Bard School

Parents of Year 1 (rising Year  2) students, here’s what your children’s To-Do List from June through the end of December should include.  This list is based on CTO recommendations.

JUNE

Internet

√ If you now use aol or hotmail, change to Yahoo, G-mail, cable or DSL service so that you can make full use of college on-line applications.

√ Make sure to fill out the College Advising Questionnaire sent to you by your College Transfer Advisor. This survey is necessary for them to write you a letter of recommendation this summer.

College List

√ Make sure that you have a solid college list of 10-15 schools that are in Reach, Match and Likely categories (based on your GPA/SAT scores compared to successful applicants at the colleges).

This presentation can help you prepare for the process

Activities Resume

√ If you haven’t already, complete the first draft of your activities resume. See here for examples or ask your CTO Advisor. Have someone edit it!:http://admissionpossible.com/checklists/modelactesume.pdf

JULY

Contact With Colleges

√ If you haven’t done it before, July is a good time to make contact with the colleges on your list to let them know you are interested.

AUGUST

Essay Writing

√ The new Common Application will become available August 1. For students who are in a fall sport or major activity, this is a good time to use your resume to begin brainstorming ideas for the short and long Common Application essays.

Testing

√ Make sure that you are signed up for any SAT I, Subject Test, or ACT tests that you want to take in the fall.

College List

√ Your college list  should to be nearly finalized by the middle of this month. The last step is to have it approved by your CTO advisor in September. If we asked you why you want to attend EACH of the schools on your list, could you answer at length?  For example, you should be able to name a professor in the department you are interested in at each school. Or you should be able to name the town/city it’s in and talk about why that place would be a good fit for you.

Early Action/Decision

√ Decide whether you want to apply early to a college/s. Remember that Early Decision is binding and Early Action is non-binding.

SEPTEMBER

Calendar and Organization

√ Taking into consideration your schoolwork, sports and activities, block out time each week from now until December to work on applications

√ Note application due dates on your calendar so that you can work out a schedule to complete them on time. Each application (aside from the essay) will take anywhere from 1-3 hours to complete depending on how many questions they ask you!

√Show your final list to your CTO advisor for final approval. They may have some suggestions of changes to make.  Listen to them!

Applications

√ Gather applications for your final college list (download and print or add them to your Common App account). Identify the essay questions for all your applications and put them into an excel doc to help you organize them.

√ Decide on a focus for your applications, and topics for essay questions that will help admissions officers know who you really are. Use your Activities Resume to come up with ideas.

√ Brainstorm  more content and stories for essays

Letters Of Recommendations

√ Give your high school counselor, teachers and/or other recommenders materials ONLY for Early applications including filled-out top part of forms, addressed/stamped envelopes, a list of the early colleges and their respective due dates, and activities resume. (See Checklists for what to include in recommender packets)

College Admissions Reps

√ Meet any college rep of colleges on your list that comes to your high school. Check the CTO online calendar regularly to see who is coming.

OCTOBER

Applications

√ Most colleges have early application deadlines that are at the end of October, while a few have deadlines as early as the middle of October. Check to see what your early application deadlines are.

√ Complete your early, rolling, or first choice school applications.

√ Make sure that your high school counselor, teachers and other recommenders send off their recommendation packages for your early, rolling or first choice school applications.

NOVEMBER

Applications

√ Continue completing other top-choice college applications, recycling essays from applications already completed.

DECEMBER

Applications

√ Complete the rest of your applications

√ Photocopy all pages of your applications before emailing or send them. This is a safety measure for you.

√ Confirm that your SAT and/or ACT scores are sent by the College Board and/or the ACT group to each college

√ Have your transcript sent to each college

√ Make sure that your recommenders have sent in their respective letters or forms

(adapted from Admission Possible’s Great College Admissions Blog. Thanks Admission Possible!: http://blog.admissionpossible.com/to-do-lists/453/)

Visit the BHSEC College Transfer Office official website http://bhsec.bard.edu/college-transfer/