It's Crunch Time for College Applications
A tumultuous 2020 is winding down, bringing the end to a year marked by a deadly pandemic and a contentious presidential election. But before you bask in the New Year's cheer, make sure your teen has his or her college application finalized so 2021 doesn't start on a sour note.
The regular decision deadline typically falls on Jan. 1. But deadlines vary by college, meaning some will stretch later into January or even February. It's important to be aware of where the deadline falls for each college to which your student is applying. And if your teen needs some guidance, here are six tips for him or her to stay on track and submit college applications on time.
This edition of the newsletter was written by Josh Moody. The U.S. News Education newsletter team is Josh (@byJoshMoody) and Emma (@emmarkerr).
6 Tips to Finish College Applications on New Year’s Eve
Students should list the tasks they have left, divide them up and complete each one by one, one counselor says.
Students completing applications on New Year's can use the following tips from students who have been in this situation and counselors to finish strong.
1. Don't waste time applying to schools you probably won't go to: "If it's not realistic that you would end up at that school, you shouldn't spend your entire New Year's trying to cram in all of those applications," says Kat Pickhardt, now a 19-year-old sophomore at Ithaca College in New York. She spent New Year's a couple years ago finishing college applications.
Applying to college shouldn't be a random exercise, says Jodi Rosenshein Atkin, an independent college admissions counselor based in Rochester, New York. It can be a waste of effort and money to do that, she says, and give students options they don't want.
2. Make a list of everything you have left to do – and complete each task one at a time: Kids who defer getting it done are overwhelmed, says Atkin. She recommends students divide the big tasks they have left to do into manageable pieces.
"You are going to be more likely to complete them," she says, "Rather than trying to crash it all in, in two hours, with your mother screaming at you on New Year's Eve, when everyone wants to be somewhere else."
Shondra Carpenter, a counselor at Cherokee Trail High School in Colorado, says applicants should proofread their application and double, even triple, check everything – including that the applicant's name and email address are consistent, along with correct school names – before they hit submit.
3. Crank out an essay: "The first thing is to just vomit 500 words onto a page," says Atkin. "Tell a story about yourself that you want to tell. Don't worry about what the prompt is."
Students should edit the essay, then tweak what they have written to fit one of the essay prompts available on the application, she says.
Once students are finished they should have one adult – students don't want too many hands on the essay – look it over for grammar and clarity.
But that adult shouldn't be a parent, Atkin says, since parents tend to want to rewrite essays. Students could consider a parent they babysit for, neighbor or uncle if they're in a bind on New Year's Eve.
William Ridley, now a 19-year-old freshman at Furman University in South Carolina, says he had to write three essays over the holiday last year for Wake Forest University's application, which was due on Jan. 1. "I didn't spend as much time as I should on them, which is probably why I didn't get accepted."
4. Avoid submitting applications right at the deadline: With thousands of other students online submitting college applications at the same time, websites can crash and servers can go down, says Carpenter, the Colorado counselor, who also runs Steele Street College Consulting.
While students usually have until 11:59 p.m. in their time zone to submit college applications with Jan. 1 deadlines, Carpenter recommends students try to get applications submitted earlier to avoid technical glitches.
5. See if deadlines have wiggle room: Students will probably have to wait until after winter break to send out anything that requires the help of school officials – like transcripts and letters of recommendation – if they don't already have these documents, says Atkin.
But students can submit the application; fill out their Naviance profile, which schools use to manage paperwork electronically; and send emails to teachers asking for a letter of recommendation, she says.
Some schools, particularly highly competitive schools, will probably not accept admissions materials late, she says, but others are more flexible. Students can go to each school's website to see how rigid they are with deadlines, she says.
Schools that evaluate applicants more holistically, for instance, may give applicants more wiggle room, she says. But Atkin's experience has been that large flagship state universities are not flexible.
6. Remember there are many colleges with admissions deadlines after Jan. 1: If students can't make the New Year's deadline, their life is not over, Atkin says. "There are many, many schools that are on what's called rolling admission and they will accept applications as late as May."
Ridley doesn't recommend students wait until the night before an application is due to finish it.
"You'll end up rushing through it and sacrificing the quality it needs to appropriately express your potential," he says. "But if you do find yourself in a bind, focus on just the application, take your time, be honest and be yourself."
