Grades
Selection
Admission
Course selection, grades, and academic planning
Finalize class schedule
Finalize class schedule
Strong final exam performance
Strong final exam performance as semester grades matter
Protect the offer: grades still decide admission
Every acceptance is conditional on finishing the year as you started it. Colleges do rescind, and second semester is when it happens.
Maintain second semester performance
Maintain strong second semester performance
Review AP credit policies
Review AP credit policies for your college
Register for fall courses
Register for fall courses if required over summer
Complete summer assignments
Complete any summer reading or assignments
Complete placement tests
Complete any required placement tests
Complete senior requirements
Complete all senior year requirements
Keep your senior grades strong
Senior year grades MATTER - maintain rigor and performance
College applications and submissions
Review all acceptances
Review all acceptances and financial aid packages
Handle waitlist
If waitlisted at top choice: accept spot send letter of continued interest provide updates on new achievements but still commit to another school by May 1
Write waitlist Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI)
If waitlisted at a top-choice school, a strong LOCI can tip the decision. Keep it under 500 words, specific, and submitted within 10 days of notification.
Decide on FERPA waiver for letters of recommendation
Common App, Coalition, and most applications ask if you waive your right to view recommendation letters. This is a strategic choice with real implications for how admissions officers read the letters.
Decide whether to apply ED II
Early Decision II deadlines typically January 1
Act on your early decisions
Mid-December: ED/EA decisions released - if accepted ED withdraw other applications and commit; if deferred submit additional materials if allowed; if denied move forward with RD
Check your QuestBridge Match results
Match results are released December 1. A match is binding and full-ride; no match means your regular applications continue as planned.
Submit your arts prescreens by December 1
December 1 is the wall for most conservatory prescreens and arts portfolios. Submit two days early — upload systems fail under load.
Track ED2 and rolling decisions as they arrive
Early Decision II results land mid-February and rolling admits arrive all month. Each one changes what you do next.
Send letters of continued interest
February is the strongest window for a deferred applicant: a semester of new grades is in hand and final decisions have not been made.
Submit your RD applications by January 1
January 1-5: Most Regular Decision deadlines including Columbia Dartmouth Harvard Princeton January 1 Cornell Yale January 2 MIT January 4 Brown UPenn January 5
Double-check all apps
Double-check all applications submitted and complete
Request mid-year reports
Request mid-year reports sent to colleges
Alumni interviews scheduled
Alumni interviews typically scheduled January-March - check email regularly prepare thoughtful questions and send thank-you note within 24-48 hours
Respond to a deferral
A deferral is not a rejection — the file moves to the regular round and gets read again. Respond within two weeks of the decision.
Submit final transcript
Submit final transcript to your committed college
Review your UC decisions as they arrive
March-April: UC decisions released typically mid-March through early April
Review your Ivy Day decisions
Late March: Ivy Day, when all eight Ivy League schools release decisions simultaneously, usually around 7pm ET.
Commit and pay your deposit by May 1
May 1: National College Decision Day - submit enrollment deposit to ONE school withdraw other applications accept financial aid package
Submit your ED/EA applications by November 1
November 1: Most Early Decision and Early Action deadlines including Ivy League ED/REA Stanford REA and MIT EA
Verify materials received
Verify all application materials received by checking portals
Submit your UC application by November 30
November 1-30: UC Application window at $80 per campus with fee waivers available for 4 campuses
Submit your CSU application by November 30
October 1 to November 30: CSU priority filing period at $70 per campus. Impacted campuses close at the priority deadline and do not reopen.
Get your UC application ready to submit
October 1: UC Application submission opens
Start your CSU application
October 1: CSU Application Cal State Apply opens
Complete and proofread apps
Complete and proofread all application sections
Request transcripts sent
Request official transcripts sent to colleges
National Merit app materials
Semifinalists: Complete application materials by mid-October deadline
Submit QuestBridge rankings and Match Agreement
Rankings and the Match Agreement are due October 15. Ranking a college is binding — only rank schools you would attend without hesitation.
Record and submit arts prescreens
Music, theatre and dance prescreens are due around December 1 and decide whether you are invited to audition at all. Recording takes weeks.
Sign Early Decision agreement (student + parent + counselor)
Early Decision is binding. Common App requires three signatures (student, parent, counselor) on the ED Agreement before submission. Missing any one will stop your application.
Prepare for college interviews (alumni or admissions officer)
Many selective colleges offer or require interviews with alumni or admissions staff. Preparation is modest but meaningful - an hour of prep can change the letter a school writes about you.
Finalize college list
Finalize college list: Include safety 2-3 target 4-6 and reach 4-6 schools
Complete Common App core
Complete Common App core sections
Decide on ED school
Decide on Early Decision school if applying as this is binding
Confirm recommender portal access
Confirm all recommenders have Common App/Coalition App portal access
Provide final list to recommenders
Provide final college list to recommenders
Finish the QuestBridge National College Match application
QuestBridge closes October 1 — the earliest major deadline of senior year, and the only one that can end in a full four-year scholarship with no loans and no parent contribution.
Submit congressional service academy nominations
Nomination deadlines close between mid-September and November 1 depending on your representative. Miss it and West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy are closed for the year.
Audit and clean up social media presence
Surveys consistently find ~30-40% of admissions officers check applicant social media. Review public posts, photos, and friends' tagged content before your name is in an admissions file.
Personal statements and supplemental essays
Begin RD supplements
Begin drafting Regular Decision supplements due January
Submit PIQs
Finalize and submit PIQs with each at 350 words and 4 of 8 prompts
Finalize November supplements
Finalize supplements for November 1 EA/ED schools
Polish and lock your personal statement
Final pass: tighten every sentence, then lock the essay by the end of September so supplements get the rest of your fall.
Draft early school supplements
Draft supplemental essays for EA/ED schools due November
Finalize PIQ drafts
Finalize PIQ drafts
FAFSA, CSS Profile, and scholarships
Compare net costs
Compare net costs using consistent methodology: Cost of Attendance minus Grants minus Scholarships equals Net Price and factor in loans carefully
File financial aid appeals
If financial aid insufficient file appeals documenting changed circumstances requesting reconsideration with competing offers being specific about amount needed and acting quickly
Review ED aid package
If accepted ED review financial aid package carefully and can withdraw from binding ED if aid insufficient
Hit December 1 merit and honors deadlines
The second merit wall. Rutgers, URI and UW Honors all award priority scholarship consideration to applications complete by December 1.
Review early aid estimates
Review any early financial aid estimates received
Handle FAFSA corrections and verification
Verification is the most common reason an aid package arrives late or wrong. If you were selected, respond within days — packages are not issued until it clears.
Work the peak of scholarship season
More private scholarship deadlines fall between February and April than in any other window, and the applicant pool thins as seniors lose momentum.
Verify financial aid received
Verify financial aid materials received by each school
Submit remaining CSS Profiles
Submit any remaining CSS Profiles for RD schools
Complete institutional aid apps
Complete institutional financial aid applications
File 2025 taxes by mid-February so aid is not delayed
The 2027-28 FAFSA uses 2025 tax data. Filing by mid-February keeps verification, aid packages and state grant deadlines on schedule.
Finalize financial aid paperwork
Finalize any remaining financial aid paperwork
Set up payment plan
Set up payment plan if needed
Complete loan entrance counseling
Complete loan entrance counseling if borrowing federal loans
Sign the Master Promissory Note and finish loan paperwork
Entrance counseling and the MPN are two separate steps. Loans do not disburse until both are complete, and the tuition bill does not wait.
Meet the final March 2 Cal Grant deadline
March 2: Final Cal Grant deadline with FAFSA/CADAA submitted and GPA verification confirmed
Begin receiving aid packages
Begin receiving financial aid packages
Do not commit early
DO NOT commit until comparing all packages
Complete FAFSA
Complete FAFSA if not done
Submit CSS for ED
Submit CSS Profile for ED schools
Apply institutional scholarships
November 1 and December 1 trigger automatic merit scholarship consideration at many schools. Applying a day late forfeits the money, not the admission.
Hit November 1 honors and merit scholarship deadlines
At many schools, applying by November 1 is what triggers automatic merit scholarship consideration. Applying November 2 forfeits the money, not the admission.
File the FAFSA the week it opens
FAFSA opens October 1, 2026 for the 2027-28 year. It uses 2025 tax information. File in the first weeks — several states award grants until funds run out.
Start your CSS Profile
CSS Profile opens October 1 - required for most private schools at $25 first school $16 additional and more detailed than FAFSA
Check what you can actually borrow before the list is final
Parent PLUS is capped at $20,000 a year and $65,000 total per student from July 1, 2026. The Class of 2027 is the first cohort fully inside the caps.
California Dream Act Application (undocumented / DACA / AB 540 students)
If you are undocumented, DACA, or otherwise ineligible for federal aid under AB 540 rules, file the California Dream Act Application instead of FAFSA. You qualify for state aid including Cal Grant.
Apply for ROTC scholarships
Air Force ROTC closes its first board September 15, Navy January 31, Army by March 4. Early boards award the most money.
College research, visits, and strategic planning
Request NCAA final amateurism certification
Available from April 1 for autumn enrollees. Without final certification there is no competition and no athletics aid, whatever the coach has promised.
Register with your college disability services office
An IEP or 504 does not follow you to college. Accommodations exist only if you register and document them, and documentation takes weeks.
Plan move-in logistics
Plan move-in logistics
Shop for dorm supplies
Shop for dorm supplies
Arrange transportation
Arrange transportation to campus
Attend orientation
Attend orientation
Move in and start college
Move in and start college!
Clear the last steps before term starts
Every year students who were admitted, deposited and funded still do not arrive. It is almost always an unfinished form, not a change of mind.
Graduate and celebrate
Graduate! Celebrate your accomplishments
Submit health forms
Submit health forms and immunization records
Waive or accept student health insurance, and send immunization records
The insurance waiver has a hard deadline and you are billed automatically if you miss it — often $2,000 to $4,000 for coverage you may not need.
Complete housing apps
Complete housing applications often due early May
Register for orientation
Register for orientation
SAT, ACT, PSAT, and AP exam preparation
Submit AP performance tasks and portfolios
AP Seminar, Research and Computer Science Principles tasks are due April 30 — before the exams, and a missed submission is a score of zero.
Take the December SAT or ACT if you still need a score
December 5 SAT and December 12 ACT are the last sittings whose scores reach Regular Decision deadlines.
Check your National Merit Finalist status
National Merit Finalists announced mid-February
Check your AP scores
Mid-July: AP scores released
Send AP scores
Send AP scores to your college if not included with score reports
Take senior AP Exams
Take AP Exams in the first two weeks of May as scores can earn college credit
Take your last SAT/ACT for early apps
Last reasonable SAT/ACT for early applications: October
Decide on test submission
Decide whether to submit test scores to test-optional schools submitting if scores are at or above school's 50th percentile
Send official test scores to the schools that need them
Self-reported scores are not enough at many schools. Official reports take one to two weeks to arrive and must be ordered separately.
Check every school on your list for its testing requirement
Test-optional is receding. Columbia and Princeton require scores for fall 2027, the UNC system now accepts the CLT, and several publics have tightened.
Take the September SAT if you need a score
September 12 SAT, September 19 ACT. The October 3 SAT is the last sitting whose scores reliably arrive before November 1.