12th Grade

What Next?

What Next? (Senior)

You’ve written essays, collected recommendations, listed off your achievements, and turned in your applications. Congratulations, well done! Most colleges have deadlines of November, December or January 1st for applications to be turned in. So you’ve made it past that hurdle, now what?

Understand The Timeline.

Depending on where you applied, you may have already heard back from some schools. If not, you will be gradually receiving notice about your applications from colleges over the next couple of months, alerting you as to whether you were accepted, rejected or waitlisted. You then will have until May 1st to make a final decision regarding the school you want to attend, so if you haven’t already done so now is the time to visit the last schools and start making some final decisions.

Financial Plan.

Along with the acceptance notifications will be statements regarding the financial offers from each college, including any scholarships, grants, work study opportunities and loans that you qualify for. This doesn’t have to be the final word, communicate with the individual departments you are applying to if a different financial package would change your mind, they may be able to work with you. This can also be a great time to apply for online scholarships.

Connect with Your Department.

Reach out directly to the department office for the major you plan on pursuing at each school you applied to. The secretaries, advisors, and department heads have a lot of sway in determining the offers you receive from their school and can go to bat for you if they see you as a student who is motivated. If you haven’t already done so, call them directly, introduce yourself, tell them about your background/any experience you have in the field you applied to, and let them know of your interest in their program. A little effort on your part can go a looong way in building favor with the decision makers.

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