At this point, you’re probably feeling like an expert in the college application process. Common App? Mastered it. SATs? Killed it. (The third time around anyways…) Make sure you’ll really impress whoever winds up looking at your application, and double-check you’ve done these super important nine things with your applications before you turn them in.
Check in one final time with your recommenders
Hopefully you’ve already taken care of getting recommendation letters. If not, you’re behind in the process! Follow up one final time with anyone you’ve asked to write a letter for you, and make sure they’re on top of deadlines as well. If your recommender can give you a draft early, you can use the extra time to look things over and make sure everything looks okay. It’s also important to ensure that the letter looks the way it should. Most colleges, for example, require letters to be in a sealed envelope that’s also signed by whoever wrote it to prevent any cheating or forgery.
Double-check all deadlines
There’s nothing worse than missing your application deadline because you thought it was due on January 15, not January 1. Double-check all deadlines you have written down or memorized on the admissions website or on any paperwork from the school. Make sure you know deadlines for separate parts of your application as well, such as supplements, CDs, DVDs, or portfolios, scholarship applications, and financial aid deadlines. Be sure to also take note of deadlines attached to parts of your application that need to be submitted after the main part of the application has already been sent – things like the midyear or final report, or AP and IB test scores for example. To be super organized, think about writing all deadlines down in one central list and checking items off as you complete and send them. Just because the main deadline has passed doesn’t mean you’re totally done applying!
Make sure your transcript and SAT scores have been ordered and sent
Phil Trout, a college counselor at Minnetonka High School in Minnesota recommends checking with the guidance department at your school to make sure you’ve “covered all your bases.” Did transcript request forms get processed? Were ACT and SAT scores sent? Does your counselor have everything they need to send mid-year grades?
Your guidance office is a busy place this time of year. Depending on how your school operates, checking in with a guidance counselor either in person or through an email is a good idea when the application deadline looms. This is especially important if you go to a larger high school, or one with a large chunk of the student body applying to different colleges since departments are often expected to handle a large number of students and paperwork sometimes slips through the cracks. No matter what your school is like though, it’s always a good idea to check with both the school office and the college to make sure they’ve received items like your transcripts or test scores. A lot of schools are also using new online programs like Naviance to send transcripts that don’t always leave a concrete paper trail. Make sure to double-check these items as well before it’s too late! Make sure you’re familiar with everything your guidance counselor can do for you throughout the application process as well.
Double-check information, proofread, then repeat
It would be awful to miss the acceptance email from your dream school just because you made a typo on your email address. Read through every part of your application, even the easy peasy stuff like your name and home address that you’ve written out countless times at this point, and make sure everything is accurate. It never hurts to get someone else to check things for you as well. “A second set of eyes can pick up mistakes, especially if it’s a second set of eyes on something you’ve been poring over,” says Jamie Dukowitz, a college counselor at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in Minnesota. Make sure your essay’s been read over by multiple people, and that it reads exactly the way you want it to as well.
Finally, make sure you’ve filled out all of the spaces on the application as well. Dukowitz points out that many students leave things like a social security number or second semester classes blank since they may not know them when they begin applications, but forget to come back to them later in the process. Using online applications are nice since the apps often can’t be submitted if you’re missing any required blanks or forms, but it never hurts to double-check yourself as well. If there’s one thing you absolutely need to do before pressing the submit button or dropping the envelope in the mail, it’s proofread, proofread, proofread!
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Customize your applications
It’s no secret that lots of applicants use the same essay for multiple applications, especially when applying to lots of schools. Make sure these essays work for every school you’re submitting it to, though. The guidance staff at Edina High School in Minnesota recommends students “make an effort to avoid using exactly the same essay for each college, unless, of course, the schools are asking exactly the same question. Where appropriate and possible, try to tailor your essay to fit the programs and strengths of the particular college.”
An admissions official won’t appreciate an essay that focuses on how it’s your dream to be a journalist if there’s no journalism or communications program at their school, even if it’s well-written and carefully edited. Take a little extra time and customize the essay without completely revising it. Instead of including generic statements like, “I love the school pride students show,” say something like, “It’s exciting to see students dressed up on Tommie Tuesdays when you see purple and white all over campus.” This shows you know more about the school, and took the time to pay attention to details when applying.
Make sure you’ve added any last-minute awards, honors, or scores
Make sure you’ve included everything on other sections of the application as well. Is the ACT or SAT score listed the most current one? Have you listed all of your awards and honors? Are your AP or IB classes prominently displayed? Is every extracurricular included? See if any of these last-minute application boosters could add anything to your application as well. You never know what could tip a decision in your favor, so be sure you’ve included all relevant information on the application to give the impression of a great potential student.
That being said, don’t add things just for the sake of adding them. “Many students feel like they have to make things up when they don’t have something,” says Dukowitz. He says if you don’t have something for a space, it’s perfectly fine to leave it blank. He also suggests making use of a personal statement or additional information section on some apps if you want to explain why you’ve left certain areas blank. You could talk about a part-time job you had, for example, to explain why you don’t have many extracurriculars.
Start thinking about filling out the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE and your FAFSA
Every student should fill out the FAFSA (available after January 1), but not as many students are aware of the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE, a tool used by a lot of private schools to help dole out non-federal financial aid. This profile, sponsored by the College Board, is required for the 2013-14 school year by all of these schools. Even if you’re not totally ready to start thinking about the financial side of things, it never hurts to look over the forms and figure out what they need to be completed. It’s always a good idea to have your parents or whomever else is in charge of tax documents start gathering up the necessary paperwork like tax returns so you’re ready to go in January.
Date and sign EVERYTHING!
This is another thing that seems like common sense, but it’s another dumb mistake that looks embarrassing in front of your dream school. Take the time to look over all pages of your application very carefully, and make sure there are no missing signatures or dates. Don’t forget to check random items in the application that need signatures as well, like some of the school supplemental forms, test score releases, and letters of recommendation.
Don’t send right away – give it a day or two
Trout says, “Take time to breathe!” It’s really exciting to finally finish that stack of applications that have been weighing you down for months, but don’t press send or seal the envelope and mail it off right away. Give it a day or two, and then look everything over one more time. You might pick up on something that you missed. It also gives others a chance to look things over one last time as well. Mistakes sometimes pop out when you’re not as “in the moment” as you are right when you finish the application. Let the stack sit one more day or two before sending them off. After all, once you send it, there’s no turning back!
College apps are stressful, no doubt. Hopefully staying organized and on top of things though alleviates a lot of the stress. Keep pushing – you’re almost there! Keep those visions of next year on campus dancing through your head, and you’ll finish all of your applications like that!