Happy Senior Year - and Welcome to the Admissions-Stretch of your Admissions Journey!

Hello Admissions Family,

It may not feel like early fall here in Texas, but to me, Labor Day Weekend is the real beginning of the season. As we enter the mid-admissions-season stretch in your admissions journey, I wanted to check in with a few reminders. I know it can be hard to talk about yourself as you move forward with your essays and applications, but keep in mind this is your opportunity to not just share who you are, but to first figure out who you are and who you want to be.

Warning: These monthly updates and reminders are loooooong… and there’s a lot of information. Parents, there’s a section just for y’all at the end, so don’t forget to look all the way through!

BIG TO-DO LIST/ HOMEWORK: I’m linking the “Big To Do List” I’ve created for my students. Feel free to look through that to use as inspiration to make your own. Always remember, this is your application, and you’re in charge of how much you get done or don’t get done. There are probably things on here you won’t need to do or want to do and other things you want to add. Save it and make it your own.

THINK ABOUT YOUR COLLEGE LIST: Plan to have at least 3 colleges where your likelihood of acceptance is high — or guaranteed — and you can afford it (parents, it’s your job to do the Net Price Calculators for this) and you like it and can happily see yourself there. There’s nothing worse than being shut out from all your highly selective/rejective colleges and being left without choices.

ORGANIZE YOUR SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS: I suggest making a folder for each college you’re applying to. Inside that, make a document where you copy and paste each Supplemental Essay topic and Word Count.

CREATE AND CHECK COLLEGE PORTALS: Some of you have already applied to college – or even colleges!!! Yay!!! Make sure you are checking your email for links to set up your college portals and ensure that they have everything they need from you. They will notice if you don’t open the emails and/or set up your portals. It can be frustrating to do, so be patient with yourself and the process, and plan a meeting to go through everything if you’re having a hard time with this step.

TESTING:

SUBMIT TEST SCORES TO YOUR COLLEGES NOW – IF NEEDED: You don’t have to wait to apply to send official scores if they are needed. If you have test scores you want to submit, be sure to send your test scores from the College Board or ACT site if you haven’t already to your colleges that need official score reports. Check on the schools’ websites to see if you can self-report tests — and if not, make sure you submit them (if you are submitting). If you have already applied to schools or will be applying to ED or EA, I’d like you to get those scores sent now if they need to be submitted. I suggest making a column on your organizational spreadsheet to indicate whether you need to send scores or you can self-report, and then check it off when you’ve submitted.
TEST OPTIONAL OR NOT?: If you have test scores, then be sure to check the school’s Common Data Set to see where your scores lie in their percentiles. You can search up “common data set and college name.” If your scores fall in the 50% or above, I suggest you send them. If on the SAT, you have over 700s for both tests, I suggest you send them even if your score isn’t over the 50%. If on the ACT, all your scores are over the 30 mark, I suggest you send them even if your composite isn’t above the 50%. If your score is between 25% and 50% but is one of the top scores at your school, I suggest you send it.

HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELOR: Check in with your high school counselor and make sure they have everything they need on their end from you. Make an appointment to have an official sit-down meeting. Keep on top of their deadlines and in-school requirements.

NAVIANCE, MAIA LEARNING, SCOIR, CIALFO (etc): If your school uses Naviance, Maia Learning, SCOIR, Cialfo, or another platform, make sure that all the schools you’re applying to are on your platform’s list that you are applying to — not just the “thinking about” list.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION: Confirm that your letters of recommendation are ready to go. In a few weeks, check in with your teachers and school counselor and make sure they’ve uploaded to your platform or Common App, or send them a gentle reminder if they haven’t. Send them a “brag sheet” or “cheat sheet” if you haven’t already. If your school doesn’t have a form for you to fill out, I have a post about Letters of Recommendation from last spring you can find on my Substack or admissions mom website. Be sure to write a thank you note to your teachers after you’ve applied.

SPAM EMAIL FOLDER: If you’ve already started applying to colleges — or even if you haven’t, get in the habit of checking your spam folders regularly. Students often miss important messages from colleges in those folders. Parents, try to help out with this. If you’re not on your child’s email that they’re using for admissions, be sure to remind them to check regularly. Often, they’ll send info about specific dates and deadlines that aren’t published on Common APP.

INTERVIEWS: Be sure to check on the websites about interview deadlines. For some schools, if they offer interviews, you will need to apply by a certain deadline. In the past, Rice, Duke, and Tulane have needed you to sign up for interviews by a certain deadline. And then, be sure to check spam folders. Also, make sure you have your voicemail set up. Often your interviewer will try to leave a message. Also, you can find tons of sample interview questions in posts about Interviews from last fall. TIP: Make sure you write a thank you note that afternoon or evening and mention something specific the interviewer discussed.

DEMONSTRATED INTEREST:

EMAIL YOUR ADMISSIONS OFFICERS WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU CAN’T FIND ANSWERS TO: If you haven’t yet reached out to the admissions officer for your area from your school, I suggest you do so if you have questions.
VIRTUAL TOURS: Go on a college tour and info session hosted by the college for every college you’re applying to. Be sure to sign up with your college email. If you’re applying to Plan 2 at UT Austin or other honors programs (especially at UT Austin), be sure to go on those tours too. Mention something specific from the tour in your supplemental essays. See below for more info on virtual visits and live tours.
REQUEST INFO: If you haven’t yet, request info from every college you’re applying to — also request info from honors programs and specific majors. Use your college email.
FOLLOW COLLEGES ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Use an acceptable account, preferably with your name if possible (no red cups, no alcohol, no smoking, no racist or misogynistic posts — be smart), and follow your colleges’ admissions offices on Instagram or other social platforms you use. They put out important information that can be helpful with your application, and it can give you something to mention in your supplemental essays. It can also be fun and interesting to follow clubs and programs you’re interested in.
CHECK OUT INITIAL VIEW/GLIMPSE: You can go here to learn more about connecting with colleges by leaving them a short message, and you can hear what they have to say.

DO THE STARS (Self-reported Transcript Academic Record, was formerly called SRAR or SSAR) if your college requires it: TAMU, Virginia Tech, U Pittsburgh and others that might be on your list require it. It’s kind of a pain, but it’s somewhat of a boring, mindless pain.

VIRTUAL AND LIVE VISITS AND TOURS: Go on a college tour and info session hosted by the college for every college you’re applying to. Be sure to sign up with your college email. If you’re planning to apply to Plan 2 at UT Austin or other honors programs (especially at UT Austin), be sure to go on those tours too. Take notes! You’ll want to mention something specific from the tour in your supplemental essays.

SENIOR YEAR COURSE LIST: SENIOR YEAR COURSE LIST: Make sure your senior year course list has all the courses you need for the colleges you’re applying to. Most highly selective colleges like to see:

4 years of English
4 years of Science (including Bio, Chem, and Physics)
4 years of History or Social Science
4 years of Math (preferably with Calculus)
4 years of Language other than English
If you don’t have these during your 4 years of HIGH SCHOOL (Not on your transcript from middle school), check the required and recommended course lists for the colleges you’re applying to.
TIP: If you need a course, you could possibly do a one-semester next spring either at your school or at Community College, but you’ll need to be signed up for it to list it on your application.

COMMON APP AND SCOIR COALITION APP: Start filling out the Profile, Education, and Family sections

ACTIVITIES AND RESUMES: Start filling out a Big Spreadsheet with all your information about your activities. Be sure to think about no only what you do, but also how you are a leader (even if you don’t have a title), how you’ve solved problems, and what you’ve learned and how you’ve grown

WHY MAJOR, WHY COLLEGE, WHY EC SUPPLEMENTS: For schools that have why college or why major essays, be sure to research (professors — maybe even reach out to one, programs, research available, the college’s values, various classes, clubs, read the school newspaper, check out their social media etc. I have a post about Supplements you can find on my blog and Substack)

BOOKS: Time to Research and Read! If you haven’t yet gotten these books, I suggest you start reading them now: The Fiske Guide to College Admissions, Colleges That Change Lives, and Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be.

BREATHE: Take time to sit back and take a big deep breath. You’re not running a race here, and for most of the colleges on your list, you have plenty of time. Remember to focus on where you are in the process – not where you think you should be or where your friends are or the others are. And YOU’ve got this!

FOR PARENTS

Create a No College Talk Zone/Time: Designate a space in your house or a set time when you can (or cannot) talk about college admissions. In my house, we made the kitchen table off-limits for college conversation. That way, my kids knew they could have a peaceful family meal without their somewhat college-obsessed mother always directing the conversation toward college admissions :)
Net Price Calculators: Start exploring net price calculators on college web pages so you can see what works best for your family in determining costs. Before a school’s finalized on your child’s list, make sure it’s in the range of affordability by using the net price calculator on the college’s website. If it’s not and they don’t offer merit scholarships, I suggest taking it off the list. You really don’t want to saddle your child with debt if it’s unnecessary.
Join our College-Bound Parent Support Group! You can actually try us out tonight — Thursday, September 4 at 7:30 Central time. We’d love to have you hop on. If you’re seeing this too late, our next meeting will be in October, so there’s plenty of time to be onboarded and learn more. Comment on this post if you’d like more info or email me at carolyn@admissionsmom.college and I’ll make sure to connect you with my incredible co-leader, Amy, who takes care of registration.

I think that’s enough info for now! Summer’s almost over – Hope we can all cool off a little now. Good luck, and stay amazing,

Carolyn

Happy Senior Year — and Welcome to the Admissions-Stretch of your Admissions Journey!