May 1st and What You Need to Know about College Admissions
What You Need to Know about College Admissions: The Universal Day of Acceptance is May 1st.
Seniors, you’ve waited for months to find out the colleges’ decision on your applications. Now the table has turned and YOU get to decide which college you will attend in the Fall! The deadline is this Sunday and you need to send a deposit to secure your place in the college’s graduating class of 2019 at the school of your choice!
If you have already sent in your deposit, congratulations! But there may be some of you out there who still can’t decide which school to attend. I’d like to offer you some suggestions as you approach the deadline.
- Don’t get side tracked by waitlists. Maybe you’ve been waitlisted at your first-choice school. Waitlists have been heavily used in the last few years and whether schools take students off the list is hard to predict. Choose a school that accepted you; if an offer comes in AFTER May 1, deal with that when and if the time comes.
- The school you choose should fit your family financially, and it should fit you both academically and socially. Weigh your decision based on all three factors.
- Financial Considerations – Review and compare financial aid award letters. What is the breakdown of your awards? What is the percentage of award money from loans, work-study, grants? Is the merit aid renewable after the freshman year? Must a minimum grade point average be maintained in order to receive it every year? Go to the Bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/financial-aid-awards/compare-aid-calculator for a helpful comparison chart that you can use. Just plug in the numbers for all of your schools and you can peruse them on one sheet.
- Academic Considerations – Where will you best grow academically? Are faculty accessible? Look at the requirements for your major and research how the graduates of that program fare upon graduation.
If you begin freshman year as an undecided student, what programs/services can you avail yourself of to search for a major/career choice? Delve into the study abroad programs and see if you can find one that interests. What kinds of research can undergraduates do at each of the schools? What about internships, support services?
- Social Life – Can you find “your people” there? Does the school have the sport you play or an organization that you want to belong to such as a student newspaper, debate team, or marching band? Maybe there is an activity you’ve never tried and would like to join while in college. Remember it’s about you, not your BFF or girlfriend or next door neighbor.
- Hopefully you’ve visited your top schools during accepted student days. If you haven’t, maybe you can find a recent grad or a current student at each of your schools to have one more conversation with. It may help with your decision.
Choosing an institution of higher learning can be nerve-wracking—it’s where you will spend the next 4-6 years of your life. Trust your gut. The long process is almost over so make the decision and move on! A new chapter is beginning!
Joanne Clary Apesos is the owner of College Pursuits, a college counseling business in Holliston. She has advised high school students and their families in planning their college experience for ten years and has presented HEF workshops for students and parents about the college selection process. Prior to assisting high school students she worked in higher education for 20+ years as an admissions counselor, adjunct faculty member and director of student activities at both public and private colleges and universities in the Northeast. She holds a master’s degree in Higher Education from Columbia University earned a College Counseling Certificate from UCLA. She can be reached at joanneapesos@gmail.com.
