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Health & Fitness

Get Started on those College Applications!

Fall of senior year is the time to apply to colleges.  Depending on the school, an early application may mean an early response, and if you are anxious about this process, you will feel good if a school gets back to you quickly with an ‘admit’ decision, so don’t delay.  And read the instructions carefully!!!!

·      Over 500 colleges accept the Common Application.  If you are applying to one or more common app schools, the first thing you will want to do is set up your account at www.commonapp.org.  The same holds true for Universal or any other individual on-line application.  Once your account is set up, everything else will fall into place.  When you hit ‘submit’, you are expected to have your application fee or fee waiver included with the application.

·      You may need parental assistance with some of the questions asked on the application, but most of the questions are for you to answer.  Your counselor can also assist you with questions related to your high school experience.  Have someone look over your application before you submit it.  There should be no spelling or grammar errors!

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·      Write your essays, proofread carefully, and get feedback from others.

·      Many schools do not require recommendations or essays so you should be able to send those out sooner rather than later.

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·      At this point, if needed, you should have asked one or two teachers if they would write you a letter of recommendation.  They will tell you what they need from you; you will tell them the due date and the method you are using to apply.  With an on-line application, you will ‘invite’ them to write for you and submit their email address.  This is nice because you will see when it has been submitted (remind them nicely if a week before the due date, it hasn’t been submitted).  If you are applying with a paper application, you will need to give them the form (if the college supplies one), and an addressed, stamped envelope to the Office of Admissions at the university.  Don’t expect your teacher to look up the address!   They are doing you a favor and they have the right to say no to your request.

·      Meet with your high school counselor regarding their recommendation.  Most colleges, if they require recommendations, will want a counselor rec.  Your counselor is an experienced writer, but don’t expect them to know everything about you.  This is your time to ‘brag’, and let them know what you want them to include so don’t be shy!  They want you to get in and will write only the best about you.

·      Submit your best test score.  Some colleges will super-score and in those cases you will send in more than one score.  There are a few highly selective colleges that now require you to submit all test scores. 

And now you wait!  You are not alone in this process so take comfort in knowing that your friends are going through a similar experience.  You will probably start hearing your friends bragging about their admits around the end of September if they applied to a school with rolling admissions.  Don’t let this throw you off your game.  Everyone’s process is different.  Contact Ravinia College Consultants if you need help with this process.

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