College Applications Questions for Experienced Parents

Parents Forum
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<p>Hello parents of CC! I hope it is okay that I am posting this here. I have always gotten the most informative, helpful, and well thought out responses in the Parent's Forum, so I decided to give it a go and post this here since many of you have already been through the college application process - some of you multiple times! This process is SO overwhelming, and I have several questions relating to the college application process that I hope you can answer or at least give advice or post what your experience was like.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Is it okay if my daughter sends her transcripts and have her teachers send in their recommendation letters BEFORE she is done completing and submitting the online application? The applications have many intricate parts to them, such as filling out parts relating to extracurricular activities and writing essays, that are very time consuming. Since school has started, she has not had a whole lot of time to devote and work on these aspects of the applications - it is an evolving process. She probably won't have them completely finished until the beginning to middle of October, so would it be okay to submit her transcripts and teacher recommendation letters before she completes this process? She especially does not want to have to go to her teachers last minute and put them on a strict and tight deadline of having to write her recommendation letters. Would the colleges be able to "match up" these aspects of her application, the transcripts and recommendation letters, with the actual online application that would be sent in by her and completed later?</p></li>
<li><p>How long does it take the school to REALLY receive ACT test scores? My daughter already has a pretty decent score on the ACT, but decided to take it again during the September 8th testing date just to see if she could raise her score by even a point or two. The entire score report (with her writing score) wouldn't be available until the beginning of October. So, if she improves her ACT score on the September 8th test, would she have to opt for the priority reporting option in order to ensure that the colleges receive her scores by the application deadline? One of her colleges has an October 15th deadline while the rest of the colleges have a November 1st deadline. I already looked at the ACT website and they are very vague. It says something along the lines that for regular reporting your request will be processed in about a week and that every two weeks, on an ongoing basis, scores will be sent out to colleges. With priority reporting, your request is processed within two to three days and then sent in three to five days or so later. Priority reporting is not that much more expensive (only like $5 or so) so we may do this anyway just to make sure there are no delays. I just wanted to ask the parents that have "been there and done that" what your experience with reporting these scores has been like.</p></li>
<li><p>On one of her applications, they want a detailed reporting of all the extracurricular activities that she has been in during high school. For each activity, she has to list, in detail, how much time each week she has spent on each activity and how many weeks per year she spends on the activity. They want it in a format like this:</p></li>
</ol>

<p>High School Junior Varsity Girls Soccer, Captain, 10th grade, 10 hrs/wk, 10 wks/yr</p>

<p>or:</p>

<p>Student Council, 9th-11th grade, 1 hr/wk, 38 wks/yr</p>

<p>So, my question is how do you do this for new or ongoing activities? My daughter was just elected Vice President of the National Honor Society, so how should she report it on this application? If she put the number of hours and weeks she has actually already put into this activity, it would look like this:</p>

<p>National Honor Society, Vice President, 12th grade, 2 hrs/wk, 3 wks/yr</p>

<p>In reality, this is going to be an activity that she is going to be involved in the entire year, so would it be okay to report it like this:</p>

<p>National Honor Society, Vice President, 12th grade, 2 hrs/wk, 40 wks/yr (ongoing activity)</p>

<p>I know these are probably stupid questions, and I know I am being nitpicky, but I am just trying to ensure that my daughter fills out the applications like she is supposed to and how the college wants it. It does not give an example for how to fill out new or ongoing activities, so I just wanted to see if anybody here has any advice on what to do in this instance.</p>

<ol>
<li> Please provide any other advice or insight that you can -- I am all ears! I can't wait until November 1st when all these applications are completed and submitted. I know it will be even worse waiting for all the responses though!</li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks in advance for reading all of this, and I will truly appreciate any and all responses!</p>

2

<p>Answer to 1: Any recommendations, attachments, etc. can be loaded to the Common Application at any time before you actually send it off. Early is good. If you are sending non-Common Ap items to the school directly, find out from their admissions office what their policy is. Never assume items that you sent are received. Always confirm with the on-line system (if they have one) or call (give them 3 weeks after you send it. That includes SAT score reports. We had to send reports to one school 3 times because they lost the first two. </p>

<ol>
<li>They want to know about senior activities, too. Just estimate the time.</li>
</ol>

3

<ol>
<li><p>Schools will not be reviewing applications until after their application deadlines. So, it really doesn’t matter in what order they receive the various parts of the application.</p></li>
<li><p>Most school will post on their web sites the last testing dates to meet their test score deadlines. If it isn’t there or you can’t find it, call and ask. They will be happy to tell you what to do.</p></li>
<li><p>The times are always estimates. Just do your best at estimating. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>PS. If you think that doing the application is stressfull, just wait until you have them in and all you can do is wait for the answer.</p>

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<p>If she took the Sept ACT I would not send anything off to any college until that score report comes in (the one you get so she can put that on the application). Some colleges won’t accept test scores after they have received applications and while it might not matter for acceptance it might make a difference for scholarships. October is PLENTY early to get everything sent off. She should request LOR if she has not done so already. Find out what the school policy is for that. Our school collects the LOR’s and sends them with the package of information (transcript, school report, etc.). If your school is similar, it’s ok to have the teacher’s send in the LOR to the guidance office now. They will just hold them until they send off their information.</p>

<p>As for the time involved in activities, put what it will be through the year, so 3 hours/week for 18 weeks or whatever. They are looking for a rough idea how much time they spend, not a minute to minute countdown. Ad comms are smart enough to know that if you put down that they were on the basketball team that the season runs from November to March and practice is 3 hours/day or whatever. What they don’t want to see are applications that list every single second of every single day occupied by some EC or worse, no EC’s.</p>

<p>Are any of her schools on the Common Application? If two or more are, it is WELL worth doing that. As for time, she should plan a Sunday or whenever and just get them all done. Yes it’s time consuming but can be done. Essays can be reused or modified so chances are she won’t need to write totally new essays for each school.</p>

<p>How many schools is she applying to?</p>

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<p>HPuck35–many schools have EA or rolling admissions so they do review applications earlier than deadlines and often housing choices are based on when they received your application, as is merit aid in many cases so it can and does matter at many schools when you send your application–application being the key here.</p>

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<p>My D had her transcripts/recommendations sent to all 9 schools she applied to in October. She had to send by paper, even though many were Common App schools (her high school did not have the connecting software). Some colleges had 11/1 deadline and some had 12/31 deadline. Her applications were submitted at all different times, up to 12/31. I wasn’t sure how the schools would compile all the information between paper and electronic submissions but they did. Not one came back and asked for missing info. Some college sites had a portal that listed each piece of info received. We crossed our fingers on the others. (She got into them all so we know it worked.)</p>

<p>My D took the ACT in Sept & Oct of senior year. If you are applying Early Action (or Decision) with 11/1 due dates, check the college website for the latest test date it will use. Schools are vague too – if they read the file and the late score is in there, great. Just no guarantee they will have it when reading the file.</p>

<p>A year after this process and I still don’t know how we got through it all…now need to start with son.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the replies, everyone!</p>

<p>Unfortunately, none of the schools that my daughter is applying to accepts the common application. She’s applying to 5 Big 10 schools: Purdue, University of Wisconsin, UIUC, University of Iowa and the University of Minnesota. University of Iowa and University of Minnesota are easy applications and neither one of them requires any essays or LOR, so once she gets her September ACT score, she will complete those applications rather quickly. With Iowa, you just self report your ACT on their application.</p>

<p>SteveMA ~ I am not sure what you mean about attaching the ACT report/score to the application. The only one where you have to mention your ACT score is Iowa, and then you only need to self report it. If you are accepted and decide to attend there, then you don’t need your transcripts or ACT scores sent to them until the Summer of 2013. All the rest don’t have a spot on the online application where you list or attach your ACT scores. They all state that they want them electronically sent from the testing agency. Also, thanks for all your advice about school policy regarding these issues. The only school that she needs LOR for is Wisconsin. I’ll have her meet w/her high school counselor to see what their policy is. Purdue doesn’t require LOR’s, but they have a form your high school counselor has to fill out and then send in w/your transcripts. Hopefully, her counselor will be able to set her into the right direction.</p>

<p>HPuck ~ I hear ya! I know it will only get worse one all the applications are submitted and we are in waiting mode! Eeeek!!</p>

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<p>Forgot - don’t stress how you report the activities & times. We wasted so much time trying to figure it out. I think either way you showed NHS is fine, as long as the hours/week multiplied by the weeks = actual hours devoted to that activity in the school year.</p>

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<p>LadyHam–on the common app there is a place to put your test scores (they ask for the highest sub scores from any test dates). Several of the applications our kids filled out did ask what they had on their ACT/SAT’s but still required “official” scores sent either from ACT or the GC.</p>

10

<p>I suggest not having the high school send any material to the college until you have at least started an application online with the college. I think it will be easier to match the information together if the college already has an open computer file on the student.</p>

<p>There are some high-demand majors that fill up at some colleges before the actual application deadline, and there are many colleges that say they give extra preference in merit aid to early applicants.</p>

<p>Some colleges say on their website that having ACT/SAT test scores on the high school transcript are sufficient, while others require a direct report from the testing service. If you don’t need a direct report sent to the college, you might save $10 per test per college in ACT/SAT fees.</p>

<p>Be careful not to exaggerate the hours per activity. If they add up the hours and it is 200 per week, you won’t have any credibility.</p>

11

<ol>
<li><ul>
<li>yes, have the recs and transcripts go out asap. But I’d also start the app online, get a username/pass. Usually you can fill out the basics then return and fill out the rest as you write the essay, get the ECs together, etc.</li>
</ul></li>
<li><ul>
<li>might check with the schools themselves as they should know how long it takes and if it’s a big deal that the latest score isn’t in by deadline.</li>
</ul></li>
</ol>

<p>Why are her deadlines so early? Is she doing EA everywhere, or applying to music schools or something?</p>

12

<p>

</p>

<p>Many schools have a “pre-app” part that the kids fill out that basically starts a file for them at the college. Check all the app procedures for the schools you mentioned.</p>

<p>My kids got their recommendation packets to their teachers in mid September, so as to give their teachers ample time to do their part. Schools are used to getting application parts in pieces from teachers, school counselors, testing agencies, etc. Except for any pre-app, though, I’d send in the kid-portion of the app at the same time (that is, don’t send in the app now and the essays later).</p>

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<p>What a great question? I have been wondering about the same issues. The timing of submitting applications/supplements with all their parts and pieces coming from various people and sources is very tricky.</p>

<p>My son is applying to 7 schools. His top choice/high reach school and his top safety he wants to apply Early Action. However, his other top choice does not have the Early Action Option but has the Early Decision II option. How does this complicate completing the Common Applications, getting and submitting teacher evaluations and transcripts and test scores?</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Yes it is ok. It is better (for the school) if she applies first. That makes it easier to match the other parts when they come in. But, the admissions office has a process to match all the orphan information.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>DO NOT USE PRIORITY REPORTING. Priority reporting sends out a physical report of your scores. The schools you are applying to receive them electronically, and that is what the school wants (they don’t have to handle the physical paper). So, don’t waste your money.</p>

<p>When they say “at least every two weeks.”, I think that is during the slow season (like summer). During the fall, I wouldn’t be surprised they are electronically processing at least twice a week. In any case, I am sure their timing is to meet the 15th and 1st deadlines. So, if you get your request in by the 8th (request online, and pay by credit card), it should get there by the 15th. Unless there is something quirky about your D’s test site or her exam, the score should be posted around the 25th.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>If you have enough lines, you can list it twice. The first time as a “member” with regular involvement. then list it again with “vice president”, as the office, with an estimate of the new level of involvement.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I mapped out which school wants what by when. Transcripts, recommendations (how many, from whom), visits (including local to your area), interviews (when to request), SAT subject tests (which ones), Financial Aid (your deadline), mid-year grades, etc.</p>

<p>I drew up a calendar with weekly milestones. As long as she is hitting the milestones (submit college ABC that doesn’t have essays, draft #1 of essay for college DEF, etc.), then it is in her court. If she misses a milestone, then she can’t go out with her friends (or whatever) until it is done.</p>

15

<p>I would add two items that we learned the hard way.
1 - If you elect to retake an SAT, fill out the part that says that they school can see your old scores. We accidentially checked the wrong box, which meant that several schools did not have ANY SAT scores by the deadline, which can delay early action applications to regular decision. It worked out, but we had to make a lot of unnecessary phone calls and it was stressful. </p>

<p>2 - For the benefit of others who are using the common app, all recommendations (at least in the 10-11 cycle) had to be school based. It did not occur to us that if a major recommendation was not school based (e.g. a community volunteer position) we could simply mail it in and ask that it be attached. This seems so obvious now, but had we thought of it, she would not have been deferred from her dream school in Early Action, and then accepted regular decision after we figured it out. Kind of a duh. You do need to read the fine print though - some schools (very few) have rules that you can’t send supplementary material if you do the common app. In my opinion, this is quite unfair to some kids who have invested in activities outside of school.</p>

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<p>Op, </p>

<h1>1. Yes. Earlier may be better from LOR writer’s POV. When a college gets their first piece of mail related to the applicant, such as LOR, test scores, or the actual application etc, a file is started. Yes at the end of the season, there are files with test scores and LORs and no application and those will not be processed. Agree with other posters that you should check if they’ve been received (let LOTS of time pass).</h1>

<h1>2. don’t know</h1>

<h1>3. If it is a new activity for 12th grade, if it were me, I would put down the info with “anticipating 40 wks/yr”, because if you put 3 wks/yr because she is only 3 wks into the school-year, it does not give a realistic picture about the amount of time commitment it takes.</h1>

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<ol>
<li>EC detail got complicated for DS on common app, NM app, and other forms. Some of his activities (were low key during some month, then spiked other times. They were not sports, with logical active seasons.<br></li>
</ol>

<p>This was one area I helped him, trying our best to give honest portrayal within the limitations of specific forms. Some forms were printed, and we found a way to do Word doc tables… printed it, cut it out, and taped it on the form. Probably more forms now are online, but the exercise is a good way to pre-plan your input.</p>

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<p>One other idea - at our school, the students were asked to fill out a “brag sheet” prior to requesting a recommendation from any teacher on campus. The sheet was a bear - 6 or 7 pages, needed to be handwritten, obviously designed cleverly 10 years ago and never revised. I actually paid my secretary to type it up on a typable form (those kind where you can type as long as you like in a “grey box” and then print it out completed), and donated the new form to the counselling department for future seniors. The brag sheet was great - enabled the counselor/teacher to read about the perspective of the student in the student’s words, and see what they had done outside of class. If your school doesn’t have something like this, I would recommend they develop one and/or your student creates his own.</p>

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<p>I know of one university admissions office that stresses that they do not keep any paper in their office. Everything is done electronically and/or scanned. Meanwhile, students send in these elaborate bound books about their greatness, and then the office rips them apart to scan in the info, and no one sees the expensive bindings.</p>

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<p>charlieschm–we’ve been told that those things actually count against a kid–any time you make the ad comm work harder to review your application, it’s not a good thing. One school asked for a max of 2 pages for their essay, MAX. One kid sent in 43 pages, single spaced. He didn’t get in.</p>