If you are already further than 4th-6th grade or are even in your senior year, don't panic, you can still catch up! However, whatever year you are currently enrolled in, be sure to go back and start with the items from 4th-6th grade, that way you won't leave out any important steps of the college planning experience.

Of course, there may be some things you must put into action immediately if you are starting later in your high school career, and these actions may have to be completed before you go back and look at 4th-6th grade. Some things may not seem as necessary as others, but everything you can do to improve your college application is going to be important.

Read through the checklist for college planning from beginning to end. If you are not in the 4th, 5th, or 6th grade, make a mental note of where you should be according to your grade.

See if there are any pressing items you need to check off before going back to the beginning of the list. For example, say you are in your senior year and you haven’t compiled a final list of schools to apply to, you will need to focus on choosing schools and sending off for applications as soon as possible.

Therefore, you should probably do this first, before going back to things earlier on the list such as planning extracurricular activities. There will, however, be some things earlier on the list that will help you choose schools such as exploring careers and majors that interest you.

Some colleges have particularly good programs for certain subjects, so if you have a specific career or major in mind, you might want to look for those schools that specialize in them.  Once you have figured out where you need to start, or if you are in 4th grade and are starting from the beginning with plenty of time, begin working on, and checking off the items on the list. To make sure you don’t get behind, it might be a good idea to consider how many months you have to work on these items and write dates next to them that remind you when you ought to have completed each task. This will be good practice for writing papers and other assignments when you start college, since you will likely have to follow similar practices to keep yourself on track. You need not write specific days; simply noting months will be fine, unless you are very pressed for time.

Having a checklist is a good place to start when trying to organize your college preparations, but there are a few other things you can do to stay organized throughout the college preparation process. You will probably want to start off with a folder to keep your checklist and other documents together as you work your way through the list. It probably won’t include much more than a checklist to begin with, but as you start to complete the items on the list your folder will expand with documents such as information on possible careers and majors, information concerning extracurricular activities, lists of the colleges you are interested in, and ACT/SAT Information, letters, and scores. These are just some of the documents that will begin to fill your folder as you go through the checklist for college planning.

It’s important to keep all this information you gather in one place so that you don’t lose anything and so that you have everything you need together whenever you need to check on something or speak to advisors. Once you start accumulating more documents and begin the college application process, it may become necessary or more beneficial for you to begin a new folder for each college you apply to. As you will find out in the module sections that follow, there is a lot of information to gather on each college. For example, you will need to store information on campus visits, admission requirements, majors, pros and cons of the college, and so on.

Another idea for planning and organizing is to use wall planners and calendars and a personal planner/diary. These materials will help you to keep track of important dates such as application deadlines, test days, advisor appointments, and campus visits. There are different ways you can organize this information in your planner. For example, you might use different colored pens to represent different colleges or different types of events. So, green might indicate a campus visit, and red an application deadline.

Hopefully your family is interested in your college planning and will probably want to help you go through the process. Having a wall planner somewhere you and your family can look at it will not only help you to keep on track with your planning deadlines, but it will also help them to feel involved. So, start off on the right track and invest a little money in obtaining some good organizational materials.

• Start exploring careers and majors with teachers, counselors or relatives
• Acquire learning skills now, which will be required and used in future study
• Begin and stay involved in extracurricular activities
• Determine which classes interest you. This is the first step to a successful career
• Take advantage of various programs offered
• Attend career fairs

• Receive class list for high school
• Check to see if you meet HEPC 2008 requirements
• Get ready to take the EXPLORE test (skill assessment test) in 8th grade
• Take advantage of the field trips to local colleges
• Think about why you want to go to college
• Become familiar with college admission requirements

• Take high school courses recommended for college
• Check with the 2008 HEPC courses requirements and West Virginia Mentor
• Use the Freshman Planner to keep track of your courses and grades
• Take the EXPLORE test in 8th grade, which helps you to explore your future career
• Start thinking about the colleges you want to attend and visiting those campuses
• Be familiar with college entrance requirements
• Participate in academic enrichment programs available through your school and local colleges

• Improve plans and prepare for transition from high school
• Prepare for and take PSAT and SAT
• Take DISCOVER and explore career options
• Check HEPC 2008 requirements
• Keep participating in extracurricular activities
• Think about reasons for attending college
• Identify important factors in choosing colleges, such as location, programs, costs, entrance test requirements, etc.
• List all the colleges that you are considering and collect information about each

September/October

• Meet with your counselor to finalize your list of schools
• Revisit selected colleges during college fairs

October/November

• Submit application and application fees
• Ask counselor to mail a copy of your high school transcript, ACT or SAT scores, a copy of your senior schedule and Measles, Mumps and Rubella immunizations if on file
• Take the ACT or SAT again (especially if you are considering a selective admissions college or believe that you may be eligible for scholarships)

December

• Expect your acceptance letter to the university

January/February

• Submit your Residence Services application and reservation fee
• If eligible for a scholarship, the Student Financial Aid Office will automatically mail out your award letter.

March

• File the free Application for Federal Student Aid form

April

• Watch for Orientation invitation

May/June

• Select Orientation date and mail in RSVP
• Watch for Orientation confirmation
• Mail college transcripts, IB, or AP credit
• Have high school counselor mail final high school transcript
• Attend Orientation, register for classes, apply for parking permits

August

• Watch for tuition bills
• Attend Welcome Weekend and move in the dormitories
• Classes begin