You’ve probably submitted the bulk of your Regular Decision applications by now and are just waiting for the spring so you can find out the results. You might also be wondering what you should be doing now that your applications are submitted.
Be Patient. After you’re sure that all of the pieces of your application have been submitted and received, it’s important to follow-up with the admissions office to make sure your application is complete. However, you shouldn’t do this right away. Colleges have received thousands of applications and documents over the past couple of weeks, and it will take a little while before everything is sorted and processed.
Follow-Up. About two weeks after all of your materials have been submitted, check on your applications with each college. By then, they should have been able to process everything that was received. If anything is missing at that time, ask the admissions office for the best way to re-submit missing information. Remember – if your college counselor or teachers need to resubmit any school forms or recommendation letters, be sure to ask them nicely and politely!
Request an interview. At some colleges, alumni interviews are only offered to students after they’ve applied. Others still offer on-campus interviews after the application deadline. If you haven’t already had an interview, you can ask the college if it would still be possible to have one. This isn’t going to be an option everywhere, but if you do have the opportunity – great! If not, it won’t hurt your application.
Send your SAT Scores (if you haven’t already). In the rush to submit your applications by January 1, you may have forgotten to also send your SAT, SAT Subject Test, and/or ACT scores. Don’t worry, you can still send them. Ask each college if you need to send them via Rush Report, though, or if sending them standard is fine.
Did you make a mistake? If you made a mistake on your application, try to remain calm. If it’s a minor omission, you don’t need to worry about it. If it’s something you’re really worried about, you can always send your admissions counselor a quick email asking how to best resubmit your corrected essay. If there’s been a significant mistake, you may want to include an explanation of the error.
Relax. The hard part is over! You’ve written all the essays, taken all the tests, submitted all the applications. Now all you have to do is stay focused on your schoolwork (colleges still need to see those mid-year and final reports), continue participating in extracurricular activities, and find some time to just have fun!
Until you hear back from colleges, there isn’t a whole lot to do for your applications. You can keep track of your applications, make sure they’re complete, and follow any further instructions from admissions offices. Beyond that, try to stay focused on your academics and activities in the present, and hope for the best come spring!