Many students wait until the last minute to work on college applications not because those applicants are lazy or aren’t taking their college process seriously, but because they just have too many pressing commitments that have to be dealt with today. If you have homework to complete, a test to study for, a softball practice to attend, etc., it’s hard to wedge college applications in when the deadlines are still months away. They’re waiting for a perfect time to start when they don’t have so much going on.
But for busy students, there probably won’t be a perfect time in the future when you have no commitments and can ease into college applications. If you wait for that time to arrive, you’ll likely find yourself forced to start under the pressure of deadlines. And that pressure will just make what can already be a stressful process even worse.
I’m not suggesting you should blow off your current commitments. But what would you do if the deadlines were just two weeks away? They’re almost certainly not, but if they were, what would you do? My guess is that you’d find a way to get your applications done.
So instead of waiting for a perfect time to get started, start now. Pretend that the deadlines are just a few weeks away. You don’t have to rush and you don’t have to actually finish all of them in two weeks. But starting is often the hardest part of any big project. Creating an artificial deadline and starting before you have to will get the momentum going. You’ll have a lot more time to edit, revise, and get your applications right. And your college process will be less stressful because of it.
The timing may not be perfect now. But in the long run, your applications probably will be.