My dc always tried different activities and sports but really to figure out the stuff they liked. Worked hard in school and got good grades. I was diagnosed with cancer when my dc was a sophomore so there was not much college planning at my house. After my treatment and recovery from side effects my dc was a rising senior. The stress at our house was awful. We were able to take dc on two college tours (one was local). There was no money for test prep etc because the medical bills were not getting paid by the insurance. DC hung in there and did well and got into 4 match schools and denied at two reaches. I am still alive and hope that some of these hard working brilliant students out there will discover some better treatments for cancer! The real purpose of all this hard work done by these students is so they can go out into the world and improve lives no matter where they go to college.

Well the Virginia pre paid contract was purchased when he was one month old. Even before that we bought a home in Virginia because we like the Virginia college choices. Then nothing until choosing high school curriculum to sort of fit best guess at college major.

I think OP meant when are we all orchestrating the kids college apps by starting them young in sports or other hooks that might get them into college. I just don't do that. I have a sophomore and he does have EC activities that he chooses and he does decent at school. If it turns out his particular activities don't mean certain colleges want him, oh well, there are a lot of colleges.

I know a boy that had a college counselor since 8th grade, the counselor chose his activities and classes, even when they were not things he particularly wanted. He is a good kid and had very good grades and super scores, but is not a hook and is not an URM.

In the end, he was shut out of the top 20 schools and ended up at a big state school. He is very happy there, but it also taught me that his pressure and lack of control really didn't gain him anything. I choose to be more relaxed - at least this year. Next year will be different I'm sure.

Her school started the official program in 9th grade. PSAT & ACT practice will happen this year at school. We will be doing our first visits this spring. College guidance will do meetings with us each year as we move through the process. Her school has a pretty well scheduled and regimented process that works well.

I educated myself on the likely range of my childrens' college choices long before they were thinking about it - financially and educationally. This started in 8th - 9th grades.

The day our first kid was born. Really. We started saving that day. We kept talking about our own college experiences. We have college memorabilia scattered throughout the house. Even when the kids were tots or only 5/6, if we were driving through the town and it had an interesting college or university then we drove around it a little or got out to go to stretch our legs and ended up at the bookstore or student union. When we're with friends we talk and tease about our schools.

By the time our kids were in middle school I think most of them had pretty good ideas of the types of schools and features that they found attractive. We told the kids (about each school) "Wow, that's exciting that you like XYZ School. Well, study hard because it is a tough school." Then we asked why they liked the school. It didn't matter if it was NOVA or Columbia, we asked their opinions. We never really pressured on grades because the kids seem to understand that they needed to do well if they wanted to choose the school they wanted to attend (although we did say something to that effect, like do you want to go to the school you choose or do you want to go to the only school that will choose you).

So we didn't do the vacation visits sophomore or junior year. At that point we were just taking a weekend or two days during the week to swing by the school and check it out during junior year or sophomore year. I think I miss the vacation thing because it seems like a rite of passage but things have worked out fine for our three oldest and we'll probably stick to what works for our family with the two youngest.

College attendance is an important part of my family legacy. At a young age my kids heard over and over that they must attend college and the opportunities it brings. DCs have attended solid schools in DCPS. From there in the 8th grade we took our kids on a tour of an Ivy league school to help drive home what they would need to do if that was the type of college they wanted. If so, we would be there to support.

No sports involved in this. Our support including, staying on top of teachers and administrators when needed, tutoring for Math courses starting in 10th grade, tutor for testing in 11th grade along with a lot of college visits, hiring an outside college counselor. DC has 1 very unique EC and deep/longstanding involvement and leadership in 2 activities related to school.

Showing my kids that hard work would be needed to get into a top school worked. She's in the top 5% of her class and did secure a solid scores on her tests (took the ACT three times). Want to note here this is a kid that has a burning desire to succeed and is laser focused on getting into the best school possible. My other kids are totally different.

There are some Ivies on her list - she's not counting on that though but my gut says she has a good shot for getting into at least one of them. Her list is a good mix lottery, reach, match and safeties and she would be happy with all of her choices.

summer before his junior year

Sophomore year I looked into athletic recruitment. Didn’t involve DC — just wanted to understand process and timeline. Junior year I researched departments in DC’s likely major. DC did one college tour Fall of junior year (was at the school for an athletic competition). Decided early in JR year she didn’t want to go the athletic route. Took SATs in Feb; SAT IIs in June. Did 2 rounds of college tours (CA and Midwest) summer after junior year, CA in the context of sport. 3 more college visits in Sept/October (schools in NE) in time for her to make a decision re EA.

Wasn't a conscious decision but we are a math and science family and concentrated on these at early age and kids were placed in advance classes by middle school i.e. Taking high school math and science classes. So when they started junior year, they had already taken all the subject tests and some AP classes so they just concentrated on ACT/SAT tests. If u don't do get some of these tests out of the way, it is going to be a very stressful junior year for your child.

I haven't done anything beyond scheduling my HS junior's SAT online after confirming the date with him and encouraging him in the activities he likes. He hasn't had any tutors or "parent-motivated" activities, or even any SAT prep. I'll probably do a lot of the searching to help identify potential colleges once he's ready to figure out what he's looking for in a school.

I have a sophomore now, and we are doing a "soft start" to college planning this year. Asking him to start to think about what he wants in a college-- size, location, specialty.

We are probably on the early side. But my kid is at TJ and will need to choose his junior classes in March or April. After which they are considered locked in and very hard to change. That means he will need to pick his senior lab in a few months, so he can sign up to take the lab pre-recs junior year. So the real question he needs to think about this year is whether he wants to take advanced math and an engineering senior lab and apply to engineering programs, or a more diverse courseload and not go the engineering route. So he needs to be able to choose classes wisely in the spring.

I would like him to have an idea what he wants in a college this summer, so we can do a few campus visits. Especially if he applies west coast or places like Purdue, we are going to need to spread out campus visits-- he's busy even in the summer, we work, and we would like to spread the cost out.

He took the PSAT 8/9 last year, and PSAT practice in a couple weeks. If this year's scores track last year's, he should be in good shape. Various TJ groups partner with Kaplan to offer practice SATs and ACTs a few time a year, so I would like him to take a practice this spring, and see where he needs work, if anywhere. It would be great if he could sit for the SAT once junior year and be done.

So I guess Sophmore year. But if we were not dealing with TJ scheduling issues, probably the summer between sophomore and junior.

I started my kids on musical instruments when they were 6 and started them in school when they were 5.Is that the start of college prep? In a sense it is, but I wasn't consciously prepping them for college when I did those things...

10th grade summer for SAT prep.

Since this is anonymous and DCUM... looking for HONEST answers. When did you really start the college admissions prep thought process? What did you do/start with? Activities, sports, tutors, etc. (Parent motivated of course...)

9th grade? 7th grade? In my circle I've heard as early as pre-school..

Let the college hunger games begin!