Has taken the SAT once and ACT twice. He did best on his first ACT and the second time did equal or worse on every section, so no super scoring for him. (I created a post a couple weeks ago about how he was not feeling confident about the ACT he took on July 13.) He is registered to take the SAT again at the end of August.

He knows three schools he wants to apply to. He will be touring a 4th in a couple weeks and will decide if he wants to apply there.

He's also considering going to community college instead of a 4 year because he is undecided about what kind of career he wants, and one of the careers he is considering does not require a 4 year degree.

Done with all testing, lined up teacher recs in the spring, has filled out the biographical info and drafted the activities section in the Common App, has a list of about 15 schools that needs to be pared down, has written a rough draft of the common app essay which has been set aside to revisit, and has started drafting some supplemental answers to places he will definitely apply. We anticipate a busy fall due to school and sports, so he agreed to work on this steadily over the summer and he's been as good as his word. I'm pretty pleased and surprised by this unprecedented display of maturity!

Not as far as I would have liked, given what a tough courseload and time-intensive sport DS will have in the fall.

SATs and SAT subject tests are out of the way (don't panic if your kid hasn't done SAT subject tests, very few schools require them but unfortunately DS will apply to a couple).

We did an intensive week of college tours to get an idea of what different environments are like (large private, small private, large public, urban, suburban, in the middle of nowhere etc.). We don't have the time and money to visit all the schools DS might want to apply to so our representative sample will have to do and has given him a better idea of what he wants.

He's started a school list.

He has NOT made any progress on his essays. He's not a kid who likes to write, and between his summer job, his summer course getting a tech requirement out of the way for MCPS, and his girlfriend/friends, I think we are out of time for him to have much buckle-down time left in the summer. I'm frustrated but I shouldn't be surprised. He is a procrastinator and a slow processor and I think the fall is going to be hell, but I'm not going to stand over him to get words on the page.

^^ Forgot to add, hope she gets the score she is looking for!

We have two drafts of the common app essay done but still needs some work. We have also brainstormed ideas for all of the supplementals. We have finalized her college list of 6 colleges (1 reach, 2 matches, 3 safeties) We have started looking at institutional scholarships and the Total Cost of Attendance for all of the schools she is applying to. We are still awaiting ACT results from July to figure out the final superscore. She wants a superscore of 34.

Assuming you are the parent and not the student, you sound very involved in the process ("we have two drafts," "we have also brainstormed ideas"). You may want to let your child take more of the lead on this, as said child will be on their own next year and will need to know how to manage long-term projects in college.

Anonymous wrote:Getting rolling on the essay was the hardest for my DD. Reading some great examples got the wheels turning.

https://apply.jhu.edu/application-process/essays-that-worked/

Op here, thanks! Definitely hard to get started on essays.

OP here. All the later responses are so different from the first half! These responses echo my instincts that she should have a good start on one or more essays before school starts! I’ve suggested that she have a great start on the common app essay by then but it doesn’t seem like she is going to do that. I know I can’t do anything other than offer guidance, though.

You should absolutely get the Common App finished before school starts up again. It really doesn't take that long, but senior year gets very hectic and there's no reason in the world not to do it during summer.

I would suggest trying very hard to have your kid finish at least a first draft of the main Common App essay before school starts as well. It gets much harder to find the time once senior year is up and running. Also, getting a draft completed allows for some time to let your kid reflect and then revise.

You will have a much better result - and a much less acrimonious start to season year - if you can accomplish these two things in August.

We have two drafts of the common app essay done but still needs some work. We have also brainstormed ideas for all of the supplementals. We have finalized her college list of 6 colleges (1 reach, 2 matches, 3 safeties) We have started looking at institutional scholarships and the Total Cost of Attendance for all of the schools she is applying to. We are still awaiting ACT results from July to figure out the final superscore. She wants a superscore of 34.

Getting rolling on the essay was the hardest for my DD. Reading some great examples got the wheels turning.

https://apply.jhu.edu/application-process/essays-that-worked/

My child's school had her approach recommenders by end of junior year, schedule an appointment with her counselor by end of the summer between junior and senior years (and come to that meeting with a tentative list of schools), AND bring a draft common app essay when they arrived for senior year. The essay was the hardest part to get her to work on...but she had a draft by the time they had sign up to meet with an English teacher for feedback senior fall.

We had visited all the schools on her list before senior year (because we anticipated a crazy year, what with app's and AP's). The counselor later encouraged us to add two more (which turned out to be unnecessary). So that resulted in us visiting two more schools rather quickly. BUT, all in all, that schedule worked well. I appreciate the school (a MCPS public) keeping us on track.

I have a Sr and a Fr in college this fall. I encouraged each of them to do the Common App and at least look through and start thinking about the individual college applications in August before school started. Just that bit helped a lot.

Anonymous wrote:How do we find out what the common app essay question is?

There are a series of questions - students choose one. Here are the ones for 2019-20. https://www.commonapp.org/blog/2019-2020-common-app-essay-prompts

Some colleges use the Coalition App so different questions. And some colleges require supplemental essays.

Anonymous wrote:Better question is have you made a donation to the ideal choices?

Anonymous wrote:How do we find out what the common app essay question is?

https://www.commonapp.org/blog/2019-2020-common-app-essay-prompts