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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.

1) 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.

2) 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 resubmit 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!

3) 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.

4) 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.

5) 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.

6) 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!

We understand. Applying to college can be stressful and intimidating. You’re busy with a dozen extracurricular commitments, not to mention schoolwork. And your parents are all too eager to help you out.

The truth is that colleges want to hear from you – the student – and not your parents. They want to know that when you apply to their school it’s because you want to. Parents should be helpful and supportive, but when it comes to communicating with colleges, scheduling visits, and filling out applications, students need to take the lead.

If the thought of taking the lead in your college search is intimidating, remember that you have numerous resources at your disposal to find guidance and advice.

• Your college counselor is a crucial resource for you in the college application process.  S/he is there to provide information about colleges, help you interpret that information, and match your interests and personality with colleges that are a good fit for you – and, of course, making sure your school forms are sent out. But that is as far as the counselor goes. The actual process of applying, contacting schools about missing materials, and choosing the final group of colleges is up to you.

• Your local college representative is there to help you. Most colleges and universities divide travel and/or applications according to geographical region. Most likely, the same admissions counselor you met at your local college fair will also be reading your application. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your admissions counselor if you have questions that aren’t answered on the website. If the idea of reaching out makes you nervous, remember – admissions counselors are friendly and approachable, and are happy to hear from you. On the other hand, if you legitimately have nothing to ask, don’t reach out just because you think you should. 

• Your parents are absolutely allowed to help you, within reason. Parents are great for help with keeping organized, setting a schedule, and arranging the logistics of college trips. You can ask them if an idea for an essay “sounds like you” – but they shouldn’t be telling you what to write in your essays (and certainly not writing them). They can give you the information you need to fill out the Common Application, but you have to fill it out yourself. They can provide suggestions about colleges to look at, but you have to research the schools for yourself. Your parents want you to succeed, so ask them for help when you need it, but remember that you’re the one leading the way.

Applying to college is a major undertaking, and a big responsibility. You’re probably going to have some anxiety about the process, and that’s OK. It’s important to not let your anxiety get in the way of being pro-active and engaged in the college process. You’re the one going to college, after all, so now is the time to step up and take charge. Be sure to rely on your parents, college counselor, and local admissions representatives as resources, but be sure to take the lead in the process.  

It’s September, and the fall semester is starting up.  This means it’s time to dig into your college application essays.  Before you start writing, however, you should probably do some reflecting and brainstorming.  Putting some work in before you write will allow you to spend less time figuring out what you want to say, and more time working on how to say it.  Here are some helpful tips to get you started brainstorming college essay ideas.

§  Check out the 2012-2013 Common Application prompts.  Chances are, you’ll be applying to at least one Common Application school, and the prompts are broad enough that schools that are not on the Common Application will probably ask you some of the same questions. Write them down and carry them around with you for a while. As ideas come to you, jot down some notes right then and there.

§  Admissions officers want to get to know you through your essay. They want to read an essay that is truly about you, or about something important to you. So spend some time thinking about what’s important to you. How you like to spend your free time…Why you want to go to college…What you cannot live without… Pondering ideas like these will help you identify some possible topics.

§  College essays don’t have to be about something important, either. You can start with some fun ideas like adjectives you would use to describe yourself, and a story that demonstrates each one. Think about how your friends and family would describe you. Make a list of some of your favorite things – books, subjects in school, quotes, movies, or TV shows. Brainstorming these ideas could give you a fun way to show colleges who you are. 

§  Free Write! Sometimes, the best ideas come out of no idea at all. Give yourself a generic prompt such as “I used to wish…” or, “I’m looking out a window…” and without thinking about it too much, write for 10 straight minutes in response. The result will not be a finished product, but you may be surprised to find some great raw material to use in your college essay.

§  Sometimes, great essays are inspired by specific experiences.  Think about some moments that have stood out to you since you’ve been in high school.  Remember, they don’t necessarily have to be impressive or important experiences, but they do have to show something unique and interesting about you.

Ideally, you should enjoy writing your college essay. If you enjoyed writing it, an admissions officer is more likely to enjoy reading it. Doing some pre-writing exercises and brainstorming activities will help you be more relaxed when you write your essay. You will feel less stressed and anxious, allowing your authentic and unique voice to shine through in your writing.    

If you’re a rising freshman in high school, there are some things you can do now to be confident and ready to apply to college come senior year.

Familiarize yourself with the course offerings at your high school. High schools can offer a variety of course options, including IB or AP, honors or advanced, and College Prep or Pre-AP.  Some schools have a tracking system where students may have difficulty switching from regular to honors courses. Or your school may not have honors or elective courses at all. Ask about the options at your high school now so that you can make informed curriculum choices.

Find out what sort of standardized testing is offered at your school. Some high schools schedule the PSAT or the PLAN for their freshmen and sophomore students. Ask if your school offers the PSAT or PLAN for freshmen or sophomores, and if so, when you would be taking them.

Start thinking about extracurricular activities. What have you done after school and during the summers until now, and do you want to continue any of these activities? Find out if they are offered at your high school. If you’re unsure of what you want to do, use freshman year to explore. This is your opportunity to start over, or try something new. Be sure to start with a broad range of activities – you never know what might develop into a true passion, or become an opportunity for leadership later on. Getting involved in activities early in high school will not only help you manage your time better, but also give you plenty of time to narrow down to a few sustained commitments by the time you apply to college.

Keep your grades up from the beginning. It may be tempting to give yourself a break and take it easy freshman year, but most colleges will look at all of your high school grades, and you don’t want to start high school with bad habits (or bad grades). If you start out motivated and high performing, you will set a trend for the rest of your high school career.

And finally…don’t think about specific colleges just yet! You’ve probably heard of some “good” schools from your parents or your friends, or maybe your older brother or sister, but there’s no way to know right now which is the school for you. What appeals to you as a senior in high school may be very different than what appeals to you right now, so try not to get fixated on where you want to go just yet. Remember – just because you’ve heard of a school doesn’t mean it’s a good fit for you, and just because you haven’t heard of a school doesn’t mean it isn’t a good fit! 

This fall, a small, but significant change has been made to the Secondary School Report section of the Common Application. Historically, the form has included a comparison chart for college counselors to rate a student relative to other students in their class, and then provide a written evaluation or recommendation. This application cycle, counselors will still be expected to complete the comparison chart, but they will be able to opt out of the written evaluation.

If you are concerned about how this might affect you, here are a couple of things you should know.

1) Some counselors work with hundreds of students, and simply do not know their students well enough, or have the time to write hundreds of detailed and thoughtful letters. If your counselor has a caseload of 500 students and elects to not write a letter for you, admissions offices will not penalize you for that. They understand that your counselor has too many students to work with and too little time, and will leave it at that.

2) On the other hand, if you go to a small school, admissions offices will expect a written evaluation from the counselor for every student. In that situation, it might appear strange if your counselor declines to write a letter for you. If you go to a small school, but don’t know your college counselor very well, there is still time to make a good impression! 

3) You can ensure that your counselor will write you a detailed letter, but only if you take the time to build a relationship with him or her. If you are worried that your counselor may not know you very well, it’s not too late. Make an appointment with your counselor; ask if s/he would review your college list with you, or help you edit your essays. Even just spending some time in the counseling office, researching colleges or working on your applications, will provide an opportunity for your counselor to learn who you are, and see your commitment to the college process.   

Of course, you can’t control what your college counselor actually ends up writing about you, but you can do some things to better the chances for a positive evaluation.