I can’t believe that I have been counseling students through the college application process for 18 years and for the first time I am writing a blog post about this topic. At this time of year, each year, I get frustrated at the rush there is by seniors I work with to finish their college applications right before the November 1st early action or early decision deadlines that colleges have. However, I also understand that this is how many high school students operate because they can and still be successful in high school. I also understand that this is how many college students continue to operate with all-nighters writing papers and studying for tests. I do hear that there are people that “do their best work” when they are “under the gun” and complete something right before a deadline even though I find that hard to believe. I do also want to acknowledge that there are students who do not wait until the last minute and do work ahead, planning out their time wisely. So I don’t want you to assume I am saying everyone procrastinates.
Nevertheless, there are a number of downsides to waiting until right before a deadline to apply to a college. I define “right before” as not having an application complete at least a week before a deadline. I know that seniors would be disappointed and frustrated when they are denied admission to a college but I do not want it to be because of their own actions. If they rush to apply to colleges that are competitive or highly competitive admission wise, they are only hurting themselves. Below are four reasons why applying to college right before a deadline is a bad idea.
- Accuracy of application– I have heard from college representatives in the past that if there are mistakes on an application, it’s an immediate red flag because the application is the first thing they read. If they are finding errors in an application, they are going to assume that there are most likely errors in their essays as well. When you are completing an application right before a deadline, you don’t have as much time to ask questions or make sure you are answering everything correctly and then you have to guess. This is not the best way to complete a document that you paid for to submit and that you are replying on as a possible future option after you graduate high school.
- Can’t write well-written essays- I always tell my juniors that it takes two-weeks to write a good essay. It will take a couple days to write a rough draft, a few days for two people to proofread the rough draft, a couple days for you to edit and revise and then a few days for two people to proofread the final draft. One should never assume that if you give your essay to someone to proofread, and I recommend you give it to two people because one can catch something the other one didn’t, that they will return it to you the next day. I am not saying they won’t do this but you can’t expect it. Always give them a few days. If a college requires an essay, they are going to read it and you should assume that it will be important in their evaluation of your application.
- Getting well-written letters of recommendation- At DC, juniors do the initial request for letters of recommendation in Naviance in the spring of their junior year. This is only the first part of requesting letters of recommendation. They also must approach each teacher they requested a letter from and confirm their request in person, answering any questions the teacher may want to ask them. This is typically done over the summer or right after their senior year starts. These steps are typically done well by juniors and then seniors. The frustrating part for seniors to understand however, is that teachers are busy people too and some teachers will complete letters of recommendation at different times than others. If a senior waits until the day before a deadline to apply to college, a teacher may have also waited until they knew they had to write their letter of recommendation and now the teacher is writing a letter at the last minute which typically doesn’t result in their best effort and work either. If students completed their application two weeks before a deadline, that gives the teacher plenty of time to write an efficient and effective letter of recommendation.
- Transcripts and and test scores are sent later- This is something that seniors don’t anticipate and the one thing that frustrates me as a counselor the most when I know seniors have waited until the last minute to apply to colleges. I know that the week before November 1st is going to be a busy one and anticipate that I will be sending many transcripts and letters of recommendation at this time. I typically stay later each day at school and I have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the week that I have sent all the senior’s transcripts that have been requested before November 1st. I get frustrated though when a senior requests their transcript be sent late on October 30th, October 31st or November 1st and just expect that I will send everything in for them right away. Seniors should anticipate that it may take 3-4 business days to send their transcripts because sometimes I have to wait for letters of recommendation or there are other things holding up my ability to send their transcript and supporting documents. Moral of the story: things just don’t happen right away and every senior should anticipate this by making sure they apply at least a week before a deadline.
- Prepared for the unknown- In my 18 years, there have been times when there was confusion on my end and/or the colleges end as far as what documents were sent, how they were sent, when they were sent, etc. Colleges get thousands of applications and it makes sense that every once in a while, something gets misplaced or even lost. I have seen two files created for one senior because they had different names (a nickname maybe) on their test scores than they did on their transcript. Students are confused as to whether they applied under a certain deadline (ED, EA, RD) or whether they applied test optional or not. In order to be prepared if this were to happen, seniors should make sure they get their applications in two weeks before the deadline and then confirm with the college a week later that they have everything they need.
Seniors, there are a number of aspects that go into an admissions decision at a college that are out of your control. You need to make sure you complete the aspects of the college application that are in your control as well as you can. If you wait until the last few days before an application deadline to complete an application, you are not completing it as well as you can because you have to rush to get it done. Make sure you plan ahead, organize each application, understand what needs to be done to put your best foot forward, and get everything done a week or two before a deadline so that all of the other people involved in submitting your application (teachers, counselor) can do their best work as well. You don’t want to look back after an admissions decision and regret that you should have done things differently. These applications are just another English paper or math test, they are the first step to a future at a college that you will grow in ways you never imagines, earn a degree and hopefully transition to a career that God has planned for you.
