August Checklist for Seniors

With the start of senior year only a few weeks away, take a moment to review the following list to put yourself in a good position to begin the college application process!

Continue to visit schools: If you are able to get to college campuses during the school year, that is great, but it is not always possible. Although high school does not begin until September, many colleges start during the last week or two of August. It is best to see the school in session, and get the feel of the student body and what the school has to offer. Make sure to contact the undergraduate admissions office prior to the visit, to see if they offer an information session or guided tour while you are there.

Work on narrowing down your college list: With application deadlines right around the corner, it is now time to eliminate some colleges from your list. You should end up with about 8-10 colleges on your list. Make sure to have at least 2-3 colleges that you are certain you will be accepted into, often referred to as safety schools. Safety schools should still be schools that you have investigated and would be happy attending.

Research school specific application guidelines: Colleges differ across the board on application procedures such as how to apply (Common Application or their own), deadlines for regular decision, early action/early decision, priority, and rolling decisions, and application requirements such as SATs, subject tests, and additional supplements. Be sure to have all of the requirements and deadlines organized in one centralized location to reference.

Finish admission testing: You may be satisfied with your SAT and/or ACT scores, which is great! However, many students need to retake these tests in hopes of higher scores. For the SAT, there are testing dates in October, November, and December, which most likely are the latest ones you can take. For the ACT there are testing dates in September, October, and December. Also, if any of your colleges require subject tests (SAT II), remember to sign-up during one of these test dates.

Begin the Common Application: The Common Application opened August 1^st. Feel free to create an account and begin working on the application. There is no need to rush this, but it will be helpful to get familiar with the application and see what other supplements are needed for schools. Also, if you haven’t done so already, start writing the main CA essay, and feel free to send it to your college counselor to help with editing.

Keep in touch with your counselor: If you have any pressing questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to your college counselor. Also, once school begins, make an appointment to see your counselor and talk about a plan to apply to schools.

Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

November...What Now for Seniors?

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 1^st). 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

The True Meaning of Early Action Plans

The first of November is usually an exciting time with Thanksgiving right around the corner, and the rest of the holiday season not too far behind. However, for many seniors, Thursday, November 1^st, 2012 is a day they have had circled on their calendar for many months, for an entirely different reason. This is the Early Action deadline for many of the competitive colleges and universities across the county. Another popular Early Action deadline is November 15^th and you many see a few schools that have Early Action a little later than that. Since the Early Action season is near, I thought it would be appropriate to explain early application plans, and everything that goes into them.

First, it is very important to understand that applying under Early Action, will NOT improve a student’s chances of admission. Since EA is non-binding, it does not benefit a school to accept a student who is on the border, as that student is not committing himself to the college. Additionally, the regular decision candidates are in a much larger pool, and admissions counselors will often wait to compare students on the edge to that larger, more representative pool. Applying Early Decision can often give students an advantage of being accepted, even those who may be a bit lower than the average student accepted.  The reason for this is simple; ED is a binding agreement, and colleges are assured that if they accept the student, that student will be attending their school. For Early Action, unfortunately if you are well below the average student accepted, applying this way will not give you an advantage of being accepted.

For students who are satisfied with their current grades and testing scores, and are competitive with the middle 50% of accepted students, the real advantage to applying early is for peace of mind. For most schools, students will hear back before Christmas, which can be a great present, and will put students and parents in a better mental state! Applicants applying through Regular Decision often will not be notified of an admissions decision until March or April, so finding out 3-4 months in advance can make a huge difference (emotionally and mentally).

Next, let’s discuss the decisions that come from applying early to schools. Unlike regular decision, where students are accepted, denied, or waitlisted, students applying early will be accepted, denied, or deferred. Being deferred is not necessarily a bad thing, as it really just means that the admissions counselors like the student’s application, but they just need more time to make a decision and need to compare that applicant to the larger pool of candidates. The applicant will then be moved to the regular decision pool and will be reviewed again, with a final answer coming in March or April.

Finally, make sure you truly understand the parameters of the early action plan you are applying to, as there are numerous options, and various ways colleges approach early action plans. Take a moment to review the following types of early application types:

Early Action: Non-binding and student can apply to as many schools as they want this way. Student usually needs to apply by the 1^st or 15^th of November and will receive a response by Christmas.

Early Decision: This is a binding agreement, and if a student is accepted, they must withdraw all other applications.

Restrictive Early Action (REA): Non-binding, but a student should not apply Early Decision to any other schools (i.e. Boston College).

Single-Choice Early Action: Non-binding, but students agree not to apply early at all (EA, ED) to any other schools (i.e. Princeton).

Rolling Admissions: Non-binding and students can apply anytime throughout the year and will have an admissions decision generally anywhere from 3-4 weeks after application submission. It is usually a good idea to apply earlier to schools that have rolling admissions (SUNY schools).

Priority: Non-binding, but students should apply before their priority date, as this increases chance of admission and will make them eligible for merit-based scholarships (i.e. Penn State, USC).

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA