This page reads bottom to top — 6th grade at the bottom, college at the top. Scroll down to find your grade or jump straight to the start.
Start at the beginning ↓This is what everything below is building toward.
Senior year still counts.
Write the essays over the summer, before school starts
Finalize your recommendation letters
Writing the essays in October instead. They're the only part of the application you fully control, so don't procrastinate
Senior grades still count. Colleges can withdraw an offer if they drop a lot
You can retake the SAT or ACT in the fall if you'd like
Financial aid forms open in the fall
Deadlines vary by school. Some offer earlier options, like early decision or early action
How to: 12th grade →Tests, hardest classes, and the teachers who write about you.
Most schools accept either the SAT or the ACT. Picking one early can help you focus your prep, though it's fine to try both if you're not sure which fits you
Ask for recommendation letters in the spring. By fall of senior year, teachers will be drowning in other students' requests for them
Taking on more hard classes than you can actually handle well. An overloaded schedule doesn't help anyone
Junior grades weigh more than any other year
How rigorous your classes are matters too, not just your grades
The October PSAT is the one that qualifies for National Merit
SAT or ACT in spring, AP exams in May
How to: 11th grade →Continue on with one extracurricular that you're committed to, rather than adding more.
Take a free practice SAT and ACT to see which one suits you
Try and take a leadership role in your main activity
Consider entering a competition in your field
Do a summer program or internship
Worrying about a PSAT score that doesn't count, while skipping the practice tests that would actually tell you something
First real leadership in something you've already done a year
PSAT 10 in the spring, AP exams in May
How to: 10th grade →The first year colleges will actually see.
Pick one or two things you'd still want to be doing as a senior
Start a passion project
Joining eight clubs and exploring their options, rather than centering on one or two passion-driven extracurriculars. Four years of one or two passion-driven extracurriculars is worth more than one year of eight
Every grade from here is part of your GPA
Some schools give the PSAT 8/9. It's just for practice. Colleges never see the score
How to: 9th grade →Math matters. So does choosing your high school classes appropriately.
Take Algebra I if you can. This makes calculus reachable in high school
Read for fun constantly, which is the best long-run test prep there is
Picking high school classes without realizing it's a four-year commitment. The classes you choose as a freshman can lock you out of classes later on, like calculus, as a sophomore, junior, or senior
Algebra I shows on your transcript. Nothing else from this year does
State testing in some districts, but none that count towards a college application
How to: 8th grade →Don't be afraid to explore both inside and outside of the classroom.
Join clubs you're curious about, quit the ones you don't like
Try one thing that seems slightly too hard
Waiting until 9th grade to start exploring clubs and extracurriculars, when 7th grade is actually a better time to start. Not thinking too much about college itself in 7th grade is still the right move
Nothing. This year is free to experiment
State testing in some districts, but none that count towards a college application
How to: 7th grade →If math interests you, find out if your school has an accelerated math program.
If you like math, find out whether your school has an accelerated track and how you get on it
Not realizing math placement is a decision at all. It's usually made on 5th and 6th grade scores, and it's what decides whether Algebra I in 8th grade is even available to you
Nothing goes on your college application. But this one placement shapes the next six years of math
Whatever placement test your district uses, if it uses one
State testing in some districts, but none that count towards a college application
How to: 6th grade →Start here and scroll up
You're already somewhere on this line.