college 101
5
6
college admission errors
College
Application
Mistakes
(and How to Avoid Them!)
It’s almost college application season! It’s an
exciting and stressful season for high school
seniors for sure, but before you rush into filling out
forms, let’s take a minute to go over what NOT to
do! Here are 6 common application mistakes and
ways to avoid them:
1.
Rushing Through
Look, filling out forms is boring and tedious, but this isn’t
something to hurry through. You don’t want to give a choice
school the impression that their application wasn’t important to
you! Take your time and make sure you give the application the
thought and care it deserves. If you have many applications to fill
out, make a rough schedule for yourself and note the deadlines
for each school so that you can dedicate enough time to each
one.
2.
Failing to Proofread
Is there anything worse than sending an application to your top
choice and misspelling your own name? Believe it or not, this
happens! Sometimes we will spend time proofreading all but the
most basic info because we assume we got it right. Pay careful at-
tention to your grammar and punctuation throughout, and take
the time to go over every section and proof every word. If this
isn’t your strength, have someone else take a final look for you!
3.
Not Taking Ownership
Is your mom filling out your apps? Is your dad making the phone
calls to ask questions? These are red flags for admissions offices!
Many admissions offices will see a student who lets their parents
take the lead as a student who may not be ready for the responsi-
bilities of a college life, which is definitely not the impression you
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want to make. It’s fine for Mom and Dad to help, but remember,
this is your application:
4.
Leaving Fields Incomplete
Even the most basic information is important, so don’t skip over
something tedious just because it seems pointless. It can also be
tempting to skip over questions that require a lot of time and
thought, or ones you’re simply unsure how to answer. If you have
questions, don’t be afraid to call the admissions office and ask.
Leaving part of your application blank can send the message that
the application wasn’t important to you, which is much worse
than being the student who asks questions.
5.
Procrastinating
Most of us are guilty of waiting until the last minute to do
something we’re not looking forward to, but don’t be tempted
to wait until the last minute to fill out your application. Make a
calendar of deadlines for all of the schools you’re applying to, and
start your application no later than two weeks before. Waiting
until the last minute leaves you at risk of rushing and turning in a
weak application, or worse, missing the deadline completely!
Remember, most colleges have rolling admissions and the sooner
you are admitted the better the chance of getting the nicer
housing digs.
6.
Not Following Through
Once you’ve completed your application, you will also need to
submit other required information like high school transcripts
and ACT/SAT scores. You’ll need to think ahead to give yourself
plenty of time to make sure these documents get to the admis-
sions office on time. Tip: Create your Parchment.com account
now so that your transcript will be ready to go to your chosen
schools!
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