<p>I am a long-time lurker, and certainly no expert, but I have gained much from listening to other parents here on CC. My child is now a rising senior, so for our family, the fuse is lit. My child has gotten the grades, the test scores, the EC's. My child is making the decisions about where to apply and what to major in, and (of course) going to write all the essays, answer the opinion questions, ask for teacher recs, etc. While continuing a very, very busy life at school and ECs this fall as a senior. </p>
<p>My job will be to organize the application work and handle the clerical details, which is what I am good at. I am prepared for some people to criticize my involvement even at that limited level, but so be it. If there is any other parent out there who is organizing now and would share some ideas, I would be grateful. </p>
<p>Here is what I am doing:
1. I have bookmarked the admissions page of all the colleges sunnykid has chosen to apply to.
2. I have gathered (digital and print) the 2010 Common App to study and either the application (if the college doesn't use the Common App) or the Supplement (if they do) for all the colleges. Most of them haven't released their 2010 app/supplement yet, but I am ready for when that happens. July 1 or thereabouts for most of them, I think.
3. I am going through each app/supp to glean the info to put on spreadsheets or charts:
*Which they use: Common App/supplement or unique App--spreadsheet
*Due dates--spreadsheet
*Essay prompts (so they can be compared, and work can begin)--chart</p>
<p>This alone is a lot of work, and I know there are a lot of other pieces of data I will need to go back through and enter. I know this because I have read the EXCELLENT tips from the experts on CC (thank you!). Much of this excellent advice I clipped and filed for use now, and I am using it.</p>
<p>QUESTIONS:
When should Sunnykid and I apply for FAFSA pins, and register on the college admissions websites?
Is there anything else that should be organized early?</p>
<p>Just remember that all that has been released of the 2009-2010 Common Application is the preview. The official application will not be available until July 1. At that time you will be able to register on the site for this cycle and access the current year supplements as they become available.</p>
<p>Be sure to go through the financial aid sections of each college’s website, carefully noting requirements and deadlines. Be prepared to have your taxes done (or at least a good estimate) by 2/1.</p>
<p>Encourage sunnykid to complete essays and a lot of the application this summer. Senior year is amazingly busy, and it is much better to have that work out of the way rather than trying madly to get it all done on New Year’s Eve.</p>
<p>Thank you, runnersmom. I did not know the Common App I got hold of was not the “official” final copy. Ouch–good info.</p>
<p>And fireflyscout, you have helped me so much by (among other things) coordinating the enormous project of collecting National Merit qualifying scores. I am trying to figure out how to motivate sunnykid to work on those essays this summer and early fall. I’m thinking bribery.</p>
<p>We are. Mom of a rising senior here. We’ve discussed this and her job is to work hard at school and on her applications and get herself into college. My job is to organize everything else. This my first go-round being the mom of an applicant - I hope we both survive!</p>
<p>Get a calendar…we used one of those desk size ones. Write EVERY important deadline down, including admissions and financial aid deadlines. THEN a week or ten days BEFORE that deadline (we used red ink for this) write down your 10 day warning that “whatever” is due. We found that a large visual worked a LOT better than doing it online or with a spreadsheet. This calendar was in our kitchen in a prominent place for many months. Also on it were high school commitments so that the kids could see if there were going to be conflicts in getting things completed (e.g. the week before the holiday band concert was not the time to work on an application…or anything else for that matter).</p>
<p>We used ONE email address for all college “stuff”…we actually used my email because I knew it was not likely to change…AND I READ my email and make note of what it says. My kids are not always so vigilant:)</p>
<p>I used a big 4" binder and labeled it “college comparisons” to collect all stray pieces of
info from all the colleges DS was interested in (otherwise there would have been scraps
everywhere!). Besides college stuff, it had a tab for advice about how to ask for a
recommendation, a tab for advice about writing essays, etc.</p>
<p>One thing I thought was really useful was once DS said the application was close to
done, I laid all the pages out on the dining room table. Then I said to son: Does this
say everything you want to say about yourself? Just from reading this, would you like
this kid? Then it stayed there for about a week, after which he came back to it to look
at it with new eyes.</p>
<p>Remember that the high school might want to know about college needs for transcripts or reference letters a number of school days before they are due and watch out for January deadlines that cause requests to be due at the high school well before winter break.</p>
<p>we’ll be working on son’s this summer also. may be a bit of a challenge…he goes to a school 6 hours away, and although now finished for the year, he was home exactly one week and left today for an internship that will end just a few days before school starts next year. most of our work will be done by emailing each other and phone…he has some early deadlines he needs to meet for some colleges (sept 21 is the earliest i think) . this week he will be settling in at his internship and saturday taking the act for hopefully last time… then his job is to firm up his potential list of schools, he has about 14 right now, may get bigger may get smaller. but hoping all apps will be done by sept then only fafsa if absolutely necessary (we wont qualify anyway)</p>
<p>The essay questions on the preview version of the actual Common App (not individual school supplements) do not appear to have changed. They are not highlighted and they look to me to be the same as they have been for the past few years.</p>
<p>Last summer was application season at this house - and I have a bit of knowledge to impart that was learned the hard way. My daughter completed the common app over the summer, including working diligently on both the short answer and the essay. However, she paid scant attention to the supplements that can be required in addition to that common app. I believe that Rice wanted another 3 essays (varying lengths) and an additional one-inch square box to be creatively filled in, Notre Dame had an additional two essays, and so on. In additional to the required supplements, merit scholarships demanded essays also. To say that completing the common app was just a drop in the bucket probably understates the amount of work she still had left. If she were to do it over, the common app would have been completed and then the supplements - at least some of them - would have been addressed in the good ole summertime.</p>
<p>Which schools require SAT II’s and which SAT II’s are required.
How many teacher recs are required by each school.
Help your child make a resume that is overly inclusive so you can pare it down later.
Help child organize ECs and attribute hours/weeks to each. It’s helpful to have a uniform aproach.
Think about your teacher recs. I have a rising Senior and she has already approached her two top teachers. I sent D1 to college a few years ago and found that teachers were swamped in the fall and I promised myself to encourage an earlier approach this time around.
Most importantly, evaluate each school for EA/ED approach. There are a lot of different strategies, but with a competitive student, it seems to be a good idea to have an early approach when possible.</p>
<p>I used a large folder with multiple slots which I labeled for each school. I had one slot that I reserved for test result documentation for D1. I also had a notebook where I kept D1’s SSAN and encouraged her to write down each sign-in name and password for each school (they are all ridiculously different). </p>
<p>D1 did all of her own applications as will D2, but I found it very helpful to work with her on organization. It’s easy to get burnt out on essays and for the entire process to become overwhelming for your child and for you. Helping to organize and strategize seemed like the best way to assist my child and to keep her spirits up through the LONG essay/application process. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I’d also set aside time for proof reading of the basic info. Every one proofs the essays to death - but the basic application also contains a great deal of information - be sure to proof that carefully</p>
<p>I have to rub it in: D is gathering herself for applications to grad school. My responsibilities are: ZILCH!!!</p>
<p>Mwu-hah-hah-hah-hah!!!</p>
<p>First time around I was project manager and I, too, had the theory that essays would be done over the summer. Theory met reality. Pushing the last of the apps across the post office counter on 12/28 or whenever was one of the more relieved moments I’ve had…from what I’ve heard, akin to passing a kidney stone.</p>
<p>For parents acting as project manager re deadlines and such, no matter how responsible and proactive your S or D, prepare to receive a larger than usual amount of eye-rolling. (And have large bits of life be rendered in the key of “Zits” if you know what I mean.)</p>
<p>OP: you seem well enough organized that even I wouldn’t worry about you.</p>
<p>I’m prepping for grad school apps as well… One early (submit in October, decision in November) and a bunch (likely around 30-40) in December through February. In hindsight, I miss the days of applying to undergrad, when I at least knew I could get in <em>somewhere</em>.</p>
<p>I found it was helpful to also bookmark the school newspaper sites for each of my kid’s finalists. Through the Fall, they would browse those sites as well to get a feel for the schools.</p>
<p>My D wants to apply on 7/1…I’m the one holding her back, which is a huge surprise to me since the process with my sons had been so painful. I want her to wait for her October SATs. </p>
<p>We’ll do two college road trips this summer (a college a day…not counting drive-throughs of other schools on our way to the ones where we’ll have scheduled visits). She thinks her list is almost complete. Based on my other kids, I think she may change her mind when she sees some other schools that meet her criteria.</p>
<p>D’s Junior class has been writing two college essays in English class this month, getting them critiqued by both their own English teacher and nongraded comments from another English teacher. Our public school sends 95%+ of its students to college and is like a finely oiled machine…every Junior family has already had a meeting with a GC to review possible schools and the process, recommendations for schools, etc., and was given information packets with FAFSA information, SAT/ACT dates, etc. </p>
<p>The colleges start to arrive at the HS in September, usually 3 or 4 Admissions reps a day. Students are excused for personal meetings and/or presentations. They are also given excused absences (no limit) for college visits as long as they provide proof that they did a college tour, so we’ll take a second look when schools are in session of the two or three finalists. Sometimes the colleges offer admission-fee waivers during the meetings at the high school, which is a nice bonus. I also discovered with prior kids that occasionally admissions fees are waived during college visits in the Fall - something you might want to check out for your kid’s schools.</p>
<p>On a roll after writing essays for May SAT, May AP/comp, and June SAT II English exams, these kids might want tackle college essays. But in reality - they are tired, tired, tired. I get blasted anytime I suggest anything. </p>
<p>However, D saw a Senior friend’s college apps go badly due to procrastination - peer pressure is best. </p>
<p>Prep school is pushing summer visits (impossible due to internship) and is screaming to have essays done by the beginning of school, so that editors can move on the quickly. three years ago only 47% of students had an application out in fall admissions (EA, ED, Rolling, etc). This past year 82% had early apps. Think October, not December.</p>
I envy this. D’s hs had two “college counselors” over and above regular counselors but once you got beyond the state schools and USC, they knew jack and anything that was the slightest bit outside their experential box befuddled them. Some of the parents on CC could have done their jobs better.</p>