When Should My Child Start Their College Application?

A question I get asked a lot about college applications is: When should my child actually start doing their application. I highly encourage students to start over the summer. They can start their application now actually online at commonapp.org but to complete the college application, to actually be prepared to submit it they should probably do it in July, August, and September. The early bird catches the worm in this process. I need to say that again. The early bird catches the worm.

Many schools will actually prefer that students submit their applications in the front end of their senior year so they can make sure that it's complete. So they can make sure that if there are any questions or correspondence that's needed between students and admission officers that can happen. But most importantly for the student to feel relieved that they've actually completed something in advance of everybody else. So please consider doing your application in July, August, September, or October. After submitting it, you'll feel better, your parents will feel better, parents you know you will. And colleges will appreciate it too.