1. ENJOY THE SATISFACTION OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENT

There is a reason the Common App showers you with virtual confetti after you hit the ‘submit’ button. Continue the celebration by doing something fun for yourself, perhaps something that you put on hold as you worked towards deadlines: you might treat a friend to ice cream, call a relative you haven’t had time for recently, or visit your favorite spot in your hometown, the one you will miss most once you are away at college.

2. DOUBLE-CHECK YOUR APPLICATION

Although the Common App does not allow you to make changes once you’ve submitted (their analogy is that hitting the submit button is like dropping it into a mailbox), it is a good idea to double-check your submission (and an even better idea to triple-check your application beforehand!). You can still make changes before applying to the remaining colleges on your list. And if you’ve missed something important or made a major error, most universities allow you to email additions or changes directly to their admissions office.

You should also check whether the college has a separate writing supplement. Most schools embed their college-specific questions within the ‘Writing,’ ‘Other,’ or “Questions’ sections of the Common App, but some such as Harvard and Johns Hopkins house them under the ‘Writing Supplement’ proper, and these essays must be submitted separately after you have completed and submitted your main application.

3. NOTE YOUR PORTAL LOG-IN AND PASSWORD

Most colleges now use student portals to communicate with applicants. Within 1-5 days of applying, the school you have applied to will likely email you information about how to set up your student portal. Each school you apply to will have a separate portal system, and you need to keep track of them. The portal is a convenient place to check the status of your application and required documents. You also may be able to upload additional documents such as application updates and award notifications, art portfolios, or extra recommendation letters; self-report standardized testing or request a change in test optional preference; or update your contact/personal information and application options such as choice of major or start term.

Importantly, many schools also notify students of their admission decisions through their portal rather than through separate mailings. The days of running to the mailbox to find a ‘thick letter’ indicating an acceptance package are largely over – instead, most of the action will be in your portals, so keep track of your log-in credentials.

4. AVOID SENIORITIS – KEEP UP YOUR GRADES

Even though your application has been submitted, admissions officers will still see your grades from your current coursework. They will often wait to see either first-term or first-semester grades from senior year before making a final decision on an application.

For the current Class of 2021 seniors, we believe senior grades are going to be more important than ever. Admissions officers fully acknowledge the disruption that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on your cohort. At the same time, many students were in remote, on-line learning environments for almost 1.5 years, including all or most of junior year. The overall trend was for high schools to be a bit more lenient in their grading, with many offering the option for Pass/Fail or Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading. Overall GPAs have thereby risen. We anticipate that many schools will wait to have senior grades in hand before making decisions, and that they will have higher deferral rates from the Early Action/Early Decision rounds. In these deferral cases, senior grades are the first component that admissions officers will be looking at.

5. MAINTAIN THE RIGOR OF YOUR COURSEWORK

Highly selective schools look carefully at the rigor of your selected courses. Attentive admissions officers will check that the coursework on your semester transcript matches the self-reported courses listed in your application. Switching out of Calculus BC for AB, dropping Spanish 4 because it’s not a graduation requirement, or substituting an Anatomy elective instead of taking a year-long lab science course will be noted, and it won’t be in your favor.

Also, keep in mind that if you apply and are successfully admitted in the Early Round, it is with the understanding that you will take the courses you indicated on your application. If you do plan to change your core course line-up, you or your School Counselor should contact the admissions office at the school where you were accepted early. While they will try to be reasonable in approving schedule conflicts and changes, the officers who admitted you might not look favorably on a diminution of rigor. Your job is not only to get admitted to college, but to succeed once you get there; completing a rigorous senior year of courses is the best way to set yourself up for future success.

6. SUBMIT YOUR REMAINING APPLICATIONS

Although you now have at least one application completed, you undoubtedly have additional application deadlines. While it is tempting to focus on the schools where you have already submitted applications and to start envisioning what it will be like enroll there, you should finish applying to all the schools in your application strategy. A well-considered application strategy encompasses an optimal mix of reach, target, and likely schools. If you applied under the Early Round, you also need to be prepared for a possible deferral or a denial, and may want to have an Early Decision II application ready to go. You will be in a better mindset to complete additional applications now rather than after you receive disappointing news.

7. PRACTICE GRATITUDE

Extend your gratitude beyond the Thanksgiving feast by letting those who have supported you in your journey towards college know that you appreciate their efforts and advocacy. Despite your motivation and accomplishments, you have not gotten here by yourself, and recognizing the contribution of others only strengthens you. Your support team may include family, teachers, counselors, employers, religious leaders, and coaches. Think broadly, beyond the teachers who wrote your letters of recommendation (even though for most teachers writing reference letters is not a part of their job description), or your parents who have been there every step of the way. Maybe there was a relative whose probing question about your future made you bristle in the moment, but that you have thought back on multiple times? Or a school official who agreed to advise that club you started even though it met during their lunch hour? Or a coach who believed in you and pushed you to excel?            

Practicing gratitude helps you too. The benefits include a proven increase in happiness, fulfillment, and strengthened relationships.  One of the highest honors at Cornell is the designation of Merrill Scholar, the top 1% of Cornell’s graduating college seniors. In recognition of their success and to honor the importance of high school mentors, each Merrill Presidential Scholar invites an inspirational high school teacher to the awards banquet, travel expenses paid, in addition to a Cornell professor. There is no reason to wait until you become the equivalent of a Merrill scholar – reach out now to let those who have been inspirational to you know how they have been impactful and appreciated.

8. MAINTAIN A LIST OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

In addition to keeping up your academic rigor and grades, you should also continue excelling in your extracurriculars. Keep an on-going list of your most significant achievements, any awards you receive, and the work you are most proud of from your capstone year of high school. This list will set you up to be well prepared to craft a compelling ‘Letter of Continued Interest’ to colleges if you are deferred or waitlisted.

As mentioned, we anticipate high levels of deferred applicants in the Early Round this year as well as high numbers of waitlisted applicants in the Regular Round. One reason is that the widespread continuation of Test Optional policies has led to a surge of applications to the top schools. To cushion themselves against the unknown, some universities will be more hesitant to commit to students in the Early Action round, and so they will make more final decisions in the Regular Round once senior grades are in hand and the full applicant pool is known. Once students matriculate in the spring, schools will also want the flexibility of filling their classes from the waitlist if needed.

9. CONTINUE TO RESEARCH THE SCHOOLS THAT INTEREST YOU

After your ‘why’ essays have been turned in, there are multiple reasons to continue researching schools. Many schools track demonstrated interest and note if you open their emails, attend their webinars, or visit campus. Schools that don’t officially track demonstrated interest will still be pleased that you have a firm foundation for your interest in attending. You may have occasion to highlight that knowledge in an interview or in a follow-up Letter of Continued Interest. During the pandemic, schools invested in their virtual materials, and they will be happy to know that you took advantage of them. Even without setting foot on campus, you can get a keen sense of a school from its social media, virtual tours, information sessions, student ambassadors, and department websites. Finally, unless you are admitted by a binding Early Decision agreement, you will ultimately need to decide where to spend your undergraduate years, so good research is in your own self-interest.

10. COMPLETE HIGH SCHOOL IN STYLE

While it is tempting to look ahead, as you must, don’t forget to take advantage of where you are now. As a senior, you have made an impact on your school and will be missed. Become a mentor to the underclassmen, setting them up for success to take over the leadership positions of the clubs, teams, and organizations where you were instrumental. You want the endeavors you care about to continue after you graduate. Senior events such as prom, class trips and picnics, group pictures, your graduation ceremony and other traditions only happen once. Don’t pass up on opportunities that you might regret later. Regardless of whether you post them to social media, take photos to document these classic moments of high school. Studies show that landmark events are an important step in moving forward successfully … and this is the goal: you are college-bound!