Missing Application Items

Every year after college applications get submitted I am bombared with emails and visits from seniors in a panic about the notifications they have received from colleges about additional requirements needed to complete their applications.

There are things that you have to know and take care of related to your applications - transcripts and test scores are two of the big ones that typically cause the most problem at this point.  See, the challenge is that colleges know these are components that many students forget so as soon as they download your application, many colleges automatically generate an email to remind you about needing to send them.

So what do you do if you get one of these notification alerts?

The first step is to stop and ask yourself - did you request your transcript?  That means, did you fill out the online transcript release form for us?  If you did, and the application was through Common App or SendEDU you can log onto the websites to verify that your transcript was sent and on what day it was submitted.  If you applied through a college that doesn't use Common App or SendEDU, you can check with me or Mrs. McDaniel to see when your transcript was submitted.

For your test scores, it is often harder to recall off the top of your head if you had submitted your scores or not since you signed up for 4 free scores to go to colleges when you registered for the tests.  So, I suggest that you log into the ACT and SAT websites and double check that your test scores were sent to every college where you are applying.

Colleges get really back-logged at peak application times and so it can take them several weeks to get all of the various components of applications matched up and processed and updated on their computer systems.  So, if your materials were sent in within the last 2-3 weeks and you can see that your materials were submitted, then you can relax because it just means that their system is backed up.  You can continue double checking on the college website to verify that they have everything.  If you are reaching the end of the 3rd week and they still don't show that they have everything, then you can give them a call to double check the status of your materials.  Like I said, chances are they just haven't made it there yet, but there are times where materials can get lost in the mail or filed in the wrong area.  If your transcript needs sent again, we can help you work to take care of that, but please first make sure that it is really missing.

For example, today we received an email from OSU because they had a November 15th early action deadline and so they were reminding counselors that students may see an "incomplete" status update for their applications because they have received so many applications right in the final days leading up to the deadline.  Their email said that due to the heavy volume of applications received they are at least 10 days behind on processing and connecting all application materials and updating it in the application center.  They specifically requested that we (counselors) help to calm you and not to send in materials that aren't requested as missing because that double paperwork will only further backlog their system.

If you have done everything that you were required to do then for now, try to just relax and wait this process out - I promise, this is a common frustration for seniors at this time of year.

In case you're not totally sure if you should believe me on this topic or not, here is an article that also talks about this:  Before you yell at your school counselor.