Summer Before Senior Year

Campus visits – Before you're loaded up with homework and extracurricular activities, use the idle months of summer to visit some of the campuses on your list. Almost any college will be conducting tours throughout the summer. Consider what college is right for you.

Start your list – This summer is a great time to work on your list of colleges. By the end of the summer, you should have narrowed your list of 20-25 schools down to 10 or 12, including reach, match and safety schools.

Common Application – Many colleges and universities use the Common Application, which can be found online. You can register a Common Application account and get familiar with it during the summer. Know what is required, sketch out an application timeline and begin thinking about your essay, a critical component of any application.