"498\" height=\"249\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\nthe fall of your senior year is when you really need to start grinding on those college applications. try to complete all of your writing supplements, essays, and anything else you need to submit. to stay on top of everything, complete the essays with the earliest deadlines first.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>senior year winter<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6372\" src=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2016\/03\/giphy-8.gif\" alt=\"senior-winter-magoosh\" width=\"316\" height=\"178\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\ndon\u2019t leave any regular decision applications until after you hear from early decision schools. complete everything beforehand. if you don\u2019t get in early, you don\u2019t want to be stuck writing a bunch of applications over winter break to meet the january 1<sup>st<\/sup> deadline when you could have been enjoying the holidays. also, if you leave your essays till the last minute, they simply won\u2019t be as good. they\u2019ll be rushed.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>when everything is done, all that\u2019s left to do is wait. this is the most nerve-wracking part.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6373\" src=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2016\/03\/giphy-9.gif\" alt=\"nervous-college-decision-magoosh\" width=\"250\" height=\"267\" \/><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>suddenly, it&#8217;s junior year and you realize you need to start thinking about college applications. but when exactly do you start and what do you need to do?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[24903],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- this site is optimized with the yoast seo premium plugin v21.7 (yoast seo v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>when should you start your college applications?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"suddenly, it&#039;s junior year and you 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