狂揽4枚全美前30录取的学长，走心整理的美本申请时间轴！
狂揽4枚全美前30录取的学长，走心整理的美本申请时间轴！
Ideal Timeline for Applications to Colleges in the U.S.
美本申请时间轴
In this timeline listed all the important examination points that correspond with the core structure for the whole application. Everything besides getting a good score should be scheduled upon this fundamental application backbone.
本文包含了美本申请的主要标化类考试安排和一些重要事项的时间点。所有除了提高标化成绩以外的事项安排都应该在本文的基础上进行适应性安排。
During the summer vacation after junior high school graduation, we should start the basic preparation of TOEFL.
从初中毕业的这个暑假我们就应该开始托福的基础备考。
After attending the first year in senior high school, we should at least finish fundamental TOEFL courses and progressive TOEFL courses. Ideally, we should have a pretty good beginning TOEFL score like 85+/90+.
在高中第一次参加完托福考试后，我们至少应该结束托福的基础和进阶课程。理想的情况下我们应该可以有85+/90+的托福分数。
Then at the summer vacation after the first year in senior high, we should start SAT preparation and practice, following the pattern of vocab, grammar, and reading. We should also utilize this period of time to greatly improve our reading speed and comprehension skill by devouring all kinds of books (fictions, scientific papers, magazine articles from Economist or New Yorker, etc.).
然后在高一的暑假，我们应该开始SAT的培训和练习，可以从单词、语法、阅读开始。我们同时应该利用好这段时间去浏览各类书籍（科幻小说、科研报告、经济学人杂志或者纽约客等等）以尽可能的提高我们的阅读速度和理解能力。
We are supposed to begin our first SAT trail in October, November (usually only for the subject test), or December. My recommendation would be starting to prepare for SAT Subject Test after the first round of SAT preparation to spare enough time to sediment the knowledge. In this way, the reading skills that you acquired from the first-round training could be explored during your preparation for SAT Subject Test.
我们的第一次SAT考试本应该安排在10月、11月（通常只有SAT科目类考试）或者12月。我的建议是在结束第一轮SAT备考后开始准备SAT科目考试，这样我们可以有足够的时间去消化知识。并且，我们在准备第一次SAT考试时所锻炼的阅读技巧可以成为我们考SAT科目的助力。
Meanwhile, participating the SAT Subject Test would help students to familiarize themselves with the environment and atmosphere of taking a standardized examination in a lower risk of getting a bad score compared with that of SAT. Therefore, my suggestion would be to take the SAT Subject Test in October and try to recover from the preparation of the subject test to SAT for the following two months and take the first SAT test in December.
同时，相比只参加SAT考试而言，参加SAT科目考试可以让学生更加适应标化考试的氛围，以降低考出低分的风险。因此我的建议是在10月份先参加SAT科目考试，然后利用接下来的两个月时间恢复到SAT备考中，最后参加12月份的第一次SAT考试。
More importantly, the best chance of getting a good score in the SAT, in my viewpoint, is the tests in January and March, with the one in March being the better option here. Since after the first trail in December, taking a test again in a rather short period of time would be more effective. Moreover, all the applicants from last year would all be absent from the tests in Jan and Mar because the scores they get from these two tests couldn’t be used in their applications. At the meantime, a lot of other students in the same grade as you are will not be 100% prepared at that time, which renders you a greater chance of getting a good score in March.
更重要的是，我认为取得一个满意的SAT分数的黄金时间应该是在1月或3月，其中3月会更好一些。因为在12月份参加完第一次SAT考试后，在短时间的继续冲刺复习后再次参加考试会更高效一些。同时，由于前年9月份申请学校的同学所参加的1月和3月的考试成绩并不能用于申请，所以他们不会参加1月和3月的考试；然后和你一个申请季的同学一般这个时候也还没有做好参加考试的准备，所以他们也不会参加这个时间段的考试，这会使你有一个更大的几率去取得一个比较理想的分数。
The time between December and March is extremely suitable for another TOEFL test since we have already built up a pretty good foundation after the first-round preparation for SAT, so it’s reasonable that we are likely to get some perfect scores in reading and writing. The reason to take another TOEFL test here would be preparing for summer school/session/program applications. At this point (i.e. January), we are likely to finalize our TOEFL score and continue to study for SAT and AP at the same time.
从12月到来年3月这段时间，也是一个准备再战TOEFL的极佳时间，因为之前我们第一轮备考已经给TOEFL打了一个比较牢固的基础，所以这一次再战我们有可能在阅读和写作部分达到一个满意的分数。在这个时间段再战TOEFL的理由是作为申请夏校的准备。这个时候（尤其是1月份），我们很有可能取得我们最终的TOEFL分数然后投入到SAT和AP的学习中。
March is the significant turning point of every applicant. If good score (1500+/1550+) attained, the rest of the application would only be focusing on activities and AP preparations. If score are not ideal enough, then taking another (the final) SAT test in August in America would be a second best choice. Usually applicants would attend some summer programs in America and this gives the perfect chance to enhance the English ability in a local environment while preparing for the final take on the SAT.
3月是决定申请的转折点。如果你可以在这个时候取得1500+/1550+的SAT分数，那么接下来我们只需要专注于AP考试。如果SAT分数还不够满意，那么同年8月份去美国参加SAT考试也会是一个不错的选择。通常来说，很多同学都会在高二暑假去美国参加一些暑校课程，这提供了一个极佳的语言环境去提升语言能力并对最后的这次SAT考试提供帮助。
There remains a giant chunk of time between March and August for us to enrich our activity list and preparing for AP. The preparation for AP would vary significantly according to each individual’s academic capability, so I won’t be able to generalize it in a concrete way here.
高二下学期从3月开始到暑假8月份是一个比较完整的块状时间去准备AP考试和丰富活动背景。AP考试的准备情况和每位同学的学术能力息息相关，所以我就不在这里详尽的说明了。
After returning China in August, those who haven’t finalized their TOEFL score yet should immediately focus on TOEFL final sprint. While those who are free from tests could start their Common Application account to fill out some forms and begin brainstorming and the first drafts of their PS.
8月份从美国回到中国后，一部分还需要继续备战TOEFL的同学需要马上投入到考试准备中。然后这些不需要再参加TOEFL考试的同学可以开始他们填写他们在Common Application的个人信息，并且开始头脑风暴个人陈述的初稿。
Then, we will all enter the application season, the season of tears and pain but joy afterwards…
紧接着我们就会进入申请季，一段苦尽甘来的日子。
