Summer Before Senior Year To-Do List
Last Updated on April 17, 2024 by Jill Schwitzgebel
Somehow, it happened. It’s the summer before your child’s senior year. They are officially labeled as a “Senior” now. Sometimes, you thought this day would never get here, and other times you feel like your child was just starting kindergarten last week. Either way, it’s here, and it comes with a college to-do list.
Here are the six things your student needs to be doing this summer:
Prepare the College Application Essay(s)
Trust me, it is way easier to do this during the summer than it will be during the school year when it is competing with homework and tests and the need for sleep. The essay prompts for the Common Application change little year-to-year, and most any essay can be tweaked to fit other prompts for colleges that do not happen to use the Common App.
It’s also a good time for your student to check and see if the colleges they are planning to apply to require any supplemental essays. Many of those topics also will not change from previous years, so it’s a good time to complete those as well.
Getting this out of the way during the summer allows kids to take their time outlining and drafting a solid essay, without the added stress of application deadlines.
See also: Is the Common App or Coalition App a Better Option?
Study For and Complete Standardized Testing
Hopefully by now, if your student intends to submit test scores, they have already completed at least one sitting of both the ACT and the SAT and ideally, two sittings of their preferred test. If they are planning to take it one more time to try to improve their scores, now is the time! The SAT is offered in both June and August. The ACT is now offered in June and July.
Just like the college application essay, this is good to get finished prior to the school year. Students should have more time to focus on studying and preparing for the test during the summer. Beyond that, it is important to know scores as students finalize their college application lists.
Finalize the Application List
Now is the time to finish up any college research you’re doing and make some decisions about where to apply. Ideally, finish up any college visits before extracurriculars and homework get in the way in the Fall too. If you’re unable to visit, it’s a good time to email the college admissions officers with any questions you have about the school.
I recommend that ultimately, students should have five to seven colleges on their final lists. That list should include reach schools, match schools, and at least one admission and financial safety school.
Work or Volunteer
This is the time to get some experience to add to that college application. Volunteering or having a job in a field of potential interest is a great way to help your child figure out a career path. It’s also a good way for students to learn about themselves – jobs at fast food restaurants have much to offer teens in the way of life experience. Working definitely counts as an extracurricular activity for the college application, too!
And don’t forget the financial benefits of having a job – books and other college expenses add up quickly. If your student will be expected to help with funding their own spending money or even to help with tuition costs upfront, this is a good time to start saving.
Prepare a Resumé
Many colleges and scholarship applications will ask that the student attach a resumé. Beyond that, a resumé is a great resource to refer to when filling out applications so that the student does not forget to list an activity or award on the application.
It’s nice to get this completed over the summer because inevitably, an activity or award will be forgotten when first working on it. This gives your student time to go back over it and add things that they may have missed the first time. It also gives them time to consider how to write summaries of their activities, which they will need to do on their applications.
Research Financial Aid and Scholarships
If you and your student have not begun to do this already, take the summer to make certain you both understand all aspects of college financial aid. This includes grants, scholarships, work-study, and various types of loans. Be sure to pay attention to financial aid application requirements and deadlines for the schools your student is interested in.
If your student is planning to apply for outside scholarships, take the time to do some research now. Many of their applications may not open until the fall, but it will be good to know what scholarships are out there, and what the requirements are likely to be.
In Summary
This summer is unfortunately, NOT the time for students to kick back and relax. It IS the time to make fall and winter less stressful though. Even with preparation, I have watched many kids (my own included), suddenly narrow their application lists in the Fall, when confronted with the work of applications.
I recommend allotting one hour a day on average to the application process over the summer. Maybe that’s time spent working on the resumé one day, brainstorming essay topics another. Maybe for some students, it’s better to do a two-hour chunk every other day. But I promise that being productive over the summer will make it much less overwhelming for all involved!
For an overview of the entire college application timeline for seniors, check out Your College Applications Timeline for Senior Year!
