Congratulations, you’ve made it. We are officially past the biggest of our early admissions deadlines and you are now on the other side. Whether you applied via early action, early decision, or any number of earlier priority admission deadlines, the work and planning of the first half of the year has paid off as you submitted your applications this past weekend. So now, what’s next?
As families and seniors turn the page of the first chapter of this admission journey, it’s important to remember that there is still work to do before reaching the final deadlines of January. So allow the college counseling team at Galin to guide you with a few important reminders to keep in mind as you move forward in this process:
1.The Applicant Portal:
After seniors submit their applications, each college will take a period of time before emailing them to provide access to each student’s application portal. These are college specific websites that allow students to track the reception of their applications, any necessary admission materials, and eventually their application decisions. Seniors should note that their access to these portals and subsequently the updates being provided via each portal will take a number of days to update so, it’s important to not only make sure that each college’s emails aren’t being routed to your spam folders but also to remember that there will be delays in the reception of your materials at each college. This means that should any materials needed to render a decision are missing, universities will reach out to alert each candidate and candidates should wait until reaching out to colleges for updates.
2. Honors Colleges & Scholarships:
Along with necessary application updates being delivered via the applicant portal, seniors may also receive supplemental updates should each college decide to offer them a chance to apply for select applications into honors colleges or specific scholarship opportunities. Many universities will have asked students to note whether they were interested in applying for the opportunity to join their honors colleges/programs when filling out their common applications. Should students have checked “yes”, then they would have either had to apply via an additional application via the common application or be alerted to complete their applications for these honor programs via their college specific applicant portals. Additionally, any specialized considerations for merit based scholarships are also routinely offered via the applicant portals as well.
3. Regular Decision & Early Decision Round 2 Strategy:
As students and families enjoy a brief respite from the work of the early admissions process, they need to know that there is still work left on the horizon. Whether students have a number of regular decision applications due in January or need to figure out whether they will be applying to a secondary choice via the early decision round 2 option, seniors need to keep focused to truly maximize their admissions process. For the regular decision round seniors need to leverage the work they’ve already done via the early admissions process while also outlining a timeline to completion for all supplemental essays moving forward. For the upcoming 2nd round of early decision, seniors and families need to think long and hard on what universities they would be willing to apply to via the binding admissions round while also weighing the outcome of the decisions that will soon be released in December.
For the families of juniors who are currently working hard to prepare themselves for their own upcoming admissions process, we also have advice to provide. As we head into November juniors should begin seeking out guided test prep to make sure that they have the support needed to reach the scores necessary for the colleges as they eye next fall’s admission deadlines. Juniors should also begin scheduling campus visits at all of the possible colleges and universities that they may be applying to. By visiting campuses, juniors are able to get a snapshot into the life they may be living on campus and in the classroom at a number of possible landing spots before they are forced to hit “submit” on their applications next fall.
However, all of these next steps require strategy, guidance, and support as acceptance rates have dropped and application numbers have continued to rise at a number of the most popular colleges. This is where the college counseling team at Galin steps in. We have the experience of decades worth of directors of admission who have recruited, reviewed, and decided on thousands upon thousands of applicants to some of the top universities in the country. By working with our team you make sure your admissions process is one filled with support and guidance as students work to secure acceptances at a number of their dream colleges.
