You have submitted your first college applications for rolling, early action, and perhaps, early decision or restricted early action deadlines– CONGRATULATIONS! 🎉 After that huge rush of activity, you may be wondering what to do now. Here is your November checklist: 

✅ Regularly Check Your Email & Portals for Confirmation

Every school sends you an email confirmation once it receives your application. It’s imperative that you check your email, set up your portal for each individual school, and save the information somewhere besides your email inbox.

• Follow the link you receive in the post-submission email from each school to create a portal login and password (you are often sent a temporary PIN) for each school

• Save each portal link as a bookmark (and your login and password in your tracker) for easy access

• In each portal, look for and provide any missing information, such as official or uploaded test scores, transcript, letter of recommendation, and the student reported academic record (SRAR). 

• Check your email DAILY and respond to any requests from colleges

• Check each school portal at least WEEKLY — we recommend a regular Sunday night check in

• If you experience difficulty setting up the portal, reach out directly to the college admissions office to help you address the problem. Portals are notoriously buggy, but don’t let that deter you from monitoring your application’s progress.

✅ Apply for Honors & Merit Scholarships

• Although some honors college placements and merit scholarships are automatically considered for all applicants and others are available at the time of application, some schools only offer them post submission. For example, starting November 1st each year, Colorado-Boulder offers merit scholarship applications to applicants who have submitted, and the deadlines are in the winter.  The University of Oregon, on the other hand, offers an honors college application that is only available through the portal after the student has applied to the university.

✅ Schedule interviews for schools

If your schools offered interviews in the summer, you may be done, but some schools only offer them in the fall, post application submission.

• Look in your portal for an opportunity to sign up for an interview.

• Don’t be surprised if a school contacts you for an interview very soon after you submit the application. Check your email (and voicemail) each day. 

• Do write a thank-you note or email after each interview

✅ Keep your grades up (and send first quarter grades for any schools that accept them/require them)

• You know that the most important component of your application is your transcript, which shows the rigor of your coursework and the grades you earned. 

• Some schools require that you send 1Q grades for early decision/early action applications.

• Most schools will accept voluntary submission of 1Q grades, and you should send them if your grades are as strong as or stronger than your past record. Check in with your guidance counselor about how to send an official 1Q update.

• Keep your grades up. Remember that many schools REQUIRE first semester transcript updates in January. 

• Don’t drop coursework, and if you do, you MUST update colleges where you have applied.

✅ Visit remaining colleges under consideration

• Many students apply to some schools in early November and are still considering others for regular decision and early decision 2 deadlines.

• Hit the road now while you have time to make final decisions.

• Many schools are still offering tours, so hop onto the admissions web site to schedule.
  

✅ Write essays and answer questions for regular decision schools (Don’t forget UC apps are due December 2, 2024).

Don’t lose your momentum. You may have sent in eight applications by November 1 but still have four or five remaining. You don’t want that hanging over your head during the winter break. Finish what you started and give these regular decision applications as much love as your first set!

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Assuming you will get into your ED school and not preparing for future schools

Mistake #2: Delaying to prepare any additional apps until EA/ED decisions are released mid December. Remember, this only gives you a couple weeks before most Regular Decision schools’ deadlines the first week of January or even January 1.

Continue with your schedule and aim to be ready to submit before mid December even if you are holding some applications until you hear from mid December release schools. 

University of California, Canada and UK College Application Deadlines

Remember that if you are applying to the University of California (due on December 2, 2024) or schools in Canada (January/February) or the UK (January 29, 2025 for most programs) you may have left these alone at first, and now is the time to approach them.

• The University of California’s application is due on December 2nd this year. It has four, 350-word “personal insight” essays (to choose from a list of eight). Many students repurpose the personal statement for one of those essays.

• Essays for schools in Europe and Canada tend to be more academically and vocationally focused. Do not write US-style essays for long-answer responses to these schools.

✅ Monitor each Schools’ Financial Aid Deadlines 

• FAFSA is delayed this year, but it is available in its final beta testing stage now, so you can begin your financial aid forms now. Note any college-specific deadlines, as those can be earlier than you think.

• Some colleges and universities require students to file the CSS profile through College Board in order to be eligible for financial aid. For early action and early decision schools, this may be due as early as November.