Staying Organized
This activity aims to help students explore ways to plan and organize materials needed for an admission process.

Discuss
Many admissions processes have deadlines to apply. Some may have an early option, called early decision. This may increase your chances of acceptance or financial aid. Some have a regular decision deadline, and others may have a rolling deadline where they take applications throughout the year. It’s important to research this information to stay organized. In this activity, you’ll research the admissions process for a program of your choice and create a timeline to keep track of what needs to be done and when. This will help you feel confident and prepared as you work toward your goals after graduation.

Resource
Using this Checklist and Timeline start by researching a program of interest you want to know more about. Using the checklist as a guide, start to complete the information listed. Once you have this information, you can start to fill in your timeline.
- Instructor Assisted: Instructors can demonstrate how to find and outline an admissions process. Ensure students can see and follow along. Pick a program to research and complete the checklist. Talk through the timeline to demonstrate planning stages.
- Guided Activity: Instructors can guide students through looking up a program and the admissions process. Students can work together or independently to complete their checklist and timeline.
- Independent Activity: Students can independently research an admissions process together or in small groups to complete the checklist and timeline.

Review
Students can share what they worked on and found out for the program they researched. Here are some prompting questions to help with discussion.
- Which postsecondary program are you interested in? Why?
- How does having a timeline help you?
- What ways or ideas do you have to keep track of these tasks and deadlines?

Click and Explore
Below are additional resources and examples of checklists and sites to consider for use when researching schools or programs:
- Discover Your Potential | OhioMeansJobs – This website links to a source to help students consider careers, college, or military.
- ApprenticeOhio | Department of Job & Family Services – Launching the information on this site takes you to a dashboard of information. You can then click on current apprenticeship sponsors and see if any are near you.
- Ohio Vocational Apprentice Program | Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities – This site shares information about OOD’s apprentice program and how to connect with them for more information.
- College Application Checklist | Big Future – This site provides a broad overview and timelines of the admissions process for most college and university.