<p>So I am a rising senior (class of 2015) and about to apply to college... I know a ton of people get started in the summer but like for right now- what should I be doing? When the common app opens, what do I do? I am so confused as to what the process is and I just hope I dont make any mistakes. Thanks so much for our guys's help!</p>
<p>You can start writing you main essay, the topics for which can be found online. Just google them. That should give you a head start on stuff. I think the common app becomes available on August 1. So for now, I’ve just been writing on some of the supplement essay questions that have already been released for the schools I am applying to. I am also thoroughly researching each college on my long list. You will be fine! :)</p>
<p>Here are a few suggestions:
- Make a Common App account today so you can look at the format.
- Start a spreadsheet or a list of the various items you need to put into the Common App. Like make a list of your ECs, and fill in the info you will need about each. Think about the ‘order of importance’ of them, I think they still want that in the Common App.
- Collect all the boring info you need to fill in about you, your parents, etc.
- Look at the essay questions. Start brainstorming possible topics for them. The Essay subforum out here is a great place to run some ideas up the flagpole before you start writing – some topics are better than others!
- Identify which colleges you think you want to apply to and confirm if they take the Common App.
- Have you thought about what teachers to ask for recommendations? Figure that out if you haven’t, and be ready to ask them around the second week of school (let 'em take their coats off and settle in at their desks first
). - Once the Common App is available for this year, create an account and start filling it in. You can save, go back, etc. until you are ready to submit. You can submit one college at a time, too, so once you have the full app ready AND one supplement if the college has one, you can submit and pay for that application, then go on to the next one.
- Print out EACH application and supplement and proofread VERY CAREFULLY before hitting submit.
- I don’t know how they handle this since the revision to the Common App last year, but sometimes good stuff happens (awards, accomplishments) after you put your first app in. You used to have to create a copy of the app to modify it to add stuff later for schools you hadn’t applied to yet. No idea how they handle that now, but it used to be possible and probably is now as well. It won’t resend apps you already submitted, though, so an email to admissions with a great new accomplishment is needed in that situation (with enough info for them to match it to your application, of course).</p>
<p>Does this help?</p>
<p>Thank you both!! You guys really helped me a lot- I’ll go on the common app and see what information I need as well… The excel spreadsheet is also a really good idea!</p>
<p>You might add tabs to your spreadsheet to track the due dates of stuff for each college and whether it is turned in, too. Including your application due date, letters of recommendation, transcripts, track the URL for logging in to look at your app after the college sends on to you (once they have received it), track your user name if they assign it to you (we tracked passwords, too, sometimes they gave them to my kid and some had different rules, so couldn’t use all the sames ones), track dates for various financial aid forms. We also tracked cost of attendance and any scholarship money received so we could compare the final cost of attendance across colleges, too. (You can impress your parents by doing this. ).</p>
<p>Wow that sounds like an awesome idea!!! Definitely going to do that :)</p>