College Advising: The Season of Quiet Bliss

Early Action notification was Saturday, December 15th.  Students who applied early to colleges should have been notified about their status on or before that date.  If yours was good news, celebrate with quiet bliss. These might be great times for you, but tender times for your friends. No matter if you were accepted, rejected or deferred, there are steps you should take now to assure that you attend your best-choice school next fall.

If you were accepted, you might be done with the whole college application process!  If you’re unsure, research the school. Talk to recent graduates. Think deeply about the fit. We’ve seen students who were accepted early, then decide to aim higher. “Maybe I can do better,” they think. For some, early acceptance assures them of their academic worth and their ability to succeed at a more competitive school.

Students who were denied admission should not feel discouraged.  There are nearly 400 excellent colleges to choose from.  In addition, it’s still early in the season.  Regular admission deadlines continue well into the New Year for many colleges.  January 1st and 15th are popular deadlines.  February 1st is another.  Some schools like University of Arizona, set their deadline after the April 1st notification date.  There are still many colleges waiting for your application.

If you were deferred (not denied) from your favorite school, there are steps you can take.  Call the admissions office and thank them for reviewing your application.  Tell them that Perfect U is your first choice school and ask them if there is anything you can do to improve your chances for eventual admission. Letting a school know that if you are accepted you will attend makes a huge difference.  Colleges want to send their offers of admission to students who will accept them.

We’ve seen cases where students take their deferred status as an opportunity to “up” their acceptability. The best thing any student can do in this situation is to study hard and raise their grades. Showing your academic potential is the single best way to convince a school that you are a good fit for their school. So, before finals or over Christmas break, make the effort and do your very best.  After all, how you do now is a good indicator of how you’ll do next year—in college, wherever that will be!

-- Happy Holidays from www.PerfectFitCollege.Net