Seniors: Applying to college this year and unsure where to start?

With competing priorities presented by senior year -- more difficult school assignments, extracurricular duties, homecoming, and spending time with friends, there is a common concern among seniors about making time to complete college applications. While juggling a full load of school work and leisure, along with college applications, upwards to 15 for many students, it is important to have a plan to ensure you meet all looming deadlines.

The urge may be strong to get through the application season as quickly as possible, but staggered submissions allows for more individualized attention to every application. Rushed applications are easy to spot, as they are often filled with misspellings, grammatical errors, misinformation, or the embarrassing reference to college x in college y's application.

The best advice is to slow down. The college application season runs from August 1 to January 1 for most schools. Make a plan to submit applications gradually, determining when by answering these questions: Where does the college rank on your list? What type of admissions - early action, early decision, rolling or regular decision? Are there supplemental essays required? There is no exact formula, but by answering these questions, you know where to focus your attention.