Countdown to college: a timeline for high school

This San Francisco mom survived two successful college searches and her sons were accepted to multiple competitive four-year colleges. GreatSchools asked her to share her year-by-year college prep timeline to help parents support their high school students on the road to college.

Summer after eighth grade

Visit colleges

Make this the cross-country car trip year. Sample different types of schools: big, small, public, private, East, West, Midwest, South, suburban, rural, urban. Your child needs to “see” himself in the place. As my son said, “Where is my new home?”

Allowing your child to glimpse his future in such a concrete way will motivate him to approach his high school studies in a more focused manner. Unfortunately you will probably not see the college in session during the summer, but the tours are useful anyway.

Try especially to look at colleges in a part of the country far from home. It’s broadening for the child and can be financially beneficial. Colleges seek geographical diversity, and some are willing to pay your child to attend.

This is a good time to remind your child that colleges require him to self-report any misdemeanors or similar (or worse!) marks on character and will take them into account.

Ninth grade

You and your child may be told that this year “will not count” toward college admission. This is nonsense. Some college requirements are tackled in ninth grade.

Consider taking the SAT IIs in biology if your child takes biology that year

It will be fresh in her mind.
If your child saw one or two colleges she is interested in, try to schedule a trip to these institutions during times when students are actually on campus.

Ask teachers for recommendations

Ask for letters from teachers while your child is in or has recently been in their class, because it can be harder to get them years later.

Do not end ninth grade, 10th grade, 11th grade or 12th grade without learning the final grade from each teacher

Before school gets out for the summer! Do not accept “no” for an answer! Take it up with the counselors or the principal if a teacher does not cooperate.

Both my son and my daughter were graded down by teachers who had failed to give them credit for work they could prove they had done! By the time the final grade is submitted, the damage is done, and it is difficult to get the grade changed. Final grades at the end of each year do not come in the mail until the middle of the summer — often as a great surprise — and trying to get them corrected the following fall is nearly impossible. In several cases, the teachers in question had left the district! Both of my children had this happen to them. In a couple of cases, we were able to get the grades changed when the work was produced (complete with teacher comments). The teachers in question had wrongly given them zero credit, which wrongly brought down an otherwise high grade.

Do not expect teachers to be sympathetic to your sense of urgency about the importance of getting kids into college. Most of them went to college before colleges became as selective as they are today. They may not understand that yesterday’s “safety” colleges are now “reach” colleges.

Although the following incident did not happen to us, I know of one child whose teacher left the San Francisco school district to enter a monastery after incorrectly grading a child down. No grade can be changed without the teacher’s assent and since the monastery would not allow the novices to communicate with anyone, the child was out of luck!

10th grade

Register with the College Board

At www.collegeboard.org if he hasn’t done so already. That way, you will have reminders of test dates sent by email and you can register for tests online.

Register as early as possible for all tests

That way you will get to take the test at your local neighborhood school rather than commuting hours away to a place that can take your child when your local school fills up.

Take the PSAT in the fall

It’s good practice. (It won’t count toward National Merit Scholarship rank, because only PSATs taken in 11th grade count.)

Consider scheduling a trip

Take your child to visit the college(s) of your child’s choice while that institution is in session. Be sure to schedule a visit with the financial aid office, as well as a campus tour.

If your child is struggling in a subject or neglecting studies, monitor the situation carefully

Perhaps transfer schools or find tutors to help your child survive tough subjects.

Know your child’s counselor

High schools vary widely in informing students or preparing students for college. Expect to have to do this yourself. Consider, if you can, spending a small amount of money on a college advisor who can talk with your child and make suggestions you can follow up on, including financial aid.

Whenever your child does volunteer work, try to get a written recommendation

And show your child how to keep a file of such important items. Although I don’t think these extracurriculars are as important as grades and scores (and a certain passion for a particular subject), they sometimes add a little to one’s college application, not to mention the child’s own personal growth.

Keep essays written for classes to draw on for college essays

Particularly if those essays encompass the student’s personal reflections on life. Imagine our surprise when one college (Vassar) wanted a copy of an English class essay, complete with teacher comments as a condition of admission. We could not comply, because our daughter had tossed the ones with comments. She had copies of all essays on her computer, but the comments were not on the computer! The paperless society has not yet arrived.

11th grade

This year and the first semester of the next year will be filled with testing: SATs, ACTs, APs, SAT IIs, writing exams, etc. On top of that, this year counts, big time, for grades. Kids are highly stressed. Be supportive but keep on top of your student if she needs that type of monitoring.

Try to get your child to take SAT IIs when they are most advantageous

(i.e. Immediately following the course in question: chemistry after the chemistry class is over.)

Have your student inquire at the college(s) of choice whether they have “overnight” visits

These are designed to let the prospective student stay overnight in a dorm and go to classes with a buddy to get a real feel for college life at that institution. Some colleges have organized dorm tours requiring reservations and done in massive groups taken around campus in buses.

Summer between 11th and 12th grades

Have your child write college essays!

The applications are mostly due in November of senior year for students applying early decision to private colleges and some public universities, and only a month later for the rest of the colleges. This, on top of the usual heavy first-semester senior year, is a killer. So, where possible, get those application essays done early.

At the same time, get the “uniform college application” together

As well (Editor’s note: This could be your state university system’s uniform application to all campuses or the Common Application used by most private colleges, or both.). You will save yourself a lot of stress if your child is able to accomplish this the summer before senior year.

First semester, 12th grade

Your child will need teacher recommendations and counselor recommendations

If you don’t already have them in hand, ask for them early, like the first week or two of school. It’s fair to the teachers, and the counselors are overwhelmed.

Your child needs to keep up the good work, gradewise, and get the applications in.

Some will want to retest. Remember that the kids are stressed.

Make sure that your student is getting the counselor to send in the proper transcripts, etc.

Most colleges will keep sending reminders of what’s missing, but deadlines are deadlines.

Second semester, 12th grade

Keep the grades up

Colleges now require a full transcript including final grades for senior year, and all admissions are conditioned on good grades continuing to the end of the year.

Watch for admission letters

They come out in April for private schools and earlier for some public universities. If your child has been accepted to more than one college she wanted to attend, she has until early May to decide which college to accept.

Visit colleges your child is interested in and hasn’t seen

If you have already visited these colleges, you probably have a complete impression of them, but if not (and if you can manage it), it’s road trip time. Check to see if your school district considers these trips excused or unexcused absences because that may affect your child’s grades. Sometimes these visits are unavoidable because colleges require a personal appearance after acceptance to qualify for the college’s scholarship aid.

If your child has been wait-listed or rejected from his dream college, appeal

Find out when the first day of college falls and keep pestering the admissions office. People drop out right before the first day, and colleges are eager to fill those spots.

Fall of freshman year

Congratulations! You survived it. Be SURE to attend parents’ weekend, regardless of what your child tells you. Believe me, you will all enjoy it.