Taking the standardized tests such as the SAT in Moraga is a key part of the college application process. If you are a senior and haven’t thought much about applying to college until right at this moment, you may be entertaining the idea to take the SAT in December. But is December too late to take it?

Of course, no one has ever said that it’s too late to apply for college. You can still apply during the winter of your senior year and still have time to submit all the requirements in your college application. In fact, you can still take a year off after graduation to help you prepare for college.

But first, you should know how college applications work. There is something called a “regular admission,” a typical college application process where students apply to eight to ten colleges, with deadlines that usually fall in January. In a regular admission, it gathers all student’s applications, reviews all of them, and finally notifies the results altogether at the same period.

There is another process called “rolling admission,” where colleges and universities accept applications as they arrive. It means you can apply to these certain colleges and universities at any time you wish. For example: the earlier you apply, the sooner you’ll be notified. Conversely, the later you apply, the later you’ll hear back from the schools you’ve applied to. Typically, colleges and universities that practice the rolling admission process will start accepting applications usually in the fall. They will continue to accept them through the spring season or even sometimes much later, depending on the deadline of the individual schools. Students who apply and take the exams in the winter or much later may want to consider this option.

If you are not considering the rolling admission process and instead decide to go with the regular process, you still can take the SAT in December and still have your scores. As implied before, it is not too late to take the SAT in December — you can even take it as late as January, and still get your results. It all boils down to diligent preparation on your part in order to get into your desired school of your choice.

But if you take the SAT in Moraga in December and don’t get the scores you want, do not worry — there is another option. You can look into other schools and universities that do not consider a standardized test as a requirement for admission.