Get Organized Early
Use your summer wisely!
You'll want to get organized during the summer before your senior year. Your score cards and spreadsheet(s) will help.
Think about teacher letters of recommendation. Who do you think will write a good letter of recommendation for you? It doesn't need to be someone with whom you've gotten straight As...maybe a teacher saw you really struggle and succeed! That can be a very powerful recommendation!
In the fall of your senior year, only request letters of recommendation if you NEED them. We cannot stress this enough. Recommenders write these letters during their free time, so please only ask for what you NEED. You can figure out if you NEED letter(s) by looking at each college's website and navigating to their application information. If you need one letter for all your college applications then only ask one person. Some colleges will NOT require any. Many will require one or two max. Naviance will only allow us to send what a college is asking for and no more.
Once you start senior year, things move fast! Colorado Free App Day is usually in October of your senior year, so if you want to take advantage of that, your applications need to be ready early on. But do not let early deadlines cause you to submit an application before it’s ready! It would be better to wait for the next deadline and make sure your application is as good as can be...you only get one chance to submit it!
