Despite being almost 600 days away from her first day at college, junior Zoe Gaber has already began her application preparation.
Gaber started looking for potential essay questions on college websites in February.
“[Most colleges] don’t have this upcoming year’s essays posted yet,” Gaber said. “But I went to the common app’s site, and I look up some of the essays from last year. I also went to the U of M’s site, and I looked up some of their essays.”
“In English we had to write a couple of practice college app essays,” said junior Kathleen Schaaf.
According to some application experts, juniors should start working on their college applications before school lets out for summer.
“[Juniors] should take their standardized tests, make out a profile sheet, and get their teacher recommendations done by the June of their junior year,” said educational consultant Lynn Luckenbach.
Luckenbach also stresses that students should begin brainstorming ideas for the essay around March or April in order for it to be a true representation of themselves.
“The major essay is the key piece of information in the application process,” Luckenbach said. “There’s no other piece that is personal. I believe that it’s good for a lot of thought to be given to the essay before one even starts writing it. I always say to students, ‘Keep a pad of paper at bedside, and write down thoughts that you have before you go to bed.’ Often times we are more relaxed at that time. But don’t take pen to paper until maybe June.”
Seaholm counselor Rebecca Rossen echoes that there may be some advantages in starting early.
“It would depend, for different students, on their schedule,” Rossen said. “If you have crazy summer plans, you don’t have time over the summer, then you don’t want to be rushing right when you come back to school senior year.”
All admissions experts agree that students should be visiting colleges their junior year.
“[Western Washington] recommends that during spring of junior year of high school students begin visiting colleges,” said Student Admissions Representative at Western Washington University Julie Anne Behar.
Luckenbach advocates leaving significant time for visits.
“After exams their junior year is a good time to start their college search.” Luckenbach said. “It gives them plenty of time to research their choices, their list of school that they want to look into, and it also leaves lots of time for visits. On the internet, pretty much a lot of schools look the same, but when you go to visit a campus, you see the kids who are there, the atmosphere, and it really tells you a lot.”
Juniors should also begin narrowing down their options.
“Students [should] start forming lists of schools they’re interested in based on many factors,” said Admission Counselor at Miami of Ohio University Mitch Arnett. “Such as location, majors offered, social scene, residence life, cost, sports, etc.”
Juniors should also make sure they have a wide range of selections.
“When a student is looking for schools,” Luckenbach said, “They should have some reach schools, some middle of the road schools, and some safety schools.”
Rossen suggests that now is a good time for juniors to ask for recommendation letters.
“What you could start doing is talking to some teachers and asking them about letters of recommendation,” Rossen said. “They may or may not do them this early- some won’t do them until the fall- but it’s good to start thinking ahead and planning.”
Senior Kathryn Watts requested her recommendation letters early last year, ensuring that she received them before the last minute rush.
“I asked for my recommendation letters in March of my junior year,” senior Kathryn Watts said. “And I got them by May.”
For the essays, Gaber advises that practice makes perfect.
“I’ve been practicing,” Gaber said. “With last year’s prompt, I did one practice [essay], but it didn’t turn out so great, so I did it again. It gets better every time you do it.”
