There is perhaps no deeper exhale than the one that comes at the end of junior year in high school. Students have just completed the last full year of academic classes before college; AP exams are over; summer plans are set; college visits are scheduled, and recommendation requests have been made. I use the passive voice here intentionally (something we ask students to avoid in their own writing) because–no matter how proactive a student has been– junior year often feels to students like something that happened to them. To finish is to have endured.
But that exhale is short-lived. Summer brings with it a whole new set of tasks and responsibilities for rising seniors, from college visits to application preparation–tasks that compete for time with other summer experiences like jobs, internships, and volunteerism. Parents vie for time too; this is, afterall, the final summer before the goodbye that seems all too quick in coming. Cue the next tortured inhale.
The good news is that the summer before senior year can be one of deep, meaningful reflection if approached thoughtfully. Each task on the college application to-do-list is really about self-exploration, and rising seniors can experience tremendous personal growth if parents make room for them to process their emotions alongside their applications.
The College Essay: A Chance for Reflection, Not Just a Requirement
The college essay is a good example; it challenges students to articulate not just what matters to them but why. What has motivated their academic and personal journey? Who are they and who do they wish to become? I taught high school English for three decades, and I can think of no other essay–save a research paper, perhaps–that students have the opportunity to rewrite and revise multiple times. The process of revision itself prompts deep introspection.
Is Your Rising Senior Ready to Begin the Essay Process?
Top Tier Admissions’ Senior Private Counseling program pairs students with experienced counselors, many with decades of teaching, writing, and admissions expertise, who guide them through every stage of the college essay: brainstorming, drafting, revision, and the final polish. Our counselors don’t write the essay for your student — they help your student find their authentic voice and tell their story with confidence.
Making College Visits Count: What Parents Should (and Shouldn’t) Do
College visits also provide opportunities for self-exploration. Walking around a college campus, hearing those well-spoken and enthusiastic tour guides describe school programs and traditions while popping into dorms, classrooms, and student centers, rising seniors begin to truly picture themselves as college students. College is, at last, something concrete. Touring campuses with two of my three children (my oldest applied during COVID and toured only virtually), I watched them absorb their surroundings and consider what really mattered to them: the track facilities for my son, the libraries for my daughter. I listened as they tried to draw distinctions between schools and explain their preferences (which, for young people still guided by the emotional center of their brain, is not easy). I marveled as they slowly formed a list of haves and must-haves. It was, with each of them, a learning experience for me, a window into the maturation that had been happening while I was looking (or slowly being pushed) away.
Rising seniors have a busy summer, and balancing all of their commitments can feel overwhelming, particularly as application dates loom. Thankfully, parents can play a significant role in shaping the way their child experiences those tasks by emphasizing purposeful self-discovery and giving them room to breathe.
8 Ways Parents Can Support Their Rising Senior This Summer (Without the Pressure)
Beyond reminders and deadlines, here are some ways parents can support their rising seniors during the last summer of high school:
- Carefully plan college visits. Space these visits intentionally in order to allow enough time for your rising senior to get an authentic look at a school community. Make time to explore the area. Try to get a sense of where students spend their time when they are not in class. Grab a snack or a meal at a local haunt. Read the posters and signs on campus. Allow your child to get excited about what it truly means to live away from home on or near each campus. That excitement will likely motivate them to engage enthusiastically in the final stages of the application process.
- Let your child take the lead when it comes to the tour and study their body language. You’ll notice relaxed shoulders and more of a willingness to walk alongside the tour guide when they feel comfortable at a school. If they have trouble making decisions later, you can be helpful by sharing what you observed as they walked around.
- Put your camera away, or take it out discretely, especially on the tour. While it is often helpful to take pictures so that you both can remember a visit, sometimes it is better to walk around and do that later. Rising seniors are trying to pretend to belong on that campus, and they cringe when you inadvertently call attention to their status as an outsider. Stand back and let them imagine being a student there.
- Give your child room to process what they are seeing and hearing before offering your opinion. Refrain from reacting to a campus as you walk around with your child. If you find the brutalist architecture of the library gloomy; don’t say so. If you find the dorm rooms small, don’t bemoan the lack of space. And, whatever you do, don’t exaggerate your reactions. Students expect authenticity.
- Give your child the space to feel first and articulate later. Remember that not every student can immediately articulate why a school does or does not seem like a good fit. So much of that first visit is about a gut feeling.
- Overcrowding can feel overbearing. Students are convinced that everyone on the tour can hear you when you lean over to them and make a comment. Follow their lead on how and when they want to communicate as you walk around. Don’t push them to ask questions or charm the tour guide. If you sense that they prefer to walk separately, let them create that space between you.
- Talk about more than college when you travel with your child. My son shared with me all kinds of ways he strategizes as a sprinter–something I had not thought possible in a race as short as a 400. He told me about books he was reading, about his friends. When I backed off all of the college talk, he opened up in a way that surprised me.
- Reinforce the college essay as a means of reflection rather than a box to check. Talk with your child about when they were little and what mattered to them then. Share family anecdotes. Help them connect who they are to the person they have always been. My daughter will study literature next year at St. Andrews, and we had fun talking about the time when, at age six, she wrote an original poem on the back of everyone’s placecard at Thanksgiving and about her dream to have a library ladder in her bedroom. I never read her college essay, but I know she harkened back to the joy she felt when she first read The Iliad. I like to think it was our conversations about her lifelong love of books that helped her articulate her narrative.
Don’t Let Summer Slip Away — Application Boot Camp® Can Help
Application Boot Camp® is an intensive program designed to help rising seniors get ahead on their college applications before senior year begins. Students work through the Common App, college lists, activity descriptions, and essays in a structured, supportive environment — so they enter senior year with momentum rather than panic.
The Most Important Thing You Can Give Your Rising Senior: Room to Breathe
Knowing how to support a rising senior as a parent is not easy. They have one foot out the door already, which often incentivizes parents to hang on desperately to that one foot that still remains at home. Most parents exert what control they have left by turning into personal assistants or demanding bosses: laying down the law, reinforcing deadlines, insisting on direct communication. While every child is different (and many do appreciate a little extra parental help), what most rising seniors need is a reminder to breathe when they are most busy.
Frequently Asked Questions: Supporting Your Rising Senior Through the College Application Process
The following questions reflect what parents most commonly ask when supporting a rising senior through the summer college application process.
What should rising seniors do the summer before senior year?
Rising seniors should use the summer before senior year to begin their college applications, including drafting college essays, finalizing their college list, completing college visits, and requesting recommendation letters. The summer is also a valuable time for reflection — understanding what matters to them academically and personally — which directly informs a stronger, more authentic application.
How can parents help their child with college applications without being overbearing?
Parents can best support their rising seniors by creating space rather than pressure. This means encouraging reflection over deadlines, letting students lead college visits, listening before advising, and having conversations about identity and values — not just task completion. The most effective parental support during the college application process is emotional presence, not project management.
When should students start their college essays?
Students should ideally begin brainstorming their college essays in June or July before senior year. The summer offers the most uninterrupted time for the kind of deep reflection that the best college essays require. Starting early allows for multiple rounds of revision — which is where the real growth (and the best writing) happens.
How many college visits should a rising senior do before applying?
There is no fixed number, but most college counselors recommend visiting 4–8 schools before applying, including a range of reach, match, and safety schools. Quality matters more than quantity: a thoughtful, unhurried visit where a student can explore the campus culture and imagine themselves as a student there is far more valuable than a rushed tour.
How do I help my child choose the right college?
Help your child identify what matters most to them — academically, socially, and geographically — and then let them lead the discovery process during campus visits. Avoid projecting your own preferences. The best fit is a school where your child can picture themselves thriving, not just a name that impresses others. A college counselor can help your family build a balanced, personalized college list.
What is Private Counseling and how can it help with college applications?
Private Counseling is our most comprehensive, high-touch offering. Each student is paired with a dedicated counselor—a former admissions officer or senior educator—who guides them through every aspect of the application journey with clarity and intention.
This is not one-size-fits-all support. It is a deeply personalized, strategic partnership. At the center of that work is helping students identify what genuinely interests them and then deepen that curiosity in thoughtful, high-impact ways beyond the classroom.
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She began her career at Kent School as an English teacher, coach, dormitory faculty member, and assistant athletic director, developing a deep understanding of students both inside and outside the classroom. After earning her master’s degree from Northwestern University, she joined Westminster School, where she ultimately served as Director of College Counseling, guiding students and families through academic planning and highly selective admissions.
Kate later held senior leadership roles at Pomfret School and for 12 years at The Winsor School, where she oversaw grades 5–12 academics, supervised college counseling, conducted mock interviews, and helped shape institutional strategy.
Having worked as a teacher, advisor, college counselor, academic dean, and associate head of school, Kate understands how admissions decisions are made — and how to position students thoughtfully and authentically. Today, she focuses on what she values most: partnering one-on-one with young people to help them tell their stories with confidence and purpose.
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