As many seniors have applied to schools for early
action, early decision, or rolling admissions, a big question is what should
they be doing now…besides waiting and waiting. For seniors who have applied to
all of their schools, a few of their schools, or none of their schools, take a
look at the following list of what you can be doing now for the college
admissions process:
·
Revise
your college list: Take a look at your college list and
make sure you have 2-3 safeties, targets, and reaches in each category.
Hopefully you have done your research on these colleges and visited some of
them. It is imperative that you are happy with all of the colleges you apply
to, not just the reach schools!
·
Be
on top of your testing game: Hopefully you have
taken your SATs or ACTs by this time. Make sure you know which test dates you
will send to the colleges, or if you will not send test scores at all
(test-optional schools). You have the ability to pick which test dates you send to colleges, and most of
them will super score for you. If your November testing scores come in after
application deadlines, call each school’s admissions office and ask about their
policy for this. Schools will have different procedures, so make sure you
contact each one.
·
Continue
to demonstrate your interest: Whether you visited
the college, sat in on an information session, or had an interview with an
admissions counselor, remind the colleges of your interest in attending. Take a
few minutes and write a brief e-mail to your admissions representative letting
them know you have applied and if there is anything else you should be doing
while awaiting a decision. Most colleges will not have you do anything additional,
but the admissions representative will certainly know that you are very
interested in the school, and that could go a long way.
·
Have
all of your supplemental materials prepared: Although most
colleges use the Common Application, they will all have a variety of additional
information that needed to be completed. Some are simple, others are more
intense, and they vary greatly. A few colleges need two teacher
recommendations, and others specify which subjects they want to see for
recommendations. Take initiative and have all of the supplements organized and
completed.
·
Students
who have applied ED…be prepared: Hopefully you will be
accepted to your ED school, but there is a chance you will be deferred or denied.
Have your other applications prepared and ready to go. Most will have time
between when they hear from their ED school and the regular deadlines, so no
need to submit your other applications just yet (save tons of money!). But be
ready to go, so if you hear bad news from the ED school, you can just hit
submit on the applications and move on!
·
Beware
of deadlines: You should memorize (or at least keep
track) the deadlines for everything associated with the college application
process. This includes application deadlines, financial aid deadlines, and
eventually deposit deadlines (most likely May 1st). It would be a
shame to put in all of this effort, but miss an important deadline, possibly
being left out.
·
Show
gratitude to your counselors, teachers…and parents: We
commend you for all of the effort you put into this process, and we understand
how much time it took. But the majority of you had support from school advisors
and family members. Take a moment to thank your counselor and teachers for
assisting in the applications and recommendations. Also, realize that as much
stress you felt during this process, it was probably doubled for your parents.
Share the joy of being accepted and selecting a college with your family and
let them know how much you appreciate their time and support…especially when it
comes time to write the college checks!
·
Try
to relax…but not too relaxed: Once everything is submitted
and being reviewed, try to relax and don’t focus too much on what the decision
may be. At this point, there is little more you can do, so there is no sense in
worrying about it. However, this does not mean you should stop working hard in
your classes. Even after you are accepted, if your grades drop drastically,
colleges have the right to revoke your acceptance. You have worked very hard
for 3 ½ years during high school, so try your best to finish strong!
Joseph
D. Korfmacher, MA