1.  Be Sure You Have The Appropriate Application Forms

College Forms: check on the college Website and see what the application forms are like. Today most applications can, and should, be submitted online via the college website. If the college does not have an online application, and does not accept the Common Application or another web-based application, write, call, e-mail, or request them from the college Website. Sometimes the forms need to be submitted in two stages, the first being a short form with basic data and the application fee, and the second mailed only upon receipt of the first – the second stage will have all the essay questions, recommendation forms, et cetera; supplementary material would be sent with the completed second stage.

Common Application: accepted by three hundred and ninety-one colleges, including many, like Harvard, Amherst and Wesleyan who use this form as their ON LY college form. Many colleges, like Harvard, Amherst and Williams, also have a supplement which must be filled out and sent, usually online; a few colleges require that the entire application be sent in at one time, including the supplement. The Common Application is available from www.commonapp.org

RCDS Secondary School Report form and Teacher Recommendation Form: If you are applying to colleges that do not accept the common application, you will need to fill out

• one copy of the RCDS Secondary School Report Form and
• one copy of the Teacher Recommendation Form for EVERY teacher that is writing a recommendation for you.
• Fill out the top of each form with your personal information, your senior classes and check the box that says you DO waive your right to see the forms and sign in the appropriate box on each form.
• Give the RCDS Secondary School Form into the college office so it can be prepared and sent out with all your records to those colleges that do not accept the common application. If you decide to send an early decision application, you will need to sign a second copy with the early decision agreement.
• Give the Teacher Recommendation Forms to the teachers who have agreed to write recommendations for you.

RCDS Transcript Request Form: Fill out and turn the transcript request form to the college office after consultation with me about your applications. This will be the form we use to send your records out to your colleges.

RCDS Teacher Recommendation Request Form: Fill out and give the teacher recommendation request form to each teacher who will be writing a recommendation for you. Make a copy of each form and give it to the College Office.

2. Always make a trial copy of the application before you begin the real one. If you are doing an “on-line” application, fill it in, save it BUT DO NOT SUBMIT it. Print out a trial run and go over it with me, then make any corrections, print it out a second time and double-check it, before sending it on to the college. (See directions in # 4 below) If you are doing a paper application, make a copy of it and fill it out in PENCIL first. (See directions in #5 below) Check it over carefully for errors and bring it to me to check as well before you begin “The Real Thing.” If I am not at school, you may fax the copy to me in Connecticut. If you are sending in a paper application, a messy, crossed out application gives a harried admissions office a good excuse for putting you on the Reject List.

3. Most colleges now have their applications on their website. If a college has its own application AND the common application, use the common application – it will save you work. If not, use the website application. Do not send your application in until you have reviewed it to make sure there are no errors. The first one is particularly crucial because that is the one on which you are most apt to make mistakes.

4. If you are applying online, read the instructions carefully before proceeding.

• print the instruction page and check off tasks as they are completed.
• Scroll to the bottom of each page and of any pop-up to avoid missing any information
• Print out any instructions for the College Office (as to how supporting materials, such as your transcripts and recommendations, need to be submitted)
• Create a user name and password for all your applications that you will remember. Write it down and put the information in a safe place…or you will probably forget it! Give a copy of your username and password to me so I can help you with your application.
• Disable pop-up blockers in order to view any part of the application that displays in pop-up windows.
• Save your work frequently. If you leave for more than 30 minutes, you will probably be logged out and will have to re-enter the work you did not save.
• Occasionally, an online application will not allow you to save a section that you have only partially completed. If you do not have time to finish the entire section, fill in the remaining section with xxxx/yyy so that you can go back and replace the nonsense letters with real information the next time. .
• Work on any essay portions separately, in a word-processing application. Go over your essays with me or with your English teacher and only when they are absolutely right, paste or upload the final version into the application.
• Print out the application and review it before submitting it. You will need TWO printed copies, one for your records, one to give to the college office so we will have a copy of it. If something goes wrong with the submission of the application to the college, we can always fax a new copy to the college. Be sure, however, never to submit online AND in paper. The only time you will ever want to send a paper application into a college where you have submitted online is if they tell you they have no record of your submitting the application.
• Be sure to hit submit when you have reviewed your application and know it is ready.
• Record date and time of submission and print out the transaction number for the receipt of the application and fee.
• Print the confirmation page which states that the application was received. It should include the application ID number. If no confirmation appears, call the college to verify that the application went through.
• If no application acknowledgement e-mail or letter is received, call the college for confirmation that they do indeed have your application. Do not wait for months for verification from any college.
• Check for an online link to financial aid and be sure of all deadlines for financial aid submission
• Be sure you understand how to pay the application fee. Some applications that are submitted online MUST be paid online. If so, get a transaction number, so you can be assured that the payment went through. If the college accepts a check by mail, follow all instructions on paying the fee.

5. If applying with a paper application, when ready to begin on the real thing, fill out the application carefully, typing or using a pen with black or dark blue (use pencil only if and as requested). Follow directions precisely. As in the case of online applications, write more than one draft of essays, both the short ones and the long, and go over them with me. If you write your essay on a separate sheet of paper, be sure to label each page with your name and any identification number given to you by the college and a reference to the question being answered.

6. Apply at least one week before the deadline if at all possible; websites often get overloaded at deadline time, college admissions offices are inundated with paper applications, and applications can go astray far too easily under the circumstances.

7. Be sure to send out, or request that others send out, any and all supporting documents not included in the online application (transcript, recommendations, scores, resumé, portfolio, supplements and other such things).

8. For schools that do not use the common application, print out any recommendation forms and Secondary School Report forms for each application (as well as the RCDS Secondary School Report form and RCDS Teacher Recommendation, which you should have already given out to the college office and to the teachers. Fill in the necessary information on the top of those forms including the waiver of right to see records, if applicable, and submit the Secondary School Report and the RCDS transcript request form to the office along with a list of the colleges you are applying to with the full address of each college and the date when the application was (or will be) sent out as well as the date when the application is due.

9. For each school to which you are applying, hand in ‑ a 9 x 12 envelope with three stamps attached and a # 10 envelope with one stamp attached, all envelopes properly addressed. These will be used to send out your transcript, school profile, Counselor’s Recommendation first, then your mid-year grades later.

10. Hand in, with your applications, a list of those faculty members to whom you have given (or will give) recommendation forms (Use a copy of the Teacher Recommendation Request Form).

11. Expect a turn‑around time of at least two weeks between getting your application in to the office and having it sent out. Be sure to get it into the office with enough time to beat the deadline.

12.For any teacher recommendation NOT being turned in on line, give the teacher recommendation forms, filled out properly on the top, to the teachers and ask them to turn their recommendation form, when completed, to the college office. The recommendation will be sent out with your Secondary School Report form after you submit your application and copies will be kept in your college file so that additional copies can be sent out as needed.. Be sure to inform the teacher writing the recommendation of the date on which you plan to send in your application. All requests should be made before Thanksgiving Vacation if possible. Do not barrage the faculty with a host of last minute requests. Don’t forget to thank teachers for their recommendations.

13. Be sure to interview if the college has informed you that the interview is important to the application process. Write a thank you letter to the person who interviewed you afterwards.

14.Take standardized tests and send scores as appropriate.

15. Ask teachers for recommendations; give Secondary School Report, , Transcript Request and Teacher Recommendation Request forms to College Office.

16. Add supporting materials as appropriate.

17. Ask your parents to write a check for each application if you are not submitting the payment online. Have them sign any forms that require their signature.

18.Print out and photocopy each completed application, whether paper or online, before you send it in. Should anything happen to it in transit, we can fax whatever gets lost in the mail, or the college mail room.

19. Meet deadlines. Paper applications should be postmarked on or before the date of the deadline, unless the instructions in the application say specifically that the application must be received by that date – in which case you need to leave ample time for the application to get to the admissions office BEFORE the deadline (e.g., University of Michigan expects applications IN OFFICE on that date). . If a deadline is given without any specific instructions, it is assumed that the deadline is met by postmark date rather than by arrival date. Make sure you use the correct postage.

20. Keep the College Office informed about where you have actually applied and when; phone: 860-767-8014

REMEMBER: You may email (attached in word for windows or just pasted as text) or fax me any forms you want me to check when you are ready for me to look at them:

email: enodelman@rocklandcds.org

fax: 860-767-8014 but call before you fax so I will turn on fax receiving!