Back to School: A Grade-by-Grade Guide for Mater Dei, Newport Harbor & Corona del Mar Students

Your Summer Checklist Before Senior Year Begins Summer feels like a break, and it should be. But if you're heading into senior year this fall, there are a few things worth tackling before mid-August. Getting these done now means less stress once school starts and applications are due. Here's what to focus on. 1. Open Your Common App Account The Common App is already open for rising seniors, and the profile page is the easiest part to knock out early. It's mostly basic information: your contact details, family information, education history, and testing. Getting this done now clears the way for the harder parts later. 2. Build Your Resume, Then Use It to Complete the Activities Section Before you touch the Activities section of the Common App, sit down and build a full resume. List every activity, job, leadership role, and commitment from the last four years, along with your actual time investment and what you accomplished. Once that's on paper, translating it into the Common App's activities format is much easier, and you're less likely to leave something out or undersell what you did. 3. Brainstorm for Your Personal Statement and Start a draft Your grades and test scores already tell admissions officers a lot about you. Your personal statement is your chance to share what those numbers can't. Spend some time this summer thinking about what you want an admissions officer to know about you that isn't anywhere else in your application. I recommend having a final draft completed before you head back to school. Supplemental essays for most colleges come out August 1, and you'll want that time to focus on them instead of still wrestling with your personal statement. 4. Open a STARS Account and Enter Your Grades STARS (Self-Reported Transcript and Academic System) is required by a number of schools, including Clemson, NYU, and the University of Tennessee, and it's due when your application is due. It's an easy step to forget, and every year students miss it simply because they didn't know it existed. Open your account now and start entering your grades so this isn't a last-minute scramble in the fall. 5. Complete Your Counselor Packet or Brag Sheet Your counselor packet, sometimes called a brag sheet, gives your counselor what they need to write your letter of recommendation. Getting this done over the summer means it's ready to go the moment you're back at school, instead of competing with the first weeks of senior year for your attention.  None of these tasks take a huge amount of time on their own, but knocking them out now means you'll walk into senior year ahead instead of behind. Future you will be grateful.

Before your student falls in love with a college online, visit in person. A Newport Beach college counselor shares what 130 campus visits have taught her.

What should your student do this summer? A Newport Beach college counselor shares the academic, entrepreneurial, and service activities colleges love to see.

Choosing a College Major in the Age of AI What Parents of High School Students Need to Know Right Now

UC Admissions from a Newport Beach College Counselor: Behind the Veil

Five Things to Do When You are WAITLISTED!

Why Spring of Sophomore Year Matters More than You Think!