The college application process starts during your Junior year and can take at least 100 hours to complete. This process includes completing your standardized tests, asking for recommendation letters, researching colleges, writing essays and more.

How early should you apply for a college?

Though you should start the college search as a junior or even earlier, senior year is the most important time in the admissions process when you start applying to college.

How long does it take to fill out the Common App?

That’s two weeks to fill out any background information and about a month for other required documents.

Can you go to college at 16?

In the US, colleges accept students who are at least 17 years of age. However, as always, there are exceptions to the rule. Although rare, accelerated students and home-schooled students are accepted, too. As with the upper age limit, US colleges do not turn down applicants because they are too old.

What grades do colleges look at?

Generally colleges care most about the grades you got junior year. These grades are the most important because, when you apply in the fall of your senior year, they’re the most recent grades the college has access to, so they give them the best idea of your current abilities.

Can you lie on college applications?

Never outright lie/forge/deceive On a less subtle front, it’s probably worth touching on the most obvious deception—actual forgery or outright lies. There have been many prominent cases of people going to extremes to deceive admissions committees and eventually getting nailed for it.

Do colleges send you a rejection letter?

Almost every senior receives at least one college rejection letter. This is tough advice, but try not to take the rejection personally. Most U.S. colleges admit a majority of applicants. Only 3.4% of schools fall into the most selective category, meaning they admit fewer than 10% of applicants.

How long should a college essay be?

The primary essay for your college application, often called a personal statement, is typically around 400-600 words. The Common App personal statement — which is used as the primary application essay by more than 800 colleges — must be 250-650 words.

Who is the youngest kid to go to college?

The current record for youngest graduate is held by American prodigy Michael Kearney, who enrolled at the University of South Alabama at the age of eight and emerged with a degree in anthropology in 1994, aged 10 years and four months.

Can a 14 year old go to college?

Many colleges routinely admitted students as young as fourteen. Some students entered college entirely self-taught, or after having received only informal tutoring. Although many students did reach college before their 18th birthday, they could do so only if their high school accelerated them to early graduation.

Can I go to college at 13?

Mary Baldwin is one of a handful of colleges in the United States that have programs that accept students as young as 13, according to a study done by Johns Hopkins University.

Do colleges look at 9th grade?

Colleges closely evaluate freshman year grades and activities, but not in the ways you might think. And most colleges consider your child’s overall high school GPA, meaning the grades they receive freshman year do have weight.

Which GPA do I use for colleges?

Calculating GPA for College Most colleges will consider both your weighted and unweighted GPA. And most high schools will report both to the colleges to which you are applying. Colleges want the weighted GPA to reflect your class rank, as well as the relative rigor of your high school course load.

What happens if you fail freshman year?

This system is meant to give students time to raise their grades before being put on academic suspension. So, if you fail freshman year, you’re college will probably put you on academic probation as a first step. Then if you fail your third semester you’ll likely be suspended.