Finishing August Strong
By Chuck Hughes
Former Harvard Admissions Officer
As we reach mid-August, schools are beginning across the country, and
it is time for students to compile a check-list of where they are in the
application process as homework, fall activities and high school senior year
descends upon them. There is still
plenty of time to meet deadlines, but here are a few check-list items to
consider.
Fall Testing Deadlines:
The August 26th SAT registration deadlines have passed, but
the September 9th ACT late registration deadline is August 18th,
so there are still a few days to register if you have yet to do so. Deadlines for Future ACT and SAT dates are:
ACT Date Deadline Late
Deadline
September 9
|
August 4
|
August 5-18
|
October 28
|
September 22
|
Sept 23-Oct 6
|
December 9
|
November 3
|
Nov 4-17
|
SAT Date Deadline Late
Deadline
October 7
|
September 8
|
Sept 27
|
November 4
|
October 5
|
October 25
|
December 2
|
November 2
|
November 21
|
Essay Planning:
By the time school begins, we encourage students to have as much essay
work completed as possible; however, if you were to prioritize your writing, do
you have a draft of your main personal statement and drafts of supplements for
your early and rolling applications ready?
Trying to have 3-5 schools’ worth of essay writing completed, or more,
completed by September 1 can take huge burden off a student considering the
school work that often awaits students come the start of the school year.
Communicating with Colleges:
While not every school is interested in hearing from students directly,
there are a growing number of private universities who are looking at how
students engage their admissions office in trying to determine a student’s
genuine interest in the institution. For
those schools that offer admissions officer’s contact information on their “connect
with us” pages, we highly recommend sending an email introducing yourself,
asking pertinent questions of interest and learning whether someone from their
admissions office will be visiting your school or area. Remember – if you
choose to send an email to a school – your communication should be strong and
not haphazard. Poorly written emails or ones crafted without much thought as to
what interests you or matters to you regarding a school might have some
deleterious impact on your application. With that said, we like for our
students to communicate to schools about their genuine interest.
Early Applications and
Rolling/EA Applications:
Many students are finalizing their list and are trying to make sense of
what to do – EA vs. ED – but we want students to think about schools that might
offer early action or rolling responses to applications in the hopes of hearing
news earlier in the process. Rolling admissions schools like Indiana can turn
decisions around within 4-6 weeks, and EA schools will let students know
between December 1-December 31. We
encourage students to have 1-2 colleges that are “likely” on their list with
these application deadlines/process with the hopes of having one or two YES
responses prior to the January application deadlines. It can make a world of
difference to know you have been admitted to a few schools before the New Year
begins.
Complete the Common
Application/Coalition Application ASAP:
We want all of our students to have the common application data pages,
the activities list and all supplemental questions for early applications
completed by September 1, as this is an easy way for students to get into the application
groove if procrastination is setting in with the end of summer approaching.
Email Teachers and Counselor in
Regard to Recommendations:
As school gets closer, teachers and counselors are beginning to return
to campus to respond to questions and to make themselves available to students.
I think it is important to check-in with teachers in particular to make sure
you share with them when you are planning on submitting your early
applications, particularly if you are looking for some early feedback with
rolling applications. The school will have some requirements to produce your
transcript and counselor letter, so we want to make sure that those materials
are completed in early September, so you are not waiting for the school to
complete their parts in order for your applications to be evaluated by your
early/rolling schools.
You still have plenty of time and more than two months before the November
1 deadlines, but you want to keep in mind that colleges appreciate students who
are on top of deadlines and can submit their applications early to help spread
out the reading.