By the time May comes around, the last thing most students want to do is more work. Between studying for tests, doing homework, and now, preparing for AP Exams, most students are burnt out and ready to take it easy over the summer. Unfortunately for Juniors though, the summertime before your Senior year involves some of the most important work you’ll do during your high school career: applying for colleges. In order to make this college application process as stress-free as possible, here are four tips all Juniors applying to colleges should follow.

1. Start Early: This is the most important way to make your college application process a breeze. Even if you don’t know what schools you want to apply to, you can start to fill out basic information on the Common App. By starting applications early, as early as June or July, you’ll be able to methodically complete your applications and not feel overwhelmed.
2. Get in Touch with Teachers and Counselors: Although starting applications early gives you a nice head start, this can all be for naught if you don’t get in touch with teachers and counselors for recommendations. Once the school year starts, hundreds of students will be flocking to the same teachers and counselors asking for supplementary documents so they can finish their applications. Save yourself the stress of being one of those students and reach out to your teachers before the school year starts, or even before this school year ends.
3. Apply to Multiple Colleges: Even if you go into this summer knowing exactly where you want to go to college, it’s still smart to have a few safety schools and other options. The college decision process in admissions offices has greatly changed since COVID-19, so even schools you seem to be a shoo-in for on paper can surprise you with their decisions.
4. Look Into Scholarships and Deals: The college application process can be just as stressful for your parents as it is for you. In order to take some of the financial stress off of yourself and your family, look to see if the colleges you’re applying to give out any fee waivers or have any scholarships you can apply for.

Hopefully, these tips can help some of the Juniors out there who are nervous about applying for college. Just make sure to be proactive, and work hard and these college applications will be easy.