Decisions, Decisions, Decisions....Now What?

Many of you will be getting decisions this and next week if you haven’t already. Let us know your decisions, either by putting them up on Naviance or by talking to your counselor.

 Now what?

Congratulations on acceptances and deferrals. Remember that if you receive a deferral, you should plan to send your midyear grades to the colleges. If you are dissatisfied with your current SAT scores, you do have an opportunity with the January test. (1/26: deadline 12/28) For some of you who were deferred, this may be the one factor that pushes you into the accept category.  Talk it over with your counselor.

 If you were denied admission, remember that you can always consider reapplying as a transfer after spending a year at another institution.

 A reminder about your competition:

 The number of applications received by colleges continues to hit record highs. The 2012-2013 cycle is no exception. So yes, your competition is greater just based on that tiny fact alone. Mixed in with the increase in early applications and you have another interesting wrinkle.

 What are the admission folks saying about this year’s class?

•  Many colleges are reporting significant increases in the early applicant pool, some as much as 25%. Despite the increase, most colleges are accepting the same number of applicants early.
• Personal statements make a difference. As we’ve been saying all year, this is your chance to let your character come to the forefront. This is the time to communicate your personality, special characteristics that makes you uniquely you. Many of you were able to do a great job at this; others decided that it was not important. It matters, so be authentic! Average statistics can come alive with a well written personal statement.
•  Finally, for the most part, admission committees feel just as overwhelmed as you feel. They have the pressure of sometimes denying students they LOVE who they think will be great.  

The moral of the story…

ü  Maintain your focus! You only have a few days left of classes before the end of the first semester.

ü  Maintain perspective. If you were not admitted to a school of your choice, that’s ok, you have other options that you should be just as excited about. If not, we have to time to compose applications to additional options.

 What's next?

ü  For those of you applying for regular decision deadlines, most colleges will notify you in April.

ü  Schools with ROLLING decisions, tend to notify you 2-8weeks after your application is completed. So you can be notified at any time.

ü  Regardless of when you receive a decision from the college, you do NOT have to notify them until MAY 1, 2013.

ü  REMINDER: You need to request your official scores from either College Board (SAT) or ACT administration.