What To Do After You Submit Your Application

 Author: North Shore College Consulting

After months of writing essays, describing your activities, talking to your counselor and teachers about letters of recommendation, and gathering all of the other information requested by a college, you finally press that submit button. Now you can take a deep breath and sit back and relax. Or can you? While we encourage you to take that deep breath and pat yourself on the back for all of the hard work you put into your application, there are a few more steps. 

1, Watch your email carefully for instructions from the colleges. Most colleges will send you information on how to set up your application status portal. Take the time to read these emails carefully and follow their instructions. This portal is where you can confirm that the college has received all of the pieces of your application (test scores (if applicable), letters of recommendation, transcript, etc.). The portal may require or recommend additional information such as uploading a resume, writing an optional essay, signing up for an interview, or reporting courses and grades. It would be a shame to put all of the work into an application only to miss the last few steps and not have a complete application. 

In addition to watching for application completion, the portals are usually where you will ultimately receive your admission decision. We recommend bookmarking the link to the portal and keeping your username and password somewhere handy and safe. There is nothing worse than hearing a college has released decisions but not remembering how to access your portal.

2. If your family is applying for financial aid, be sure you know what information is required and when the deadlines are to apply for aid. The FAFSA and the CSS Profile opened on October 1st, so you can complete those applications now. If you have been watching your email carefully, you likely have received emails from the colleges you applied to with this particular information. Don’t hesitate to reach out to the colleges’ financial aid offices with any questions you have. They want to help!

3. Continue to research the colleges you applied to. If a representative from the college will be coming to your high school, try to attend that session and introduce yourself. Whether or not a college tracks demonstrated interest, admissions officers like to meet the applicants. We also suggest following up with an email afterward to thank that individual for taking the time to speak with the students at your school. Continuing to learn about a college may help in the decision-making process when evaluating your options later in the school year.

4. Sign up for interviews if available. Interviews are usually optional, but you should embrace this opportunity if a college offers you one. Interviewing will allow you to give the college more information about yourself and show that you are really interested in attending their school. If you are offered an interview, make sure you are prepared. Before the interview, review the details you have learned about the school and why you would like to attend. We also recommend that you make a list of some questions to ask the interviewer.

5. Continue to work hard in your classes. Now is not the time to let senioritis take over. Colleges may ask for your grades from your first trimester, first quarter, or first semester. And, of course, second semester matters too. Colleges will require a final transcript and can revoke an offer of admission if your grades decline drastically.

6. Along the same lines of not letting senioritis take over, don’t let the excitement of finishing applications cloud your judgment. Colleges will need to be alerted about any disciplinary issues. Save yourself the stress of a possible rescinded offer by continuing to keep your behavior in the classroom, outside of school, and online in check. For more ways to steer clear of senioritis, check out our previous blog post here.

7. Thank your counselor and your teachers for their assistance and for writing your letters of recommendation. You can do this before you have received decisions from your colleges, but be sure to follow up after deciding on a college to let them know what school you will be attending next year.

While this may seem like a lot to do, we promise, the tough part is over (unless you count waiting for decisions). Don’t stop now. Make sure you cross the finish line before you stop to celebrate, but we encourage you to look back and appreciate all you have accomplished. Be proud of yourself and try to savor every moment of the rest of your senior year.

FASFA Opens October 1st

Click below to go to the FAFSA application.

FAFSA 

What You Need to Complete the FAFSA

 Be prepared for the financial aid application process!!

Source: Fastweb

Kathryn Knight Randolph

September 10, 2021

Make the most of your FAFSA application process by being prepared beforehand.

It's time to fill out the mother of all financial aid forms: the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Don't worry, it's easier than you think! Before you sit down to complete the form, make sure you have all the necessary materials. You'll find that the form seems much simpler when you're prepared with all the information you need. Depending on your circumstances (when you filed taxes or what tax form was used), you may or may not need the following information or documents as you fill out the FAFSA, so it's best to have it on hand.

You'll need:

• Your FAFSA ID (if you don't have one, you'll be prompted to sign up for one when you go to fill out your FAFSA). 
• Your Social Security card and driver's license, and/or alien registration card if you are not a US citizen. 
• Your income tax returns, W-2 forms and 1099 forms for the previous year. If you're married, you'll also need your spouse's documents. 
• Your parents' income tax returns, W-2 forms and 1040 forms for the previous year (if you are a dependent student).
• Records and documentation of other untaxed income received such as welfare benefits, Social Security income, veteran's benefits, military or clergy allowances (if applicable).
• Current bank and brokerage account statements, including records of stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other investments (if applicable).
• Business or farm records (if applicable).
• Records relating to any unusual family financial circumstances, such as anything that changed from last year or anything that distinguishes the family from the typical family. Examples include high unreimbursed medical and dental expenses, unusually high dependent care costs (e.g., for a special needs child or an elderly parent), death, divorce, salary reductions, job loss and private K-12 tuition. (These aren't required, but they could influence the amount of aid received.)
• Title IV Institution Codes for each school you are applying to. You can get this code from the school, or you can use FinAid's Title IV School Code Database. 

Once you've assembled all the necessary materials, filling out the FAFSA should be a fairly simple task. It's helpful to refer to a FAFSA worksheet during the process of gathering information for the application. Remember to fill out your forms sooner than later–you don’t want to put something as important as your financial aid off until the last minute. Check your state and school's FAFSA deadline to ensure that you maximize your aid eligibility from federal, state, and institutional resources. Also, make copies of all documents and keep them with a copy of your completed FAFSA. Finally, make it a priority to complete the FAFSA every year. Just because you didn't quality for financial aid the first time around, doesn't mean you will never qualify. A variety of factors go into to determining who is eligible for financial aid, and they can change each year depending on your circumstances.

Need more FAFSA help? Find everything you need to help you file for financial aid here on Fastweb.