What freshmen can do now to prepare for college admissions

It may seem early, but pre-application planning can and should begin as early as freshman year. Encourage your child to take challenging courses and to begin thinking about her extracurricular activities now rather than scrambling to get involved as a rising senior. Even though the application season seems like it’s in your child’s distant future, keep in mind that every year counts and this is just the beginning. Follow these pointers to get your child started on the right track now.

Plan early for success. A strong academic profile takes a lot of backwards planning. Classes should be planned out to show a progression of academic interests and a narrowed focus by senior year. Creating a timeline for standardized testing will also prove beneficial. Consider testing requirements, strengths and practice tests. You don’t want your child to start applying for colleges as a senior only to find out she can’t apply to half of her top choices because she didn’t take an SAT subject test. Cover all your bases.

Be active and get involved. Clubs, volunteer work, community-based activities, workshops, camps and even hobbies can help your child find out what she’s passionate about. Encourage her to find something she loves and stick with it both inside and outside the classroom. When it comes down to it, quality is favored over quantity, but don’t let your child be afraid to experiment and explore her options. Clubs that are tried and dropped need not be listed on the application activity list.

Take challenging classes. If Advanced Placement (AP) or honors classes are offered at your child’s high school, plan to take as many as your child can reasonably manage without her grades dropping. Start with challenging courses early so she’s on track for continued rigor all four years of high school. Many colleges offer credit for 4s or 5s on AP tests, which will also look impressive to admissions committees on an application. If your child can’t take them right away, make sure she’s taking as many as she’s able to, especially in her academic area(s) of interest.

Document successes. Did your child win an award? Land a part-time job? Start working at the animal shelter? Become president of debate club? It doesn’t matter how small it is, encourage your child to create a document with all of her achievements and extracurricular activities, and keep it updated throughout high school. This will make things infinitely easier for your child when she needs to fill out her college applications and résumé.

Get to know teachers. That’s right. Remind your child that teachers are people too, they have a wealth of experience and some may have already attended the schools or programs in which your child is interested. Building relationships with teachers will also lead to stronger and more personal recommendation letters when your child needs them for college applications.

Even though there are years before your child’s applications are due, there are important steps your child can take now to get ahead of the game. Always encourage your child to pursue and explore interests, challenge herself, build relationships and start planning early. It may be hard to see now, but this pre-application planning will lead to more compelling applications down the road.