Application Basics

          Application time. Most colleges in America like you to apply by January. That is considered the regular decision deadline. I personally started on my applications in the first week of my senior year, but I have a fear of missing deadlines (FOMD if you will). So I turned in a lot of Early Decision applications. The process is the same regardless.

           If you are hoping to pursue a degree, then sadly you have to deal with the modern-day evil of the Common App. Please understand, Common App is fine. I just dislike how it looks, works, and the memory of it is extremely unpleasant. But otherwise, great website, highly recommend. eye roll

          Please, write down the deadline for each university’s application. I don’t care if it is early or regular decision, just write down that deadline. Put it in your calendar or on a sticky note on your mirror, feel free to carve it into your bedroom wall if you need to. (we will come back to property damage rules)

          Now we have those deadlines down, write down a date that is roughly 3 weeks before each deadline. That is your soft deadline. It is your buffer. 

          Make sure something notifies you on that day, calendar, reminder, schedule a text. Something that will pop up and say:

HEY YOU HAVE TO FINISH THIS APPLICATION

          I always set my soft deadlines in all caps to help trigger the procrastination response in my head.

          The Common App saves your applications as you work through. This means if you fill out all the basic personal info on one day, you can save it and come back to work on the next section some other day. Meaning we don’t have to rush on these. 

           Let’s take our time okay?

           And if procrastination is your normal mode of productivity, set those fake deadlines for yourself like I do. Set reminders or make up fake due dates for certain sections. Break this up into manageable tasks. I have learned how to work my procrastination into what my friends call “reverse procrastination” and it started with my college applications. 

          The basics are going to be easy, give them your name, your address, your contact information. If you need any help with this step, please consider keeping a notebook with all your information in one place cause you will need it later on. Most colleges will also want your social security number, your citizenship status, and a legal ID.

          Some applications want to know about your parents, like where did they go to college, if they come from a highly educated background. For those who don’t know, if neither of your parents attended a university you get to claim ‘first generation’ status (this leads to scholarships). Some colleges also like if your parents went to that university, aka legacy students. If you are neither of those things (like me), it is totally okay, no sweat. 

           They are going to want transcripts. High school, college if you took dual enrollment classes, or if you did some off campus thing, get those too. They want to know every class you took and every grade you got. They also want test scores. This is your ACT or SAT. They want the official stuff, so if you took the ACT you go to the ACT website, sign in and insert a school code that aligns with the university you are applying to. Likewise for the SAT.

          Then comes the extracurricular questions. Colleges really like students who seem involved. When you put in your activities, you are telling that college just how much you will be involved. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Did you talk about books with your friends? Great, you had a book club. Did you play DND? Great, you were in a DND/roleplaying club. Did you visit your elderly relatives at an assisted living center? Great, you volunteered at that assisted living center. 

          Let me be clear. We are not lying. We are simply shifting our words into language the admissions office would understand. Because you playing DND or talking about books or visiting family is a part of your community involvement. But those interactions are harder to quantify so admissions offices ignore them, they do notice when you say it’s a club or group or community service. So this is not a “lie your butt off” step but a “reframe things into quantifiable contributions” step. You also need to put all your work experience and all your social activities on that application.