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Making Final Selections and Applying to Colleges
Before you finalize your list of colleges and universities to apply to, you should have completed the following steps:
1) Selected an initial pool of colleges to consider. Click here if you have not yet completed this step.
2) Obtained information about colleges to identify a pool of about 20-25 colleges of interest. Click here if you have not yet completed this step.
3) Obtained your chances of getting into the colleges in your pool using our ChancesR™ technology to accurately categorize the colleges in your pool as reach, likely and safety colleges. Click here if you have not completed this step.
4) Visited and/or researched colleges in each category of your pool to refine and narrow down your choices to 6-12 colleges to which to apply. Click here if you have not completed this step.
If you have completed these four steps, you are now ready to make your final decisions about where to apply. . . .
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Step 1: Application Choices — Early Action, Early Decision, Rolling and Regular Admissions
Early Action
Early Action option allows students to receive a decision by December 15 without committing to attending that college. In other words, the application is non-binding, so it allows students to apply to other colleges as well. Applications for Early Action must be completed generally by November 15; however, the deadlines for some colleges vary, so make sure you find out each college's deadline. Colleges that offer Early Action option will notify you of your acceptance early (usually by December 15). Your deadline for notifying them of your decision to attend, however, remains the regular May 1 deadline.
Early Decision - Phase I
Applying Early Decision (ED) is for students who are positive that they want to attend a certain school. By applying ED, you are making a commitment to one school. If you are accepted, you are obligated to attend the school. You MAY NOT apply to more than one college under the Early Decision plan. The deadlines for completing Early Decision applications are in the fall of your senior year, usually no later than November 15. The college will usually notify you of its decision before December 15.
If you are interested in one particular school, check if they have an Early Decision option. If they do, make a note of their application deadlines. Be sure to read all of the application materials carefully, and if you have any questions consult your college counselor or contact the college's admissions office.
Early Decision - Phase II
Early Decision Phase II is for students who arrive at a final college choice after the Early Decision Phase I deadline or for those students who wish to have their senior year first semester grades included in their application. Like ED Phase I, you are commited to one school. If you are accepted, you are obligated to attend the school. The application deadline for ED Phase II is usually January. The college will usually notify you of its decision by the middle or end of February.
Rolling Admissions
Colleges that offer rolling admission continuously evaluate applicants and notify the applicants regarding acceptance on a month or two after the application is completed.
Regular Admissions
Most colleges require that applications for regular admissions be mailed by December 31. Check the web sites of the specific colleges you select to obtain their deadlines. Most colleges will inform you of their decision by April 1 and require that you make your decision about whether to matriculate by May 1. If you are considered to be a "hot prospect," you may receive a letter from a college admissions director prior to April, which will not give you a formal acceptance but it will give you an indication that the acceptance is extremely likely and encourage you to attend that college.
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Step 2: Application Strategy
First, make a list of schools that you are still interested in. Then, subdivide the list into three categories: reach, likely and safety. You should have at least two schools in each category. Rank the schools within each category in order of your preference and decide how many colleges you are likely to apply to. We recommend that you choose at least two safety schools and at least one college in each category. If you decide to apply to more than four colleges, we recommend that you limit the number of schools at which you chances of admission are in the single digits ( i.e., 2% or 6% ) to one or two.
You may be able to use Rolling Admissions and Early Action to possibly reduce the number of schools that you will need to apply to. Colleges which offer Early Action, let you know their admission decisions generally by December 15. Check the schools that you have selected to determine if any of them offer Rolling Admissions or Early Actions. (Click here to view a list of colleges included in the College Admissions Services which offer Rolling Admissions. Click here to view a list of colleges included in the College Admission Services which offer Early Action.) If some of the schools that you are interested in offer either rolling admissions or Early Action, here is the approach which you can use to save yourself application fees and eliminate anxiety inherent in waiting to be accepted by a college. We will illustrate the approach using a case study. Assume that you have selected the following 10 colleges with the following chances of admission to apply to:
Reach : Princeton 19%, Dartmouth 45%, Columbia 48%
Likely: Georgetown 55%, Wesleyan 65%, Bowdoin 68%, Bates 71%, Middlebury 74%
Safety: Michigan 86%, Connecticut College 90%
With a little research, you will find the Michigan offers Rolling Admissions and Georgetown offers Early Action. You apply to Michigan as early as your application records are complete enough. You find out in early November that you were accepted. Now, you don't need to apply to your second safety college — saving you an application fee and a lot of time spent completing the application and writing essays. You apply to Georgetown on November 15. Georgetown accepts you on December 15. Now you need to apply to only those colleges that you prefer over Georgetown. Assume that you only liked Princeton better than Georgetown — you need to apply to only one more college! This saves you a small fortune — application fees for 7 colleges and the time to write 15-20 essays!
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Step 3: Financial Considerations in Choosing Colleges
Initially, do not rule out a college because it seems too expensive. Various types of financial aid are available; therefore, a lack of funds will not prevent you from attending a college of your choice. However, if all or a large portion of your financial aid for your top choice turns out to be in the form of loans, you may wish to evaluate whether attending one of your other choices would make more sense financially. You will not be able to evaluate the financial aspects of attending various colleges until you are accepted and until you get the financial aid packages from various colleges and outside sources.
Most colleges offer financial aid based on the need of the applicant. Generally, the financial package includes scholarship and low interest loans. In some cases the package also includes an on campus job, usually in a library or in food service. Although the applicant's "need" should be the same, you will likely find out that the total package you receive from each college varies by several thousand dollars. In addition, the scholarship portion of the package is likely to significantly vary for each college. Most financial aid packages contain a combination of the following types of financial assistance:
Click here to go to our scholarships and financial aid page.
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Step 4: Procedures for Applying
Find Deadlines & Admissions Requirements
Mark your calendar with the application deadlines for each college that you are considering. You should also include deadlines for submitting test scores, transcripts, and recommendations.
Make sure you have taken the standardized tests (SAT, SAT Subject Tests, ACT, etc.) required by the colleges you are interested in.
Obtain Applications
To initiate the college application process, obtain applications for the colleges you are considering and start filling them out as early as possible.
Common Application — 241 schools accept the common application. For your convenience, we have noted the colleges in our service that accept the common application at About the Colleges. We have also provided a link where you can access the common application online. Please note that many of the colleges that accept the common application also require a supplement. Links to the supplements can also be found with the list of colleges.
Online Applications — Most colleges allow you to download applications from their web sites. Once an application has been downloaded, you can either print it or complete it online. Recently, many colleges are requiring prospective students to establish a user account. The user can log into his or her account and build the application online section by section.
Mailed Applications — You may also contact the admissions offices by phone, fax, mail, or e-mail to request applications. As you receive the applications, make copies of them and store the originals in a safe place. You may want to fill out one of the copies as a rough draft to follow when you fill out the original. We have provided links to application for the colleges included in our service.
Request Recommendations
Most schools require two or three recommendations from teachers, guidance counselors, advisors, coaches, or even peers. Colleges usually provide forms for you to give to whoever will be writing your recommendations. Choose people who know you best and can articulate your strengths.
Also, since they will be doing you a favor and will probably be quite busy writing recommendations for other students, make their job as easy as possible by giving them plenty of time. Ask them for recommendations about two months before the letters are due, so they have enough time to write a thorough recommendation. And do not forget to provide them with stamped envelopes addressed to the colleges. Writing a thank you note to them after the deadline may also be a nice gesture.
Colleges will give you the option of waiving your right to see each recommendation. Choosing this option makes the recommendation appear less biased, since the person writing it knows that only the admissions officers will be able to read it. While you may be curious about what was written about you, we suggest waiving your right to view the recommendation.
Submitting Standardized Test Scores to Colleges
Make sure that you submit your test scores early so that the college can notify you if it did not receive your scores. If you have taken the SAT more than once, you may want to call the colleges to make sure that they received your latest scores. Most colleges will require that you send them verification of your standardized test scores from the College Board or the American College Testing Program, the organizations that administer standardized tests. When you take the SAT, you can request that the College Board send your test scores to as many as six colleges. If you request that they send your scores at a later date, make sure that you allow enough time for them to get to the colleges. Check each college's deadlines for receiving these materials; some colleges may have deadlines that fall after the applications are due.
If you are considering applying Early Action, Early Decision, or Rolling Admissions, make sure that you have taken all of the required standardized tests before the fall of your senior year.
Requesting Transcripts
You will have to send an official copy of your transcript to all of the schools to which you apply. Find out what your high school's policy is for requesting transcripts. And remember, if you get an official transcript to mail yourself; do not open the sealed envelope that it comes in. If you do, the college will not accept it.
Essays
Since this is the step students seem to agonize over the most, make it easy on yourself and start thinking about your essays early. The key to writing your essays is to be yourself and find your own voice. Try to pick an original topic that makes you unique. Write a number of drafts before the final one and be sure that your final draft is free of typos and spelling or grammar errors.
If you need guidance on how to write a good essay, we recommend
On Writing the College Application Essay by Harry Bauld (Harper Collins, 1987). Many online services offer personalized, one-on-one writing and editing assistance for college admissions essays. Take a look at our Resources page for services that offer help with admissions essays.
When to Start Work on Applications
To avoid stress, you should start working on your applications early as possible! The application and essays take longer to complete than most students realize. Proofread twice to find any mistakes and don't forget to send your application fee. If you choose to mail your application, paper clip your check to the first page to prevent it from getting lost and go to the post office to ensure that the envelope has the proper amount of postage.
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