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The Next Steps to a College Education: A High School Timeline

What do you need to do to be prepared?

Over the years we have received many questions from students and parents about what the right time is for certain college planning steps. Have no worries! We have put together a timeline that you can use to help plan out what you need to be doing during high school.  Note that many of these steps do not have to be followed in the exact order that we have placed them (excluding some that have specific dates). However, we have tried to give you a good idea as to how you might map out your freshman-senior years.

Also, keep in mind that planning doesn’t have to start during the high school years. To learn more about how to plan for students who are not in high school yet, or maybe who aren’t even born yet, check out the Indiana College Costs Estimator’s Discover Ways to Save for College page to learn basics about investing and saving for college.

For a PDF version of this timeline, click here.

Freshman and Sophomore Years

• Talk to your guidance counselor to get signed up for the PSAT and PLAN tests.
• Pursue as challenging of an academic schedule as you can, focusing on college preparatory courses.
• Make vacations productive. If you and your family travel, make time for casual visits and tours of colleges near your vacation destination.
• Check out the Indiana College Costs Estimator (ICCE) to learn about the college selection, admissions and financial aid processes and fill out an Estimator. 
• Take a skills assessment to see if you can narrow down your career interests.
• Keep a list of extra-curricular activities and how much time you spend with them.

Junior Year

August-January

• Study hard and get good grades.  Ideally, the Core 40 Diploma is the minimum goal for Indiana students. However, try to stay on the Core 40 with Academic Honors or Technical Honors track if you can!
• Be sure to talk to your guidance counselor so you can get signed up for the PLAN and PSAT tests.
• Create a folder where you start saving and organizing all of your college information.
• Start searching for scholarship opportunities on the ICCE Free Scholarship Searches and Local Scholarships pages so that when you are a senior you will know what scholarships to apply for.
• Talk to your guidance counselor about what you think you want to do after high school.
• Complete an Estimator on the Indiana College Costs Estimator to generate an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and see what merit or need-based aid Indiana colleges might give you.

February-April

• When registering for your senior classes, choose those that will challenge you (English, math, science, etc).
• Take the SAT or ACT more than once.
• Investigate Indiana college profiles and start narrowing down what colleges you might want to visit now or over the summer.

May-June

• Take AP tests for any AP courses that you are taking
• Register with the NCAA Clearinghouse if you plan to play sports at a Division I or II college.
• Last chance to take the SAT or ACT this spring.

July

• Start college visits and don’t forget to take along our College Visit 101 tour tips document on the ICCE.
• Pick up a summer job to learn new skills and possibly gain leadership experience.
• Start going through the ICCE website to learn about college selection, admissions and financial aid information. Don’t forget to check out our ICCE publications section.

Senior Year

August-November

• Narrow down your college options and make a list of their application deadlines.
• As you start narrowing down what schools you want to apply to, start drafting any required college admissions or scholarship essays. Be sure to make multiple drafts and have others check them!.
• Continue college visits with our College Visit 101 tour tips document.
• Register for the fall SAT or ACT (if needed).
• Identify people who you would like to write a letter of recommendation. Please be sure to respect their time by giving them ample time to write the letter. 
• Begin completing college admissions and scholarship applications.
• Don’t stop looking for scholarship opportunities.

December-January

• Take SATII: Subject Tests as needed.
• Attend your school’s financial aid meetings.
• Last chance to file many regular decision admissions applications.

February

• Parents need to start filing their taxes as early as possible this month in preparation for filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
• Attend FAFSA days to get help filling out the FAFSA. You can see a list of FAFSA days near you by checking out the ICCE Calendar of Events.
• Also, on February 12 (2pm) you can attend a College Goal Sunday event to help you fill out the FAFSA. Click here to find an event near you.

March-April

• Make sure the FAFSA is completed by any college’s priority FAFSA filing Deadline and by your state’s particular FAFSA deadline. For Indiana residents, you need to be sure the FAFSA is filed no later than MARCH 10. Click here to fill it out.
• Are you a Twenty-first Century Scholar? Submit your Senior Affirmation by March 10th, too. 
• Review financial aid packages from colleges.
• Make overnight visits to final college choices.

May

• Decide on a college by May 1 or sooner (depending on the colleges’ deadlines). For all of the other colleges where you have been accepted, be sure you notify them that you will not be attending.
• Submit enrollment deposit to your school of choice.
• May 15 is the last day for Indiana students eligible for a state grant to make any required changes to the FAFSA.
• Take AP tests for any AP courses you are taking.

June-August

• Attend on-campus orientation/registration sessions.
• Make final preparations for your departure. Two really good ways to prepare are to map out a schedule for your first semester and to create a budget.

February 2012 Fact of the Month

Attention All Indiana 21^st Century Scholars (And Those Who Work With Them)!!!

While high school seniors that are 21^st Century Scholars can delay using the scholarship for one year, we have just learned that if a graduating high school senior does NOT file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) THIS academic year before the March 10 deadline, even though the student is not planning to attend college this coming academic year, the student will lose the scholarship forever!

What follows is from a Twenty-first Century Scholars Central Office newsletter on Friday, January 13 (yes, Friday the 13^th):

"Students will not receive their 21st Century Scholarship if they do not file their FAFSA during their senior year of high school. 

"Students will lose their scholarship if they do not file a FAFSA every year even if they are not attending college.

"Students will not be eligible for any state aid for the year that they do not complete a FAFSA.  This also applies to filing a late FAFSA.  However, they will still be eligible to receive state aid (such as Frank O'Bannon) should they file their FAFSA the following year on time with no errors."