When should I apply to college?

Fall of your senior year (or the fall a ear ahead of when you plan to enroll). Each school has its own deadlines and schedules, but it’s best to start getting applications in September and October.

Apply to as many or as few schools as you wish, but research what the historical acceptance records are like. And apply to schools you really want to attend.

Applications are generally the same, what do you want to study, what have you accomplished, what have you participated in, often an essay requirement. They want to get to know you as best they can.

It’s been a long time since I applied, so I am sure a lot of people here will have more to tell you and up to date advice. Good Luck!

Be sure to contact your school adviser for help with your applications.

I’d suggest starting the research process as soon as you know what you might want to major in (emphasis on might because it could change) and where you might want to go, geographically speaking. Make a list and start narrowing down as you learn more about what you’re looking for and the schools themselves. Then, as soon as each school opens up its application for new students, start applying.

In terms of how many you should apply to, I’d say make it a minimum of 6, but no more than 10 (this is just my personal opinion based on the fact that the more schools you apply to, the more costly it’ll be as each application generally starts at $50 and can go up a by a few 10’s of dollars). Just make sure you have your ideal schools (the ones you would really love to attend, but might be harder to get into because of their competitive nature and/or because you might not meet their requirements) and your back-up safety schools (the ones you know you would no doubt be accepted to and would consider attending if all else fails). But whatever you do, make sure you leave your options open. And also, make sure you make full use of the resources made available to you by your high school. Your guidance counselor is a great resource!

Best of luck!!

As @zenvelo said, you should generally begin to apply for college in early fall of your senior year. In the meantime, though, you should be researching schools and scheduling visits to narrow your choices down. There’s no set number of schools that you should apply to, but be aware that there is an application fee involved, so only apply to schools that you are really interested in. (I know a girl who applied to over 20 schools, and she probably cost her parents over $500 in application fees alone, not including the cost of sending test scores. Don’t do that, it’s just unnecessary.) Most people recommend that you pick a reach school and at least one backup, in addition to schools that seem to match your academic level and what you are looking for in a school.

You can apply to just about every college online now, and almost all schools use a website called The Common App. You essentially fill out one application for all schools and any additional forms/information requested by individual schools all on one website. Your teachers can even submit recommendations through it. The website provides detailed instructions on how to complete the different parts of the application, so it’s fairly easy to use. Some schools do not yet participate in The Common App, but you should be able to find an online application for such schools on the schools’ website.

Use many different search engines to find schools that have your major you are interested in and what you’re looking for. Try college board naviance or college prowler. I applied to 10 schools. I would apply to as many as you can (6–12) but each application does cost money. Most schools do accept the common app but youd have to search and see.