You hit submit, now what?
February 4th, 2020Regular decision applications have been sent off for review and early action deferrals will soon be reviewed again: the waiting game is in full force. For some high school seniors who sent their applications in the fall, a lot can happen between their submission and the final decision in March. Is there anything applicants can do to increase their chances of admission during this downtime? Sure!
When significant progress has been made since the application was sent off, updating your profile can make a difference in the outcome. Many times students are able to use the update link through their portal on the college’s website and I believe this is always the best path if offered. If not, emailing one’s admission contact or the regional admission officer is wise, with clarity in the subject line, such as “Update information for (full name), Fall 2020 applicant.”
If you have been questioning whether or not you should provide an update to your application, the article linked below from Medium will help you make that call.
Article referenced below from Medium.com published February 15, 2019 written by Theo Wolf
Guide to Sending an Update to Colleges After Applying
So you’ve sent in your applications and now you’re nervously waiting to hear back. You might be wondering if there’s anything more you can do to help sway the decision. The answer is yes! While we don’t recommend inundating the admissions office with updates (there’s a classic story known in college admissions circles about a kid who sent postcards to the admissions office every week), in some cases it can be helpful to send an update to the schools you’ve applied to.
Should I submit an update?
You should submit an update to colleges if you have made significant progress in some aspect of your candidacy story, whether you’ve greatly developed your Spike, won a major award, received serious recognition from a well-known website, etc. If you haven’t done anything noteworthy, an update email is unnecessary, as it will be unlikely to move the needle on your application and may actually annoy admissions officers (they have a massive amount of reading to do this time of year). You don’t need to send an update on grades (unless it’s requested of you), since that will be in your counselor’s midyear report. We particularly recommend an update if the college cares about demonstrated interest.
Tagged: Admission decision, Applications, College, Common application, Early action
Deep dive: show schools and colleges who you really are
January 7th, 2020When applying to boarding school or college, you work to distill your entire life into a several-page application for someone to read and determine your fate. What do you include? How do you stand out against the other piles of applications?
Sure, you include test scores, GPA, involvement in clubs and other extracurricular activities. But what really makes you, you? What do you do on a day to day basis that doesn’t necessarily “earn points” with the admission office but shows what you really value as a person? In the article linked below from Forbes contributor Brennan Barnard, you’ll learn how to take a deep dive into your daily tasks and discover exactly how to reveal what’s at your core to admission officers.
Seniors sending updates to admission offices may glean some ideas, and juniors looking ahead to next year’s applications can certainly benefit from Barnard’s article. Boarding school applicants, too, may find this article helpfulful as they put final touches on pending applications.
Article referenced below from Forbes, published November 20, 2019 written by Brennan Barnard
What Matters In College Admission
A look of surprise and encouragement washes over his face and with earnest he exclaims, “You mean that matters?”
I am sitting in my school counseling office reviewing a high school senior’s college application, and I have asked why there is no mention of the hours he spends at home after school caring for his grandfather.
Tagged: Applications, College, Personal characteristics
On the road to independence
November 12th, 2019The first round of Early Action and Early Decision deadlines has passed. And now, on to the next round of deadlines (some coming up quite soon) while trying to stay afloat during your busiest semester yet! Each step that you complete makes you more self-reliant and independent. Even taking ownership of small tasks, like contacting an admission office to have a question resolved, helps you build confidence to tackle bigger challenges. Each accomplishment, whether large or small, is strengthening you for the next phase of life. That’s worth celebrating!
Empowering teenagers to take initiative in shaping their future is crucial to their growth, and completing applications is just the beginning. The article referenced below from The New York Times details the challenges inherent in this journey and how the overall experience creates the kind of “growth parents dream of.”
Article referenced below from The New York Times, published October 22, 2019 written by Kelly Corrigan
After a College Applicant Hits ‘Send’
In the early days of last fall, my daughter was projecting confidence about the college application process. She’d make a spreadsheet, things would be checked off, it’ll all come together, Mom. But right around this point, with classes and sports in full swing, college mutated from something exciting to that-which-shall-not-be-named. To inquire about, say, a 150-word supplemental essay was to provoke a fit of unholy madness.
It was probably no coincidence that her mood crashed just before the Nov. 1 early application deadline, as I bet it is doing in a couple million households across the country right this minute.
What I couldn’t have known then is this: Something beautiful is being formed in the dumpster fire that is senior fall. Regardless of outcome, the college application process itself can force the kind of growth parents dream of. Here’s why:
Read more at The New York Times>>
Tagged: Applications, College
CSS Profile vs. FAFSA: What is the difference?
October 15th, 2019Understanding need-based financial aid can be overwhelming, and through this blog post we hope to alleviate some of your confusion. The first question that many families ask is, “How do we apply for aid?” While students apply for admission, parents seeking need-based assistance take care of the financial aid application process.
There are two principal forms to understand: all colleges use the FAFSA in computing financial aid award packages, and some private colleges also require the CSS Profile to review a family’s financial resources from a different perspective. Every college offers a financial aid section on its website, where you can find highly detailed information about both process and requirements.
With both FAFSA and CSS Profile live as of October 1st, questions naturally arise. We’re often asked, “What, exactly, is the difference between the two?” The article linked below from NerdWallet lays out the basics of both FAFSA and Profile pretty clearly.
Please note: on today’s blog post we focus primarily on need-based financial aid, but many families are interested in merit scholarships as well. While both need-based and merit scholarships provide college students with financial assistance, a merit scholarship is generally unrelated to demonstrated financial need; instead, it’s based on a high level of achievement in academics, athletics or the arts. We’ll devote a future blog post specifically to merit scholarships.
Article linked below from NerdWallet, published September 30, 2019, written by Anna Helhoski
CSS Profile vs. FAFSA: How Are They Different?
To get financial aid for college, you must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. But your school may also want you to submit the CSS Profile, an additional application that determines state and institutional financial aid.
» MORE: Your guide to financial aid
The FAFSA determines your eligibility for federal aid like the Pell Grant, work-study and federal student loans if you attend most colleges that participate in the Title IV federal financial aid program. The application is also often required by states and schools for their own scholarship and grant programs.
The CSS Profile is only used by certain schools, listed on the CSS Profile site, as part of their financial aid process for aid like grants and scholarships.
To read more go to Nerd Wallet>>
Tagged: Applications, College, Financial aid, High school
