Hopefully, the college bound student has already visited colleges in the junior year, studied the application forms, taken ACT or SAT tests once or preferably twice and studied application essay topics.

In addition, there are emotional challenges. Many students experience sadness and fear while thinking of leaving their home and friends. Most students will admit at a later time that they were quite concerned about being successful at college. Some students feel the walls closing in on them and don't even want to discuss college. The more a student can do in their junior year to reduce the stress, the better.

When school begins, the senior should try and narrow down college choices and begin checking for application deadlines. Some may be surprisingly soon in the fall. Even if a college says that the deadline is March, the preferred deadline is much sooner. A good rule of thumb is to try and apply by Thanksgiving. This means that application forms, essays and letters of recommendation have to be completed the first few months of school.

January will probably bring letters from colleges asking you to write additional essays for scholarships. Some schools will want to interview the student for scholarship consideration and even hold scholarship weekends on campus. Scholarship weekends should be strongly considered and take priority over other activities. Students compete for very large scholarships and get to spend more time on campus. More time on campus helps the student make up their mind about a college.

January is also the optimal time for the parents and student to fill out the FAFSA form. This is a critical form because the information a family discloses on this form will tell the colleges how much this family should be able to pay for their child's higher education. The FAFSA should be filled out as soon as possible after January 1st.

In March the FAFSA form results will arrive and the family will learn their expected family contribution. In March and April the colleges will begin sending out their "offers" in the form of an Award Letter with 2-3 weeks given to respond. Colleges will give a family a few weeks to accept or decline their offer. If you don't meet this deadline, they are no longer bound to the offer.

If a senior in high school has not yet visited colleges, taken ACT or SAT tests or started writing essays, the load can be quite overwhelming when regular school activities are added to graduation plans. By planning ahead, stress can be reduced.