College Search Timeline

Fall of Your Junior Year

  • Take the CLT/PSAT
  • Start making a list of colleges you are interested in, especially from those recommended as faithful Catholic colleges by The Cardinal Newman Society
  • Sign up for The Cardinal Newman Society’s “Recruit Me” program
  • Start coming up with a standardized testing plan
  • Begin looking at financial aid options

Winter and Spring of Your Junior Year

  • Continue to look for scholarships, ask colleges about special scholarship weekends or competitions
  • Narrow down your list of colleges and set dates to visit during the spring
  • Take the CLT/SAT/ACT

Summer Between Your Junior and Senior Years

  • Attend a summer “experience” at one or more colleges that you’re interested in

Fall of Your Senior Year

  • Re-take standardized tests if you need to raise your score
  • Get letters of recommendation
  • Application essays, recommendations and forms
  • Complete applications
  • Submit FAFSA form for aid as soon as possible after Oct. 1st

Winter and Spring of Your Senior Year

Copyright © 2024 The Cardinal Newman Society. Permission to reprint without modification to text, with attribution to author and to The Cardinal Newman Society, and (if published online) hyperlinked to the article on the Newman Society’s website. The views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Cardinal Newman Society.