What should I be doing to get ready for Spring Week applications in September?

I'm currently a Year 13 A-level student. Got offers from and am expecting to attend a target uni for economics.

As for current experience, I got one week shadowing a finance division of a large company and another in the retail branch of a big bank (so nothing really beneficial).

What should I be doing from now through the beginning of uni so that I prepare myself and am in a good position to make good spring week applications?

Also, how and when should I really start networking? I don't really have any contacts in the banking industry and don't really know how to get started without seeming too intrusive/weird.

Thanks

Make yourself comfortable talking to a camera, as a lot of interviews are through video.

There are several things you can do.

Now (until school ends):
(1) Make sure you meet your university offer
(2) Try and get the best A-Level grades possible - it won't hurt a CV getting A*A*A*
(3) Research what makes a good banking CV and cover letter (Mergers and Inquisitions is good for this)
(4) Apply to banking insight days (Nomura, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America offer them)
(5) Apply to the McKinsey leadership programme

Summer:
(1) Have fun
(2) Try and get some sort of job/work experience/experience that gives you an opportunity to build on one or more of the following skills: teamwork, leadership, problem solving, quantitative aptitude, communication, relationship building. Finance experience is desirable but by no means necessary

End of Summer/September/October:
(1) Rebuild a CV with all the new experiences/grades/university you have
(2) Create a spreadsheet with all the banks that you are interested in applying to. Clearly these spring weeks are competitive so apply to as many as possible (ideally 10-14) but do not sacrifice quality with quantity. 8 well written and tailored applications with solid test results > 14 copied and pasted cover letters and borderline test scores. Try to see what each bank needs (i.e. tests? cover letter? video interview? rolling deadline? when do applications open? - Lazard and Evercore opened much later this year etc.) then use this information to plan out when you submit applications, how you need to prepare etc.
(3) Try to get affiliated with an organisation like SEO/Rare Recruitment. They are very useful in helping you obtain advice/application guidance
(4) Ideal but by no means necessary: attend some networking events to understand more about the industry/application processes/what will make you stand out at interview
(5) Apply to banks you are less interested in first to get used to the application processes and apply to ones which have rolling deadlines (most do)
(6) Send off most applications by mid October (the earlier the better!)
(7) Be commercially aware
(8) Ask people in older years if they have any advice on applications