Create College Checklist: Ease the Stress of Your Senior Year
Senior year is beyond stressful. Balancing school, extracurricular activities, planning for college, and maintaining a social life will have you busy your senior year. A way to ease the stress is to create a college checklist. Begin this in the middle of your junior year. It’s never too late to start planning, so if you haven’t started, it’s time to get moving!
There are so many factors you have to take into consideration when you are planning to go to college, it is important to list them out and stay organized. Factors such as standardized tests (ACT/SAT), requirements, essay’s to write, college applications, financial aid, and scholarships are important to stay on top of. A college checklist allows you to plan out the year to have you prepared to go to college.
In the middle of your junior year you should take into consideration what colleges you are interested in. Begin your college checklist at this point and schedule college visits. See what the requirements are for the colleges you are interested in. Write down the standardized test(s) you must take and whether you will have to take the essay portion with it. Once you know what tests your school requires write down on your college checklist the deadlines for signing up for those tests.
When summer arrives expand your college checklist and add college application deadlines. It’s extremely important to stay on top of those deadlines. Also writing down the date of when the FAFSA opens will help you immensely. Once you have your deadlines inserted into your college checklist you can make sure to stay on top of them.
Your college checklist should include scholarships you are going to apply for. The more FREE money you get the better! Make a list of all the scholarships that apply to you and their deadlines. Apply to anything you think fits you. The less debt you have to walk away with the better! The colleges you apply to will also have scholarships they offer so it’s important to write those down.
Once you apply for college and financial aid it is time to choose the college you will be attending. At this point you will figure out meal plans, housing, and other costs. Including this in your college checklist will have you set for attending the school of your dreams.
Figuring out how to get to college can be difficult and stressful. Creating a college checklist relieves the stress and worry that comes with applying to college. Start early and follow these tips and hopefully it will help keep your senior year as stress free as possible!
