In all my years of working hard as an entrepreneur, mother, stock analyst or banker, Grade 12 stands out as the year that demanded the most discipline from me—preparing for my boards in the sciences, taking various entrance exams, and generally just being a teenager!
As a counselor today, I see my students work through this extraordinary year in various ways—studying through their summer breaks preparing for tests, writing extended essays, doing board projects and internships. And then, the summer break clears for the crucial mid-year exams and before you know it, its time for early applications and deadlines are looming large!
But there is a way to navigate this year joyfully, with minimum stress and maximum engagement and the key to that lies in planning your timeline (and then sticking to your plans). So, here is a timeline and roadmap for navigating Grade 12 no matter if you are applying to the US, UK or India:
US Admissions Roadmap
April – June : It’s time to start the journey!
Shortlist Colleges: It takes much research and many iterations to build a longlist of about 20 colleges from the over 150 outstanding universities in the US, and then shortlisting them with a balanced number of Reach, Match, and Safety colleges. There are many aspects to explore—like class size, location within college towns vs big cities, the advantages and disadvantages of smaller liberal arts colleges versus large public or private universities, fee and funding options that fit your budget. So start early and give yourself time to explore deeply and make a relaxed, thought-out list!
Complete all testing by the summer: Take the IELTS, complete any extra attempts you need on the SAT or ACT
Deepen your academic and professional profile: do an internship, or a in-depth summer program that relates strongly to the area you are applying for in college
July- August: Start telling your story
Connect with the school counselor: School often reopens with a clear agenda on completing your requests for Letters of Recommendation,and sharing your college lists. Align with your school calendar to keep your (and your school counselor’s) sanity and pressure levels manageable.
Request Letters of Recommendation (LoRs): US universities require you to submit one counselor recommendation and upto two LoRs from subject teachers. Take your time to choose teachers who have seen you grow as a student and truly understand your unique strengths. Schools often require you to fill in a “bragsheet” or a form that details out your academic and extra-curricular achievements so that these can be added to your LoR. It is important to make sure that your LoR reflects those critical achievements that you intend to showcase in your college applications, so make sure that you think through these and align your LoR story with the story you hope to pitch to universities!
Create accounts for Common Application, Coalition Application and the University of California (UC) application, so that you can collate your deadlines and essay prompts.
Start Writing! Whether you love writing or not, you do need to tell many college admission teams your story. Writing a Common Application essay takes introspection, story-telling and multiple rounds of feedback and refining so try to complete that before your mid-year exams and early deadlines make it tough to think and dream and experiment with story-telling styles!
Board projects and Extended Essays: This is often the pinnacle of your academic maturity and independence—to craft a research-based academic project that deep-dives into an area of your interest. Choose your topic well to align it with your college application story and the courses you are targeting and do your best research to create a unique and original story. Done well, these projects become the cornerstone of your personal statement and your pitch as a desirable student for any college or university!
September – November: Get set to apply early
Finalise College List: If you started with 20 or 25 names on your longlist, its time now to bring these down to a manageable 10 or 12 applications (counting whole of the UC application as one). This is the optimal application workload a student can balance with their studies, more than this may become too formidable–and less than this may make your admission chances too narrow. Schools often need you to close your application list and plan so that they can send your transcripts and letters of recommendation in time so spend time debating this list with parents, advisors and friends to make the best, most balanced list that ensure success for you!
Max mid-year exams for the best predicted grades: Most schools plan mid-year assessments for Grade 12 students in September or October, and while each school gives weightage to multiple factors when predicting your grades—including Grade 10 and Grade 11 results—a good performance in the mid-year exams can help you lift your scores by those crucial few points that make all the difference.
Complete your activity list: The Common App allows you to present 10 activities in 150 characters each. These can be a tall order when you have spent your high school years attending summer programs, attending adventure camps, learning music, playing sports, participating in clubs and doing internships. It takes time and careful planning to choose the right activities to showcase and present it most effectively in 150 characters, so start early to give yourself time.
Write supplementary essays: But applying early takes planning – each college has 1-3 supplementary essays and a shortlist of 10 universities easily makes over 30 essays to write in all! For those aiming for early deadlines, this means spending the autumn break researching colleges and crafting essays why they fit you—and you fit them. A good supplementary essay takes in-depth college research and multiple drafts. ( Nov.1 Deadline).
Maximise early applications: Early applications set you up for receiving early college decisions. So make sure to maximize your early Early Decision/ Early Application choices. Apart from your ED (if you are doing one), apply early to at least one dream and one safety option to ensure that you have some good news by the time the new year starts!
December- February: Reach for the stars
Max your end-semester / pre-board exams for better predicted grades: Many school allow students to request a revision of their predicted grades if they perform well in the November or December assessments–for IB students, these are end-semseeter exams and for Indian curricula, these are pre-boards, so double down on these. I have know many students to transform their academic profile at this critical time, so, believe me, it is still possible to realise your potential. Make time-tables, put your target scores on a vision board—and get cracking!
Check college-specific application portals: Each college you have applied you will set up an account on their application portal for you to track your application progress, complete submission of any material, test scores or school transcripts, and send additional material like financial documents and Self Reported Academic Reports. So, set up your accounts in each portal and spend a few minutes checking them regularly.
Apply for Regular Decision: Most universities have their regular deadlines between Jan 1 and 15, and if you have planned your year well, you already have a comforting early admit under your belt by now! So stretch yourself at this stage and apply to dream and target universities. You should be a pro at writing college essays by now, so dig deeper into research courses, clubs and research opportunities to present a vision of your best future self to these colleges.
Schedule and Prepare for interviews: Many colleges offer alumni interviews for prospective students, and while these many not impact your chances of admission too much, they do give you a better picture of your target university–and this will matter when you make your final choices. So take every opportunity that comes your way!
March – May: Enjoy the results of your hard work
Assess your offers: Now is the time you reap the benefits of making a balanced college list and working hard on your applications. Most students will have three to five offers competing for their interest and it is important to tabulate the pros and cons for each. Connect with students already studying in each university to get the full picture of the student life, academic environment and prospects at that college before you choose where you want to go.
Send Letters of Continued Interest (LOCIs) to colleges that have put you on their waitlist, sharing your latest achievements and underlining your keenness for that college. Where colleges don’t ask for an LOCI, they will have an online waitlist form on the college portal for you to complete.
Accept offers and request an i-20 from the college(s) you finally choose. Most universities have a May 1 deadline so make sure you accept your offers in time.
Apply for accommodation: Campus accommodation is limited and some dorms will be more suited to your vibe than others, so its a good idea to apply to these early enough for you to have a shot at your preferred accommodation.
Apply for your Visa: You are all set now to reaach out to visa professionals who can help you with completing your documentation and making your application in time!
And now, its time to buy your tickets. And start dreaming – college is the best part of youth really, so get ready for the ride of a lifetime!
The writer is Founder and CEO, Inomi Learning, a Gurugram-based career and college guidance firm. info@inomi.in
The original article was first published in ‘The Hindu’, on April 15th, 2025.
With inputs from Kritika Malhotra, Lead Counsellor at Inomi Learning.
Richa Dwivedi Saklani is a certified coach from UCLA and is an accredited MBTI trainer who has worked with over 10,000 people across career planning and as a behavioral trainer in companies. She is the CEO & Founder of Inomi Learning and author of “The Ultimate Guide to 21st Century Careers”.
