If you plan to attend a traditional 2– or 4-year college or university after high school, we’ve compiled a timeline to help keep you on track starting your freshman year all way through your senior year of high school.
College tips for high schoolers in any grade
It’s never too early to start preparing. No matter what grade you are in high school, here are some general tips to help prepare you for college and to stand out in your future college applications.
Take college prep or dual-credit courses
Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), high school/college dual-credit, and honors classes oftentimes allow you to waive some general education requirements once you get to college, allowing you time to pursue an additional major or minor, or potentially graduate early and save some money.
Get a summer volunteer role, a job, or an internship
Each state has different laws around when teenagers can start working, but the average age is around 16 years old. These summer positions don’t necessarily have to relate to what you might want to do when you graduate college. They’re a great opportunity to start exploring different career options, whether it’s at a local baseball stadium selling tickets, working at your favorite retail store selling clothes, or volunteering at a local animal shelter walking dogs. Plus, they look great on college applications.
Get involved in extracurricular activities
Extracurricular activities are a great way to find things you’re passionate about. If sports are your thing, try out for the team! If show choir is your thing, either audition to be on stage or sign up to be backstage on the crew! If you enjoy music, join the band! There are tons of ways to get involved, and dedicating yourself to the hours that go along with extracurriculars shows colleges and universities that you can handle time commitment.
Register with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Eligibility Center
If you plan to play sports at a competitive collegiate level (not intramurals), you must register an account with the NCAA Eligibility Center. This will allow you to be certified to compete at the Division I, II, or III school and allow you to make official athletic visits to these schools. You can make an account the summer before you start your freshman year of high school. Your NCAA ID will be one of the recruiting tools that you can send college coaches.
Visit your guidance counselor
This can be as often as you’d like but make at least one appointment with your guidance counselor to discuss your plans for after high school. Whether you want to attend a specialty school for trades like electrician or hairstyling, a 2-year community college, or a 4-year college, your counselor will work with you to develop a plan. They can also assist you with any applications, and if you build a good relationship with them, they are a great resource for a letter of recommendation.
Have conversations about paying for college
We know college is an expensive investment. Whether your parents, grandparents, family friends, someone else, or yourself is going to be paying your tuition, start having conversations about who is paying, what expectations you have to pay, and start making a plan to save money. The U.S. Department of Education offers a free Federal Student Aid estimation tool that can help you plan for the cost of college early. Student loans are almost always an option, but if you can save money early to help lower those loans, we suggest you do.
College Preparation Tips for High School Juniors
In only a year, you’ll be applying and narrowing down your final choices. Here are some things you can do to prepare throughout various points in your junior year.
Fall of Junior Year (August–January)
Explore college majors
Are you interested in space and really strong in the maths and sciences? Look into astronomy. Do you like creating art? Check out graphic design or studio art. Want to start a business someday? Business or economics might be a good fit. Do you like watching movies? Film studies might make sense for you. Don’t focus too much at this stage on which major will make you the most “employable.” Instead, focus on the things you already enjoy doing. Chances are there’s a college major that will align with your interests. Make a list of the majors you could see yourself enjoying since you will be spending a lot of time in those classes once you get on campus. And, if you don’t know what you want to study, that’s okay too. You don’t have to have your whole life figured out at 17 or 18 years old. Check all of Drake’s undergraduate majors.
Research colleges
Now that you’ve picked a few possible majors (and undecided is a major, at least for the first few years of college), start researching colleges. A quick Google search will let you know the top schools for film studies or astronomy or whatever else you’ve landed on. Start making your college list based on these results. Factor in whether they have the major(s) you’re interested in, what their accomplishment rates are (a.k.a., the time it takes to earn a degree, and the percentage of the graduating class who are employed within 6 months of graduation), the distance from home, the city the campus is in/near, the cost of attendance, and clubs and organizations you might be interested in. The prestige of an Ivy League like Yale or Harvard is great, but the college experience isn’t strictly limited to whether you get into an Ivy school. Here’s a college comparison checklist to help you in your decision-making.
Organize your college list
Narrow down your list of colleges and universities to about 10. Organize them into your #1 school, your dream schools, your target schools, and your safety schools. Your #1 school should be the one where, if you apply and are accepted, you are 100% sure you want to go there. Dream schools might be long shots either based on your academic credentials or the school’s acceptance rates and are ambitious to be admitted. Target schools are where your academic credentials match the averages the schools accept and you should be able to expect admission. Safety schools are where your academic credentials exceed the averages the schools accept, and you should be certain you will be admitted. Ensure you or your family will be able to afford at least one school on your list without financial aid. Find tips for building and maintaining your college list.
Prep for the ACTs or SATs
While colleges and universities are currently favoring test-optional admission policies, the ACT and SAT remain standards for college entrance exams. If you are applying to a test-optional school, you do not need to submit scores from these exams, but if any school you’re looking at requires them, it’s best to prepare early. Practice tests like the PSAT are a great way to get a feel for how the real thing will go. There are tons of resources like study books and websites that are geared toward helping you earn the best score you can. Start prepping for these exams well in advance to ease stress and test anxiety.
Sign up to take the SAT or ACT in the spring
If you’d like to take the SAT or ACT, either because the school(s) you’re looking at require them or you want to boost your application to test-optional schools, you’ll need to sign up to take the test. The SAT is 3 hours and 15 minutes long with two breaks. The ACT without Writing is about 3.5 hours long including one break, and the ACT with Writing is just over 4 hours long including two breaks. If you get a score back and want to try to improve it, you are allowed to retake the SAT as many times as you’d like, and you can retake the ACT up to 12 times.
Spring of Junior Year (January–May)
Take the SAT or ACT
Most students who take these entrance exams as juniors retake them a second time as seniors, so it’s a good idea to take one early to get a feel for how the test works. Some colleges and universities even accept superscores, which combine your highest scores from multiple testing dates into one composite score. So, let’s say you take the ACT two times. The first time, you scored a 32 in Math, 28 in Reading, 23 in Science, and 30 in English. The second time, you scored a 29 in Math, 28 in Reading, 26 in Science, and 27 in English. Colleges that accept superscores would take your 32 in Math, 28 in Reading, 26 in Science, and 30 in English, for a superscore composite of 29, versus your first composite of 28 or your second composite of 27.
Start gathering documents for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
You will file the FAFSA during your senior year of high school. To file, you’ll need your family’s tax information from your junior year, so be sure to make a copy of any tax returns you or your family receives in April of your junior year and keep them somewhere handy. Here’s a step-by-step guide to completing your FAFSA, including the documents you need to have ready.
Summer After Junior Year (May–August)
Get your Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID.
Before you can file your FAFSA, you will need an FSA account username and password. Setting this account up before you start the FAFSA filing process will help ease any unnecessary stress. Make sure you save the username and password to your Keychain or save it somewhere it won’t be misplaced.
Create a resume
This resume will look different for college applications than it will for job applications in the future. Your college application resume should be very detailed. Include your academic accomplishments and your high school GPA, any college-credit courses you’ve taken, any extracurricular activities you’re active in and any leadership roles you hold, and any volunteer, work, or internship experience you have since you started high school. Having this resume to reference will make your college applications a breeze.
Gather college application information
Visit the websites of colleges and universities you’re interested and see how they accept applications. A lot of schools accept the common app, but some prefer applying directly through their site. Take note of any application fees and deadlines so you can plan your application schedule. Look into what type(s) of applications they accept, like early decision or rolling applications. Check out these tips to prepare for college applications.
Look for grant and scholarship opportunities
Colleges and universities offer scholarships and grants that are affiliated with the school, but there are external places to find scholarships as well. Local organizations and credit unions are common places to find these scholarships, as well as websites like this. Write down the deadlines, save any links, and pay attention to the award. Sometimes the scholarship just covers one year, other times the scholarship covers up to four years. Scholarships and grants are free money and don’t have to be repaid like a loan. You should never pay for information about scholarships.
Start visiting colleges
Whether they’re on your college list or the campus is local to you, start visiting some colleges over your summer break. We recommend visiting a variety of small, large, public, and private schools to get a feel for the vibes of each. You might find that you actually want to attend a large state school even if you originally thought you wanted to attend a mid-sized private college. Bring a notebook or use the Notes app on your phone to write down your thoughts throughout the day or on the drive home so you don’t forget, because you’ll receive a lot of information during the day and it can be overwhelming. Check out these tips to prepare for college visits.
College preparation tips for high school seniors
You’re in the home stretch of your college decision-making. Here are some tips to set you up for success throughout the fall and spring of your senior year.
Fall of Senior Year (August–January)
Take (or retake) the SAT or ACT
If you didn’t take one of these entrance exams as a junior, or you did but want to improve your scores or earn a superscore, register for the SAT or the ACT. These two tests are not equal. Some schools require the SAT, others require the ACT, some accept either, and some are test-optional, meaning you are not required to send in an entrance exam score to be considered for admission. Make sure you know the test policy of the schools you’re looking at so you register for the correct exam.
Start applying to colleges
Three common ways to apply are the Common Application, through the college’s website, or Direct Admission. The easiest one that allows you to submit one application to multiple schools at once is the Common App. You can filter schools by size, private or public, the location of campus, and others. Applying directly on a college’s website is great if you only have a few specific schools you’re looking at. Direct Admission isn’t as widely available, but if the school you’re looking at uses it, it makes applying a breeze. You make a profile, and if you’re a match with the school’s predetermined criteria on things like GPA, you will automatically be admitted to that school. Learn more about the college application process.
Set up a meeting with your guidance counselor
Talk with your high school counselor to make sure you’re on-track to graduate high school. Your counselor can also help with fee waivers for college applications or the SAT or ACT, ensure you’re meeting college admission requirements, and help guide you on choosing a college that will be the best fit for you, among many other things. Stop by their office to find out all of the resources they have to help you along your journey.
Visit colleges
Whether you visited colleges over the summer or have yet to step foot on a college campus, set up a visit in the fall at the schools you’re considering. Most schools offer special fall visit programs that include campus tours, opportunities to speak with students and faculty in the major(s) you’re thinking of studying, a meal in the campus dining hall, and more. These visit programs allow you to get a feel for what life will be like as a student and see if it is a good fit for you. After all, no matter where you decide to attend college, that will be your home for the next few years, so make sure you will be happy and feel supported. Learn more about college visit options at Drake.
Write your college essay
Check the essay prompt for the school you are applying to and write a draft of your essay. Not all colleges require this, including Drake, but it’s something that can set you apart. These typically aren’t long essays. Be sure to keep the focus on you and not your grandma, your basketball coach, or your youth pastor. Ask a friend, family member, or a favorite teacher to proofread and edit it for you before you send it in to avoid silly grammar mistakes. Make the necessary corrections and hold onto it until you’re ready to submit your application. Please ask your editor(s) at least a few weeks in advance if possible to look over your essay to avoid annoyance or delays.
Ask for letters of recommendation
A lot of times, colleges and universities require at least one letter of recommendation. From your end, this is simple: ask someone who is not related to you and is an adult to write a letter speaking to your person. Again, you can ask a favorite teacher, a coach, your pastor, your boss, or someone else who will be able to comment on you as a student, your work ethic, or your involvement in the community. Usually, the person writing your letter will send it to your designated school(s) on your behalf to avoid the possibility of editing the letter or using AI tools to write it for you. Similarly to the college essay, make sure you ask your writer at least a few weeks in advance so they have time to write an accurate representation of you. Let them know the deadline and where they should send the letter when it’s ready.
Finalize your college applications and send them in
November and December are common months for early application deadlines and some college and national scholarship deadlines. Have a family member or your guidance counselor review your application before you submit it to make sure you’re presenting your best self. Make sure your essay is ready and your letters of recommendation have been written. Ask your guidance counselor how to send your high school transcript to the school(s) you’re applying to. Ensure your SAT or ACT scores have been or will be sent to all your schools that require them. The SAT date in January is the final date that colleges can consider. The ACT date in February is the final date that colleges can consider, and not all will consider a score from this late date, so make sure you plan for this if needed.
Apply for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
Whether you think you’re going to need or receive federal aid, we strongly encourage you to apply for the FAFSA. The FAFSA is the only way you can be eligible for the Pell Grant and federal loans, which are cheaper than private loans. The FAFSA will also provide you with the best financial aid package possible. Check out our step-by-step guide on filling out your FAFSA.
Spring of Senior Year (January–May)
Review your acceptance letters and start comparing your options
Congratulations! You should start to see college acceptances come through the mail or over email. If you get declined, don’t feel discouraged. Many schools allow applications until January or February. If you get waitlisted, that doesn’t necessarily mean an acceptance or denial, but it’s pending if the person ahead of you enrolls or declines. You can always visit or call the admission office to show your interest in your waitlisted school, which may help get you an official acceptance, but it is not guaranteed. A lot of schools offer admitted student visit programs in the spring, which offer very detailed information and an opportunity to start meeting your potential future classmates. We highly suggest attending this type of program if the school(s) you’ve been admitted to offer them.
Compare your financial aid packages
We know a big deciding factor is the actual cost of attending the school you’ve been accepted to. Schools will begin sending out financial aid packages as early as February or March, and these packages will show you how much you will be responsible for paying. Financial aid packages include the cost of tuition, campus housing, meal plans, any college-specific scholarships and grants you’ve received, and how much you’ve been approved for federal loans, as well as an estimate for private loans. If you were awarded scholarships from external sources like a credit union, you would factor this into your net cost section, since it is not a loan or a college-granted scholarship.
Make your final college decision
May 1 is National College Decision Day and is the date you must enroll and commit to your college. This is the deadline your college requires a deposit to make your student status official. You must both accept your admission to one school and decline admission to any other school you were accepted to by this date. If you were accepted from your top school in December and knew then that you would attend, you can submit your deposit and officially enroll before the May 1 deadline. Likewise, you can decline offers before the May 1 deadline, but be aware that by declining, you may not change your decision and you will not be able to attend that school unless you apply as a transfer student and get accepted into it later.
Summer After Senior Year (May–August)
Request to send your final, official transcript after graduating high school
Your college requires a final and official high school transcript following your graduation to make sure you did not slack off during your final few months and that you maintained the required GPA. If you submitted a transcript and were accepted to a school in the fall, but failed your classes in the spring, colleges can revoke your admission status, so make sure you stay focused and don’t let senioritis get the best of you.
Register for Orientation
Orientation is typically a required event for all incoming students. You’ll be grouped with other incoming students based on your major, hometown, or some other link, and is designed to get you acquainted with being a student. You’ll be led by an upperclassman student and will have different sessions to attend and time to meet with your academic advisor. Sometimes, orientation is when you register for classes, while other times, you register for classes ahead of your orientation session. Expect a lot of icebreaker games, and don’t be surprised if you meet someone you decide you want to room with! Learn more about what to expect at a college orientation.
Make note of any housing-related deadlines
Some schools require an additional housing deposit before you move in or have deadlines for roommate requests. Make sure you keep these in mind so you don’t have a surprise when it’s time to move in. You don’t have to request a roommate if you don’t know anyone or don’t want to live with a friend. All schools will assign random roommate assignments to those in need of a roommate and will usually base the assignments on responses to a personality questionnaire. This covers how tidy or messy you are, if you’re a morning or a night person, if you’re more introverted or extroverted, and more to best ensure you’re going to be living with someone with a similar lifestyle as yours. Learn more about Drake housing.
Apply for private student loans
If your financial aid package does not cover the total cost of attending your school, or you need some help paying the remainder of your bill that federal aid and scholarships won’t cover, apply for private student loans. Private student loans are non-federal loans that are made by a lender, like a bank, credit union, state agency, or places like College Ave or Sallie Mae.
Get ready for move-in
By the end of your summer between your senior year of high school and your first year of college, you should be ready to move in. You’ll have your roommate assignment–whether you opted to room with someone you know or a random roommate–and should coordinate who plans to bring what to avoid two futons or mini fridges or TVs. Most schools provide a packing list of common things students bring, along with what you should leave at home. Connect with your roommate and divide the list up so one person is not on the hook for all of the expensive items while the other one is in charge of wall décor. Pay attention to any emails or other communication from your school over the summer so you don’t miss important move-in day information.
Prepare for emotions
As you close your high school chapter and begin your collegiate journey, you will be feeling a wave of emotions. You might feel sad to say goodbye to friends you’ve known for years, excited for the next few years of independence, nervous about making new friends, stressed about how easy or difficult your first semester classes are going to be, and everything in between. Your family will also be experiencing these emotions, so try to give them some grace if they cry when they move you in. It’s perfectly normal to feel homesick as you adjust to a new way of living. If you feel homesick at any time, give your family a call, or set up a time to Skype with your old friends.
Get excited!
College is a very exciting time. You’ll learn and experience new things, make new life-long friendships, engage in cool opportunities like research projects or once-in-a-lifetime internships, cheer on your team as they battle for victory, and of course, stay up late cramming for an exam or finishing up a paper or project. But the college experience is what you make it. Try to get out and join a club or organization, or even an intramural team, so you’re not stuck in your dorm room by yourself. For reference, check out the types of student clubs and organizations offered at Drake (roughly 170 in total!). These will likely be the last few years of true independence before you graduate and begin a career, so make memories and have a great time. And trust us, you’re going to love it.
