Applying All This to College

On top of everything, many high school seniors face the dreaded process of applying to colleges, some submitting 10 or more applications.

"You want to spend your time writing the essays and preparing for tests, not looking for papers," says Kristen Campbell, national SAT and ACT director for Kaplan, test-prep and admission services. (Kaplan is owned by the Washington Post Co.)

Although it's important for students to take the lead in this process, says Susan Jones, a local educational consultant, parents can help ease the anxiety. She suggests creating a loose-leaf notebook for college visits and deadlines and keeping it in a central family area -- not in the student's room. "Being the keeper of all the materials can often be too overwhelming for the student who is handling the admissions/application process," Jones says. "They are fearful of losing important items."

There are organizers on the market for this purpose, including the AppliCase application organizer which combines filing and checklists in a translucent case ($24.95, http://www.captio.com).

According to Nina W. Marks, a Bethesda independent college counselor, parents sometimes tell her they turn into highly paid secretaries specializing in paper management during the application process. "Kids are grateful for parents' help," she says. "It involves finding and filing a lot of important pieces of paper."

Elizabeth Wonder of Vienna wanted to help daughter Anne Marie, a 2007 graduate of James Madison High School, get a handle on the stacks of college information. She made a file for each school in an accordion-pleated folder. On the front she taped an Excel spreadsheet with spaces for her daughter to fill in dates for essays, transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc.

"What this whole thing did for me made me feel like we were in control," Elizabeth says.

There's also free online help. At Kaplan's http://www.kaptest.com/college, a College Admissions Planner has a School Tracker for college info and deadlines. At http://www.collegeboard.com, My Organizer manages requirements for admission, financial aid and testing. One feature feeds application deadlines for specific schools into a personal calendar. "It helps students feel more empowered and informed," says Laura Barnes, a product director at Collegeboard.com. College Board hopes to offer e-mail reminders of deadlines to students this fall.

Anne Marie was accepted into Virginia Commonwealth University, where she plans to study art. "And then, we threw out everything else in the accordion folder," her mom says. "It felt really good."