College Admissions Timeline - 11th Grade

ELEVENTH GRADE (See separate posts for middle school, ninth grade, and tenth)

GENERAL

Academics

• This year’s grades carry the most weight. If you already have a high GPA, maintain it. If you don’t, try to improve it. Admissions officers love seeing an upward trajectory! The most selective schools will expect you to take the most rigorous classes available at your school, but they’ll also expect high grades. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

• Build strong habits and systems to manage your time, get your assignments done, and prepare for exams. Consider executive functioning coaching if this continues to be an area of weakness.

• Keep reading. It can be a wonderful pastime that is not only enjoyable, but improves your writing, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. 

• Cultivate relationships with teachers. Chances are, it is your junior year teachers who will be writing your letters of recommendation for college. Start tracking your favorite assignments, class discussions, and topics in each class so that you might share those if/when you ask instructors for recommendations in the spring, before the summer break.

• Standardized Tests: If you might apply to colleges that prefer or require tests, implement the preparation and testing plan you developed earlier. Some students will get testing out of the way early junior year with a minimum or prep. Others will wait until the summer to start prep and take tests in August and September. It all depends on the individual student. (Most students get their highest scores after three full years of high school-level Math, social studies, and English, but there are also benefits to testing as soon after Algebra II as possible so that material hasn’t been forgotten.) In any event, do NOT have official test scores sent to colleges until you know your scores. Most colleges will let you self report scores.

Extracurriculars

• Activities: Having narrowed your focus to a couple of meaningful areas, now you can concentrate on driving measurable impact, finding unique ways of pursuing your interests, and perhaps even gaining recognition for your work. 

• Summer: Start planning for the summer early in the year in case you want to apply to a competitive program with early deadlines or need to get a head start on a self-designed project.

• Self reflection: Carve out time to actually write your answers to these questions:

• What brings me joy outside the classroom? 

• What kinds of things do I want to or like to build or create?

• What types of problems do I want to help solve or am already solving?

• What topics spark my curiosity?

• What skills do I love applying? 

Personal

• Self-care: Junior year can be very stressful. Prioritizing sleep, nutrition, and exercise can help you get through it. Hopefully, you have already built a habit around those activities that help you reduce stress best, but if you find yourself struggling emotionally, please do not delay asking for help. 

• Independence: Start making your own appointments with the doctor and dentist. If you haven’t already, master basics like laundry, keeping your room tidy, cooking basics, and managing money. If you are earning money, start a savings habit.

College List Development

• Identify dream criteria (not dream schools): What are you looking for in a college? Create your own ranked-and-weighted list of dream criteria. Start by defining your “must haves”, “nice-to-haves,” and the “extras” you’d be willing to sacrifice. Don’t forget to list any deal breakers that would cause you to eliminate a college from consideration. It is okay to have unique-to-you criteria that might seem silly to others – I’ve known students who listed proximity to independent coffee shops or particular school colors. Just give these factors lower relative weights or points than more important items higher on your list. You will use these ranked-and-weighted criteria to create your college list and also to rank and choose among the colleges to which you are accepted later! 

• Start building your college list: Ignore college rankings. These are designed to attract eyeballs and sell ads. The only college ranking that matters is the one you create with your own, personally-relevant ranked-and-weighted criteria! Identify the schools that best meet your criteria. Make sure you include schools at all levels of selectivity and at least 1-2 rolling admissions or Early Action schools. Sometimes the colleges that meet your dream criteria best aren’t even the most selective ones on your list! (Selectivity is a sign of popularity and of being well known, not necessarily a sign of quality.)

• College tours: Prioritize finding and visiting hidden-gem colleges with higher acceptance rates. You can always visit more selective schools later, once they’ve admitted you. (After all, there is probably a 60-95% chance that the time and resources you spend visiting a highly selective college will end up being wasted.) On the other hand, schools with higher acceptance rates often track demonstrated interest. When choosing between two equally-qualified students, these colleges will choose the one who visited the campus over the student who didn’t. (They also care whether you participated in online events, corresponded with admissions officers, followed the school on social media, etc.) They want to admit students who might actually enroll and who are not using them merely as back up. 

• Create a college spreadsheet: Include all of your dream criteria so you can rate schools. You’ll also want to include acceptance rates, the test scores and GPA of admitted students, the expected cost based on the Net Price Calculator (NPC), and key deadlines.

SPRING

• Teacher recommendations: Identify two teachers and ask them if they can write your letters of recommendation for college for the fall. Choose the teachers who know you best. Please note that most colleges prefer that these be written by teachers of a core academic subject. If you are applying for a STEM-related major, make sure at least one of them is a STEM teacher. Ask them in person and follow up with a note in which you mention some of your personal highlights in the class and some of the accomplishments, work, or challenges they might not be aware of. Suggest meeting in person, too, and ask if there is anything else they might find helpful. (Note: You will want them to comment on you as a student, not regurgitate your Common App activities list.)

• Initial brainstorming: Dedicate time to brainstorming potential topics for your personal statement and supplemental essays. The following exercises can be done in the late spring or early summer to jump start the process. Try to do all three exercises before committing to a couple of topics to try:

• 21 Ideas in 12 minutes 

• Feelings and Needs Exercise

• And if you haven’t already, carve out time to actually write your answers to these questions:

• What brings me joy outside the classroom? 

• What kinds of things do I want to or like to build or create?

• What types of problems do I want to help solve or am already solving?

• What topics spark my curiosity?

• What skills do I love applying? 

• Fly-in programs: Many colleges have all-expenses-paid programs to encourage students from under-represented groups to visit their campuses. These require separate applications, which typically become available in the spring and summer.

• Testing: If you still aren’t happy with your scores, sign up to take the SAT or ACT in the late summer or early fall and intensify your test prep over the summer. 

SUMMER

• Pursue your interests more deeply. Whether you are engaging in a self-designed project or participating in a competitive summer program, take advantage of the summer to explore your interests more deeply and try to have a greater impact.

• Draft at least one 650-word personal statement based on last year’s Common App prompts. Some students will draft 2-3 essays on different topics before choosing a final subject. (Common App prompts rarely change and there is always a catch-all prompt you can use to write about anything.) 

After August 1 - Start working on the Common App

• Fill out basic information on the Common App

• Use a Google Doc to start crafting your Activity List and Awards while sticking to the character/word constraints indicated on the Common App.

• Create a spreadsheet to track all of the supplemental essays you may need to write. Make note of which topics are required by more than one college and what the respective word counts are. You may be able to re-use or adapt several essays. This spreadsheet will help you figure this out.

• If there’s a college with rolling admissions on your list, see if you can apply in August. The sooner you apply, the higher your chances of admission.

Make it your goal to have the following finalized before senior year starts:

• Personal statement and key supplemental essays ready to be reviewed by college counselor, English teacher, or other advisor

• Final college list

• Spreadsheet tracking supplemental essays

• Spreadsheet tracking deadlines

• Draft of Activities List

Recommended reading for families

The Price You Pay for College, by Ron Lieber