College Admissions Timeline

What should you focus on during your four years of high school? When is the best time to start SAT prep?

Freshman & Sophomore Year

Focus on your grades—pick challenging classes and do your best! Colleges care about course load and GPA, so try to take honors and AP classes whenever you can throughout high school.

Participate in extracurriculars and sports that you enjoy. Build a well-rounded resume but prioritize quality over quantity: focus on growing into leadership roles and accomplishments in activities you’re passionate about.

For most freshmen and sophomores, it’s too early to start thinking about the SAT, though recruited athletes and very ambitious students can consider prepping later in their sophomore year.

Junior Year

At some point in your junior year, you should prepare for and take the SAT or ACT. Pick a smart season to begin your prep and join Capstone in one of our prep courses…

• An Early Start (Summer before Junior year): An early start can be valuable: you can lock in a great score before your busy junior year. Alternatively, you’ll have many opportunities to retest if you don’t hit your goal score right away. Also, a summer schedule means you’ll have more time to focus on your prep without overwhelming yourself.

• The Norm (Fall or Winter of Junior year): This is the most popular time to prepare for the SAT. You can pick which semester you’re more free (working around sports and clubs) and focus on your prep then, working around your busy junior year courseload.

• A Later Start (Summer before Junior year): It’s not too late to go for a higher SAT score! This is the final summer before college apps, so you still have time to work towards a great score. Also, you may have a better idea of your goal score based on your college list.

Senior Year

Ideally, by senior year, you’ve worked towards a great GPA and impressive SAT score. But it’s not too late to improve either of those. Colleges can be wowed by senior fall course load and grades and there are a few fall test dates for the SAT/ACT before the college app deadlines.

During your senior fall, you should be finalizing your college list, college applications, and essays. Both early and regular decision deadlines come fast, so be sure to make a plan for submitting your applications on time.

Read below to learn more about what colleges care about the college admissions process.

Learn More about College Admissions

What do colleges care about?

There are three primary factors that admissions officers consider when judging an applicant: high school course load, Grade Point Average, and standardized test scores.

There are secondary factors that matter too, like extracurricular activities, your college application essays, and teacher recommendations.

How do I make my college list?

When making your college list, you should have an even balance of reach schools, target schools, and safety schools.

Target schools: Your GPA and SAT scores are within the range of the average admitted students.

Safety Schools: Your GPA and SAT scores are above the range of the average admitted students.

Reach Schools: Your GPA and SAT scores are below the range of the average admitted students.

Check out our College List Builder to see which schools are realistic reach, target, and safety schools.

Should I take the SAT?

In recent years, many colleges have adopted a "test optional" policy for the SAT. Even with this change, a strong result is still extremely valuable in gaining admission and securing scholarships. Most counselors recommend still taking the SAT, as it will give you greater flexibility and options when choosing your college list. In your senior year, when you’re officially submitting applications, you can decide whether to submit your final scores to every school. One thing is for certain: a great SAT score will always go a long way!

Should I submit my SAT scores to colleges?

When you apply to schools with a test-optional policy, you can choose whether to submit your final SAT score to each school you apply to. Here’s a good rule of thumb:

If your SAT score is above the average SAT score at a school, you should definitely submit that score. If it’s slightly below, you can decide whether to submit based on other factors of your application.

College Admissions Help

Your best ally in the colleges admissions process is your high school counselor. For more support and advice, give us a call or join us for our college admissions bootcamp that walks students through the entire college application process. We’re happy to help!