College application season can get real serious, real quick, when deadlines are mere months away. High school seniors will need to balance regular coursework, taking SATs or ACTs, filling out applications and financial aid forms, securing transcripts and letters of recommendation, and the list goes on. (It really does.)

There is good news if your daughter or son hasn’t started Senior year just yet. You don’t have to haphazardly juggle each of these at the same time. Many portions of the college application checklist can be started well before Senior year begins.

Finalized College List

Which colleges will you be applying to? Ideally, college exploration, campus visits, and the like should have been occurring across Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior years, to get an idea of which ones would be a good, solid fit. Conversations should have taken place between parents and students about which colleges are at the top of the list and why.

Instead of relying on Google-able college rankings lists, keep in mind your student’s unique personality, learning preferences, lifestyle factors, financial considerations, and intended career path. This process takes time. Do the deep research.

A flexible deadline of late Junior year to devise a working list of colleges to apply to is an ideal situation.

Early Admission Programs

Most colleges have early admission deadlines – where you submit applications in October or November – to hear back several weeks later with an admission decision. Contrast this to regular admission deadlines, which may take place in December, January, and some even later.

Some applicants prefer early admission for the sake of knowing, early comparison of financial aid packages, and the psychological benefits of getting the work behind them to enjoy what’s left of Senior year. Other reasons to be ready to submit once early admissions begins: Some, mainly highly selective, colleges fill the bulk of their incoming Freshman class with early applicants.

There’s a saying: “If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.” It applies very well in this situation. You won’t have to be rushed (and stressed) by starting from scratch with just a month or two to get early applications in.

Early Access to Common & Coalition App

A large number of colleges – but not all of them – belong to the Common Application or Coalition Application systems. Some states, such as Texas and California, have a shared college application system, where you can apply to multiple colleges on a single web-based platform.

A lot of people know that these application systems exist, but not the fact that you can start entering your information and working on apps before starting the 12th grade. Anyone can set up a Common App account, begin filling out the following areas: Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities. You can add as you go along because this basic information rolls over from year to year. You can also set up a Practice account, which can be converted to a regular account, when it’s time to apply.

Coalition App is actually designed around an idea of starting early with college applications early. It is a portfolio-based application system, where students upload documents, photos, and videos to their Locker, as an evolving record of important accomplishments and experiences across the high school years. When it’s time to apply, you select which items from your Locker you want to attach to your college applications. As of today, a smaller number of colleges utilize the Coalition App (I recommend researching which colleges do), but the ability exists to begin compiling your portfolio as early as 9th grade.

Application Plans & Checklists

Colleges set their own application requirements, which means that some require additional supplemental materials. Some require letters of recommendation, others will not, for example. Some college programs also require interviews, portfolio submissions, and the like, depending on your major.

Staying ahead of the curve (and slew of deadlines) can be challenging. Avoiding feelings of overwhelm (and the resulting panic that may ensue) are key. This point has been reiterated time and time again in this article: START EARLY. Begin developing an organization system or framework before Senior year begins. Some manage application checklists and tasks with pen-and-paper while others create spreadsheets.

One of the advantages of working with an independent college counselor (like myself) is access to organizational tools to make the college planning process easier, rather than creating your own systems from scratch. Each of my students are connected to their very own college planning dashboard, where students (and parents) log on to systematically keep track of college application checklists, plan and prioritize deadlines, and check completed items off one-at-time as the to-do list steadily shrinks. Bonus points for efficiency and saved time and headaches.