Applying for College is a Big Task

Based on US News, the best colleges and universities in 2023’s ranking just came out.

The Ivy League is still listed at the top, which includes below 8 universities: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University.

Picture referenced from https://pointavenue.co.th/blog/what-are-the-ivy-league-schools/

Picture referenced from https://sportprospective.wordpress.com/2017/03/29/concerns-in-college-athletics/

There are 2 types of schools based on funding: Private schools and Public schools. Public schools usually has a larger enrollment and private schools provide smaller class size.

Applying for colleges is a big task. It involves meticulous preparation, and lasts for a long time. Applying for financial aid is even a bigger task since you need to start the process for that from 11th grade till senior year in College.

What is the college application timeline? When should you apply for schools, grants, scholarships? Are you aiming for Ivy League or Top 10, 20, 50, 100 schools? In-state or out-of-state? Public or Private school? When should you take the ACTs and SATs (What are the differences between them?) When should you apply for Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Decision? When to fill out the FAFSA form, CSS profile? What effects do the parents’ assets or parents’ incomes have on applying financial aid? What is 529? There are scholarships from all 50 States:

There are so many questions! Where should I begin? Well, here is a timeline chart to help you keep track of them first, and let’s get ready for the ride of college application!

Starting in high school, 9th grade, you should start thinking about college. Besides getting good grades, you should participate in EC (Extracurricular Activities).

10th grade’s parents’ tax return will be used for FAFSA filing down the road (The FAFSA uses information in your tax return from two years earlier, which is often referred to as the “base year” or the “prior-prior year”. For example, the 2023-2024 FAFSA will use income information in your 2021 tax return. This change was made in October 2016, for the 2017-2018 academic year, by President Obama).

11th Grade Fall (Aug – Dec): PSAT/PreACT; Research / create a list of Schools…

11th Grade Spring (Jan – June): SAT/ACT; AP Exams; Touring (virtual) Schools…

11th Grade Summer (June – Aug): SAT/ACT; Choose Admission plan (deadlines); Create portals accounts, fill out detail; Request Letter of Recommendations; Tour schools (in person/virtual); Thinking about writing admission essays…

12th Grade (Sept): Send test scores, transcripts, recommendation letters for ED/EA deadlines; Writing admission essays; Continue Scholarship applications;

12th Grade (Oct): File FAFSA, continue to send scores, transcripts for ED/EA…

12th Grade (Nov): Early Decision I (Nov 1 or 15); Early Action (Nov 1 or 15); Regular decision: Send scores, transcripts, recommendation letters for RD deadlines;

12th Grade (Dec): RD rolling admissions, repeat Nov steps for RD admission

12th Grade (Jan): Early Decision II (deadline Jan 1 or 15)

To build a list for your colleges, you should prepare 3 tiers:

1) Top Choices + 2) Target Schools + 3) Safety Schools.

For the Top Choices, students normally apply 1-5 colleges. These are your dreamed schools and your grades or scores or class rank may be at the lower threshold of the school’s range.

For Target Schools, these are the schools that your grades and scores fall within their threshold. Normally students apply for 2-10 target schools to increase the chance of acceptance. Sometimes you may receive a few offers from target schools.

For Safety Schools, students usually apply for 2-3 of them and there is small chance of not being accepted. Your grades and scores are well above the school’s threshold. You are almost certain that you will be accepted.

There are several types of college application apps:

  1. Common Application: Common App is a non-profit organization representing more than 1,000 diverse institutions of higher education. They connect applicants and those who support them to a wide array of public and private colleges and universities across all 50 U.S. states, and 20 countries.
  2. Universal College Application: It’s accepted by 33 schools.
  3. Coalition for College Access: They are 150+ top colleges & universities working together to help you learn about, prepare for, and apply to college
  4. College specific: A lot of schools only accept application from their own websites