The final months of junior year have a way of sneaking up on students. Since your summer will be busy with internships and college application essays, careful spring planning can give you more mental space to handle it all when the real pressure hits. Here’s what to lock in before summer starts.
College Visits
Spring break is the perfect time to tour college campuses, as many schools host official open houses with information sessions for prospective students in late March and early April.
Official tours offer you structured information from a tour guide. When a school tracks demonstrated interest, they track engagement like tours, webinars, and opening emails from them as a way to predict yield, or how likely you are to actually enroll if they accept you. These tours offer insights that you can’t find on a website, which is useful for a college application’s “Why Us” supplemental essay.
Casual visits are great for getting a general feel for campus culture and environment. Often, casual tours are best used for removing schools from your list. If you realize you don’t like a school’s rural setting or find a city campus a bit too overwhelming, you’ve saved yourself time and money on a few applications.
Here’s our recommended approach to visits:
- Start by visiting a large state school and a small private college near home, even if you don’t plan to apply, to help you decide on the style of school you like.
- Save your travel budget for target and reach schools, where you are seriously considering the fit or trying to determine which will be your Early Decision.
- For many students, it makes more sense to visit safeties or far-away reaches during Admitted Students Days, after they are admitted.
Teacher Recommendations
Spring is also the right time to think about recommendation letters, as many teachers cap the number of students for whom they will write recommendations.
We recommend asking two junior-year core subject teachers—one STEM and one humanities or foreign languages— as colleges will want to hear about your most recent academic performance. Choose teachers who know you well. A teacher who has seen you grow—perhaps one who also coached your team or sponsored a club you participated in—can write a more compelling letter.
How to ask? In-person. Prepare a pitch that complements your teacher. Why did you select them? What have they witnessed about you that makes them a good recommender? If they say yes, follow up with a thank-you email, attaching your resume to offer additional context for your letter.
You should follow up in the fall with a list of the colleges you plan to apply for, an updated resume, and an additional thank-you for taking the time to recommend you.
Standardized Testing
Aim to reach your target SAT or ACT score for the August or September exams. Plan to take the test at least once again in the spring—possibly twice—but no more than three times total. After three attempts, most students do not show significant improvement relative to the stress and time of retesting.
We recommend allowing at least six weeks of study time between tests to see measurable score growth. To give yourself time, it’s best to have already taken at least one test by June.
Final Thoughts
When summer arrives, your focus should be on growing through your work, your writing, and your experiences—not scrambling to build a college list, chase recommendation letters, or schedule last-minute testing.
A calm fall begins with a strategic spring.
