College Admissions Decisions are Here - Now What?

Spring of senior year is an exciting, anxiety-ridden time for students waiting for college admissions decisions. Deferrals and non-admits are disappointing, seeing fellow students get accepted results in mixed feelings, and waiting for your own results is just plain hard. On top of that, seniors still have to keep up their grades while they are beginning to process the idea that this is the end of a chapter in their lives.My first piece of advice is to try to relax. Stressing about admissions decisions won’t do anything to change those decisions. You have worked hard for your grades, taken standardized tests, written personal statements, and completed college and financial aid applications. The hard work is behind you.The next piece of advice is to not attempt to make sense of admissions decisions. You may be dismayed that you did not get into a college that your buddy with a lower GPA did get into, but you simply can’t analyze why. There are so many different parts of the application – coursework, GPA, standardized test scores, personal statements, extracurricular activities, and the need for colleges to balance the student body – that there is no way to discern what it is that admissions directors see in some students but not others. With a balanced list of well-selected colleges, you are likely to get accepted to some great schools, even if you don’t get accepted to the top ones on your list.Rather than fret, you can be productive with your time. First of all, make sure that you are reading every email from colleges and setting up your applicant portals. If you applied Early Action and were deferred, follow all the instructions that the college provided to reconfirm your interest. A college may not have received all of your transcripts, test scores, or teacher recommendations and may reach out to you regarding resubmitting those. You may be selected for an augmented review from the University of California, in which you may have to submit your mid-year transcript, complete a questionnaire, or obtain another teacher recommendation. You don’t want to miss any of these deadlines for submitting more information, as that will affect your admission decisions.If you applied for financial aid, keep an eye out for any communication from the FAFSA and CSS Profile because you may be selected for verification and will need to verify the information you entered on your documents. Again, you don’t want to miss the deadlines for submitting this information as it can affect your financial aid offers.Finally, notify any colleges you have applied to if your spring semester courses have changed from what you entered into your college applications. Perhaps most importantly, make sure to keep your grades up. Failure to notify colleges of schedule changes, as well as a drop in grades, is reason enough for a college to withdraw their admittance.If you have any questions, or if you just want help understanding your college admission or financial aid results, please contact us, and we can help you decipher admissions results.