June College Planning Checklist

Outside Reading is Key to Exploring Your Interests, Rising Seniors Should Start Brainstorming Essay Topics As graduation season comes to a close, and the Class of 2018 prepares for the last summer before starting college, now is the time for rising juniors and seniors to seriously dive into the college admissions process. While the summer months are slower with students out of school, there’s still plenty that students can do to prepare for the college admissions process. Here’s what students needs to do this month to stay on track for a successful college admission experience. Rising Seniors Are you spending your summer productively? It’s not too late to find a project or summer job that can help you deepen your interests. Develop a writing schedule for your application essays so that come August, you’ll have at least a few drafts in the works. Brainstorm some essay topics. Rising Juniors If you haven’t already, start preparing for the SAT or ACT. How are you spending your summer? Be sure to participate in activities that align with your interests or deepen your involvement in certain organizations. Go on one or two summer campus tours at local colleges. It’ll give you a taste for what to expect when visiting colleges in the fall. Rising Sophomores Explore some of your interests through outside summer reading. Read at least one or two books, or other publications, this month. Continue your involvement with one or two core activities. School may be out, but you can still make plans and come up with project or service ideas for the fall. If you go on vacation, try to visit a college nearby to get a feel for different campus types and locations. Rising Freshmen Start thinking about some of the clubs, sports, or other organizations at your high school that you’ll want to join. If you can get involved this summer, do it! Do some outside reading so you can learn more about your interests. How do you plan to spend your summer? Tell us in the comments below! And be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more tips on how to stay on track for college admissions this summer.