As you’re building your school list, you may start to realize that it’s difficult to stay organized.
Between application due dates, supplemental essays, and school-specific details, there’s a lot to keep track of. And you have to do it all while keeping up with your schoolwork.
But staying organized is crucial to your success.
A passed deadline, forgotten supplemental essay, or incorrect school reference can spell disaster for your college options.
Thankfully, there are some easy ways to get and stay on track.
Read on for some of our best college application organization tips.
Organize your school research first.
Building your school list is about more than searching for colleges. It’s about making informed decisions about which colleges are the best academic, social, and financial fit for you.
Part of figuring that out is staying on top of what’s available where.
That means that you need to keep your school research organized.
The best way to do this is to keep all your research in one place. It could be a spreadsheet, table, or simple document on your favorite word processor.
Your tracker should be organized by school with categories for each of the categories you’re most interested in. Think of criteria like school size, school type, acceptance rate, average GPA and standardized test scores, major options, kinds of financial aid available, and more.
Pick an application tracking system and stick to it.
To stay organized with your applications, you’re going to need a system. More importantly, you’re going to have to pick a system and actually use it. Your system won’t work if you don’t update it, so spend time researching an organizational system that will work best for you.
Your application tracking system should keep track of due dates, supplemental essay requirements, intended major, and more.
Start using your system as soon as possible so you can stay organized from the get-go.
Communicate with your support system early and often.
Even though you’re the one applying to college, other people will need to complete tasks on your behalf. A big but often forgotten part of staying organized with your college applications means acting as a type of project manager. The project is your application, the goal is to get you into as many of your college choices as possible, and your “team” is made up of your family members, school counselor, and teachers.
A good project manager requests tasks early and maintains clear communication throughout the entire project. They do regular check-ins and frequently ask if their team needs any support.
In a similar way, you should figure out what you need from other people and make your requests early. The fall goes by especially fast for school counselors and teachers, so don’t save your requests until the last minute. Without pestering the adults who are helping you, it’s important to make sure that they have everything they need to do what you’ve asked of them. As deadlines approach, don’t be afraid to check in with the people you’ve asked for help to make sure everything is on track.
1) Parents, guardians, or family members
For many students, family members are an integral part of the college search. As you begin your process, it can be helpful to get everyone on the same page about who is doing what.
If you’re planning on applying for financial aid, you’ll likely need your family members to fill out financial aid paperwork like the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or CSS Profile.
Like taxes, this paperwork can be tedious. Even if you’re the primary one filling out the information, you’ll still need to collect tax information from your parents or guardians.
Because it can take a while to get everything together and fill out what’s needed, it’s helpful to start on this process early. The FAFSA opens October 1st every year, so be on the lookout.
Filling out the FAFSA or CSS Profile is also a great way to open the conversation about how you will pay for college. Whether or not you’ll have family support might shape the way you build your school list, so the earlier you have this conversation, the better.
Submitting important paperwork and having difficult conversations can seem intimidating, but they’re important steps in getting yourself organized to apply to college.
2) School counselor
Some schools have designated college counselors. Others have school counselors who work with 100 students or fewer, and others yet have counselors with caseloads of hundreds of students.
Whatever your school offers, be sure to take advantage of it. See if you can meet with your counselor to set a college application game plan. They may have organizational resources to recommend to you, and they might be able to connect you with admission representatives or scholarship opportunities.
But the biggest thing you’ll need from your high school counselor is a letter of recommendation.
Most schools require counselor letters of recommendation because they help admissions officers get a sense of the school context the student is coming from.
If you go to a school where your counselor wouldn’t even recognize your name, don’t worry. The point of counselor recommendations isn’t to penalize students who don’t have as much access to counseling staff. It’s to learn about where the student’s academic record falls in relation to their peers, to understand how rigorous their course load has been for the school, and to be made aware of any disciplinary or honorary record that may not be otherwise reflected in the application.
All this is to say that if you want to get organized with your college applications, don’t forget about your school counselor. No matter the school you go to, your counselor is busy this time of year, so be sure to send in your recommendation requests early. If you don’t know your counselor, take a minute to stop by and introduce yourself.
3) Teachers
And last but not least, you’ll need to get on the same page as your teachers.
For many schools, you’ll need to choose a teacher or two (usually from core subject areas) to write you a letter of recommendation.
Teachers are busy during the fall, too, and they’re likely writing letters of recommendation for multiple students. So another major way to get and stay organized is to choose your recommenders and ask them early. You should give them at least a month’s notice before your first application is due.
When you ask, make sure that you both have a clear understanding about what you need. Let them know what schools you’re applying to and any information you want them to convey.
Some teachers request that students give them resumes or “brag sheets” that the teacher can then use to write their letter of recommendation. This is an extra step to add to your to-do list, but you can draft one up alongside the activities section of your Common Application. You may also need to remind your recommenders as deadlines approach.
Sorting out teacher recommendations can easily fall through the cracks with the rest of your application tasks, so add your letter of recommendation plan to your application organization.
Don’t lose sight of your application strategy.
Your application strategy should influence your school list building and application organization.
As you’re organizing your college list and application process, let your application strategy guide your decisions. If you have to choose what to prioritize, what to cut, or where to make more financial investment, return to your strategy.
Which schools make the most sense to focus on based on your list of safeties, targets, and reaches? How much time do you need to craft the perfect personal statement? Where does it make sense to recycle your supplemental essay hooks? Will you need extra time to ensure your application narrative is cohesive?
Don’t organize randomly. Organize strategically. That means that you’re not falling into the trap of diminishing returns. You’re spending the most time on what will give you the most value.
Stay on Top of the College Application Timeline
Part of staying organized while applying to college is having an idea of what is expected of you when. Being aware of your timeline and setting (and meeting!) deadlines for yourself is critical to staying on track.
Be sure to check out our Senior Year Timeline for details.
Takeaways
Organizing your college applications is no easy task. That’s why it’s important to start early, establish a system that works for you, and stay on the same page with your support network. Laying the groundwork early and maintaining sight of your application strategy will keep you on track and help you focus on what matters most.
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