Tips for Undertaking the Application Process

Getting started

• Set up a folder for each application. Keep all material relevant to each college in its own folder.
• Request letters of recommendations at least two weeks (a month is better) before the deadlines.
• Review all application requirements. Set up a schedule for completing them. You might want to put off this task as long as you can, but procrastination is risky. There is a lot to do, especially if you have several essays to write. You may not do the application (and yourself) justice if you leave it until the last minute. Remember: Leave enough time for correcting and revising.

Completing the application process

• Review each page of the application and its directions completely before you start to work on it.

• Be accurate, honest and neat. Spell correctly and use correct grammar.

• Don’t type your essay directly into the application. Draft it separately, then upload the final, proof-read version.

• Request the testing organization to send your official test scores directly to the colleges. Do not send a photocopy of your own test score report unless requested to do so. Sometimes, a college accepts a photocopy as a means of obtaining preliminary information, but it will need the official report to make an offer of admission.
• When you have completed your application, ask someone to review it and check it for errors.
• Print and save to your hard drive the completed application before you send it.
• If you file an online application, be sure to tell your counselor when you have submitted the application and which materials the school needs to send to the college (such as recommendations or the transcript).

Tips for online applicants

• Make sure a person whose opinion you trust reviews the application for errors before you send it.
• Use standard spelling and grammar — not email-ese: Treat this like a paper application.
• Spell your name the same way on the online application and on other components that are sent via mail; this will help the colleges match the components of your application in a timely way.
• Have your test scores sent to the colleges to which you are applying, if you haven’t already.
• Print out a paper copy for your records.
• Do not apply electronically and send a paper copy in the mail: Wait for confirmation that the electronic copy was received (you should get that within three or four days, if not sooner).
• Tell your counselor of every online application you send, so he or she can send transcripts and letters of recommendation.

Sourced from: Handout 4B, College Counseling Sourcebook, 7th Edition