By spending a few hours per week preparing to apply to college, you can methodically check off items on the following checklist this summer.

Rising Seniors’ Summer Checklist

1. Figure out what you will select as your major. Since applications will require you to choose what you will be selecting as your major, spend some time looking at the majors at each college on your list to plan which one you’ll be selecting. If you’re unsure, look at the list of options to see if Undecided is listed. Many state flagships, such as the University of Texas at Austin, admit you based on your fit to a specific major while many other colleges allow you to spend a year or two exploring before choosing a major. Check out our resources on deciding on a major.

2. Create and/or Update Your College Resume. Use a template on Google Docs to create a resume that includes all of your activities, including clubs, sports, music, theater, jobs, community service, hobbies, and independent projects with bullet points highlighting what you learned and accomplished for each one. Check out this blog post for tips for colleges like UT that prefer an expanded resume.

3.  Make time to Write your Personal Statement. Have some downtime in June or July? These are great months to work on your personal statement, the longer essay you typically submit to all of the colleges on your list. Not sure how to start? Here are some brainstorming tips to get you started and the list of essay prompts on the Common Application.

Tip: Reflection is key in a personal statement. Go deep instead of broad and ensure your essay reveals information about your character and experiences that your transcript and activities don’t necessarily show.

4. Plan Letters of Recommendation. If you haven’t already identified which two teachers you want to ask to write your college recommendation letters, take some time to reflect on which teachers know you best in core classes that you did well in. You will need at least one teacher in a core subject. You may want to write them an email thanking them for an enjoyable year in their class and asking them if they will write you a rec letter in the early fall. Then follow up when you get back to school. You could also choose a coach, manager, neighbor you babysit for, etc. to write a letter since many colleges allow an additional letter. Choose someone who can communicate to a college why they should want you on their campus.

Tip: if your school requires you to write a “brag sheet” for a counselor recommendation (required by many small to medium-sized colleges), summer is a great time to complete that.

5. Make Sure Your College List is Balanced. Check the most recent admissions data for each college on your list to ensure you have a balanced list with 3-4 match schools, 5-7 possible schools, and 2-3 reach schools. Remember that some majors (business, computer science, engineering, nursing, biology, architecture, psychology, for example) have vastly lower admission rates than the reported average. Assume any college with an acceptance rate lower than 30% is a reach. If you plan on applying to highly selective colleges, we encourage you to read our Guide to Highly Selective Colleges.

6. Demonstrate Interest in the Colleges on Your List. Reviewing a college’s website and taking a virtual tour can be a great way to learn more about a college, but nothing compares to visiting. If it’s feasible to see some of the colleges (particularly those in the possible/match categories) on your list during the summer, we recommend prioritizing this. If visiting isn’t an option, take advantage of every available virtual option. Our Guide to Demonstrated Interest is a wonderful resource to help you create a plan.

7. Plan for Additional Application Items. Are you applying to a major that requires a portfolio such as art or architecture? Will you need to record an audition, such as for a music major? These are all situations that may call for additional action on your part so researching what you’ll need to do ahead of time is important.

8. Athletics Recruiting. Be sure to talk to your coach about recruiting information to ensure you follow the rules and maximize your exposure to college coaches. Our Guide to Athletics Recruiting may be a helpful resource.

9. Write your activity descriptions for the Common Application. You will be asked to add up to 10 activities on the application, each 150 characters (not words). Planning this out ahead of time makes filling out the application much easier since you can copy and paste each description knowing it is the correct number of characters. Use the resume you created to help you craft these descriptions and don’t hesitate to use characters such as & and numbers to give you more room for information!

Tip: include any accomplishments or what you learned from an experience rather than details that are obvious, such as that you attended daily practice and played games in your sport.

10.  Fill out the Common Application. Even though you may not be able to fill in every bit of information, such as your fall classes if you don’t have your exact schedule yet, you can fill out most of it and just add the last details when they are confirmed. The Common Application opens on August 1 for most colleges but students can create an account and fill it out beforehand.

11.  Take a Last Standardized Test. If you are not yet happy with your score and plan to apply to colleges that require a test score (or plan to apply to highly selective colleges or highly selective majors such as business, engineering, computer science, and biology), think about spending time doing some last test preparation and choose a summer or late summer test to try to raise your score.

12.  Complete Supplemental Essays in August. Once the Common Application opens on August 1, you’ll be able to see which colleges you’re applying to require you to write any additional short essays. Finishing these before school starts will save you from spending fall weekends stuck to your Google Doc while researching why a particular college is a good fit for you or coming up with the reasons you are choosing a specific major.

While working on college application details during the summer may not seem like an ideal way to decompress after junior year, your September self will be thanking you when all you need to worry about is your class homework – and maybe homecoming – instead of also stressing about writing essays or completing your application.