Here are a few reminders for seniors and their parents in the never ending month of March:
1) Be patient and try to stay calm as those regular decision e-mails of notification begin to roll in. Many have just been sent out and others will be sent out at the beginning of April. Because of the amount of applications, this process sometimes is delayed a few days…try not to freak out…the undergraduate admissions office has not forgotten about you and they are not trying to play a trick on you. You will have an answer soon enough, so try to relax and keep yourself busy, maybe even with your senior year course work?! This leads me to reminder number 2…
2) You have heard these two words for three and a half years now, but I will tell you again… 'Avoid Senioritis’. We understand that most students have heard a positive answer from at least a few of their schools, and that the weather is unusually warm and inviting to do anything but high school homework right now. However, you must try to muster-up the strength to keep taking a serious approach to your studies and keeping your grades where they have been. As a counselor, I understand the importance of down-time, fun, and relaxation, and I am not saying you shouldn’t relax and be excited about the next step in your life. However, there needs to be a balance, and the commitment to your high school work must continue until graduation. Although it is rare, if there is a drastic decline to your senior year grades, schools reserve the right to rescind your acceptance. Also, it would be a shame to waste 3 ½ years of hard work, which has gotten your cumulative GPA to where it is, with one bad semester. Finish what you started and end on a high note! I can assure you that you will have a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction if you give it your best effort throughout your four years of high school.
3) Make sure you follow-up with deferrals and once you select a school to attend, notify the other schools of your decision. If you have been deferred from a school or placed on the waiting list and you are still interested in that school, make sure the colleges are aware of your continued interest and update them with any new accomplishments on your part. As talented as college admission counselors are, they are not mind readers. If the school is still high on your list, send admissions an e-mail explaining your high interest in their school. Also, once a decision is made on your part on which school you will attend, and out of courtesy, notify the other schools that you no longer need to be considered for admission or that you will not be attending their institution in the coming fall.
4) Be excited for all of your acceptances, but be aware that your peers may not have heard great news from some of their choices. It is great to celebrate getting into your colleges, just be mindful of others during this process, and be supportive of your friends, whether they were accepted or not from their schools. Also, be mindful that a “safety” school for you may be a “reach” school for your friend. Try not to compare colleges, but celebrate all acceptances!
5) Keep your counselors informed about decisions and show your gratitude to your teachers, who wrote letters of recommendation. Your counselor has been working very hard with you throughout this entire college process, and we truly do want to hear about the responses from all schools. Just keep us updated either by stopping by the office or sending an e-mail…it’s that easy! Also, teachers are not required to write you a letter of recommendation and they certainly do not get paid to do so! Take a few minutes out of your day to write a short ‘thank-you’ note to the teachers who spent some of their free time writing a recommendation letter. This is the right thing to do and teachers will surely be appreciative of the notes!!
6) Keep searching for community/organizational scholarships. More and more scholarships will continue to pop up, and make sure you keep your radar on, so when they do appear, you can apply to them. Even if the scholarship is for $1,000, it is worth it to take the time to apply and give yourself a chance of receiving some extra money towards your education.
7) And the final suggestion for students at the end of their senior year in high school is to spend time with family and enjoy these last few months at home. Most students will be going away for school and the time spent with parents and siblings will drastically decrease. College is an amazing experience, but life will certainly be different. Enjoy these last few months at home, and make time for your parents and siblings, making sure you are grateful for everything they have done for you up to this point.
