April To-Dos

Be sure to take advantage of virtual college events.

• Plan to visit or revisit colleges as you make your final decision about where to enroll next year. Attend receptions hosted by alumni who live in your community.
• Be sure to send your deposit and housing forms by the deadline of May 1 to secure your spot at a college. Some colleges offer the best housing to those who deposit first so bear this in mind.
• Let your teachers and counselors who wrote recommendations know of your decision and be sure to thank them for their support.
• Keep your grades up and avoid disciplinary issues—college admissions offers can be rescinded.

• Schedule the SAT and/or the ACT. Unless you are a strong standardized test taker, make arrangements to study through a course, tutor, or a free online website such as Khan Academy.
• By now you should have completed a self-assessment of your grades, interests, and future goals and met with your consultant to develop an initial list of colleges. Continue researching your list and arrange visits over the spring and summer—particularly if your fall will be occupied with extracurricular activities.
• Consider which two junior-year academic teachers to ask for recommendations to support your college applications. Continue to discuss this with your consultant.
• Update or start a resume of activities. Do you have enough to engage you? If not, consider what interests you and how you might get involved.

• Make careful choices for your junior year courses and sketch out your preferred options for senior year to be sure you are tracking toward your goals.
• Take both a practice SAT and ACT when school is out in June, and then sketch out a plan for which standardized tests you will take in the coming year and when, or if applying test-optional makes more sense for you.

• Finalize summer activities such as paid or volunteer work, an enrichment course, or learn new skills. You could earn a lifeguard certification, learn to paint, or improve your computer skills. Keep reading and writing. Contact us for ideas on how to use summer to enrich yourself and how such activities might fit into your college admission approach.

Learn more about how the Educational Advocates team guides students in their college journeys by scheduling an introductory interview with a college admission consultant.