The weeks of March for high school seniors can feel like waiting for the final rose as a contestant on the Bachelor/Bachelorette. You’ve been posing in your evening finery for hours, just waiting to know if you’ll be picked by a suitor you aren’t entirely sure you want. 

You may already have some acceptances in hand from rolling, early action or restricted early action applications (if you applied and were accepted through the early decision process you are already bound to that commitment and shouldn’t be considering any other schools at this point), or you may be waiting for your very first acceptance to be released this month. Virtually all colleges that have not done so already will be releasing their regular decision application outcomes in the coming weeks, with regular decision applicants receiving feedback by the first week of April. Specifically, Ivy League colleges are scheduled to release their decisions at 7:00 p.m. on April 6th (not that anyone is keeping track), and Stanford University and Howard University will release decisions on April 9th. 

Rolling decisions can come anytime, depending on when you applied, so if you applied on the later end to a rolling decision program, don’t be alarmed if you haven’t yet heard. That said, many schools require deposits by early May, so do expect to hear soon. 

What do I do if I am admitted to my dream school (and I plan to attend)? Wonderful! Marvelous! Good for you, and lucky for that school to have a chance to welcome you to its campus. Now do yourself a favor and create a schedule to tackle the following items:  Pro tip: There is usually a link or a checklist in your student portal to all of the following as well as information on the Accepted Students page of the school’s web site. 

• Read the fine print: Do you understand the aid package, have a plan in place to pay for school, and are you prepared to sign on to all loan and scholarship terms, if applicable? 

• If you want to visit campus one more time (or for the first time!) before accepting, schools have in-person and virtual visit opportunities designed especially for you. I urge you to participate, and at many schools some online programming is required. It’s a great way to confirm your decision and start to meet your future campus community

• Create a student/net ID if you have not already. You’ll need it for completing the paperwork to enroll as a student. 

• Check for upcoming deadlines. Many schools require a tuition, food service contract and housing application and deposit ASAP.

• The same goes for health and immunization forms. You will also need to make a decision about enrolling in a campus-provided health insurance plan or staying on your existing one. 

• Make a list of any other academic submissions and send them in a timely manner: many schools require an official transcript and official SAT/ACT and AP test scores reported by the testing agency (if you applied and were accepted with unofficial scores). 

If you are in the enviable position of having offers to multiple schools, you have a matter of weeks to make your final decision. You will likely consider finances, location, programs of interest and other factors as you sift through your options. You should attend those admitted student programs and negotiate for the aid you need if you have competing offers. More on that in my next posts. 

A final word on being a good citizen: Once you have accepted an offer, you must let your other schools know you don’t plan to accept their offers. They deserve to have that information, as do the students whom they might admit off the waitlist who are eager for your spot. And don’t even think about putting down a deposit at more than one school. It’s unethical and unfair to everyone else involved in the process. 

Look for my upcoming blog posts this month dealing with the thorny questions that arise when you are admitted to your desired school and can’t afford the aid package provided (whether it is because of changed circumstances or not), how to decide on a school when you have multiple good options,  and how to follow up with schools that have put you on their waiting list.