Grades
Selection
Admission
A complete admissions timeline organised by grade and month: 243 tasks from freshman year through senior year, covering course rigour, testing, activities, aid and applications. Browse any year's checklist without an account.
The 243 tasks are not spread evenly. Junior and senior year carry 190 of them between them, because that is when testing, applications and financial aid all land at once.
Most of the timeline is guidance a family can shift by a week. These 20 are fixed, and missing one usually costs money or an option rather than time.
Freshman year, but lightly. What matters in ninth and tenth grade is course selection and grades, because the transcript is cumulative and a weak start is the one thing that cannot be fixed later. Testing, college lists and essays belong in eleventh and twelfth grade, and starting them earlier mostly creates anxiety rather than an advantage.
Federal law requires the FAFSA to be available by October 1 for the following academic year. Recent cycles have opened earlier or later than that: the 2026-27 form opened on September 24, 2025. Because some aid is awarded first come first served, filing in the opening weeks is worth more than filing a perfect form in February.
Early Decision is binding: if the school admits your child, they must enrol and withdraw other applications, which removes the ability to compare financial aid offers. Early Action is not binding, so a student applies early, hears early, and still decides in the spring. Both usually close in early November.
Most counsellors suggest eight to twelve, split across reaches, targets and likelies, with at least two affordable schools where admission is close to certain. The number matters less than the balance. A list of ten reaches is not a list, and every extra application costs a fee and an essay.
Yes. Every year checklist and every task guide is readable signed out. An account is what lets you tick tasks off, get them attached to your own child’s grade and graduation year, and receive reminders as deadlines approach.
Both, and the checklist says which. Testing, essays and coursework sit with the student. Financial aid forms, tax documents and the money conversation sit with the parent, and those are the ones families most often discover too late.