Get It Together . . .

Seniors, get it together.

By now the vast majority of college-bound seniors have begun to realize the difficult road ahead for completing college admission applications. The fact is there is a lot more to do than students realize; fill out and submit multi-page applications with multiple essays, completion of application supplements to the Common Application, requesting recommendation letters, requesting and receiving official copies of grade transcripts, finalizing student résumés, and writing cover letters.

There’s a lot to applying to college, but students must realize hesitating to work on applications NOW could prove to be very expensive. This fall, students will discover many high school responsibilities and events will interfere with the completion of college applications, such as preparing for classroom tests, finishing term papers and group projects, completing senior projects, and participating in numerous social events.

Allowing high school “interferences” to delay completion of early action applications (or forcing students to wait to apply using Regular Applications with February 2009 deadlines), will not only reduce student chances for admission, but will reduce the opportunities to receive AVAILABLE SCHOLARSHIP AND GRANT MONEY.

Historically, the percentage of early applicants accepted to college is much higher than the percentage of regular applicants and, moreover, the clear majority of financial aid is awarded to early applicants. While many regular admission student applicants get accepted to colleges of their choice, far fewer receive significant scholarships and grants. By the time regular admission applicants are accepted, the majority of financial aid has been awarded to early student applicants. Scholarship and grant money may be gone by the time regular applications are received.

So students, get it together and work through your high school responsibilities to start working on college applications NOW. Don’t reduce your chances to receive substantial scholarships and grants by waiting too long. For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org.

Dottie Sterling
MyCollegeCalendar.org Advisor