Back to Schoooool! Yay! Wow, I love school supplies and that smell of Fall in the air. Happy Back to School, everybody!
Back to school means college apps for you Seniors. Let’s get back in the grooove and break it down…
College List
Make sure your college list is final now at 8 schools max, and make sure it’s well balanced with Reach, Match and Safety schools. Have your parents or mentor approve your final list.
ESSAYS
Work hard and start early on your essays–all of them. It takes weeks to make them good. Write them yourself and ask others to proofread them with you. When something really matters, we work hard on it, and your essays are the central part of your application.
Common App
After you have started every single rough draft, do your best to get this application (which many colleges accept!) all filled in (but not yet submitted) by around September 20th. Use our step-by-step guide to fill it out ask your parents to go through it and proofread your Common App
Ask for Rec Letters
Ask two core teachers from Junior year if they will write your recs. They may have questionnaires, so be ready to do those very nicely.
Verify Your Transcript
Nobody but you verifies that your transcripts have no errors on them, so you definitely need to do this before your high school sends your transcript to all of your colleges. And errors you find will take weeks to fix…. Muy importante!
Any Final Testing
If you need to take the SAT or ACT one last time, be sure you have scheduled that and keep prepping for it. Remember–your score won’t go up just because you show up.
Campus Visits
Some kids still want to visit some campuses this Fall, so as usual, make sure it’s a registered, official visit through the Office of Admissions and by all means ask if you can interview whilst there.
Interviews
Unless you are painfully shy, if you can interview, you should. Read the handout on this on CollegeMapper. And send a thank you note afterward!
First App Filed, End of September
If you are applying Early Decision or Early Action, aim to submit that app around October 1st so you have time to verify that all of the pieces and parts made it safely to the college. That part is your responsibility.
Grades matter this year
Your college may want to see your January and June grades, so make sure they are good or the college will not accept you, or if they already did they may take their offer back. It happens all the time!
There you have it, Seniors! I know it seems like a lot, but hang in there! We’re going to get you out of this alive, I promise. Yay, college!
