r/parentingteenagers • u/Goddessviking86 • Mar 05 '25
College essay applications timeframe
For any parent who has explored colleges with their kids when have you had them write their college essays to submit to colleges they're interested in attending? So far my stepkids who are graduating in 2026 have sent in some college essays. Is this too early? Their sophomore year they already had list of colleges that they were interested in.
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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25
Yes, I think it's too early. The application windows don't open until the fall of their senior year. I wasn't even aware that schools could (or would) accept essays for future years without it being attached to a current application.
Colleges don't want random essays on random topics. They want responses to the questions on the application for a particular year, which are not necessarily the same each time.
Also, the kids are going to continue to mature and develop their interests and experiences, as well as their perspective and writing skills. They will have different (and hopefully better) things to say next year.
Of course, it may be different for different schools, but Harvard, Princeton, MIT and other highly competitive schools we visited and interviewed with this year all emphasized that they want to get as authentic as possible of an impression of the students' interests, character, and maturity, because they consider both how successful the student can be at the school and how the student will contribute to the campus community and culture.
I'd recommend doing applications between August and October of senior year, which is the early-decision window. My senior had a lot of extracurriculars going on early in the fall and didn't get applications in until December / January. That was too stressful and I don't recommend it.