My students have started to hear back from their early round of applications. If you made an Early Decision commitment and were admitted to your school, congratulations! You will not only need to send a deposit but also withdraw any applications that are pending at other colleges and contact any schools you were admitted to and let them know you will not be attending. If you’re still waiting on an aid offer from your ED choice however, you can hold off a little longer on withdrawing. Insufficient aid is the only acceptable reason to break an ED commitment, but neither the school nor the student wants this to happen. If you’ve received an aid offer that is not adequate, you can appeal. These are some of my favorite articles on how to approach this, and I’m available for guidance as well.

Although many of my students have received good news, there have been some disappointments. I know this feels bad and that’s normal. Once you’ve had a chance to process the news, I hope you have other schools on your list that will be great choices for you. If you need guidance on finishing applications or essays, or strategizing about ED2 options, I hope you’ll contact me.

I am working with lots of students who are wrapping up applications, and I’m encouraging everyone to do so before winter break starts, especially if you have application deadlines around the new year. Ideally you will be ready to submit with a school day to spare. That way, if anything goes wrong you still have time to connect with school staff, like your counselor or recommenders, to solve any glitches before they go offline for vacation. Be considerate of them–they’ve earned their time off just as you have.

Once you’ve submitted everything, keep your eye on the portals for each school and make sure you’re doing everything you need to do. And if you haven’t sent updates such as first quarter grades, you might want to contact the admissions reps and share them, along with any other new information that could boost your candidacy.

Regardless of whether you’ve submitted all your applications or are still wrapping up, I hope you’re able to have a wonderful, restful winter break and start 2022 with renewed energy!