10 Jan Road Map for January: Seniors

With many college application deadlines in January and February, you may be wrapping up the last of your submissions or may even be done.  As you finish this phase of the process, make sure that all your admission and financial aid files are complete. Note that third-party portals like the Common Application and Coalition Application cannot confirm whether your test scores, FAFSA and CSS Profile have been received by each college.  Instead, log into the portal that each college creates for you when your application is submitted and confirm that your file is complete, or follow up on any missing items.  (Keep in mind that it can take a few days for admissions staff to log documents or associate them with the right applicant, so for recommendations in particular, don’t assume if an item wasn’t received that it wasn’t sent.)

For students who completed applications in the Early Decision or Early Action round and were admitted, congratulations are in order!  If you were deferred in the early round, check out this advice for steps you can take to be as competitive as possible in the regular decision pool.  You can also contact me for one-on-one guidance.

Your school counselor will send a midyear report to colleges that have accepted you as well as those that haven’t made a decision yet.  This includes an update on your grades, so keep working hard in your classes.  You might also want to share updates on any recent accomplishments that were not included in applications you submitted earlier.  This is also the time to turn your attention to applying for scholarships from national and community organizations.  For good advice on this process, check out this guide.