Thursday, August 16, 2007

Submitting College Applications


I have had a lot of questions lately about the process for submitting college applications. Hopefully all of the Seniors have been searching for colleges that are good fits for you and have started working on your applications.

When applying, it is preferred to apply online. (You can submit by paper too.) After submitting your application online most colleges will have a form that you will need to download for me to complete for you. You will need to bring these forms with any other supportive materials that the college requests to the Counseling and Career Center. (Supportive materials might be teacher recommendation letters, sample writings, etc.)

There are yellow Transcript Release forms on the filing cabinets right inside of the Counseling and Career Center that you must complete before any of your transcripts can be sent. You will need to complete the transcript release form and provide all of the materials plus a $3.00 fee to Mrs. Hoyt (Registrar). She then runs your transcript and provides it in a professional folder to me and I will work on completing the form and we then send the entire packet of materials to your college. You will be able to track this entire process on PrepHQ so you will know exactly when your application has been mailed. (If you are completing a paper application you will need to submit the entire application, application fee, essays, recommendation, and counselor forms with your transcript release form to Mrs. Hoyt.)

It is ESSENTIAL to watch your deadlines carefully! You need to provide plenty of time for the application to be processed. The best “rule of thumb” for your getting your application to the guidance office is 30 days before the due date. (Don’t forget that many colleges have earlier due dates than those publicized to be considered for scholarships so you need to read carefully.) If your application requires a recommendation letter from me, you definitely need to provide me with the 30 days of time because I write all recommendation letters on a first come first written basis and I do not want to have your application submitted after the due date because it wasn’t given to me with a reasonable amount of time. If the form does not require a recommendation letter (or if I already have a letter written for you) then my goal is to turn your application around in 1 to 2 school days. Please remember though that there is additional time required to actually get the materials to me and then also get them mailed out.

We’ll talk about recommendation letters more in depth in another entry. :-) I think this one is plenty long. As always, please remember that I am here to help you and will help guide you through the process as we go. Feel free to ask questions and drop in to see me as you work on your applications.

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