Fall
Take the PSAT/NMSQT

At school, sign up early to take the PSAT/NMSQT® in October. Get PSAT/NMSQT tips and a free practice test at collegeboard.com

Start Your College Search

Start with you: Make lists of your abilities, preferences, and personal qualities. List things you may want to study and do in college.

Jumpstart your college planning by reading about majors and careers.

Use College Search to find colleges with the right characteristics.

The symptoms show up every year. High school seniors try to balance extracurricular activities, a social life, college admission, and perhaps a part-time job. Somewhere along the way, home work begins to seem less important. Then they get accepted to college, and after that, high school seems even less important. School work begins to slide—and so do their grades. The diagnosis? Senioritis.
Senioritis is easy to catch and hard to get rid of. It can also be dangerous to your plans for the future. Every year, colleges rescind their offers of …

Never make your final college selection without visiting at least your top two or three choices. No matter how well you think you know a college or university, you can learn a lot (good or bad) by spending a few hours on campus, including whether or not the college feels like a good “fit” for you. Having family members accompany you on college visits is a great idea because it gives you extra “eyes and ears” and people with whom you can discuss your impressions.

Parents have been dreaming of this time since they walked out the maternity ward holding their little bundle of joy in their arms. The proud dad talks about his son going off to Harvard, Yale or Duke, while his mom beams with delight as she stands their dreaming of him becoming a doctor, lawyer or politician. We watch them as they grow so quickly and wonder where did the time go. It’s like the commercials we watch everyday. One minute we are rocking them and kissing away their “boo boos” …

A Director’s Perspective
Are you a senior feeling the stress of friends or family members asking you, “where have you applied to college?” or “have you been accepted?” or even “what college will you attend?” Does the application process seem overwhelming? Applying to college doesn’t have to be a daunting process.

“Each day, more than 1,200 young men and women give up on their high school education, and, in many cases, on themselves” – so says the AdCouncil. Each day, 1,200 young men and women are becoming a burden to society. In a report done in March of 2006 for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it was found that one third of all Public High School students failed to graduate with less then 2 years to go. Nearly one half of those were blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans. Many students …

Spring and Summer before Senior Year
Develop a long list (15-20) of colleges.
Take the ACT or SAT.
Read everything you can about each college and call the admissions offices to request information and ask questions.
Fall of Senior Year
Using the information you have collected, narrow down to a visit list (6-8.)
Call at least one week ahead of your planned visit and make any special requests you may have (meeting with a professor, watching a rehearsal, attending a practice, etc.)