College Admissions Creep

As you know, I promised a week of college related posts and so I am sticking to that promise, but I am excited about what I have to share tomorrow... so I hope you will make sure to check it out.  :-)


I am the first person to say that I want students to be on top of the college application process. The tendency to procrastinate can be difficult to overcome. (And it makes you, your parents, your teachers who are writing your rec letters and me all crazy!)  This is why I am constantly after the seniors to start drafting essays, to get organized, and to pay attention to the application deadlines. That being said, I also strongly agree with what this article about avoiding the college admissions creep shared. The rush to take college admissions tests earlier than necessary is one of the most frequent examples of college admissions creep. At this time, sophomores and juniors do not need to worry about taking the ACT or SAT. Students should take one or both of these tests during the second semester of their junior year. At this time of year, sophomores should be looking forward to the PLAN test (practice ACT) which will be during the afternoon of October 16th and juniors should be gearing up for the PSAT (practice SAT) which will be held on the morning of October 16th. Rushing these tests to earlier than necessary usually results in students (and often parents) feeling stressed out and getting burned out before the real application process even begins. 

So, for those of you who are not seniors, relax and enjoy the fact that it isn't your senior year yet and make sure you are taking care of the steps you can control today that will put you in the best possible place for your senior year - get good grades, be involved in activities that are meaningful to you, and take the PLAN or PSAT.  

Seniors, it's go time. :-)  Hopefully those of you who took the ACT this morning did well and feel confident in how the test went.  Now it is time to work on your applications.