The SAT and ACT: The spring of your junior year is an excellent time to take the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT. You’ll get your scores in plenty of time to use them in your college selection. If your scores match those of students who were recently admitted to your target schools, you can rest easy and turn your attention to other application tasks. If your scores fall below that mark, you’ve left yourself plenty of time to take the test a second time.

SAT Subject Tests: A number of selective schools either require or encourage applicants to submit scores from 2 or 3 SAT Subject Tests (formerly known as SAT IIs) in addition to their SAT or ACT score. Look into the requirements for your target schools now, so you’ll know what tests you need to take, and then visit the College Board website to find out what dates you can take the tests on. SAT Subject Tests are given on most, but not all, of the same test dates that the SAT Reasoning Test is given on. Not all Subject Tests are available on all test dates.

Each SAT Subject Test is one hour long. Although you can take multiple tests on a single day, you might find it less stressful to take just one or two tests at a time. If you can, it’s a good idea to take at least some of your Subject Tests this spring. The material you’re being tested on should be fresh in your mind from your classes, and you’ll leave your summer and fall weekends free to work on other parts of your applications. (Don’t forget, though, that you may also have to take AP or IB exams in May.
Don’t schedule yourself for too many major exams at one time.)

Class Selection: It’s not too early to start thinking about what classes you’ll take in your senior year. Your first-semester classes are especially important because they will be listed on your transcripts and mid-year reports. Of course, admissions committees like to see high grades – but they also like to see proof that a student is curious and has sought out challenging courses. That doesn’t mean that you have to load up on every AP or IB class that’s available to you. On the contrary, there’s a good argument to be made for deciding how much time you want to put into AP and IB coursework and then taking only as many classes as you feel comfortable with.

School Selection & Visits: You’ve probably been researching schools for some time now, at least informally. Now is the time to get serious. You want to come up with a list of 8 to 12 schools that you would be happy to enroll at, including ’stretch’ and ’safety’ schools.

If you can, use this spring or summer to visit your top-priority schools. There’s nothing like a campus visit to give you a better idea of what it might be like to actually attend a particular school. Let the admissions office know you’re coming, especially if you’re visiting a smaller school. Having a record of your visit could help you when admissions decisions are made. Schools prefer to admit students who show strong interest in them, and a campus visit is one way of showing your interest in a school.

Essays: All selective schools require applicants to submit one or more essays as part of the application package. Look at the requirements for your target schools. Start thinking about topics for your essays and jotting down your ideas months before your application deadlines. Essays can be the most time-consuming part of preparing a college application – but good ones can pay off by setting you apart from the many other applicants with grades and test scores similar to yours, and by convincing an admissions committee that you are someone they want as a student at their school.

Application Deadlines: Start thinking now about what schools you want to apply to, when. Most Early Action and Early Decision deadlines fall on November 1. Regular admissions deadlines often fall on or around January 1. Although public universities with rolling admissions continue accepting applications into the spring months, it’s advisable to submit your applications well before that. With today’s large and well-qualified applicant pools, many state schools fill all of the available spaces in their freshman classes long before their final deadlines. This past year, several of the more selective state universities (including Penn State) advised high school students to submit their applications by the school’s priority deadline (which is November 30 in Penn State’s case).

Good Written English

The sample essay must be able to show good basic grammar. If you notice but a bit of error in fundamental grammar, then move on to the next site. This is a telltale sign that the example is not credible. Also, a well-written composition uses simple and appropriate words. Highfalutin words should sound an alarm.

Short and Concise

You’ll know it’s a good composition if it uses short sentences and short paragraphs. The keyword is readability and one way you can attain this is through simplicity. Moreover, a good composition does not beat around the bush. It goes straight to the point and effectively hits the mark.

Coherence

The composition must be coherent. A coherent essay will not give you a hard time understanding what you are reading. A well-structured composition always prompts the direction of the ideas (subtly of course). You’ll know when you’re being given a backgrounder, the climax of the argument, or a summary of the main points.

Structure

One basic structure commonly used in essays is the five-paragraph format. The first paragraph is the introduction and it gives a brief background on the topic. It tells you what the essay is all about. Then the bulk of your discussion lies in the main body that is divided into three parts-the first body paragraph, the second body paragraph and the third body paragraph. You assign each division to a specific subtopic.

The finale of the composition is the conclusion. This is basically the fifth paragraph. It must be able to encapsulate the main points of the discussion and the gist in a short paragraph. You can always deviate from this basic structure. Make sure though that the ideas are well organized and that it is readable.

Content

The content is also a good gauge of the credibility of the sample essay. The topic must be appropriate for a college application and the insights and thoughts being communicated must make sense. A good structure is useless if the content is as good as rubbish.

Engaging

A good essay is engaging. Be aware that the board of admissions will be evaluating tons of submissions and your composition will have to stand out for it to be successful. Always anticipate that the admissions board will be jaded and thus needs some extra stimulation.

Paper Writing Services

There is quite a multitude of paper writing services sprouting on the Internet. They usually promise a well-written paper at a reasonable price. You may get exactly what they have promised but this is not always a good option. The admissions board sees right through a sincere composition and is more likely to be impressed by a personal work.

Go ahead. Browse through the Net for college essay examples but make sure that they are credible and that you only use them as models.