PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS

A Student Timeline

12th Grade

Complete applications. Proofread them and make extra copies before you send them. Make sure you and your school’s guidance office have sent all necessary materials, including test scores, recommendations, transcripts, and essays. You should plan to get all this done before winter break, so you won’t be rushing to make deadlines. Continue your scholarship search. Apply for scholarships whose deadlines are approaching and keep searching for more scholarship and grant opportunities. Ask colleges about what schol- arships you may qualify for. The downtime after applications have been sent is a great time to focus on financial aid.

Winter

Act on the results of early decision applica- tions. If you applied early decision, you’ll soon find out if you were accepted. If you get in, you have to withdraw your applications from other schools. If not, keep your other applications out there and focus on those colleges. Follow up on your applications. Verify with your counselor that all forms are in order and have been sent out to colleges. Check with the schools to make sure they have received all your information, including test scores, tran- scripts, and recommendations.

FAFSA, and if necessary, the PROFILE. These forms can be obtained from your guidance counselor. No matter what your family’s income level is, the FAFSA is your main priority for financial aid purposes because it will determine how much you’re expected to pay. Don’t send

Submit financial aid forms. Fill out the

the forms until after January 1, because they can’t be processed before then. Send mid-year grade reports. Ask your counselor to send your mid-year grade reports to the colleges that you applied to. Remember that the schools will continue to keep track of your grades, so it’s important to keep working hard throughout your senior year.

Spring

If you applied under the regular application process, you should receive an admissions deci- sion by March or April. Notifications of financial aid awards should arrive by the end of April. Check out your options if you’re put on a waitlist. Being put on a waitlist is not a rejection. Keep watching your mail; you should receive a decision by May. In the meantime, keep your options open in case you don’t get in. Check out schools that have late or rolling application deadlines. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12