This section will talk about the types of colleges you're applying to, the application process, decisions and more.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN:
*Make sure that you are applying using an email address that you will check frequently as once you have applied most colleges will send you information to set up your online portal. Your portal will show when documents are received for your application (ex., test scores, recommendation letters, etc....). Have a notebook or online document with your online portal user name and password especially when applying to multiple colleges.
*As stated in the HIGH SCHOOL section, make sure to keep a notebook with all information as you will need it when filling out the applications. Write down your passwords for each college portal.
*Number of College applications - Most schools do not but some high schools limit the number of college applications you can submit. If your school limits if they should have informed you about this prior to freshman year and you would have to sign a notice stating you understand. It is usually advised to apply to a mixture of schools - reach, target and safety. Usually reach schools are schools that you really don’t fit the profile for academically but there’s still a chance as even people with a perfect 4.0 and 1600 SAT scores get denied to some schools. A Target school means that the school is a perfect fit based on your grades and test scores and reach schools are schools that have a very high acceptance rate (see below).
*GPA recalculations - some colleges will recalculate your students GPA since so many different high schools use different scales. Some schools all A’s are a 4.0. Some schools an A can be a 3.7 or a 4.0. So to be fair some colleges will assign a different scale. While doing so most colleges will not add any weight to your GPA for honors or dual enrollment classes. They will only add weight for AP and IB classes so keep this in mind.
*Common Data Set - If you are a numbers person and like stats you can google “Common Data Set (and insert name of college) and you will find a list by years. You can see how many students applied, the average act/sat scores and even broken down by categories such as Math, Reading, etc. You will see how many females vs male applied, how many were accepted in to what major, etc.
COLLEGE APPLICATIONS:
*Common App - Allows you to apply to up to 20 schools. There is a fee per school unless you receive a fee waiver (see below). Most schools accept the Common App. You will need to fill out a basic profile which will take hours. Make sure you have your information ready (see the section titled THINGS TO KNOW for more information). From there you will add the colleges you are interested in. Again, most schools accept Common App but not all. Once you add a school you will then have to go in and fill out the required information each school requires (additional essays, selection of major, recommendation letters, etc.)
*Coalition App - Similar to the Common App but less used as most schools will offer the common app. There are some schools on the Coalition app that are not on the Common app though.
*Black Common App - The Black Common App allows you to apply to 60 HBCU’s for one price. This year it is $20 because of the 20 year anniversary but the price is expected to go up.
*Free College Week - Some states offer a week where you can apply to any state schools for free. This October our state offered free applications for over 40 colleges.
*Fee Waivers - some colleges will offer you a fee waiver if you do an in person visit. Some will email you and offer you a fee waiver valid for a certain time frame. If you receive free or reduced lunch your guidance counselor may be able to get fee waivers for you. You can also contact the college and ask for a waiver….., all they can say is yes or no!
*Additional Costs - Be aware that there can be a costs to send ACT/SAT scores to colleges as well as any portfolios (art, music, dance, etc). Before taking the ACT/SAT you can enter usually 3 or 4 schools that they will send test scores to for free. If you need to add additional schools there is around a $13 fee to send your scores to each school.
Even if your child doesn’t plan to major in art, music or dance but they have an extraordinary talent in those fields most schools allow you to submit a portfolio for review. If you do there is an additional fee to send this based on what type of portfolio and what school and normally the fees range from $5 - $50 per portfolio, per school.
ESSAYS:
*Some colleges will start to announce the essay prompts over the summer. Start working on those. You will most likely write, re-write, then write again. The Common App usually has about 6 different prompts to choose from. Work on these! There are several organizations that will assist with scholarship writing for a fee. They will provide feedback on what you can do differently and what works and doesn’t work. Also listen to some Youtube videos of students reading their essays. Not all schools will require an essay but most will. The more competitive the college is the more essays you will have to write. Do not wait until the last minute. Also based on the selected major/program of study additional essays could be required.
TYPES OF SCHOOLS & ACCEPTANCE RATES
*Generally schools are broken down in to SAFETY schools, TARGET schools and REACH schools. Most safety schools have a 70%+ acceptance rate. Targets usually start around 30% and then Reaches are mostly the Ivy Leagues and overall top colleges in the US. You can find the acceptance rate by typing in “Columbia Acceptance Rate” or replace “Columbia with your school”. You will probably be surprised at what schools are safeties…., some powerhouse big name schools such as University of Kentucky, Alabama, Auburn and University of Kansas are all considered safety schools.
TYPES OF APPLICATIONS:
Early Decision - The student, the parent and the guidance counselor all must sign a form acknowledging that this is a binding contract. Only apply Early DECISION if this is the school you KNOW you want to go to. The only way you can normally get out of this is if the financial aid isn’t sufficient. These applications are normally due in Oct - Dec. The pro to this is that Early Decision has a high acceptance rate as you are demonstrating to the college that they are your first choice. Another pro is the application period is over and you usually know by Oct - Jan where your child will be attending school.
Restrictive Early Action - usually for Ivy league schools. You are NOT binded by this but again you are telling the college you are interested. Some Ivy league’s don’t offer ‘early decision’ so they will offer the ‘restrictive early action’
Early Action - NOT binding. Again you are letting the college know that you are interested but that you’re not sold on them being the only one. You will usually hear back before February. Most students in early action are satisfied with their stats, standardized testing scores, essays, etc and are ready to submit their application.
Regular Decision - This is usually the final deadline and for most schools is between Jan - March.
Rolling - Some schools only offer rolling decisions while some offer Regular Decision and use rolling to fill in additional spots. If a school offers rolling it is on a first come first serve basis until they fill all of the spots. You may apply in October and hear back in October. You could apply in October and not hear back until March. The school can hold your application to view it in comparison to others that are applying. If a school offers regular decision and rolling that means that if you don’t submit your application during the regular application process you still can after that on a rolling basis and it will only be based on how many empty spots in certain majors that they have left. Schools such as Clemons, University of Florida, etc use this practice.
DECISIONS:
*Accepted - Yay! Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate! You’re officially college bound.
*Deferred - This isn’t a yes or no. The college needs more time to review your file and make a decision (this normally happens in early decision and early action rounds and your application will go into the pool with the regular decision applicants). Make sure to maintain your grades so when the updated mid year report/transcript is sent to the colleges your grades reflect you have remained on track. If you have received any awards make sure to mention them on your follow up form that needs to be submitted for deferred applicants.
*Rejected - It’s not you, it’s the college. They only have limited space and your story is to be written somewhere else. Rejection is just redirection. You will end up where you are meant to be.
*Waitlisted - There’s a chance you can get in. Once those accepted notify the college of their future plans, if they decide they will not be attending, that college then allows some on the waitlist to take a spot. The drawback is sometimes you find out after you have already committed to another college. Usually by May 1st you have to commit to a college and pay the non refundable deposit. If you get off the waitlist at the school of your dreams you can always accept that offer but you will lose your deposit at the previous school. Sometimes students don’t find out until a week before college classes start. Not every college offers a waitlist.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Stay up to date on college announcements by following the schools and different departments on different social media platforms.
*Instagram - Once you start applying to schools make sure to follow social media accounts for the school, the admissions office and the department in which you are applying as they will post information that can be useful. During the pandemic I noticed most schools using the ‘story’ feature on IG to do virtual tours, info session, etc. I found most schools to post more on Instagram, then Twitter and then some departments had their own Facebook groups.
*ZeeMee - this app allows students to enter the schools they are applying to. From there you join a chat room for each school. Sometimes the conversations in here are meaningless but sometimes they talk about their interest meetings with the schools, upcoming application and scholarship deadlines you might have forgotten about, etc.
*College Confidential - student and parent site to talk about colleges. You can look back at previous years conversations and get information from them. Thousands of pages of communications. There are groups for each college as well. There’s also a group for African American parents to discuss college.
*Blogs - Follow blogs on the schools site. They can provide a lot of answers to your questions. Some allow you to enter your direct questions and someone will answer all of them sometimes in a matter of hours and you can go through all of the Q&A’s to learn more.
The University of Georgia has the best blog there is! (#godawgs)
Comments