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College Readiness

Naviance College Application Guide 

College Application timeline

Junior year and summer before senior year:

  •  visit colleges, start building your college list, and
  •  make a note of application requirements and deadlines

If you would like to apply to a military academy such as West Point or the Naval Academy, your college application timeline starts earlier:

  • In December of your Junior year contact the Regional Field Force Rep and complete the Candidate Questionnaire.
  • Apply for the summer leaders experience and prepare for the fitness assessment.
  • In January apply for nomination - contact a US Representative or Senator.

    Follow the steps outlined on the website for the specific military academy you are interested in.

Summer before senior year:

  • Start working on college admissions essays.
  • If you will be using the Common App to apply, create your free Common App account in August.   The new edition of the CommonApp opens August 1st every year.  You don’t have to wait until August if you do not want to, you can transfer the data into the new app after August 1st. However, there is no emergency, so you might just want to start after August 1st.

Beginning of senior year:

  • Schedule a meeting with your counselor, review your transcript, and make sure to add colleges correctly to Naviance in order to request your transcript.

From September on:

  • After meeting with your counselor, submit your applications.

Try to complete all your college applications during the Fall of your senior year.

  • October is college application month.
  • November 1st is the Early Action Deadline.​​​​​

What happens next?

1) Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) which opens on October 1st. If required by the specific university you have applied to, fill out the CSS Profile as well: https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/.

2) Keep a close eye on communications sent to your email from the universities you have applied to. They will let you know if anything is missing. They will also let you know if you have been admitted or not.

3) Once you are admitted and they have your FAFSA on file, the colleges will prepare a financial aid package for you. They will send you a financial aid award letter letting you know the exact cost for the year as well as scholarships or loans you qualify for.

4) Based on those letters, you will pick which college you want to enroll in and you will pay your housing deposit (if you are going to stay in a dorm).

5) The final deadline to communicate to your colleges if you accept or decline their offer is decision day: May 1st.

Naviance College Application Guide