Oh, I don't mind at all!
I'm completely useless about life after High School. I mean, I know I want to go to college, and to which ones, but I have no clue when/how to apply to take the SAT/ACT all those tests or even know how to apply to a university or when. (I could really use a class called "life"
)
May I suggest a rough timetable? I have no idea what grade you're in, but this may help.
Sophomore spring: Begin researching colleges, and pick up a review book for the SAT.
The Princeton Review and
Barrons are the best. Take one AP test if you can; if not, that's ok.
Sophomore-Junior summer: Work, study, do some volunteer community service, anything to build your profile.
Junior fall: keep looking at colleges. By November I had a list of 10-15 colleges that I was really interested in. Take the SAT or ACT once in the fall, probably the November or December test.
Junior spring: Keep your grades up! Take the other standardized test in the winter, say the January or February date. Whichever one you liked better, take again in April. If you're applying to top-20 schools, take the SAT II's in the late spring (May or June). Your goal is to be (nearly) completely done with testing by the end of Junior year. Personally, I took the SAT II's in my senior year--but I didn't plan well enough. ALso, try to do some college visits. Take AP tests; 1-3 should be fine.
Junior-Senior summer: Work, study, do some volunteer community service, anything to build your profile. Think about college admissions essays.
Senior fall: Finalize your list of colleges. I applied to 7; some do more, some less. It really depends on how strong you think your record is and what your interests are. If you're still not happy with your scores, take a standardized test again. Work hard on your college admissions essays.
September and October senior year: start hunting down teachers to get letters of recommendation. Choose teachers that know you well, perferrably ones where you did some stellar work. Begin working on the Common Application.
November senior year: Keep working on the common app. Don't blow off your classes, because colleges will see these grades.
December senior year: Keep working on the common app. Try to be done by December 15th; that way you have nearly half a month to revise it.
Remember to press "submit" on the common app by the end of December. One of my friends didn't, and now he's "taking a year off".
DEADLINES: Most college have a regular decision deadline between December 25 and January 5.
Senior spring: Relax! It's all over now. College admission decisions will come in late March/early April.
SUMMARY OF TESTING: One test (SAT or ACT) in junior fall, one in junior winter; whatever you liked better, take again late spring if not happy with the score.
SUMMARY OF AP: 1 sophomore year, 2-3 junior year, 2-4 senior year. That's straight from the Yale admission committee.
SUMMARY OF LETTERS OF REC: Most colleges want two: one from science/math, one from history/english. Give each teacher a copy of your transcript and, for english/history, a copy of the best paper you wrote for the class.
DISCLAIMER: ALL OF THIS IS STRICTLY IMO, OK?
Hope that helps a bit...
Integral