With the fall in full swing as we head into October, we on Galin’s college counseling team wanted to remind our seniors that with it officially being October you are mere weeks away from submitting your first college applications. We know, SPOOKY! And with the clock ticking away, we wanted to provide a last minute checklist for your upcoming October 15th Deadlines:
Galin’s October 15th Checklist:
Transcripts:
Depending on the specific university, students applying for the October 15th deadline will either be fine to simply self report their high school classes and grades via the common app or will need to have their transcripts official sent in on their behalf from their high school counselor. This means that if you haven’t been a regular in your local college counseling office now is the time to meet with your counselor to make sure they are not only aware of your October 15th deadline but also ready to send out your official transcripts on your behalf. So, pop your head in their office – don’t be scared, we promise they’re nice people!
Testing:
Testing, the spookiest of the checklist items as we head into October. Identifying whether your college requires official testing to be sent in or allows students to self report via the common app is a necessary checkpoint for any student aiming for the earliest of early application deadlines. Be sure to doublecheck each of your college’s requirements ASAP in order to provide yourself enough time to send in any testing either via the ACT or the CollegeBoard.
Letters of Recommendation:
Of course, in this process no application is complete without your letters of recommendation! And we at Galin truly hope that this checklist item is one you’ve already taken care of because, a teacher’s worst nightmare is being asked to write a compelling and supportive letter of recommendation only 10 days away from a deadline. In case you are just now asking for your letters of recommendation, be sure to be kind, appreciative, and understanding as your recommenders shift into overdrive to get your letters sent in by the upcoming October 15th deadline.
Supplemental Essays:
Many colleges will not require students to write more than their standard personal statement in order to complete their application. BUT, many colleges do require seniors to write what we in the business call “supplemental essays” in order to complete their application. If your October 15th colleges are of the latter variety, then be sure to put pen to paper and knock out your required supplemental essays in order to make sure the universities have everything needed in order to possibly admit you into their freshman class.
Well, is anyone feeling a bit spooky yet? Hopefully not but, if you are then hopefully we can give you a piece of advice to avoid the October spookies next time you find yourself in the application process. Prior planning, especially on the earlier side of things, will make sure that your student is well prepared and relatively unstressed as the head into the start of application season in October. Whether it’s during 9th, 10th, or at the latest 11th grade, working with the college counseling team at Galin Education will empower you to forecast all of your checklist items so that you can actually enjoy the month of October instead of worrying about how you’ll be able to get your application by the 15th.
